VC Cafe

AUGUST 11, 2022

And so a large part of the VCs time is focused on the question ‘who should I invest in’ Equally important though, is the question of why should a founder/ startup take your money. If you agree that the top founders are likely to receive multiple term-sheets, then the importance of founder-investor fit increases.

Founder 187

Founder Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital 187

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

Because the hundreds of millions that it takes to greenlight a theatrical film could never be absorbed by a startup and because they way we experience media & characters has evolved dramatically over the past 20 years to a point where the starting point for media is often digital, gaming or even graphic novel oriented.

Technical Review 373

Technical Review North America Los Angeles Cofounder 373

Gust

MAY 22, 2012

We now have an investment in Cascade ProDrug, using technology developed at our own University of Oregon (based in Eugene, where I live) to help people fight cancer by reducing the toxic effects of chemotherapy. We have a standard term sheet as a starting point. We like the local connection. .

Technical Review 111

Technical Review Oregon Due Diligence Term Sheet 111

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Having re-read it, I believe his real premise instead is, “Fixed-size, multi-investor angel rounds are such a bad idea for startups that one wonders why things were ever done that way.&#. Either would be fine with startups, so long as they can easily change their valuation. When I’m in, I’m in. rings true to me.

Finance 286

Finance Term Sheet Technical Review Warrant 286

Version One Ventures

MARCH 3, 2021

ICYMI, here is a list of our posts on why we’re excited about backing these startups. In helping our portfolio startups go through the announcement process, we’ve compiled some suggestions to guide you in putting out your message and making sure it gets amplified in the right way. Most popular tech publication = TechCrunch.

Social Media 147

Social Media Technical Review Term Sheet PR 147

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Amidst the rise of new funds, new technologies, and potentially disruptive late stage players, I thought it was important to share what we consider to be our core operating principles here at NextView. . As seed funds have raised larger and larger funds, more have developed the muscle around issuing term sheets and “leading”.

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

We have a special program if you are pre-seed and need product development. Since 2017 we’ve managed $3 million in revenue-based financing, which helps cash-strapped technology companies grow. We’re currently evaluating about 20 companies a month and issuing term sheets to 25% of them; those that fit our investment criteria.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Our categorization is not a technical one. Additionally, Flexible VC can accommodate all types of companies, not just asset-lite, tech-enabled companies.”. which they co-developed with Fenwick & West. . Of the Inc.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. This also appears as a guest post at Fortune’s Term Sheet. Silicon Valley is still emerging from the tech bubble and massive downturn of late 2000-2002. Salesforce.com is a startup with 76,000 subscribers (over 2.1M How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

The program provides entrepreneurs the resources and mentoring they need to build their companies and develop their skills. This article highlights their advice on issues ranging from financing to patent trolls: While startups may believe lawyers are too costly, working with one early on avoids potentially serious problems later.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 12, 2017

To outside investors, the future of early stage and startup companies can be murky. Many of these companies are pre-revenue and in the cash burn stage as they try to establish their technology and market. For many startups this results in a need to raise additional financing through debt or equity arrangements.

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Forecast Early Stage Term Sheet 133

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Thomas Clayton has started and run numerous high-tech startups in Silicon Valley. He is currently CEO of Bubbly , a social media startup backed by Sequoia Capital, SingTel Innov8, and JAFCO. The company is one of the largest VC–backed startups in Southeast Asia, having raised over $60M in funding.

Asia 132

Asia Silicon Valley India Term Sheet 132

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

Traction can simply mean showing that you’re making progress with customers, product development, channel partners, initial revenue as a proof point, attracting well-known angel investors, winning industry awards / recognition. Funding is about developing a relationship over time. They hire key staff. They make progress.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2010

I’ve talked about how Twitter is a new form of RSS (curated RSS), it’s a a new form of IM / SMS , it’s a place where business is conducted and it’s a place where advertising will drive leads due to the link sharing nature of Twitter. I started reading Brad’s “term sheet&# series.

Social Network 347

Social Network Networking Southern California Term Sheet 347

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

While certainly not every business needs to raise venture financing, it is the path for many high-growth technology startups. Therefore, going down the fundraising path is something many technology entrepreneurs will need to do and a critical step in the development of their business. Tip 4: Really Understand Key Terms.

Cap Table 125

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 125

Up and Running

MAY 18, 2016

Reading lists are dime a dozen, but reading lists that focus on rapid-growth startup businesses? It’s the ultimate startup guide if you’re looking for systematic business growth and guidance on what not to do. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses.

Startup 80

Startup Venture Capital Angel Investor Lean 80

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

When I met my now-wife, I realized that any technology that can find me a spouse is a killer app. I’d argue that the same type of technologies that have revolutionized dating can revolutionize our industry. . I walk through below how progressive investors are using technology and analytics throughout all of their operations.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. My blog linked to Brad Feld’s blog because I was so grateful for his series on term sheets and he was one of the biggest reasons that as a VC I felt compelled to blog.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

Tech Channels ▾ Cleantech ›. Innovation Report Shows San Diego Added 695 Tech Jobs at End of 2011. San Diego’s Free EvoNexus Tech Incubator Gains Qualcomm Expertise. Startups ›. View More in Startups ›. VP of Strategic and Emerging Business Development, Microsoft. View More in Seattle ›. Health IT ›.

