View from Seed

MAY 29, 2019

Many of us in the seed stage ecosystem have noticed a shift in the way seed rounds are coming together. Historically, seed rounds were syndicated among several different firms. Today, we are seeing less syndication of seed rounds and sharper elbows among many of the funds in the market.

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Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Cap Table 267

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

*. If you are a 20-something tech entrepreneur you could be forgiven for thinking that seed-stage investors, Angellist Syndicates and widely available angel money always existed. I was out to raise my first seed money in my second startup of $500,000. Some quick highlights include: The Role of a Seed Stage VC.

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Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 150

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

View from Seed

AUGUST 13, 2014

We at NextView Ventures invest exclusively in a startup’s seed-stage round , meaning that many if not most of our deals are made alongside individual angel investors. Pros: Industry-insider who serves as a validator for the rest of the investment syndicate, extremely helpful advice and network connections. The Financial Angel.

Angel Investor 334

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 334

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

Especially in the early stages, so much about the company may change in how they think about product or go-to-market — and change multiple times — before raising an institutional round. NVV: Let’s talk about the seed stage specifically. But the costs are definitely there.

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Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

The dynamics for participation in the next round’s fundraise syndicate is complex, and many accelerators (and VCs) obfuscate their intentions for self-serving interests. Some prospective seed stage VCs may consider the remaining startups “passed over” and of lesser quality, when in reality great startups take time to mature and blossom. .

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 177

Agile VC

JULY 11, 2012

Here’s a slightly perverse scenario… Acme Ventures starts out as an early-stage VC investing in US-based IT companies. But usually what makes a VC partnership great in its early days doesn’t easily translate into other new strategies down the road. they generate $400M in proceeds from that $100M).

Silicon Valley 240

Silicon Valley Carried Interest Cofounder Boston 240

Hunter Walker

MAY 19, 2014

It was easier to just discuss privately with other investors, but Jason Calacanis tweeted this morning about VCs trying to take entire seed rounds , and so, here it goes. This theory is the most structural one suggested here and I tend to believe is influencing some early stage investment behaviors. (d)

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Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication Founder 99

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Seed-stage compatible: Like traditional equity VC investors, Flexible VCs accomodate early-stage investment risk within their portfolios better than a traditional RBI funder. Coinvestors: Flexible VC terms have not been standardized, which may make the investment harder to syndicate. Short track record.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2012

We at NextView Ventures often invest in a startup’s first round alongside other funds; either seed stage focused ones like ourselves or larger traditional firms. Addressing both of those issues can stem from the motivations as to why someone would want to put their hard-earned cash into a risky early-stage startup in the first place.

Angel Investor 257

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 257

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2010

VCs needed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars every couple of years, and liked to go into groups and syndications, which meant they wanted deals for a few millions dollars. He says, summarizing the Giga Om post: Unlike traditional VCs, super angels actively invest in seed stage companies.

Disintermediation 66

Disintermediation Venture Capital Angel Investor Seed Stage 66

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

In another we decended into a debate about our 5 year forecasts (I built the models so fielded most of these questions), and it became clear they probably weren’t the best fit for our Series A round (this group is no longer in the early-stage VC business). And a third firm “pressure tested” (i.e. link] dazhi chen.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 20, 2017

The AngelList funds will give mentors and alumni early investment access while providing companies with additional early stage capital. At Foundry Group, we learned a lot by running our own FG Angels syndicate. AngelList syndicates helps enable seed stage investing at scale.

Syndicate 70

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Vertical 70

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Furthermore, angel groups frequently syndicate (co-invest) with neighboring angel organizations in an effort to help fill round of investment for local companies and assist members in diversifying their portfolios with investments in nearby regions. Average annual pre-money valuations have been just over $2 million during this period.

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Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

As the seed-stage startup fundraise process has received more transparency in recent years, ranging from published advice on how to raise seed capital to increased availability through AngelList, Funders Club, and various accelerator programs, I’ve noticed another trend emerging.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2012

We at NextView Ventures often invest in a startup’s first round alongside other funds; either seed stage focused ones like ourselves or larger traditional firms. Addressing both of those issues can stem from the motivations as to why someone would want to put their hard-earned cash into a risky early-stage startup in the first place.

Angel Investor 128

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 128

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 6, 2011

If you are in the very early stages with your company and there are no major reasons (e.g. Jeff Clavier, Seed stage investor in 90+ consumer internet startups, said: We all have a different approach to non Silicon Valley opportunities. R&D in your home country, HQ in US with the CEO moving over).

Silicon Valley 104

Silicon Valley Startup Seed Stage Delaware 104

View from Seed

JANUARY 26, 2016

In the next post, I’ll talk about how we think about pre-seeds at NextView. It’s become increasingly common for startups to raise several seed rounds, and this has led to a bifurcation in the seed stage between what are known as “pre-seed” (or “genesis”) and institutional seed rounds.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Cofounder Finance 120

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

So you should be looking for this level signal and, if you’re getting it, know that it’s in the early stages but progressing in the right way. This is particularly true at the seed stage where NextView invests. Work on securing a lead investor who can then help in forming a syndicate.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Due Diligence Seed Stage Seed Capital 120

Genuine VC

NOVEMBER 12, 2012

When you compromise on terms in the early stages, you will have to pay the price in the later stages. As a seed stage investor here at NextView seeing our companies progress down fundraising paths, I think it’s extremely important to highlight that terms in early rounds do set precedent for terms going forward.

