K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Low supply of companies with traction drove the valuations and deal sizes up. The risk here is what I refer to as the curse of over-capitalization. The Venture Capital industry as a whole does a terrible job of giving things the right name and so we end up keeping the same name, but changing the meaning out from under it.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. Don’t even get me started on Demo Days. You could spent 20 days / year at Demo Days now. What would she do if things got really bad and she had to lay off 50% of her team to survive?

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

View from Seed

APRIL 2, 2020

That way, when you’re talking to them on Zoom, it’s not them trying to focus on what’s happening in the slide that you might be sharing or the demo that you’re doing, but they can actually try to make some kind of human connection via a video conference. The Future of Venture Capital.

Partner 156

Partner Marketing Portfolio Early Stage 156

Genuine VC

JANUARY 13, 2014

Better to spend energy maximizing long-term valuation by building underlying business value rather than short-term optimizing a bidding process… so the intuitive thinking goes. Venture capital firms are comprised of people, which natural means that their idiosyncrasies seep into the process.

Term Sheet 206

Term Sheet Venture Capital Valuation Portfolio 206

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

That’s why investors attend Demo Days and look for acceptance into such programs as one of several ‘validators’ of a startup. If you share your material with a VC and get a polite response that you are out of their range, you should double check the investor’s profile page.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

David Teten

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

I’ve listed below the points I recommend you cover when pitching your business to early-stage investors, including but definitely not limited to ff Venture Capital. If you are testing the market to see what terms you can get, just say, “We are targeting to raise $X at pre-money valuation of $Y.”

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation Prospectus Early Stage 60

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

It is most common to greatly overprice such a round of financing, valuing the enterprise well above what it may be worth at the moment for friends or related investors who do not have the sophistication or willingness to challenge the valuation. Do not expect grand valuations of your enterprise from these professional angels.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

So what is driving the new energy in the remaining venture capital firms when we kept hearing how much the whole industry was “against the ropes?&# … 1. note: there is one rare exception – in 2006 Sevin Rosen declared that Venture Capital was broken and actually returned money to their LPs !

IPO 255

IPO Investment Bankers Venture Capital Marketing 255

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

If you give $2 million for 20% of a company ($8 million pre + $2 million investment = $10 million post-money valuation) that has no product and no customers and it turns around 3 months later and sells for $5 million it would hardly be fair for investor to get $1 million back (20% of the proceeds). Get yourself in a big demo day competition.

Liquidation Preference 357

Liquidation Preference Early Stage Retention Lock-up Period 357

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

Ive written previously about Right Side Capital Management (RCSM) , the latest in my post earlier this year, " How Much Diligence is Due. " (Full disclosure: I am an investor and adviser in RCSM.) They have launched a valuation tool that is free to try out. Labels: due diligence , early stage investing , moneyball , valuation.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review Early Stage San Jose Angel Investor 38

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 19, 2013

Paul''s point is all about being upfront and honest, which is ironic, because Demo Days seem to be one giant dog and pony show where the flashiest, biggest talking companies seem to get the most attention. Hunter Walk''s post on demo days really does a good job of summarizing how I feel about this: ".I’m

Venture Capital 111

Venture Capital Valuation Distribution Founder 111

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

One comment made by Jason was that angels tend to be less sensitive than VCs on valuation and can potentially make it difficult to get a venture financing done at acceptable valuation. We are typically looking at either smaller exits or require a lower valuation to get a reasonable step-up to a venture round.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Professor VC

APRIL 7, 2011

In a convertible note structure, Im penalized for increasing your valuation. Instead of getting a 2-3x multiple from seed to Series A, I get a discount off of the Series A, so Im better off financially with a lower valuation. You may say, if you are investing in the next facebook or google, why care about valuation? 2 weeks ago.

San Jose 36

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Valuation 36

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

Find Questions, Topics and People Add Question Add Question Venture Capital Venture Capital Term Sheets Startups Term Sheets What are examples of good startup term sheets? The BVCA (British Venture Capital Association) docs are here, with a link to a term sheet [link] ets/fea. org/2009/02. org/index.php?op.

Term Sheet 41

Term Sheet Startup Angel Investor Wiki 41

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

Adams, authors of “ Venture Capital For Dummies ® “ You’ve managed to get the attention of well-established venture capitalists. Or maybe your projected earnings were reasonable, but your product demo went horribly wrong. Quoting an inflated valuation. . by Nicole Gravagna and Peter K.

Venture Capital 180

Venture Capital Technical Cofounder Milwaukee Valuation 180

Jason Ball

JUNE 16, 2020

If you can get onto the ladder via an accelerator program, they frequently host demo days and are well connected to the investor community. I’ve attended countless demo days over the years. Tip 3: Valuation. Another great way into a VC is via their portfolio company! Your response rate will be much better.

Dilution 34

Dilution Valuation Incubator Portfolio 34

Professor VC

JANUARY 17, 2008

If my math is correct, this is approximately a 31% IRR, which has to beat individual angel investments on aggregate and venture capital returns over the period of the study (1990-2007). Another comment which probably deserves more discussion is around valuation. return on investment after 3.5

Pre-Money Valuation 28

Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Angel Groups Valuation 28

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

This is a story of one of the risks of venture capital. But some companies have entrepreneurs that seem talented on paper, are in a space that seems interesting to investors and are able to raise venture capital early in the company’s existence. True story.) 2 weeks later and we may never have raised any more VC.

Founder 299

Founder Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 299

BeyondVC

APRIL 15, 2011

OK, I may be biased having been an early stage VC based out of New York since 1996, but I must say that the vibe, energy, and people at the Techstars NYC Demo Day event yesterday was simply awesome. Dave Tisch and team simply did a fantastic job guiding the startups, recruiting the mentors, and organizing the event.

