David Teten

MAY 20, 2016

My colleague Sebastian Soler, software engineer at ff Venture Capital, is leading the launch of a new Meetup with me. I’ve also made significant engineering contributions to our two other platforms, Admin (back-end portal for our data team) and Access (LP dashboard). I asked him to write a guest post: Hi!

Private Equity 113

Private Equity Equity Cap Table Venture Capital 113

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venture capital is not an asset class” or “venture capital has performed terribly.” I saved it mostly for LP discussions that I had over the past year. Here is a preview of what we found & what we will publish: 1.

Venture Capital 362

Venture Capital IPO LP Jordan 362

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. The monkey on my back.

Los Angeles 387

Los Angeles Intellectual Property LP Venture Capital 387

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

. $100M is a meaningful increase from our $50M third fund, though it’s still quite small in the grand scheme of venture, especially amid the recent wave of late stage financings and SPACs. We believe that this fund is the perfect size for us to be the best possible partners to early-stage entrepreneurs today.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Consumers pulled their money out of these risky investments, but when LPs make commitments to VC funds they make 10-year, legally binding commitments. So as of 2008 total LP commitments were still at nearly $250 billion. I was at dinner with a large LP and mentioned that I had heard the industry would shrink by 50%.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

There has been much discussion in the past few years of the changing structure of the venture capital industry. The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). On the surface the narratives have been. Why is this? The iPhone was released.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. We detail below the major categories of VC: VENTURE CAPITAL TYPOLOGY. FLEXIBLE VC VS. OTHER VENTURE CAPITAL MODELS.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. I have seen bad behavior from later-stage VCs, believe me. But I have seen equally bad behavior from super early stage investors. As always a balanced perspective is in order.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. Looking ahead at the next decade I am excited by what I believe will be viewed as one of the best and most rational investment periods for venture capital due to seven discrete factors: 1. The Funding Problem.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” I had a chance to discuss AngelList Syndicates with Naval at Michael Kim’s Cendana LP/VC conference on a panel with Naval, Roger Ehrenberg (IA Ventures) and Mike Brown, Jr.

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

David Teten

AUGUST 15, 2013

1) Corporate Venture Capital. Most VCs (including ff Venture Capital ) collect money from independent limited partners in order to form their fund. Some corporations emulate this model by creating their own wholly-owned VC entities, typically with one LP: the corporate balance sheet. 3) Freebies. 4) Accelerators.

Startup 114

Startup Technical Support Venture Capital Balance Sheet 114

Austin Startup

AUGUST 10, 2017

We were roommates at the time and launched two different companies out of a kind-of dumpy apartment: We both went on to raise millions in venture capital and build meaningful businesses in interesting spaces. But we got serious in early 2016 when we developed deep conviction around the immense technical vision of Ethereum.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Austin 48

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 21, 2023

I describe this to K9 LPs as this is my opinion and feelings based on what I see from my vantage point as a pre-seed/seed stage investor. LPs and GPs should be aware of this dynamic as they make investment decisions.

Seed Stage 80

Seed Stage LP Early Stage Founder 80

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

He then went on the create an early-stage VC that I track closely?—? Entrada Ventures? —?that But in the LP world there is an obsession with “top quartile” benchmarking in the near term, which drives skewed incentives for newer VCs to show quick returns.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital LP Valuation Later Stage 363

Feld Thoughts

JULY 31, 2014

In addition to being an incredibly supportive investor in us from the beginning, this LP has become an extremely close friend. As I was walking home after dinner, I thought about the person who had introduced us to this LP. In 2007, when we set out to raise our first Foundry Group fund, early stage tech VC was in the shitter.

LP 155

LP Advisory Board Venture Capital Early Stage 155

David Teten

DECEMBER 12, 2017

As a globally focused LP in early stage VC funds, we at Blue Future Partners have observed a growing trend of firms investing substantially in software tools, whether developing proprietary solutions or adopting off the shelf tools. But what tools are they using themselves to automate their own processes?

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Venture Capital 60

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 17, 2018

We invest in the early stages of company creation , leading or participating in pre-seed and seed-rounds with cheque sizes between $500K and $750K. As competitive as venture capital often seems, we are incredibly humbled by the amount of support and love we have gotten over the years from our community. About Fund III.

Silicon Valley 127

Silicon Valley North America San Francisco LP 127

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 30, 2015

One of the first things I did when I joined the venture asset class as a lowly institutional LP analyst in 2001 was to build the VC fund cashflow model. You incorporate expected company returns, mortality rates, and fee structures to try to predict how a venture capital fund works from a cash in, cash out, and NAV standpoint.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation IRR Valuation 60

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 3, 2020

Having a better overall portfolio of venture capital by adding funds into the mix. By being in a pool of other fund investors, the LP meetings and co-investment calls could be an opportunity to connect with other like-minded or like-situationed investors—but again, it depends on how a fund organizes its community.

Portfolio 134

Portfolio Syndicate Syndication Deal Flow 134

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2016

My partner Greg Bettinelli (worth following on Twitter) was recently named by The LA Business Journal as the “ Top deal maker in Los Angeles in Venture Capital.” Upfront: “Direct, Approachable, Early-Stage, WYSIWYG & Unmistakenly Los Angeles” (Upfront is also a term from the media sector).

