David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Every Flexible VC structure allows founders to access immediate risk capital while preserving exit, growth trajectory, and ownership optionality. . Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

It is essential to understand the funding structure stated in your term sheet and the advantages and disadvantages it may have for your business. These usually play a role in the very early stage of your business, primarily pre-revenue. Stages of Equity-based funding. ? Inception stage. Early-stage.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

For early stage VC ‘s, Syndication is the process of sharing investments with other potential co-investors. The classic scenario is when a VC has a signed term sheet to lead a round, but has left room open for another meaningful investor. The old process of syndication inevitably took several weeks in the past.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Term Sheet Cofounder 207

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

There was a lot of consumer internet activity again…resurgence of things, but it was still mysterious, venture capital was still kind of closed, 1st time entrepreneurs had a lot of questions that were unanswered, and there was still some sort of hand waiving around all the financing stuff and so we took it on….”. Is that when it became big?

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

After the recent announcement of the Series Seed Financing documents by Marc Andreesen, Brad Feld points out that there are now four sets of “open source&# equity seed financing documents: TechStars Model Seed Funding Documents (by Cooley). Y Combinator Series AA Equity Financing Documents (by WSGR). under $500K).

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

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. ” The Cost of Financing. a SAFE or KISS) provide a much simpler transaction with less terms to negotiate. .

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

Version One Ventures

AUGUST 28, 2019

The venture capital market has become very noisy over the past few years, especially on the early-stage side. Entrepreneurs have an increasing amount of financing options – that’s good news, but it also makes it harder to choose the right partners for your journey. Not a day goes by that a new fund isn’t being announced.

Founder 109

Founder Term Sheet Early Stage Venture Capital 109

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Bigfoot Capital. Key elements: .

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Gust

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

It should therefore come as no surprise that an asymmetry of information exists, mostly gleaned from experience, between founders and investors in a venture financing deal. A term sheet for a convertible note deal may run two or three pages, versus 8-10 pages for a typical Series A Preferred Stock financing.

Finance 178

Finance Term Sheet Preferred Stock Bridge Financing 178

View from Seed

AUGUST 16, 2019

Is a Founder raising a new round well in advance of cash-out date because she sees an opportunity to put more gas in the tank ahead of what current underlying business metrics would suggest (i.e. One of the most relevant scenarios that this fear vs. greed lens applies towards is insider-led financings.

Term Sheet 149

Term Sheet Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 149

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 2, 2010

Y Combinator Series AA Equity Financing Documents (by WSGR). Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet (by WSGR). Series Seed Financing Documents (by Fenwick & West). I wrote about this in my post The Challenge of The Ideal First Round Term Sheet.

Finance 133

Finance Term Sheet Angel Investor Early Stage 133

K9 Ventures

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

This practice feels like a vestige of the days when the balance of power was in the favor of investors and not founders. Most founders acquiesce to this clause because it is a small amount in the grand scheme of things on a percentage basis. And right there, the legal cost of a simple financing transaction balloons out of control.

Term Sheet 114

Term Sheet Due Diligence Stock Early Stage 114

Startup Company Lawyer

AUGUST 31, 2012

Over the past few years, convertible debt has emerged as a quick and inexpensive method for startup companies to raise money from angel investors and early stage venture funds. ” As a result, Ted introduced the Series Seed preferred stock documents as an alternative to convertible debt for early stage investments.

Convertible Security 73

Convertible Security Equity Security Preferred Stock 73

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

Last week , we took the plunge and began dissecting an example term sheet for a convertible debt financing round piece by piece. I’ll continue with more specific terms and wrap up next week with some thoughts about recent changes and trends for the future.

Finance 107

Finance Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 107

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

I am reminded of this problem every time my firm does a financing where a note went before us but more specifically I was reminded by this great post by Brad Feld to talk about the pre-money vs. post-money conversion issue. So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages? It’s very simple.

Pre-Money Valuation 150

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

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.). 5 million was always the classic definition of an A-round between the late nineties (crazy financings aside) and say 2007.

Cap Table 399

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Finance 399

Gust

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Last week , we gave some attention to the “why” behind convertible note financing for early stage startups. In this installment, I’ll dig into the “how” by dissecting an example term sheet based on a real deal. As with so many subjects in law and finance, mastering the jargon is half the battle.

Finance 79

Finance Preferred Stock Term Sheet Early Stage 79

Gust

OCTOBER 21, 2011

Readers joining this series in progress may find it helpful to download the sample term sheet from my firm’s website and review the earlier posts covering the basics. In descending order of preference from the founders’ point of view: 1. The company pays off the notes immediately according to their terms, with prorated interest.

Finance 79

Finance Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet Liquidity Event 79

Gust

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

How to finance a new seed-stage startup? ” Ressi in particular seems to be passionate about removing the “debt” component from convertible debt seed financing transactions. .” I won’t rehash all of the customary convertible note financing deal terms and points of negotiation here. (For

Finance 134

Finance Convertible Security Equity Seed Stage 134

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Let’s take a few minutes to examine the kind of equity financing available to small or early stage businesses. There are other classes of equity investors for small or early stage businesses that we have not yet considered. Friends and family investors. Angel investment groups or funds.

