Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

It occurred to me that although we mentioned our new thematic approach when we raised our last fund in 2017, we haven’t really shared a broader manifesto about how we are approaching the early stage market. It’s been an interesting several years in the early stage venture eco-system, and the sands have shifted considerably.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

This has led VC & entrepreneur bloggers alike to similar conclusions: start raising capital early and be careful about having too high of a burn rate because that lessens the amount of runway you have until you need more cash. I’m surprised how few entrepreneurs have this open conversation with their investors.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Valuation Software Review 150

Gust

DECEMBER 27, 2012

It sounds obvious, but the majority of entrepreneurs who pitch me have obviously never thought through many of the major issues surrounding their companies. With #1 – #3 under your belt, you should start preparing the components you will use to support your pitch to outside investors. Understand your business.

Software Review 164

Software Review Term Sheet Technical Review Angel Investor 164

David Teten

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

Their late stage deals outside of the venture centers outperform by ~5% vs. those in the venture centers; early stage deals outperformed by ~4%. At ffVC, our primary origination strategy is to provide a high level of services to entrepreneurs, and then let word of mouth spread.

Private Equity 114

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Equity 114

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

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

View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

Just yesterday, Adam Medros , SVP of Global Product at TripAdvisor and an entrepreneur advisor for NextView, just asked about when the next event will be. And although this is written for angel investors, I think entrepreneurs can only benefit by increasing their knowledge around these investors and hope you’ll continue reading if that’s you.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

Just yesterday, Adam Medros , SVP of Global Product at TripAdvisor and an entrepreneur advisor for NextView, just asked about when the next event will be. And although this is written for angel investors, I think entrepreneurs can only benefit by increasing their knowledge around these investors and hope you’ll continue reading if that’s you.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 120

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

Almost seven years ago, I wrote a post about the difference between a “no” answer and a “no yet” when pitching early-stage VCs. Parsing Seed & Early-Stage VCs. Increasingly some seed VCs are specializing in a particular segment of the “spectrum” of seed stage. [ When “Too Early” Isn’t a “No”.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Differentiation Lead Investor 120

Berkonomics

JANUARY 25, 2024

Entrepreneurs will have a relative willing to devote time, a school friend with business experience, professionals who charge for the service, investors with a reason to promote your success and more. However, there surely are experienced executives out there who’ll work for a meal. It is worth asking.

SBA 62

SBA Warrant Stock Options Vesting 62

Hippoland

APRIL 9, 2017

Winning over investors is not just about showing traction / progress (although that is a big component to getting investors onboard). Fundamentally, investors have to trust you in order to invest in you. And, I think most investors will give entrepreneurs the benefit of the doubt…until they cannot. But that’s ok.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Early Stage Software Review Naming 48

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

However, at the very early stage, they are taking as much risk with their future as the founders. You might assume the lead investor wants a 20 percent stake and 15 percent option pool each time there’s a Series ‘Blah’ every 12 to 18 months, but this is admittedly too simple. Engineer #1?

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

The Next Web

JUNE 6, 2014

Jay Patani is an analyst at EC1 Capital, a London-based early stage, Web technology focused venture capital company. Whilst exact details remain unclear, Tech City declared that companies on the program have access to a team of leading investors, accounting firms and business leaders for ongoing advice and support. .

United Kingdom 141

United Kingdom Europe IPO Early Stage 141

A Crowded Space

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Very shortly after I joined, Greg Gretsch (now my partner at Jackson Square Ventures) co-led oDesk’s Series A along with Venky Ganesan (partner at Menlo Ventures and lead investor in Rev.com). Realistically for entrepreneurs, no matter how hard you try, you’re going to make hiring mistakes.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Bangladesh Ukraine Philippines 60

View from Seed

JANUARY 26, 2016

With that in mind, let’s look at an illustration of these trends below, which demonstrates what’s been happening to early-stage financing rounds over the last 15 years or so. Series A investors invested quite early, often before product/market fit.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Cofounder Finance 120

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 30, 2022

What there isn’t a whole lot of: Early stage investors with institutional lead check experience (and a small support team, large networks, etc), who are investing their own capital, in a flexible manner, and then working post-investment to provide additional ongoing support.

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Venture Capital Cofounder Portfolio 67

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Prabhdeep Singh: Ask any entrepreneur about their most valuable resource when they’re making tough decisions, and you’ll hear the name of someone, not something. Over the past 15 years we’ve built this amazing membership to serve our core clients – leading investors, corporations, consulting firms, and nonprofits.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

Pre-money ($8m) + investment ($2m) = Post-money ($10m) and the investors now own 20% of your company $2m / $10m. In the old days there usually weren’t convertible notes on early-stage deals and there weren’t party rounds with 20 angels or 6 seed funds. So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages?

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Post-Money Valuation Dilution 150

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

As the seed-stage startup fundraise process has received more transparency in recent years, ranging from published advice on how to raise seed capital to increased availability through AngelList, Funders Club, and various accelerator programs, I’ve noticed another trend emerging. Lower-Than-Market Value. Above-Market Value.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 5, 2011

We’re almost always the lead investor and usually the most active, too. Become a resource for entrepreneurs to have access to the lawyers, accountants, real-estate professionals and other people with whom our entrepreneurs work. Demonstrate the deep relationships we have with the CEO’s with whom we work.

