Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 29, 2011

I’ve always had mixed feelings about the importance of a company announcing a financing in the absence of any other activity. When you do a financing, you file something called a Form D with the SEC. For some reason, some companies want to keep their financings quiet. ” Ok, but so what? ” Next.

Finance 133

Finance SEC Term Sheet Acquisition 133

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 384

David Teten

JULY 20, 2011

Ten Tips for Entrepreneurs when Working with Lawyers. Discuss alternative arrangements such as caps, deferral until financing and equity as a form of payment. One of the biggest sources of friction between entrepreneurs and their attorneys comes from a lack of clarity surrounding billing expectations. by Ed Reitler.

Intellectual Property 128

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Term Sheet Venture Capital 128

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. Objectively. Either that or they’re dumb.

Liquidation Preference 153

Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet Stock 153

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Let’s take a few minutes to examine the kind of equity financing available to small or early stage businesses. If you have a virtual company with your employees working from home locations, as many startups do, it should be the location of the founder. Friends and family investors. How many angel groups are there?

Equity 62

Equity Finance Liquidity Event Angel Groups 62

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

A lot of entrepreneurs think that their startup is the next big thing when in reality they’re just building a small business. Staring at us in the board meeting were three term-sheets from brand name VC’s and an unexpected buy-out offer from Google. The word entrepreneur covers a lot of ground. Make no little plans.

Hockey Stick 299

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 299

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

. × At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. It doesn’t matter whether an entrepreneur is in our portfolio, whether we’re considering an investment, or whether we’re casually meeting for the first time. Entrepreneurs often ask me for help with their pitch decks.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 176

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. GumGum – Raises $11 million financing. CEO on front cover of Entrepreneur magazine. For the past 2.5 This education will continue.

Los Angeles 287

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Incubator Startup 287

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

Many entrepreneurs let the early rejections get to them and it’s normal because when you hear “no” you think “what’s wrong with me!?” What you don’t know is that MANY of these financings have been a months’ long series of no’s, compromises, hard terms, heartaches, arguments, self doubt, followed by a “yes” that saves the day.

Term Sheet 232

Term Sheet France Technical Review Restful 232

Professor VC

JULY 25, 2013

This is the feeling you get from watching the venture capitalists talk about the entrepreneurs and other investors in the film. Pari Passu is a term that was used quite frequently in the early days of the venture industry and even when I got my feet wet in the late ''80s and early ''90s. Startup outcomes tend to be very binary.

Term Sheet 46

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 46

Rob Go

JUNE 17, 2014

In my last post about raising seed vs. jumping straight to A, I received a good comment from Chris Woods that my analysis neglected to include the impact of option pools that are created at each financing round. Essentially, the new investor wants there to be a certain % of options available to employees after they invest.

Option Pool 65

Option Pool Dilution .Net Term Sheet 65

Hunter Walker

MAY 7, 2014

“Growing the team” is almost always one of the ways entrepreneurs utilize new investment dollars. The entrepreneurs had some ties into the broader startup community so weren’t completely on an island but hadn’t sourced or vetted any candidates. There was no one waiting to sign on as soon as the term sheet was signed.

Hiring 107

Hiring Option Pool Early Stage Term Sheet 107

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

submitting term sheets. Why should I pay 2x the price to hire a VP of sales as I would pay to hire a VP of Market, Technology or Finance? 1/3 of fee on short-list of candidates, 1/3 on acceptance by a candidate, 1/3 first month after employee joins). We like to short-hand it, as in, “What’s our BATNA?”

Mexico 305

Mexico Term Sheet Hiring Search 305

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

How-to learn about angel/vc term sheets - Gabriel Weinberg , June 28, 2010 I think every startup entrepreneur (and angel investor) should have a good understanding of financing term sheets. You’re Not a Real Entrepreneur - Steve Blank , June 10, 2010 Who is an entrepreneur really? Productivity.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

www.mattbartus.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Let’s say you receive a term sheet for a $1 million investment at a $3 million fully diluted pre-money valuation, and you’re kind of disappointed. I just worked on a financing for a company that received a term sheet from a group of VCs at a $7 million pre-money valuation. Equity for Consultants - Keep.

Warrant 40

Warrant Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 40

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

He's been with the firm since its inception in 2009 and has overseen its rapid growth, from three employees to 150+ and from $300 million in assets under management to more than $10 billion. You've seen how venture capital works from both sides--as an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

As I discussed last week in the Greymatter podcast with my friend and Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh , I believe that a knowledge of philosophy is actually a great asset for entrepreneurs. To say categorically that MBA equals “not entrepreneur” is a foolish assumption, just like saying Masters in Philosophy equals “not entrepreneur.”

