Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

Raising seed capital is a tricky business. I get approached often by tech startups looking for their first outside funding. They come in lots of different flavors and stages of fundability. Most are making major mistakes in their approach when seeking capital. Without funding most tech startups will die.

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Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Contrary to popular opinion I actually believe crowd-funding is best used after seed capital or venture capital. In a startup this is a mistake. All too often I’ve seen senior PR people from big firms come in and pitch for new business to startups while having 22 year-olds who do all the work once it’s won.

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PR Venture Capital Hiring Seed Capital 319

Haystack

AUGUST 18, 2019

Those employees and operators, who often have some book wealth now (or are running syndicates on AngelList or acting as a scout for another fund) can easily dump $50K-$100K into one of their ex-colleague’s new startups, or put this money into their friend’s new startup, or their friend’s new hot deal.

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Seed Stage Cap Table Early Stage Malaysia 108

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

I recently got together with Aaron Shechet and an early stage startup to discuss the direction the company might want to take. We have a number of startups (or pre-startups) that we are helping get launched. Any thoughts on my recent post Startup Metrics ? Any thoughts on my recent post Startup Metrics ?

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Los Angeles Southern California Startup SEO 150

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 2, 2012

The fact that a great deal of the content produced by tech news sites concerns startup companies might make an observer from another planet think America is a veritable nursery for brilliant business ideas. You read that right: Not a lot of people are that interested in startups. Credit: Prof. Make Way for the On-Ramp.

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IPO Startup Florida Seed Capital 121

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

When seeking equity investments, the source of capital is, for the most part, tied to the stage of capital being raised. You see, equity capital is raised in stages or rounds. The five main stages include the following: 1. Pre-Seed Funding 2. Seed Funding 3.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Up and Running

MAY 2, 2014

I learned this lesson when I raised the first round of seed capital for my startup PopInShop , an online platform that connects brands and boutiques to facilitate short-term, cross-promotional shopping events. I heard about the investing group when PopInShop was still very early-stage.

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Angel Investor Seed Capital Venture Capital Early Stage 146

Business Plan Blog

JANUARY 7, 2014

With venture capital becoming more and more of a bygone dream for early-stage companies, many startups want to turn to angel funding to raise capital but don’t know where to start. This guide will walk you through the process of obtaining seed capital for your startup.

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Search Angel Investor Seed Capital Early Stage 55

Haystack

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

What I do feel deeply, however, is that we all in the early-stage startup ecosystem are likely being a bit too over-protective. For any startup selling an annual license, the deal may not get signed right away. For any investor raising their own funds, you may have to chase down capital calls for each investment.

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Seed Stage Seed Capital Equity Europe 76

Software By Rob

JANUARY 8, 2019

Two-and-a-half months ago Einar Vollset and I announced TinySeed , the first startup accelerator designed for bootstrappers. Hundreds and hundreds of tweets, re-tweets, likes, Hacker News upvotes, email responses…it was immediately obvious that there is pent up demand for this kind of alternative early-stage startup funding.

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Early Stage Valuation Seed Capital Revenue 46

thebarefootvc

JULY 10, 2010

Of particular importance to the startup world is the StartUp Visa act: Earlier this year, Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar introduced legislation to create a new visa for those who intend to form U.S.-based based start-ups.

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Startup Incubator Seed Capital Venture Capital 45

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Aligning the Startup Team Strategy with the Capitalization Strategy. The single most important factor to raising capital for any tech startup is the management team. This is true for early stage funding as well as venture capital funding. Early Stage. Seed to Series A.

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Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Gust

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Last week , we gave some attention to the “why” behind convertible note financing for early stage startups. At least one well-known Silicon Valley venture accelerator is using a document referred to as a “ convertible security ” rather than “convertible promissory note.” These deal terms are simple but significant.

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Finance Preferred Stock Term Sheet Early Stage 79

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Next Wednesday we’ll have Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, a New York / LA early-stage venture capital fund. Nevertheless, if you share too much in your funding process or meet too many VCs expect a certain amount of your ideas to spread around the startup community. This is unintentional and inevitable.

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Stealth SEC Advertising Accredited Investor 285

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

———– One of my ex students came out to the ranch to give me an update on his startup. It all starts with understanding what a startup is. What’s a Startup? Just as a reminder, a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Why small amounts?

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Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 333

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

———– One of my ex students came out to the ranch to give me an update on his startup. It all starts with understanding what a startup is. What’s a Startup? Just as a reminder, a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Why small amounts?

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 225

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

Startup funding is largely driven by The Golden Rule: He who has the gold, makes the rules. Let’s face it, the rules for getting a startup funded at the seed stage aren’t very clear. Note: When I say “seed stage startup,” I’m specifically referring to software/app startups that are eitherpre-product or early product.

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Seed Stage Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 100

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Here’s an overview: Mitch Kapor: Kapor is founding partner of Kapor Capital , a firm that invests in seed and early stage startups. This is the man you’ll need to impress should you wish to slice off a piece of the sFund pie for your startup. and Path Intelligence.

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Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Rob Go

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

I was surprised to find that it has been more than two years since my post summarizing the state of the seed stage market, and trying to bring a balanced view on the rise of Super Angels and Micro-VC’s. The venture capital market continues to be in transition, and a lot of changes have occurred in the early stages of the market.

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Seed Stage Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Early Stage 55

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Researchers polled experts in lending, mezzanine capital, private equity, venture capital and private businesses themselves. Not a big shock, but things don’t look pretty, especially in the venture capital world. 41% of them feel that they qualify for venture capital funding. dasein Yeah, I agree.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62