Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? I’m not saying that lawyers were my screening process – simply that they knew about deals early on and they had voted with their time and pocketbooks so I knew I had a degree of filtering. What price?

Early Stage 361

Early Stage Deal Flow Investment Bankers Technical Review 361

The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

We see this all the time at Forward Partners where we invest right from the idea stage and most of the companies get a first version of their product live for less than £30k (that generally includes founder salaries and time spent doing customer research). The second development is SEIS and EIS.

Early Stage 119

Early Stage Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review 119

ReadWriteStart

JULY 12, 2019

There are plenty of entrepreneurs diligently working toward a better future. But in high-tech businesses, it’s crucial that the AI you build, promote, or invest in — is authentic. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the buzz surrounding AI/machine learning and early stage startups peaked in 2018.

Artificial Inteligence 132

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Startup 132

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture. In this post I set out to explain why the seed market emerged as its own category in the first place and why it’s declined as of late. ( So What Impact Did the Drop in Tech Founding Costs Have on VC?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

Startups focus on speed since they are burning cash every day as they search for product/market fit. But over time code/hardware written/built to validate hypotheses and find early customers can become unwieldy, difficult to maintain and incapable of scaling. These shortcuts add up and become what is called technical debt.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

You will build out features or expend to platforms — often before you have enough market feedback to warrant it. My analogy was that there are markets where it’s relatively easier to raise capital and therefore you should take a little bit more but you should create a budget where you only spend 70% of what you raise on a pace of 18 months.

Pre-Money Valuation 292

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Early Stage Startup 292

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

We are in a bubble (with so many private $1bn+ valuations). 15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). Where are we today?

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Another critical design consideration is your tech stack. On Copper (our deal board), a due date of two business days is automatically set for us to review the opportunity. We also have created a proprietary tool, Oasys, which programmatically identifies very high-caliber technical teams. 6) Due diligence.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Another critical design consideration is your tech stack. On Copper (our deal board), a due date of two business days is automatically set for us to review the opportunity. We also have created a proprietary tool, Oasys, which programmatically identifies very high-caliber technical teams. 6) Due diligence.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

Competition from other startups and established incumbents, constraints on time and capital, and limited access to talent and technology resources are just a few of the hurdles nearly every first-time founder faces while trying to build a business. Poor founder dynamics or a focus on small or shrinking markets can also sink your chances.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

NZ Entrepreneur

MAY 31, 2021

The Angel Association of New Zealand ( AANZ ) is co-hosting with New Zealand Growth Capital Partners ( NZGCP ) a series of workshops on early-stage investment. Jason Graham from Movac provided an early-stage venture capital fund perspective, detailing 35 investments made across 5 funds and 22 years.

Portfolio 81

Portfolio New Zealand Management Technical Review 81

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2013

One of the challenges for investing in startups has always been the lack of an established way for founders and investors to actually measure and decide on the valuation of the startup concerned. When you are clocking 80-hour weeks building your start-up from the ground-up on limited funds, neither of those options are attractive.”

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Web Technical Review Angel Investor 150

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 14, 2016

This has been an important year for us as a firm, as well as the market in general. Every announcement – whether it was a funding round, exit or layoffs – was analyzed within the context that the tech bubble has definitely burst or that we’re still in the bubble. There was a significant pull-back of the public markets in Q1.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Early Stage Portfolio Valuation 60

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. Every business and brand has unique requirements to fit into their market environment. Stable and friendly work environment.

Leadership 120

Leadership Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation 120

Steve Blank

JUNE 27, 2017

This article originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review. As more and more companies face disruption from globalization, new technology, and startups that have more capital than the incumbents, the continuing cry from Wall Street investors is, “Why can’t companies be as innovative as startups?”. Startups can do anything.

Startup 275

Startup New York City Valuation Distribution 275

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. As an early-stage VC I love this phase. What sized team can I afford in order to sell, market & provide service to these customers?

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. It’s true that some later-stage private equity firms like to fund “roll ups” (a company that acquires many related companies in it sector), but this is seldom the domain of VCs.

