Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 6, 2020

The term “early-stage” covers a lot of territory in venture investing, from incubating a brand-new idea, to investing in a Series A. But for us, revenue is not a hard prerequisite because some of our bets are based on our conviction around technology or platforms that might take a little more time to build out and get going.”.

Technical Review 69

Technical Review Seed Stage Software Review Early Stage 69

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical VC thesis: “we invest in tech startups in Europe at an early stage” However, our experience shows that in many cases: . “Tech” means B2B Saas/Fintech or Consumer apps. Technical” Companies (i.e. any mention of a focus on tech companies). Technical founders .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

But in the grand scheme of things, 10 years is a blip, and one that had a continuous bull market in tech. Like a number of funds of our era, early fundraising was not terribly easy. Today, multiple rounds are often raised, due to the atomization of the seed space. In some ways, this feels like an eternity.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. Partners leave the industry. VC will shrink. Oh yes it will.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 30, 2014

With plenty of resources available for entrepreneurs about how to craft an effective pitch deck for raising seed-stage capital from VCs, often what’s left out are some of the tactical components of an initial meeting. Backup paper copies if the on-screen presentation fails are a bit low-tech but work almost as well.

Technical Review 308

Technical Review Entrepreneur Due Diligence Seed Stage 308

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began. From a technology perspective our journey is nowhere near over. 2007 was the watershed year.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2011

How Much Diligence is Due.Or Ive addressed the due diligence question in previous posts, but this came up again in a debate we were having at a recent meeting of the Sand Hill Angels. And in order to increase our groups returns, one of our goals should be to get more people and man hours involved in the diligence process.

Technical Review 31

Technical Review Due Diligence Silicon Valley San Jose 31

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. Our categorization is not a technical one. Additionally, Flexible VC can accommodate all types of companies, not just asset-lite, tech-enabled companies.”. Novel Growth Partners, Lighter Capital, Rev Up, Corl, Flow Capital. Of the Inc.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

VC Cafe

JULY 5, 2010

To learn more, VC Cafe interviewed Brian Rosenzweig, one of the managing partners in the new fund and the former marketing director at 21Ventures. investors the opportunity to participate in the Israeli high-tech market. Essentially, investors are receiving equal shares of 10 Israeli seed stage start-ups for relatively small capital.

Technical Review 106

Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage 106

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

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

At the time, LA and Santa Clara were both the epicenter of the technology industry due to the significant overlap between the aerospace/military industry (Los Angeles) and the computing business (Silicon Valley). Given our backgrounds, we often get asked about what makes the tech scene in Los Angeles different from that in the Valley.

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Austin Startup

MAY 11, 2017

We make a minority of our investments in new technology areas where deep technical innovation is occurring and where we believe there is will be a large future market opportunity. For these companies, we look for deep technology differentiation plus early market validation or clear opportunity for such.

Private Equity 48

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage 48

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 31, 2023

I remember when Ethena first reached out to me because I was immediately excited about the fact that they were in the HR tech space. HW: I’m always surprised when someone considering ‘joining a startup’ has put a lot of thought into industry/vertical but not into stage of company. In my opinion, this is a hugely risky move.

Employee 114

Employee Startup Vertical Leadership 114

Agile VC

JULY 11, 2012

How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. You can learn as much from these cautionary tales as you can from the enduring successes, plus studying a broad sample of firms helps avoid drawing false conclusions due to survivorship bias. How To Think About The Future. July 11, 2012.

Silicon Valley 240

Silicon Valley Carried Interest Cofounder Boston 240

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

JULY 25, 2010

. “Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator. So how does this apply to you?

Silicon Valley 293

Silicon Valley Technical Review Southern California Angel Investor 293

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

And, there’s a good reason why; it includes back-to-back essays on mobile, high-growth startups and technology. From life advice and commentary, to practical know-how for growing a tech startup, AVC is a must-read blog. First Round Review. It’s one of my favorites on this list. Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrewchen. A Smart Bear.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

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. Another Area of Concern is in the Seed Investor Class. …But LPs Have Been Putting Out More Money Than They Are Getting Back.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital LP Silicon Valley Marketing 150

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Silicon Valley is still emerging from the tech bubble and massive downturn of late 2000-2002. We three partners are working hard. Great to see you had such a good partner to start with. How To Think About The Future. May 26, 2011.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Almost two years ago, in a private/closed meeting with K9 Ventures’ LPs only, I claimed that: What was being referred to in the press as the “Series A Crunch” was not because fewer Series A deals were being done, but because there were too many Seed deals being done. Seed stage was super tough.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Reid Hoffman

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

Rapid technological innovation has altered global business patterns and relationships, and left individual workers, companies, and even entire industries wondering what the future holds for them. But inequitable access to seed-stage capital is a pervasive structural issue. Now throw in a global pandemic.