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

As I discussed last week in the Greymatter podcast with my friend and Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh , I believe that a knowledge of philosophy is actually a great asset for entrepreneurs. To say categorically that MBA equals “not entrepreneur” is a foolish assumption, just like saying Masters in Philosophy equals “not entrepreneur.”

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

Why the Unicorn Financing Market Just Became Dangerous…For All Involved. All Unicorn participants — founders, company employees, venture investors and their limited partners (LPs) — are seeing their fortunes put at risk from the very nature of the Unicorn phenomenon itself. The Sharks Arrive With Dirty Term Sheets.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Other investors are using Trello , Basecamp , and Monday for making sure that everyone at the firm knows one anothers’ long-term OKRs and short-term projects. Point Nine Capital uses 15Five for continuous employee feedback. See Bessemer Venture Partners’ A comprehensive guide to security for startups. 2) Market .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Berkonomics

APRIL 3, 2014

We’ve spoken of financing a young company through friends and family, known as “inside angels.” If you are starting a virtual company with your employees working from home locations, as many startups do, it should be the location of the founder. Angel groups invest from $250,000 to $1,000,000 or more in qualified investments.

Equity 92

Equity Finance Liquidity Event Angel Groups 92

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. You’ll never make a great entrepreneur. So your journey to fund raising begins by strengthening your relationships with other entrepreneurs.

Developer 366

Developer Silicon Valley PR Las Vegas 366

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC “ There’s a great meme developing this morning on the need to simplify funding terms and documents. The meme was kicked off by Chris Dixon with this post saying that term sheets need to be simplified and align investor / founder interests. I totally agree.

Founder Vesting 252

Founder Vesting Vesting Founder Term Sheet 252

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Btw, the definition of each startup financing stage has changed in the last decade. Number of employees? You’ll see a Term Sheet, Stock Purchase Agreement, Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, Investors’ Rights Agreement, Right of First Refusal and Co-Sale Agreement and a Voting Agreement.

Cofounder 431

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 431

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Investors evaluate startups the way customers evaluate products,not the way bosses evaluate employees. One answer to that is obvious: because you need money to live on.Its a fine idea in principle to finance your startup with its ownrevenues, but you cant create instant customers. How likely are they to offer you a term sheet?What

Bootstrapping 77

Bootstrapping Term Sheet Founder Startup 77

Austin Startup

MAY 19, 2018

If we think you may be cutting a sizable check and joining the board, we are evaluating you as a potential employee of our company. If you have some common friends, feel free to ask around about them, but if you want to talk to former employees, colleagues or other investors, don’t until you are fully committed. That’s awesome.

Founder 75

Founder Early Stage Software Review Deal Flow 75

venturehacks.com

OCTOBER 21, 2010

Later that evening you review the term sheet from Blue Shirt. Reading on, the term sheet states, “The $8 million pre-money valuation includes an option pool equal to 20% of the post-financing fully diluted capitalization.&# That does work if the company gets sold before another round of financing.

Option Pool 68

Option Pool Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Warrant 68

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

I’d like to explain as best I can my opinion on what is going on because most of what I hear from entrepreneurs is not only wrong but is reminiscent of what I heard in 1997-2000. ” “This will be great for VCs and bad for entrepreneurs.” What is the True Sentiment of VCs? ” “Sure, prices are dropping.

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 27, 2011

Most entrepreneurs would love to be in a position to have to decide! I just coached an entrepreneur who couldn’t decide whether to accept an offer for selling his business of nine years. It’s not the number, it’s the whole term sheet. I covered the buyer side there; now let’s tackle the seller.

Sales 235

Sales Term Sheet Stock Deal Structure 235

mashable.com

JUNE 11, 2013

Lucky for you, time-strapped entrepreneur, weve gathered some tips from the pros to help you avoid some of the most common, game-ending mistakes committed by young startups. Young founders tend to complicate things too much, from structuring partnership agreements, financing, leases, etc. This doesnt really work for a startup.

Cofounder 111

Cofounder Technical Review Startup Software Review 111

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

Grasshopper – virtual phone system Ringio – cloud phone system RingCentral – cloud based phone system InDinero – easy business finance software Expensify – billing, expenses, receipts Resumator – applicant tracking and social recruiting RecruiterBox – recruitment software, applicant tracking ActiveInterview (..)

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

A group of Seedcamp entrepreneurs started a startup tools wiki for that purpose, and we thought it would be well suited here. easy business finance software. BambooHR - Employee Records, Benefit Information, Payroll Data, etc. YCombinator Series AA Equity Financing Documents. WSGR Term Sheet Generator.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53