Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

For early-stage startups, the goodwill component can easily exceed the size of all the financial elements together, or can just as easily mark a company with good financials as not investable. For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. Performance accountability processes.

Leadership 120

Leadership Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

Investors may not be called co-founders, but they always get equity, commensurate with their share of the total costs anticipated, or share of the current valuation. business entrepreneurs startups' A friend or family investor thus might get 20 percent of the equity, even with no business activity contribution. But don’t get greedy.

Cofounder 261

Cofounder Stock Founder Technical Cofounder 261

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

Every early-stage startup should explore this new funding alternative. New “up-and-comer” VCs focus on early-stage companies. VCs are finding that they don’t need the “large” funds of $100M to $500M to support a portfolio, if they focus on early-stage startups. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 215

Technical Review Early Stage Venture Capital Startup 215

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

We are in a bubble (with so many private $1bn+ valuations). pre-money valuation you certainly would want to exercise your right to continue investing if you had prorata rights. ” The pioneering fund of funds realize that their source of differentiation is much more about the latter than the former. Where are we today? .”

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

While the rewards may be a boon to their company in the short term, the consequences of accepting outside funding too early can be debilitating. There’s a reason why I refer to early-stage VC funding as vulture capital, and to be honest it’s pretty accurate. The expectations are fundamentally misaligned. It certainly was for us.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Investors may not be called co-founders, but they always get equity, commensurate with their share of the total costs anticipated, or share of the current valuation.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

In most cases if you can’t get a prototype done you’re probably not an entrepreneur. Differentiate. Professional angels / former entrepreneurs / seed funds – In Silicon Valley there are people like Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Mike Maples and many more. But for most businesses it is. That’s OK.

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

As high-conviction, seed stage investors, we are inherently relationship-driven, and we value meeting exceptional founders face-to-face. With the onset of COVID-19, we, along with the broader ecosystem of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, have been pushed to rapidly adapt, forge connections, and do our jobs remotely.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Seed investors are aplenty and of course they need downstream money to fuel their early-stage bets. Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, And there’s conferences. Oh, the conferences.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

thebarefootvc

MAY 8, 2012

As an entrepreneur at heart, I often innately grasp the potential of entrepreneurs and ideas that I meet with. It is the human capital involved, both internally with company teams and externally with advisors, boards and investors, that is going to differentiate which startups survive and become the disruptive businesses of tomorrow.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Syndicate Syndication Bandwidth 78

Hippoland

JULY 24, 2016

Valuation is a nebulous topic amongst early stage startups, so I thought I’d really spell it out in detail. In short: Valuations for seed stage companies are fairly arbitrary and driven solely by supply and demand. Your startup’s valuation is not based on a proforma of your revenue.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Valuation Vertical Demand 48

Venture Chronicles

MAY 26, 2010

This is the “tastes great, less filling&# debate that recurs on a regular basis in the venture capital and entrepreneur communities. At this point it’s all paper valuation because the stock isn’t liquid so achieving an outcome is a function of executing on the business to achieve a next round of funding or selling it.

Lean 40

Lean Early Stage Valuation Startup 40

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

When times are really good for fund raising many teams delay to maximize their valuation. This conversation seems to come up very frequently these days both with portfolio companies and with entrepreneurs just looking for mentorship. I like to tell entrepreneurs that the “fairway&# of fund raising is 25-33% per round.

Pre-Money Valuation 303

Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Valuation PR 303

The Equity Kicker

OCTOBER 1, 2013

Having the same strategy as everyone else makes it hard to differentiate and generate outsize returns. I’m also a fan of focused investment strategies – they allow you to build expertise resulting in better investment decisions and better deal flows as entrepreneurs seek out your expertise. This creates opportunity for us.

Silicon Valley 92

Silicon Valley eCommerce Deal Flow Valuation 92

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 10, 2020

Nic Brisbourne is Managing Partner at Forward Partners, the UK’s leading early-stage VC, currently supporting the UK’s next generation of AI, e-commerce and marketplace businesses. I think we differ a little from the rest of the industry, though, particularly with our focus on early stage companies. It’s just horrible.

Partner 68

Partner Early Stage Portfolio Metrics 68

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

This is the third article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). I should say that I agree that naive optimism in entrepreneurs can produce higher beta (upside or flops) and that’s good from an investment standpoint if you’re looking for big returns.

Angel Investor 284

Angel Investor Early Stage Cap Table Deal Flow 284

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

My general opinion is that anything that makes the financing process faster and easier or otherwise educates entrepreneurs is a good thing. (A In addition, I think that a “peace treaty&# between early-stage investors and startup companies on standard terms (at least at a term sheet level) is a step in the right direction.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

The Equity Kicker

JULY 16, 2012

Unfortunately, it is in the nature of startups that the opportunity size is usually unclear at the early stages. Wonga springs to mind as an example of such a company at the moment, as does our portfolio company Neul , albeit at an earlier stage. This advice isn’t always terribly popular. This strategy is called “Niche to Win”.

