SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

A lot of my time is spent helping early-stage companies get to proof points so that they can raise capital. They might have some seed money and are thinking or raising a Series A based on success of an early release (MVP). Bill Payne is an expert on how early-stage investors should look at valuation.

Valuation 198

Valuation Revenue Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 198

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

For the past 5 years or so Google, Facebook and a handful of tech industry giants have been quietly buying scores of early-stage startups for their talent. Many buying companies price these deals on the basis of $1 million per engineer on the team for an early-stage deal. Let’s assume $2 million in seed money.

Liquidation Preference 357

Liquidation Preference Early Stage Retention Lock-up Period 357

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2013

The number of startups getting seed funding in 2012 jumped by 65% over the previous year to a total of 1749, according to a recent report by CB Insights. Seed investments” are early stage financings (typically less than $1.5 Seeded companies will take longer to raise a next round. Stay alert.

Massachusetts 249

Massachusetts Silicon Valley Venture Capital California 249

The Next Web

DECEMBER 30, 2013

Silicon Valley has long been the perfect oasis for that particular demographic (think: a young, barefoot Steve Jobs dreaming up Apple’s future while on LSD) to create and innovate technology that changes our lives.

Denver 166

Denver Silicon Valley San Jose Colorado 166

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2010

Since then Mike his built his career by investing in early-stage companies (seed or series A), which is remarkable given that Polaris Ventures is a $1 billion fund. So how is Mike able to do this at a time where others have warned against taking seed money from VC funds? Formerly known as Fonelet Technologies.

San Francisco 230

San Francisco Los Angeles Cofounder SMS 230

cdixon.org

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

Interesting idea, but what happens when you share your idea with, say, a candidate for head of all your back-end and technology, don’t bring him in as part of the team, and then he goes out, takes the entire idea (including pitch details), and starts a competitor? link] What’s the right amount of seed money to raise?

Stealth 68

Stealth Startup NDA Cofounder 68

Austin Startup

APRIL 23, 2010

There is a common complaint heard from local entrepreneurs that AV doesn’t invest in early stage companies anymore. The CEO, Hank Weghorst, is a veteran of several successful Austin technology startups including Question.com, Ventix, iChat, and Troux. But the financial markets have definitely raised the bar.

Intellectual Property 79

Intellectual Property Austin Early Stage Agile 79

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

I’ve written about it myself (Is VC Seed Funding Dead?) and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2. Short summary of my posts: 1. We already have one example, which is Ad.ly.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

It’s also important to say that while many successful technology companies have been venture-backed--Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook come to mind-- it’s not solely a funding method for technology companies. First, the introduction of seed money as an institutional form of capital. but globally. No need to name names.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

On a panel that I sat on with Ron in LA in 2008 he stated that there were no circumstances in which the founder should take money off of the table. A friend of mine is a serial entrepreneur and is running a high-profile, early stage company in NorCal. I raised $500k in seed money to start the company.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Rob Go

NOVEMBER 15, 2016

You probably are quicker to build technology vs throwing bodies at a problem. The early stage of a business is when everything is a blank canvas and you have maximum agility. Instead, what I often see is that the minute seed money is in the bank, founders try to staff up very quickly.

Product 28

Product Seed Stage Seed Money Metrics 28

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Its not what people learn in classes at MIT and Stanford that has made technology companiesspring up around them. In a technology startup, which most startups are, the foundersshould include technical people. The rulers of the technologybusiness tend to come from technology, not business. Its the same with technology.

Startup 105

Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

www.reincubate.com

FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Share this: net c# development django java language php software Were often asked by entrepreneurs which language their startups should adopt when developing their technology. Technology enthusiasts tend to get tangled up in enthusiasm for their chosen platforms, so wed like to provide an objective summary. PHP is insecure?

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO Technical Review CTO Hire 40

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

So, the idea that it's a good or bad idea to follow on, or to play in certain stages versus others--honestly, it's a lot of marketing hype and anecdotal stories that really don't play out across the law of large numbers. Some of this thinking is also driven by folks who aren't well connected to the rest of the later stage venture community.

Later Stage 99

Later Stage Down Round Pre-Money Valuation Early Stage 99

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

It wasnt because they werent accredited investors that I didntask my parents for seed money, though. When we were starting Viaweb,I didnt know about the concept of an accredited investor, anddidnt stop to think about the value of investors connections.The reason I didnt take money from my parents was that I didntwant them to lose it.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going. link] tenthings most business-grads are too arrogant to realize that they are selling technology, not hot air, so they need a tech team to build upon, not a product.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

Campus Entrepreneurship

JUNE 3, 2010

This competition makes use of some Cisco technology so participants can interact while building and presenting their firms. The competition is designed to elicit new technology-oriented ideas from aspiring college and university student entrepreneurs around the world. Fourteen finalists will be announced on June 22, 2010.

Business Plan 34

Business Plan Global San Jose Venture Capital 34

www.businessinsider.com

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Google Ventures has made more than 100 seed investments, Maris said, including some past and present Y Combinator companies, and is making one to two new ones a week. Parse, one of the most-anticipated startups in Silicon Valley these days , went through Y Combinator last year and raised seed money from Google Ventures , for example.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup Valuation Venture Capital 54

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