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Early Stage LP Partner 150

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . 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.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

The great thing, if you can find them, is that the excitement around early stage investments in New York City is carrying over to a lot of investor interest--and the story of being actively involved as a hands-on investor is one that the market appreciates.

LP 112

LP New York City New York Chad 112

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

“I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.” But the larger funds usually have lower returns because they are often investing bigger dollars at later stages with less risk and therefore lower returns. The second is not.

LP 374

LP Later Stage IRR Term Sheet 374

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 12, 2015

I define #PeakVC as the point in time when the maximum amount of $$s are entering the Venture Capital industry. There are simply too many LPs stuffing the VC goose! That is because the venture capital industry operates in cycles. That increases the overall money supply coming in to venture.

Venture Capital 48

Venture Capital Seed Stage LP Valuation 48

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

V: Should you raise venture capital from a traditional equity VC or a Revenue-Based Investing VC? VI: Revenue-based financing: The next step for private equity and early-stage investment. GCVF is pioneering the future of venture capital and high growth startups for all small communities.

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Should you raise venture capital from a traditional equity VC or a Revenue-Based Investing VC? 2) To sell their businesses when they want – early, mid term, or never.” . When you raise early stage VC, you can’t sell early because the VCs won’t agree to it. Works for early-stage companies.

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

Haystack

APRIL 27, 2018

I know this because, as an early-stage investor, I subconsciously began to think about making investments partly based on answering this question in my head: “ Will this get to a venture scale Series A? Historically, startups have by default relied on venture capital as financing source.

Naming 60

Naming Venture Capital Seed Stage Cap Table 60

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 12, 2017

Cindy Revol, Joe Beard and Anurag Jain from Perot Jain, LP We received a warm welcome from Trey Bowles when we first came to Dallas and there have been many others who have opened their arms to us since. According to Pitchbook, Capital Factory has been the most active investor in Texas since 2013. Ross Perot, Jr., and Anurag Jain.

Dallas 48

Dallas San Antonio Houston Texas 48

VC Adventure

OCTOBER 12, 2011

And as I sat there listening to their pitch I couldn’t help but think about how differently I might have reacted if this team was in their 20′s or 30′s, dressed in full tech/nerd hipster outfits (or at least jeans and sneakers), and whether there is a negative age bias in venture capital. But actually it’s true.

LP 90

LP Venture Capital Early Stage Social Network 90

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Yesterday I wrote Part 1 of the series on the changes to the software industry over the past decade that has led to changes in the venture capital industry itself. With new micro VC entrants into to early-stage investing plus increased competition from angels, incubators and the like – traditional VCs have taken notice.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Software LP Early Stage 296

Seeing Both Sides

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

Venture capital investors are historically accustomed to being the wolf. Thanks to their position as the wolf, founders (and angel investors) can often get liquidity from their late stage investors (particularly through Digital Sky Technologies – a Russian Bear in the transaction mix?). .

IRR 36

IRR IPO Entrepreneur LP 36

Babbling VC

OCTOBER 19, 2013

There is continued discourse about lacking capital (at times in the early stage, then Series A, then growth and back again!) All somewhat true but not the biggest problem in my eyes when it comes to venture capital in Germany. . Further, we hear about the poor quality of the investors who are already active.

Germany 74

Germany LP Early Stage Incubator 74

K9 Ventures

AUGUST 14, 2017

K9’s last fund, K9 Ventures II, L.P., It was a conscious decision to maintain the fund size at the same level, despite both market pressure (larger rounds at earlier stages) and demand pressure (lots of LP money entering the stage) to raise a larger fund. was a $40M fund. And yes, I’m presently 42.

Technology 96

Technology LP San Francisco Portfolio 96

Agile VC

JULY 19, 2012

1) Self-Awareness & Humility - These are of course virtues that transcend venture capital or even professional pursuits broadly. A good example of this was Charles River Ventures experience with their 11th fund. And yes… great firms are self-confident too.

Cofounder 193

Cofounder Limited Partner Early Stage LP 193

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Starting a venture capital blog post with 1970s country music lyrics is pretty uncommon, but so is writing about when and why an investor might choose to sell equity before the company exits. Most of this discussion is about ‘playing offense’ — working towards being a good steward of LP capital and the risk/reward associated with VC.

Venture Capital 122

Venture Capital Cap Table LP Equity 122

The Equity Kicker

JULY 8, 2019

When I started in venture capital in the late 1990s VCs were regularly lambasted for taking long summer holidays and spending too much time on the golf course. As the number of startups has exploded over the last 30-40 years best practices have been developed that can be shared from one early stage company to the next.

Portfolio 84

Portfolio LP Venture Capital Partner 84

VC Adventure

OCTOBER 12, 2011

And as I sat there listening to their pitch I couldn’t help but think about how differently I might have reacted if this team was in their 20’s or 30’s, dressed in full tech/nerd hipster outfits (or at least jeans and sneakers), and whether there is a negative age bias in venture capital. But actually it’s true.

LP 48

LP Venture Capital Early Stage Social Network 48