Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. However, they have been sending VCs far more investment checks in the last ten years than they’ve gotten back as distributions.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital LP Silicon Valley Marketing 150

ithacaVC

DECEMBER 14, 2011

Continuing with the “No Mess” theme of commenting on things that give VCs pause, I thought it would be good to touch on liquidation preference. Specifically, “too much” liquidation preference (I will use “LP” for liquidation preference). It might be.

Liquidation Preference 49

Liquidation Preference LP Preferred Stock Liquidity Event 49

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

In a discussion I had with Fred Wilson at the Invesco LP meeting Fred said the same about the influence of Clayton. Obviously that barrier has been brought down with low-cost ability to capture, stream and distribute content over the Internet. “Online education is truly going to kill us.” Neither does Clayton.

Bankruptcy 403

Bankruptcy Offshore Liquidation Preference Balance Sheet 403

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

If you really want to liberate your own common shares and those of your employees, then you want to convert the preferred to common and remove both the control and the liquidation preference over your shares. Cash distributions are what matter at the end of the day, bug big paper gains still make for good fundraising pitches.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40