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Startup Due Diligence Is Not a Mysterious Black Art

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After you have successfully attracted angels or venture capital with your business case, your million dollar product idea, and you have a signed term sheet, there is still one more hurdle to overcome before investors write the check. This is the dreaded “due diligence” process. Product or service readiness. Waste no time.

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Valuations 101: The Venture Capital Method

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The Venture Capital Method (VC Method) was first described by Professor Bill Sahlman at Harvard Business School in 1987 in a case study and has been revised since. It is one of the useful methods for establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup ventures.

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Entrepreneurs: Due Diligence on Investors is Smart

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Due diligence should always be a two-way street. A while back, I published an article on “ Startup Due Diligence Is Not a Mysterious Black Art ,” describing what investors do to validate your startup before they invest. Taking on an investor is like getting married – the relationship has to work at all levels.

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Valuation Methods 101

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Detailed descriptions will be published over the next few weeks: The Scorecard Method: This method compares the target company to typical angel-funded startup ventures and adjusts the average valuation of recently funded companies in the region to establish a pre-money valuation of the target. The Venture Capital Method.

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5 Things I Look when Investing in a Startup

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It’s the result of several decades in high tech, three years as an investor in a local Oregon angel investment group , some consulting in due diligence for venture capital, and my experience as founder and co-founder of successful ventures. What I say here is my opinion and mine alone. Startup experience.

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Investors: Avoid These Investment Event Problems

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In fact, before the final event, the investors have already done due diligence. Angel investment events where the due diligence isn’t done before the event. In most of the events that I’ve participated in, that the appearance of a business plan contest is to some extent illusion.

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Nuts & Bolts of Intellectual Property for New Startups

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.” Apart from all the other benefits of good corporate hygiene and risk management, handling these IP issues carefully from inception can go a long way to allay the concerns investors or their counsel may have in doing due diligence.