VC Cafe

MAY 18, 2023

I’ve been in the world of startups for 20 years and an investor for the past 10 years, but I don’t pretend to be an expert. In the world of startups and investing, we’re all just explorers, trying not to fall into the next hole in the ground. Venture capital investing is a long-term game.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Due Diligence Exit Strategy Deal Flow 78

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

Public theses are often inconsistent with how firms actually deploy capital. A typical VC thesis: “we invest in tech startups in Europe at an early stage” However, our experience shows that in many cases: . of venture capital deals. Those companies have garnered only about 2% of all capital invested.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

David Teten

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

But in practice, these phenomena create a tremendous volume of startups, which investors then have to filter. Prior to joining ff Venture Capital , I published the first-ever study of how private equity and venture capital funds originate new investments, with my coauthor Chris Farmer , CEO of SignalFire and an experienced VC.

Private Equity 114

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Equity 114

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Just as with any company, the most important issue is the team; see “ How to Negotiate a Partner Role at a Venture Capital or Private Equity Firm “ . For example, we created a pipeline management tool that automatically adds deals along with relevant information (such as attachments received) to our funnel.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Just as with any company, the most important issue is the team; see “ How to Negotiate a Partner Role at a Venture Capital or Private Equity Firm “ . For example, we created a pipeline management tool that automatically adds deals along with relevant information (such as attachments received) to our funnel.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back. billion to work across 738 financing deals with U.S. billion jump in funding over the same quarter of 2010 with a similar number of deals, so it clearly shows a trend to larger deal sizes for fewer startups.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . But, most of use raise capital and source deals the same way people looked for dates 20 years ago: by networking at conferences (or bars). . Most of us want one spouse and we’re done.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

As the venture capital industry has evolved, more and more seed investors are passing on traditionally “seed stage” startups because there isn’t enough traction. Great returns in early stage investing is driven by great deal flow and good picking. Belief #1: The best time to invest is early.

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

I was on This Week in Venture Capital today with Jason Calacanis talking about the big VC deals at the moment and talking about the VC industry. I’d embed the video but it doesn’t seem to allow you to do this so here’s the link the This Week in Startups, Inaugural show. and much more.

Venture Capital 232

Venture Capital IPO Valuation Deal Flow 232

David Teten

DECEMBER 12, 2017

(written by Philipp von dem Knesebeck , Managing Partner, Blue Future Partners (bluefp.com, @bluefutureteam ), and David Teten ). Based on this paper, Blue Future Partners and PEVCTech recently completed a large-scale survey to find out which tools are most commonly used by venture capital firms.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Venture Capital 60

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Over the same 30 years, Venture Capital firms have honed their skills and strategies to match Wall Streets needs to achieve liquidity for their portfolio companies. One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors.

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

My father eventually decided on Santa Clara (Saratoga, more specifically), and so I grew up in the shadows of the orchards of Cupertino and the nondescript concrete startup boxes of Santa Clara. Encyclopedic knowledge of term sheets and startup buzzwords can be quickly learned, trained, and packaged. Diversity” and “Domain Experience”.

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

VC Cafe

JULY 31, 2020

Last year I published on VC Cafe a post titled the 7 habits of highly effective people… in startups , and this time will I apply the book’s principles to the world of Venture Capital. Let’s dive into the 7 habits of highly effective people and how they can be reflected in the world of venture capital.

Venture Capital 183

Venture Capital Deal Flow Silicon Valley Portfolio 183

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

In 2006 when I was a budding entrepreneur building my second startup I ran into a young (ish) enthusiastic founder of an electronic signature company called EchoSign. Jason has also done startups for a long time. Both have done an amazing job of defining themselves in venture in a short period of time. Startup Lessons'

LP 150

LP Technical Review Deal Flow 150

VC Cafe

AUGUST 17, 2023

I learned so much about the culture, current events, and the Israeli venture capital industry. After spending just two months in the industry, I recognize the importance of venture capital for spurring innovation, especially in Israel. One firm that stood out during this search was Remagine Ventures.

Generative AI 78

Generative AI Venture Capital ChatGPT 78

thebarefootvc

JULY 3, 2017

Limited partners (LPs), who manage the capital that gets deployed into venture capital funds, can play an important role in diversifying the funding landscape. They decide which VCs receive capital to invest in entrepreneurs. This tends to reinforce the lack of diversity in deal flow.

LP 65

LP Technical Review Silicon Valley Limited Partner 65

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

I’ve seen a range of options for supporting entrepreneurs, which I can rank from least to most involvement in companies by investors: financier VCs, e.g., Correlation Ventures. portfolio operator VCs, e.g., Andreessen Horowitz, ff Venture Capital, First Round Capital, Google Ventures. mentor VCs, e.g., most VCs.

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Mashable Mashable reached out to angels, seed stage investors and VC firm partners and asked them to share their wisdom with the rest of us. Here’s an overview: Mitch Kapor: Kapor is founding partner of Kapor Capital , a firm that invests in seed and early stage startups. and Path Intelligence.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Rob Go

JANUARY 10, 2017

Have domain expertise in an emerging area that the VC cares about and wants to develop more authority and deal flow around. Having great EQ is important too, because there is a fine line between someone who is pervasive and has a positive reputation in the startup ecosystem and someone who is perceived as inauthentic and annoying.

Technical Review 28

Technical Review Due Diligence Deal Flow Early Stage 28

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

I often advise startup companies not to try and pin all of your brand equity into an announcement. Simply – we believe it’s hypocritical to sit with tech startups every day and talk about the need to innovate while ourselves making no major changes. Hamet is a 3x entrepreneur and also former EIR with True Ventures.