Early Stage 260

Early Stage Lead Investor Portfolio Partner 260

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” As an entrepreneur it can feel as intimidating as going to buy a car where the dealer knows the price of every make & model of a car and you’re guessing at how much to pay.

Valuation 324

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

I know many super experienced entrepreneurs who don’t understand the basics of how fund size and age can affect them so I thought it was worth establishing a baseline. In a world of The Funded, VentureHacks and entrepreneur blogs this kind of informations spreads like wildfire. Let me explain: 1. And they don’t.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Entrepreneurs will have a relative willing to devote time, a school friend with business experience, professionals who charge for the service, investors with a reason to promote your success and more. There must be many more creative ways to pay a coach, especially for early stage businesses. It is worth asking.

Warrant 97

Warrant Stock Options Vesting Equity 97

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

Good VCs try to pass as quickly as possible once they decide on that outcome, in order to be respectful of an entrepreneur’s time. So you should be looking for this level signal and, if you’re getting it, know that it’s in the early stages but progressing in the right way.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Due Diligence Seed Stage Seed Capital 120

www.seriesseed.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

I hesitate to use a quote from one of the greatest people ever to grace planet earth, and certainly the question of how to structure early stage investment is a laughable cause as compared to the rights that Ghandi (also a lawyer) fought to advance.  I’ve attached version 2.0   This seems to be the real issue. 

Term Sheet 40

Term Sheet Ratchet Dilution Equity 40

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 15, 2016

.” It’s exactly the opposite of how I think about how to configure a board of directors, but I recognize that it’s a default case for many VCs and, subsequently for many entrepreneurs and companies. Post seed boards tend to be founder and investor-centric. It’s a bad default that needs to be reset.

Sales 70

Sales Seed Stage Early Stage Finance 70

Rob Go

AUGUST 29, 2016

When I first started out as a VC nearly 9 years ago, most early stage company valuations were expressed as pre-money valuations. Today, nearly all early stage term sheets I see are expressed as post-money valuations. That is, the valuation of the company prior to the investment of new capital. Worst case, they say no.

Post-Money Valuation 52

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Term Sheet 52

Rob Go

JULY 17, 2014

NextView Ventures II is $40M, twice the size of our first fund, and we continue to be exclusively focused on seed-stage companies pursuing internet-enabled innovation. As former operators and product-oriented entrepreneurs, Dave, Lee, and I tend to think of our firm as a startup company and our approach to investing as our product.

Seed Stage 69

Seed Stage Early Stage Due Diligence Liquidity Event 69

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

was part of a Dow Jones VentureWire webinar last week titled Negotiating An Angel Deal: What Angels, Entrepreneurs & VCs Need to Know. While this may certainly be the case with unsophisticated angels (much less of these now) or in cases with no lead investor, Id argue the opposite. Well, not exactly.I

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Gust

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

Today’s unveiling of Gust , the global infrastructure for early stage entrepreneurial financing, is a milestone that has been seven years in the making. So is it with entrepreneurs, who are pro-actively committed to raising the capital that, to their minds, can make or break a fledgling company.

Angel Investor 79

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Venture Capital Finance 79

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 26, 2021

Selecting your investor board members should be a careful and thoughtful process, even if that means it requires more work. One common mistake is for entrepreneurs to simply select whichever venture capital firm is offering the highest valuation. At least that approach doesn’t destroy value, but it is a huge missed opportunity.

Startup 36

Startup Equity Early Stage Green 36

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2. Many firms do it in a way that can be more detrimental to entrepreneurs. There are positive benefits to the right VCs being involved early – especially if your company or the economy hits bumps in the road. Short summary of my posts: 1.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

The Startup Lawyer

JANUARY 6, 2011

Sure – AOL Ventures is the VC arm of AOL , focused on early stage investing in consumer internet businesses. We also tend to focus on repeat entrepreneurs but are not opposed to funding first time founders who have significant domain expertise. That really depends on how involved the entrepreneur wants us to be.

Early Stage 58

Early Stage LP Later Stage Balance Sheet 58

Rob Go

JANUARY 9, 2012

Repeat Entrepreneur: 6. Tom Brady Entrepreneur : 4. Introduced by an entrepreneur: 3. Introduced by an entrepreneur: 3. Introduced by co-investor: 3. Typically, we meet companies through our network of entrepreneurs and co-investors. We pride ourselves in being true early stage investors.

Portfolio 46

Portfolio Syndicate Syndication Cofounder 46

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

He blogs to 10,000 web entrepreneurs at Software by Rob and co-hosts the podcast Startups for the Rest of Us. How I Think About Seed Investing As A VC - Feld Thoughts , August 2, 2010 Last week saw an explosion of discussion around seed investing, including plenty of negative comments around VCs as seed investors. Why do startups?

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

Professor VC

OCTOBER 20, 2009

I have been following the rallying cry of entrepreneurs with some amusement over the past couple of weeks in response to a blog post by Jason Calacanis, " Why Start-ups Shouldnt have to pay to pitch angel investors." In how many of those were you a lead investor? ProfessorVC. The last blogger in Silicon Valley.

Angel Investor 35

Angel Investor Due Diligence San Jose Silicon Valley 35

Professor VC

JANUARY 20, 2009

Of course, the most important funding statistic to an entrepreneur relates to one specific company, and whether there is sufficient capital available to build and scale his business. This brought in a new set of prospective investors and required a lower investment from the lead investor as our existing investors were committed and on board.

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley San Jose Bootstrapping 28