New York 129

New York Sweat Equity Marketing Startup 129

BeyondVC

APRIL 15, 2011

OK, I may be biased having been an early stage VC based out of New York since 1996, but I must say that the vibe, energy, and people at the Techstars NYC Demo Day event yesterday was simply awesome. Dave Tisch and team simply did a fantastic job guiding the startups, recruiting the mentors, and organizing the event.

New York 129

New York Sweat Equity Marketing Startup 129

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

This human touch can be as light as email follow ups, or as much as inside sales people doing multiple sales calls and demos. For example: Create demo videos that answer every likely sales question. Owning the customer base is an important way to control your own destiny, and will also earn your company a higher valuation.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

Haystack

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

On a slightly smaller impact scale, there isn’t a lot of content out there about “How to build a venture fund.” In this podcast, Eggers details his view of the phases the venture capital industry has gone through and recounts some stories about how Lightspeed was able to break through, and how hard it was to get that chance.

Venture Capital 117

Venture Capital China India Cofounder 117

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2023

We don’t do demo days: It’s not our thing… never has been and never will be. Our wrap-up day will be hosted in San Francisco and will focus on exposing our geographically diverse teams to the epicenter of venture capital within Silicon Valley. The culmination of this accelerator program isn’t a demo day or a big show.

Programming 156

Programming Sacramento San Francisco Founder 156

Professor VC

AUGUST 26, 2011

Everyone seems to know someone who has raised huge amounts of venture capital without ever putting together even back of the envelope projections. Labels: entrepreneurial finance , financial analysis , venture capital. Rebuild our Inner Cities one Venture at a time? Are DEMO's days numbered? at 3:15 PM.

Silicon Valley 35

Silicon Valley San Jose Hockey Stick Venture Capital 35

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Before they even launched, Mike and his team started bringing in hundreds of influencers from NYC’s technology ecosystem to their office to give them a private demo. Advice on startups raising capital: if you raise your first round at a super high valuation and don’t grow into your valuation, it makes it very hard to live for the long game.

Semantic 302

Semantic Acquisition Valuation Angel Investor 302

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

This post describes how companies using the Customer Development model can increase their credibility, valuation and probability of getting a first round of funding by presenting their results in a “Lesson Learned&# venture pitch. You might as well bring your lucky rabbits foot to the VC meeting.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Another concept we need to introduce now is valuation. I say "in theory" because in early stageinvesting, valuations are voodoo. As a company gets more established,its valuation gets closer to an actual market value. As a company gets more established,its valuation gets closer to an actual market value. Better how?

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

Of course, when 10-year returns for the entire venture capital asset class is about to drop below zero, drastic measures may be in order. While this is not surprising, it would be interesting to look at returns provided to venture capital firms from novice and serial entrepreneurs. Are DEMO's days numbered?

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Venture Capital Angel Investor 28

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

While my ownership stake in the company has been diluted through these financings (and the merger with uControl), my carried interest (paper value of my equity) has been going up with each increase in valuation. Labels: angel investing , entrepreneurial finance , entrepreneurial lessons , venture capital. Venture News.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

On the financial analysis end, you have multiples far and away the most common valuation method over DCF, Simulation and Option analysis. Labels: due diligence , financial analysis , venture capital. Are DEMO's days numbered? The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. Venture News. at 1:04 PM.

San Jose 33

San Jose Angel Investor Venture Capital Mezzanine 33

dondodge.typepad.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing Thoughts on business and technology Home Archives Profile Subscribe About Me « Boston VCs gets first look at Y Combinator Demo Day | Main | Digg-nation is HUGE! The entrepreneur expects the company to be worth many times this valuation and so does the investor. That is how much you should raise.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Dilution Valuation 40

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 18, 2011

I asked him how the deal came out for investors since the sale price was significantly lower than the valuation on the round they were raising when we met. Are DEMO's days numbered? The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. Congratulations on the Best Venture Capital Investment. Venture News.

Acquisition 31

Acquisition San Jose Angel Investor IPO 31

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

At the end of this post, we’ll discuss the valuation at each step (how much the investors value your company and therefore how much of it you need to give up to get this money) and how much revenue you should generate at each step.). It might be a wire-frame, PowerPoint demo or prototype. Valuations.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

Rowe Price and Fidelity funds who bid the company up to ridiculous valuations in their pre-IPO rounds. Unlike venture capital funds, they don't make money directly off the multiples of their return. If you were willing to take their $500 million checks, they were willing to give you whatever valuations you wanted.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Initial Public Offering Valuation IPO 60

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Some angels, especially those with technology backgrounds, may be satisfied with a demo and a verbal description of what you plan to do. Venture investments are usually described in terms ofthat number. 6] What I didnt grasp at the time was that the valuation wasnt just the value of the code wed written so far.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

As t approaches infinity, Demo Dayapproaches an auction. Opportunities like this dont sit unexploited forever, even in anindustry as conservative as venture capital. But which of them, if they weretaken back in a time machine to the hour Google was founded, wouldntoffer to invest at any valuation the founders chose?

Bootstrapping 77

Bootstrapping Term Sheet Founder Startup 77

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

2 ] When you negotiate terms with a startup, there are two numbers youcare about: how much money youre putting in, and the valuation ofthe company. The valuation determines how much stock you get. Ifyou put $50,000 into a company at a pre-money valuation of $1million, then the post-money valuation is $1.05

Angel Investor 63

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Dilution 63