Technical Review 28

Technical Review America Government Silicon Valley 28

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

And funds also have investments from the partners of the firm. Some wait 5-7 years but usually this is because it’s proving more difficult to raise a new fund due to market conditions or the lack of returns in their current fund. Most funds are 10 years in length and the initial investment period is normally 3-5 years.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Early Stage Software Review 269

techcrunch.com

SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

There has been no shortage of controversy and criticism around the convertible note, a popular investing vehicle that’s used by seed stage and angel investors. Ressi estimates that the debt note now accounts for over 50% of all angel and early stage deals. → Learn More. Company: Founder Institute.

Equity 87

Equity San Francisco Technical Review Angel Investor 87

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 22, 2012

Let’s start out with the basic functions of a tech company: 1) Engineering 2) Marketing 3) Sales 4) Business development 5) PR 6) Design 7) Product Management 8) HR 9) Operations 10) Finance Ok, that's just overwhelming. When the product is early and still pivoting, these are kind of the same thing. Ready to start simplifying?

PR 144

PR Technical Review Seed Stage Design 144

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

In December, AngelList , a service that matches early-stage startups with investors, debuted the ability to allow accredited investors to actually invest in startups on the platform with as little as $1,000. AngelList also partnered with SecondMarket to create an investment vehicle for these investments. HTC One Review.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Seed Startups. VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Every startup faces multiple choices and decisions when it comes to technology. Girls in Tech. Ad Serving Technology. Analytics review â?? mixpanel vs kissmetric vs google analytics review.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 6, 2011

Jussi Laakkonen , CEO & founder of Applifie, summarized it well: We recently raised our seed round at Applifier and it was led by a silicon valley seed fund MHS Capital, whose general partner is Mark Sugarman. If you are in the very early stages with your company and there are no major reasons (e.g.

Silicon Valley 104

Silicon Valley Startup Seed Stage Delaware 104

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

The web and technology bubble has a lot in common with the rest of the business world in that there are essentially two disparate groups — the haves and the have nots. For the first-time entrepreneur or founder looking for seed stage funding, this circle can be especially difficult to penetrate. and Path Intelligence.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Seeing Both Sides

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

This post was co-authored with Omri Stern and originally appeared in Harvard Business Review. As a result, tech-sector employment has declined as a percent of the workforce, from 11% in 2006–2008 to 9% in 2013. They are seeking to build companies so that they are attractive to late-stage funds.” But is all of that changing?

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Review United States 20

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

I wassurprised recently when I realized that all the worst problems wefaced in our startup were due not to competitors, but investors.Dealing with competitors was easy by comparison. Angels whove made money in technology are preferable,for two reasons: they understand your situation, and theyre asource of contacts and advice.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

pandodaily.com

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

But wherever you stand on that, there’s one very real consequence of this explosion in seed funding: There has not been a corresponding explosion in investors willing to lead the next round, the so-called Series A. This time around, there has been an explosion at the early stages, and the very late pre-IPO growth stages.

Technical Review 93

Technical Review Silicon Valley Incubator Syria 93

Rob Go

OCTOBER 14, 2012

One of the earliest things we did at NextView when my partners and I started working together was go away as a team to the New Hampshire mountains. But like us, all of these companies are very early. Late last week, I wanted to take a step back and review what has transpired the last two years.

New Hampshire 50

New Hampshire Croatia Omaha Portfolio 50

www.seriesseed.com

MARCH 2, 2010

Mahatma Gandhi 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 How’s it going otherwise?

Finance 58

Finance Term Sheet Equity Aggregator 58

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 15, 2020

I'm general partner at MarsBio VC and Director of The Corona Initiative. Most people I think at least in the technology community know you as the inventor of Soylent and the company by the same name. It seemed like it was a field that was held back a lot mostly by people misunderstanding the technology or sloppy use of the technology.

Technical Review 68

Technical Review Software Review Finance Technology 68

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 13, 2010

On July 27th, 2001 Accenture IPO’s and many of the partners grew fabulously wealthy. Investment in training, adherence to process, global knowledge sharing systems, quality control / partner reviews and campus recruitment programs that attracted the right talent. The things that always differentiated Accenture?

Turkey 302

Turkey Differentiation IP Technical Review 302

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Working within a network of angel investors also expands the pool of expert resources and helps divide the work of screening companies and investment due diligence. We also have data points for VC investments in seed/startup companies (but not necessarily pre-revenue companies). Product/Technology. TARGETCOMPANY.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146