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

And they should be; the feeding frenzy in the innovation economy is in some cases because startups are eating the lunch of more established companies. Access to the corporate investor’s ecosystem can open up great opportunities from technology validation to customer and partner development.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

If these sound like reasonable answers to you, and you are in a startup/small company, update your resume. Titles are not your job When I pressed my staff to explain why marketing did trade shows, or wrote press releases or penned data sheets, the best I could get was “why that’s our job.”

Silicon Valley 259

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 259

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 5, 2014

” If you’re in the technology industry you can probably answer but as I discovered this holiday season, most of my extended family and childhood friends were a bit fuzzier on the concept. Maybe because Homebrew is our startup, just one which writes checks instead of code. “A Venture Capitalist? What exactly is that?”

Software Review 103

Software Review Balance Sheet Cofounder Technical Review 103

Scalable Startup

MARCH 7, 2012

Seth Levine, a successful VC with the Foundry Group , wrote a great blog entry about all the hype going on currently in the startup world. Currently Los Angeles is in what could be a startup renaissance or an apocalypse, dependent on how long the hype goes on. To reuse an overused term – Wait what? Worth the read.

Software Review 26

Software Review Technical Review Los Angeles Due Diligence 26

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Moat, the biggest exit out of the bunch, was sourced when I met Mike Walrath at a tech event. He said they’d consider any “special situations” funds I was doing—at which point I realized that he had never even looked at the deck and had zero intentions of doing any real diligence.

LP 136

LP Technical Review Software Review Valuation 136

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Amidst the rise of new funds, new technologies, and potentially disruptive late stage players, I thought it was important to share what we consider to be our core operating principles here at NextView. . As seed funds have raised larger and larger funds, more have developed the muscle around issuing term sheets and “leading”.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

This is a company that, according to the article, got term sheets from half of the VCs that expressed interest in the company. How would they know unless they surveyed a critical mass of startups all at the same stage now and then three years ago or so to compare? Not a bad close rate, I'd say--and a pretty great pay day.

Venture Capital 114

Venture Capital Marketing Term Sheet Software Review 114

www.readwriteweb.com

DECEMBER 29, 2011

While certainly not every business needs to raise venture financing, it is the path for many high-growth technology startups. Therefore, going down the fundraising path is something many technology entrepreneurs will need to do and is a critical step in the development of their business. Tip 2: Have A Real Lead.

Cap Table 47

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 47

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.”

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

www.seriesseed.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Series Seed Term Sheet (v 2.0). Series Seed Term Sheet. Good idea, I think this will benefit lots of startups and some angels. In reviewing these documents on the term sheet, last item, how is the term "double trigger" defined. Series Seed IRA (v 2.0).

Finance 40

Finance Term Sheet Vesting LLC 40

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I get approached about clean tech or biotech periodically – I don’t focus on these. He’s focused on that sector (not exclusively but predominantly) and therefore has an amazing network at large financial services firms to help you with business development. So they develop short-hand ways to qualify things better.

Developer 366

Developer Silicon Valley PR Las Vegas 366

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March There was some really great content in June. It shows a lack of interest.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Want to start a startup? A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. Few startups get it quite right. 1 ] A startups life will be more complicated, legally, if any of theinvestors arent accredited.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

I remind founders that the no’s come early because it’s super easy to qualify out a deal that you know is unlikely due to stage, focus, geography, competitive deal you’ve done or even just the fact that you’re too busy right now. I have successfully used this in business development, sales, fund raising and even the press.

Term Sheet 232

Term Sheet France Technical Review Restful 232

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

But Cafepress’s most memorable moment was when the founders used a “Lessons Learned” VC pitch to raise their second round of funding and got an 8-digit term sheet that same afternoon. The presentation didn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or Customer Development. Here’s how they did it.

Venture Capital 209

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 209

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

It has many stylistic errors — and a few substantive ones, too — that I would now change having learned more, but I realized that it still provides useful insights for entrepreneurs and startup participants outside of the Greylock network, particularly across three areas of interest: how entrepreneurs should approach the pitch process.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Cracking the Code

JULY 5, 2016

Most startups fail at getting a new country off the ground. Making an acqui-hire successful If successfully executed, combining resources from an acqui-hire will save years of work while broadening the technical and talent bench. We acquired three companies in short amount of time and each time I re-used the same term sheet template.

Italy 59

Italy Technical Review Germany Poland 59

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Fred Wilson warns that it is starting to feel like a bubble again, with VCs writing $5 and $10 million dollar checks with very little due diligence, sometimes showing up to a first meeting with a term sheet… Israeli startup headlines for Nov 15, 2010. Funding news. Calcalist Hebrew ].

Technical Review 79

Technical Review Venture Capital Matching 79