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

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. LPs See The Over-Valuations and Don’t Like It. …But LPs Have Been Putting Out More Money Than They Are Getting Back.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital LP Silicon Valley Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. I have seen bad behavior from later-stage VCs, believe me.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

VCs tout themselves as frontier technology investors, but most are using the same infrastructure tools they have used for the past 20+ years: Excel and recent college grads searching Google. According to Knowledge.VC , under 5% of US VCs have a full-time team member focused on technology. . But we’re doing it slowly.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Gust

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

The Risk Factor Summation Method the fifth methodology for estimating the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies we have described in recent posts. Readers may have noted that both the Scorecard Method and the Dave Berkus Method considered a narrow set of important criteria for investment in arriving at a pre-money valuation.

Valuation 102

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Ohio Early Stage 102

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. We’re going to start aggressively spend money on marketing our product. (it is also the title of a fabulous book from Internet 1.0

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 20, 2021

And if you haven’t seen it already, you can read our Year in Review post, where we reflect on the incredible pace of the start-up market in 2021. . Everyone (investors and founders alike) has underestimated the size of the addressable market for tech over the past decade. Our top three topics from the year: .

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review IPO 60

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. I can’t control the market. Private markets for stocks are the opposite.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

I talked about this in my social proof post where I gave some suggestions about how to get the early guys off of the fence. Most early-stage entrepreneurs who have worked with me (either as an angel or as a seed VC) know that I don’t rely at all on the social proof of other investors. When I’m in, I’m in.

Finance 286

Finance Term Sheet Technical Review Warrant 286

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Our categorization is not a technical one. Additionally, Flexible VC can accommodate all types of companies, not just asset-lite, tech-enabled companies.”. The value ascribed by subsequent investors (in a secondary); buyers (acquisition); or the public markets (IPO). Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. Proposed private equity deal: Eventually, this business will require private equity to provide sufficient funding to develop some of the more robust aspects of the technology that will attract Fortune 500 clients.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

The key reason for the explosion in capital flowing into the industry, and therefore the large increase in practitioners, had nothing to do with 1970’s performance, early stage investing, or technology. Instead, the driver was the 1983 bull market. This isn’t true. This isn’t correct either.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. A business needs technical, marketing, financial and many other skills. These are all accredited investors who risk their own money.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Angel Groups 120

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

At today's roundtable we had some interesting companies and a lot of fundraising discussions, and I will review them shortly. Bottom line, early stage equity is very, very expensive. As a thumb rule, try to get enough validation so that you can get to at least a $2 million pre-money valuation before raising equity capital.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. I obviously don’t have a crystal ball so the economy could fare better than my gut, but here’s why I’m cautious for some time in 2010 or early 2011: Why is the future still so unpredictable?

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Stock Hawaii Early Stage 269

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

Like a teenager with a million-dollar allowance and an identity crisis, a startup with too much capital and no product-market fit will become capable of making larger mistakes. Compass.co, a benchmarking and research service, analyzed 3,200 internet startups and found that 74 percent “fail due to premature scaling.” Lose focus.

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I know you’re not a tech guy and haven’t done anything other than an HTML course you once took, but if you’re inspirational and a leader you’ll find somebody to moonlight for free to get your prototype built. Market validation – This one is optional but important. That’s OK.

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

When I was running startups I felt like a horse with blinders on because I was super focused on the content management market and ignored many other markets. They outline the problems that exist in markets, their approach to the solutions, they update me on competitors and they show me their economic models. That’s fun.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Due Diligence Spain Warrant 312

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Thomas Clayton has started and run numerous high-tech startups in Silicon Valley. Many Asian entrepreneurs tell me that they want to raise funds from Silicon Valley firms because they perceive the valuations to be higher. The rest of Asia is still developing with far more angel and early-stage investors than mid-to-later stage folks.

Asia 132

Asia Silicon Valley India Term Sheet 132

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

When I met my now-wife, I realized that any technology that can find me a spouse is a killer app. I’d argue that the same type of technologies that have revolutionized dating can revolutionize our industry. . I walk through below how progressive investors are using technology and analytics throughout all of their operations.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Rincon is part of the new breed of Seed Stage VCs and with the leadership of Jim Andelman has charted out the most authentic early-stage investment strategy in Southern California. Any SoCal entrepreneur raising early-stage money should put Rincon on their short list. This is all explicit decision making.

Silicon Valley 293

Silicon Valley Technical Review Southern California Angel Investor 293