Ireland 324

Ireland Jordan Portfolio Flash 324

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

The startup ecosystem is a terrific manufacturer of bad fundraising advice. It’s the “hook” that gets a team noticed in a partner meeting. Any VC will tell you that the ones they said yes to, they mostly got there right away—and that there are very few “maybe” deals that get tipped over the fence. That adds risk.

Venture Capital 162

Venture Capital Cofounder Deal Flow Later Stage 162

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

In my ongoing quest to get you good transcripts of the wonderful interviews we’ve done in the past, I present you with one amazing interview here with Tom McInerney – a friend, co-investor, former entrepreneur turned angel investor and “wizard of Oz&# behind the scenes at the uber hot startup Klout.

Angel Investor 302

Angel Investor Cofounder Southern California .Net 302

Gust

DECEMBER 21, 2011

Boston, New York City, Seattle and Southern California spawn many exciting startups…but do not exceed the Valley in any measure of entrepreneurial achievement. And, while being the undisputed leader in breeding and growing startups, the Valley is not the only place in the world (or the US) where entrepreneurs thrive.

Silicon Valley 107

Silicon Valley Southern California Tucson Seattle 107

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

As the venture capital industry has evolved, more and more seed investors are passing on traditionally “seed stage” startups because there isn’t enough traction. Great returns in early stage investing is driven by great deal flow and good picking. Belief #1: The best time to invest is early.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

Austin Startup

JANUARY 28, 2020

In 2017, we released the Texas Startup Manifesto , outlining a vision of a united Texas startup ecosytsem where startup entrepreneurs treat the four major metropolitan areas as one big city when they are recruiting talent, fundraising, and acquiring customers. The money is flowing in Dallas too?—?our

Houston 86

Houston San Antonio Fort Worth Dallas 86

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 19, 2018

Earlier this year at the FUND Conference in Austin, Texas, over 100 startups presented their early-stage companies in front of hundreds of investors and industry leaders. FUND is a national connector of entrepreneurs, VCs, angel investors, and industry experts with a focus on deal flow and making connections.

Texas 73

Texas Advisory Board Startup Angel Investor 73

Haystack

JANUARY 18, 2020

While I don’t think founders expect a SWAT team to show up and build their startup with them, they do expect some high-leverage support in business development, executive recruiting, and capital formation. Acceptance that firms and partners need to actively market themselves. There are too many startups to keep track of.

Seattle 130

Seattle Seed Stage Deal Flow Vertical 130

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 15, 2011

Networking has always been a critical part for investing, especially for angels taking on high risk wagers in startup companies that are unknown quantities. A group such as LinkedIn’s Deal Flow Network has over 11,000 members and provides a simple way for investors to share tips about strategies and upcoming opportunities.

Exit Strategy 167

Exit Strategy Balance Sheet Salary Startup 167

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 28, 2019

Join me on an investor’s tour of the most vibrant startup ecosystem in the country?—?Dallas, culminating in an epic 10 year birthday party for Capital Factory! You can see a list of the 70+ investors and other partners who have signed on to participate in local programming at the bottom. June 4–6, 2019. and around the world.

Texas 50

Texas San Antonio Houston Dallas 50

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 9, 2015

There would be no generational planning, no transitions to younger partners, and no senior partner hold-outs who would hang onto economics well after they had stopped working. Through this activity, we hope to spread the Foundry Group values and DNA further into the overall venture and startup ecosystem.

Later Stage 70

Later Stage Early Stage Advisory Board Deal Flow 70

Haystack

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Yes, they can filter their inbound and hone their decision-making skills and processes, but given all the new startups forming, unless you’re Y Combinator or First Round, I don’t know how you can see even 50% of what end up as great companies. Deal flow, then, is often a random walk.

Portfolio 118

Portfolio Syndicate Syndication Flash 118

K9 Ventures

MAY 14, 2011

The companies go through a 3-6 month long startup bootcamp and then typically try to raise angel/seed funding. Angels : Angels are individual investors, who are investing their own capital and doing so on a part-time basis. From what I know the credit for pioneering the uVC space really goes to Josh Kopelman from First Round Capital.

Preferred Stock 125

Preferred Stock Seed Stage Incubator Early Stage 125

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

At first I was cynical about his ability to have 500 startups (or some fraction of that which is still larger than any VC has). I had also expressed my concern for SproutBaby’s lack of independence from their partner with Jody. I believe AngelList is capable of managing deal flow by acting as a filter.

Valuation 292

Valuation Deal Flow Lead Investor Cofounder 292

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

That’s exactly my point is you’re up against either startups with funding or just entrenched names that have just been around a long time and have a ton of customers and brand value. That is always true for all startups until they get old, right? For venture capital, right? Jason: Exactly. That is always true.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 1, 2017

Two things happened there: I found the perfect person to partner with: Nisha Dua. HW: BBGV invests in startups where there’s at least one female founder. Here’s the thing: We’ve seen or been approached by almost 1800 startups since we launched, so there’s clearly not an issue with deal flow.

IPO 75

IPO Cap Table NDA Vietnam 75

VC Adventure

DECEMBER 9, 2015

There would be no generational planning, no transitions to younger partners, and no senior partner hold-outs who would hang onto economics well after they had stopped working. It’s also been fun – a great way to get close to new managers, build lasting personal relationships, and see deal flow for our Foundry Group investing activity.

Later Stage 48

Later Stage Early Stage Advisory Board Deal Flow 48

Rob Go

DECEMBER 13, 2016

” Surprisingly, this isn’t just an LP kind of question, I actually get this a lot from founders or even just friends who are not directly involved in the startup community. I did a session with the partners of the Dorm Room Fund a few nights ago, and that was the first question that came up.

Deal Flow 28

Deal Flow LP Channel Software 28