Equity 62

Equity Finance Liquidity Event Angel Groups 62

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

It had a good mix of viewpoints with east ( James Geshwiler, Common Angels ) and west coast (yours truly) angels, early stage venture capitalist ( Jason Mendelson, Foundry Group ), and a couple of attorneys ( Dan Hansen and Mario Rosati ). A related topic is the standardization of terms. Dumb Money - Are we as dumb as we look?

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. Objectively. Either that or they’re dumb. Last year ….

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Was Paul Graham right in his “high resolution” financing post? I can’t say it much simpler than this: “What if I took some of the worst, most egregious terms in a standard term sheet and made them the defacto standard in most convertible debt deals? Let me explain it more clearly in equity terms.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

What I want to talk about today is one of the insider baseball discussions of our industry this past week: The odd fact of the $500 million financing round completed just before the company sold for a B. ” Getting a term sheet on the table is the second most sure way to get a potential acquirer to move faster.

Valuation 316

Valuation Balance Sheet Dilution Term Sheet 316

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Cautionary note: No competent VC is actually fooled when you show up after raising $6M in seed financing and say you’re now raising an A! There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.).

Cap Table 136

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Non-Compete 136

VC Cafe

JUNE 18, 2012

These documents include term sheets, investment documents and explanatory notes. TechStars – the Denver/NY based incubator in collaboration with Cooley, LLP , offers an equity financing structure and a debt one, drawing on its experience funding hundreds of startups. Link: [link]. All docs are here: [link].

Open Source 110

Open Source Switzerland Private Equity LP 110

Hunter Walker

MAY 7, 2014

I recommend to founders that if there’s a unicorn you need who isn’t on founding team, (a) start identifying those people in advance of fundraising and (b) prepare to compensate them generously via equity. There was no one waiting to sign on as soon as the term sheet was signed. You want to show that you can solve any problem.

Hiring 108

Hiring Option Pool Early Stage Term Sheet 108

David Teten

JULY 20, 2011

Discuss alternative arrangements such as caps, deferral until financing and equity as a form of payment. Cash is like oxygen in early stage companies. Engage counsel early, especially if developing intellectual property that will be a key asset in your business. Ten Tips for Entrepreneurs when Working with Lawyers.

Intellectual Property 128

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Term Sheet Venture Capital 128

Hunter Walker

APRIL 27, 2014

We brief our major investors quarterly and decided to model our LP meeting after what “big funds” do, albeit with a few Homebrew flourishes :) Logistically this meant an afternoon session with presentations/Q&A then a dinner with founders/advisors. We love our founders. 2) Product Market Fit & Our Roadmap.

LP 97

LP Cofounder Term Sheet Valuation 97

Austin Startup

MAY 19, 2018

As Bryan stated below, there are no shortage of “How to pitch” or “How to behave” articles by VCs but really very little advice for VCs by founders. Anyone notice there's a ton of VCs giving founder advice, and almost no founder advice for VCs? Lines Not Dots Raising money from a fund is a process, most founders get that.

Founder 75

Founder Early Stage Software Review Deal Flow 75

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 2, 2015

The entity getting screwed on this term are the founders, who now have a greater liquidation preference hanging over their heads than the dollars invested by the angels. We’ve been regularly running into another problem with doing a financing after companies have raised convertible notes.

Liquidation Preference 70

Liquidation Preference Cap Table Angel Investor Post-Money Valuation 70

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2. It’s just that he’s a “super seed&# investor in a firm, Founder Collective , that I really respect (and with whom I’ve done two deals and hope to do a third) and I’m a partner in a venture capital firm, GRP Partners.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

The Startup Lawyer

AUGUST 22, 2011

Here’s a list of the top 5 deal terms that cause harm to startups at the seed financing stage and therefore should be avoided: 5. This is something you might see in a late stage private equity financing with a company that has a history of generating revenue. It does not belong in any early stage deal.

Angel Investor 99

Angel Investor Dividend Dilution Cofounder 99

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

The reality today is that capital is more available than ever and entrepreneurs have become more sophisticated, so founders are looking for more than just cash from their venture backers. I’ve seen many founders not fully grasp how the venture capital business works and what incentives investors have.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Gust

DECEMBER 27, 2012

Keep in mind that any cash you put in will remain in the company as Founders’ Equity, and will only come back to you on a successful exit in which your investors make money. [3a. This person will be critical in rounding up other investors, drafting a term sheet, and generally getting the deal done.

Software Review 164

Software Review Term Sheet Technical Review Angel Investor 164

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Tim Friedman, Founder, PE Stack , said, “If I could offer one piece of advice to today’s managers, it would be to take the time to understand the demands of the modern institutional LP. Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. 3) Raise capital.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78