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Finance Mezzanine Valuation Seed Stage 128

View from Seed

JUNE 16, 2015

And that product is a highly engaged seed-stage investment where we are usually the lead or co-lead in a round and will often take a board seat. So, the bar will be different for each investor, and for very early stage fundraising, the goal is to find true believers more than convincing skeptics. (My

Boston 120

Boston Syndicate Syndication eCommerce 120

Feld Thoughts

MAY 8, 2012

Yesterday I sent emails out passing on participating in two seed rounds for companies I really like. They had lots of investors trying to invest and each company was competitive with two other seed stage companies we’ve seen in the past 30 days. Finally, we believe strongly in active engagement as a seed investor.

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Seed Stage LP Warrant Syndicate 138

VC Adventure

MARCH 17, 2016

Clearly access to capital at this stage has been, and continues to be, critical to the success of the Colorado (and national) startup ecosystem. While there’s a lot of seed stage investing going on in Colorado and other markets, there are some clear challenges to how many angel investors are approaching the market.

Syndicate 48

Syndicate Syndication Angel Investor Colorado 48

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 18, 2015

Cendana founder Michael Kim was amongst the earliest and certainly the most focused LP to spot the changes in venture capital leading to seed stage funds and has backed many of the best in the industry so it’s always a pleasure to come and share thoughts with all of these great peers. The platforms often get free carry.

IPO 150

IPO Venture Capital LP SEC 150

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

Startups in NextView’s portfolio frequently receive inbound interest from other VC investors who are intrigued about what they’re doing, and I often talk with other early-stage entrepreneurs how to approach similar situations. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010.

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley 100

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

No doubt early-stage companies can be started on a shoestring by low-paid entrepreneurs, but when financing a scalable, sustainable product, a free application server won’t make much of a difference. In fact, it’s barely even the beginning for most companies in their seed stage financings. All Rights Reserved.

Startup 79

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network 79

Rob Go

JULY 17, 2014

NextView Ventures II is $40M, twice the size of our first fund, and we continue to be exclusively focused on seed-stage companies pursuing internet-enabled innovation. We’ve often explained to entrepreneurs that the second fund of a venture firm is very much like the series A for an early stage company.

Seed Stage 69

Seed Stage Early Stage Due Diligence Liquidity Event 69

View from Seed

JUNE 30, 2015

As a founder, I think it’s easier to talk to potential investors about where they invest across the lifecycle of a company (whether it’s truly early-stage/early lifecycle, for instance), versus round stages like seed, series A, etc. Almost all VCs actually invest across this spectrum.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication Dilution 120

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 9, 2012

There are more similarities with early-stage VC than public investing, but in these asset classes you still see somewhat more uniform access to investment opportunities and less information asymmetry. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010. How do you win? Author howerl.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Framework Silicon Valley Early Stage 100

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 21, 2014

17 core investments have been made, I’d say our investment model was, and continues to be, consistent with the type of firm we want to build but if you’re not constantly evaluating how to get better and serve entrepreneurs, you won’t last very long in the early stage venture business. No more, no less.

Cofounder 102

Cofounder Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 102

Rob Go

OCTOBER 21, 2013

I’ve been hearing a similar lament recently from founders of seed stage companies. It goes something like this: “I thought seed funds would be faster at getting to a decision than large funds. This leads more seed funds to approach investments with a defensive mentality vs an offensive one.

Seed Stage 53

Seed Stage Due Diligence Early Stage Syndicate 53

Rob Go

OCTOBER 12, 2016

In almost all of these cases, these smaller investors were included into a syndicate because they “added value” either through domain or functional expertise or through their network. I find that almost all seed stage companies start out sending updates to investors. Second, send updates.

Angel Investor 28

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage 28

Rob Go

JANUARY 7, 2013

Amidst the mass of new initiatives, new firms, new strategies, etc that constantly pop up in the early stage investing landscape, it’s helpful to have a clear articulation of what VC’s are focused on and how they see the world. We focus on investing in seed stage companies. Our Focus at NextView. Commerce: 5.

Portfolio 49

Portfolio Seed Stage Cofounder B2B 49

Agile VC

MARCH 8, 2012

What are the implications for other late-stage private companies thinking of making the transition to public markets in the near to midterm future? What’s the impact for early-stage startups? I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010. Author howerl. Read More ».

IPO 100

IPO Silicon Valley Revenue Seed Stage 100

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

So if youre going to sell cheap stockto eminent angels, do it early, when its natural for the companyto have a low valuation. Some angel investors join together in syndicates. Angels and even VC firms occasionally do this, but they alsoinvest at later stages. The problems are different in the early stages.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76