LP 105

LP Early Stage Valuation Differentiation 105

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 28, 2022

This article will assist you in gaining a fundamental understanding of equity valuation, kinds of equity, and other related topics. To make preferred shares more marketable, different companies issuing the shares include several characteristics that differentiate them from common stock. Importance of equity valuation.

Valuation 108

Valuation Equity Warrant Common Stock 108

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is the third article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). And if I were an entrepreneur I’d rather find investors who understood “my space&# so that in tough times they felt comfortable about “doubling down.&#. Not everybody agreed.

Angel Investor 152

Angel Investor Cap Table Early Stage Deal Flow 152

The Equity Kicker

JULY 8, 2019

Capital is a commodity, a truism that the VC industry was largely able to ignore in the early days due to lack of capital in the market and scarcity of information for entrepreneurs. This trend accelerated through the emergence of VC and operator blogging in the early 2000s. . more valuable than their peers. .

Portfolio 84

Portfolio LP Venture Capital Partner 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited angel investors. VCs tend to demand more control of your spending and strategic decisions, with required board seats and lower valuations. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

Angel Investor 314

Angel Investor Entrepreneur IRR Valuation 314

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

. × At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. It doesn’t matter whether an entrepreneur is in our portfolio, whether we’re considering an investment, or whether we’re casually meeting for the first time. Entrepreneurs often ask me for help with their pitch decks.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2023

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited angel investors. VCs tend to demand more control of your spending and strategic decisions, with required board seats and lower valuations. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

Angel Investor 246

Angel Investor IRR Venture Capital Valuation 246

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 8, 2017

Being expert in an area makes us better board members and hence better able to win deals with the best entrepreneurs. Suitable for early stage investment. To do that they must pass valuation milestones. We are better able to see problems coming and advise on strategies to work around them. We can articulate use cases.

Artificial Inteligence 78

Artificial Inteligence eCommerce Early Stage Algorithm 78

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2014

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. VCs tend to demand more control of your spending and strategic decisions, with required board seats and lower valuations. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

Angel Investor 266

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Venture Capital IRR 266

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

A reminder that it is important for all entrepreneurs is to remember to be careful about “deal drift.” million at a $15 million pre-money valuation. Morgan Stanley had proposed a higher valuation to let them in. I’ve offered to fund an early stage company where I promised cash in bank in less than 30 days.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

By definition, the capital investment needs to be relatively low such that the investors and the entrepreneurs all make a healthy return on investment. I asked her not to spray and pray, and focus on her core, differentiated products - stretch mark and c-section mark removal creams for new mothers. This is her core market.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

By definition, the capital investment needs to be relatively low such that the investors and the entrepreneurs all make a healthy return on investment. I asked her not to spray and pray, and focus on her core, differentiated products - stretch mark and c-section mark removal creams for new mothers. This is her core market.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

As I mentioned at the beginning of this series/ebook, over the years I’ve noticed that I tend to frequently share certain Lucky7 posts with entrepreneurs we’ve backed , team members at data.world, or other startup investors I know. So I’m packaging the best of them up for you here in a new series called The Entrepreneur’s Essentials.

Software Review 48

Software Review Sales Cofounder Analytics 48

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2016

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. VCs tend to demand more control of your spending and strategic decisions, with required board seats and lower valuations. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor IRR Valuation Startup 120

Agile VC

DECEMBER 6, 2012

I was talking with an entrepreneur recently about this phenomenon. 2) Differential Cost Basis – Suppose Acme Ventures III invested in the Series A of Startup X and then made follow-on investments in the Series B and C. Why wouldn’t Fund IV invest at this stage? beginning of the investment period).

LP 178

LP Balance Sheet Differentiation Limited Partner 178

The Next Web

JANUARY 15, 2014

The “extremization” of the message or user experience has become sin qua non for achieving differentiation in the cacophony of publicity messages. Groupon, in its early stages, aimed at increasing consumer purchasing power. Entrepreneur Insider Investigations'

Web 141

Web Tampa Non-Compete Search 141

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

According to VCs, there’s been a 65% decrease in up-rounds (where a company gets a bigger valuation) in the last six months and more than 60% of those polled expect a longer wait for an exit. Been there Done that This is very depressing for all future founders, or even currently early stage founders. And they get a few million.

Venture Capital 62

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

Ben's Blog

MAY 24, 2021

So, even assuming they wanted to raise the same amount of nominal dollars at the IPO as in the past, a higher valuation means they can do so by issuing many fewer shares. This makes little sense when you consider the differential risks of loss associated with those two very different stages of investments. To ensure U.S.

SEC 36

SEC Accredited Investor IPO Technical Review 36

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

Find Questions, Topics and People Add Question Add Question Team Configuration 500 Startups Guerilla Marketing Organizations Entrepreneurship Startup Founders & Entrepreneurs Startups Startup Incubators and Seed Programs Seedcamp Y Combinator TechStars Lean Startups What is the perfect startup team?

Technical Review 51

Technical Review Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 51