View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

In short, more and more entrepreneurs are signaling their price expectations earlier in their seed fundraise process. In theory, there are three levels of pricing for an entrepreneur to potentially signal to a prospective investor: 1. Lower-Than-Market Value. This approach is almost never a good idea. Above-Market Value.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

Jack Tankersley, a long time mentor of mine, co-founder of Centennial Funds, and co-founder of Meritage Funds, wrote me a very long response. Secondly, the driver of returns for the funds raised in 1978 – 1981 was not their underlying portfolios, at what stage, or in what industries they were built. I strongly disagree.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2014

Recently, we looked at our own portfolio at NextView Ventures to dig a little deeper on how startups actually raise that next round of financing. Of the NextView-backed founders have have tried to raise this round, over 70% have done so (compared to a mean success rate in the industry of around 27%, according to some sources ).

Syndicate 333

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Startup 333

David Teten

JULY 12, 2017

When I meet with other VCs, family offices, and other institutional investors, the most common question I get is: “What are the highest-potential companies in your portfolio which are raising now?” Although EquityZen is primarily an online marketplace for secondary shares in private companies, they also offer syndicated primary investments.

Syndicate 60

Syndicate Syndication Institutional Investors LP 60

Hunter Walker

APRIL 10, 2014

But he’s raised the largest syndicate on AngelList , turning himself effectively into a one-man fund for, if not the masses, at least the 270 people who have already committed nearly $3.4m AngelList syndicate has surprised some people, you’ve been angel investing for quite a while, right? He tweets infrequently.

Syndicate 121

Syndicate Syndication Hiring Cofounder 121

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

Previously she was Co-Founder and CEO of SNAZZ, a cloud-based event management platform. Her work included heading Nokia’s location-based services business and app portfolio for emerging markets, which she built from a back-of-a-napkin idea to a 100-person organization with over 10 million users.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

of teams’ online pitch decks and recorded videos, as well as loved the dozens of second-round video conversations which we had with Founders working on quite compelling startups. Many of these Founders we wouldn’t have had an opportunity to connect with if we hadn’t launched this program.

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 177

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

I’ve primarily seen quantitative analytic techniques used in origination , filtering , and in portfolio company recruiting , but technology can be used throughout the nine steps of the private company investing process: The 9 Steps of the Private Company Investing Process. 8) Accelerate portfolio company value. 9% (1 / 12).

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Agile VC

JULY 16, 2014

One of our portfolio companies, Plastiq , announced yesterday that they raised a $10M Series B led by Khosla Ventures and are planning to move their headquarters from Boston to San Francisco. And talent flows in many directions (all three co-founders of NextView are all Silicon Valley transplants to Boston).

Boston 208

Boston Silicon Valley San Francisco Cofounder 208

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, But they are also a tax on your time with portfolio companies, looking for new investments, running your shop and honestly they are a tax on your family life.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

Rob Go

JANUARY 9, 2012

A year ago, I wrote a post detailing some tidbits about our portfolio. I believe that the best way to understand an investor is to meet the founders that they work with. Second best is to understand their portfolio. So here is an unscientific cut of our portfolio and some commentary below. Repeat Entrepreneur: 6.

Portfolio 46

Portfolio Syndicate Syndication Cofounder 46

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Most investors won’t touch a first-time entrepreneur at this stage. Ron Conway , of SV Angels, and Reid Hoffman , LinkedIn's founder, are names often mentioned in this category.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 3, 2014

This goes for founders, employees and investors alike. There are a few obvious investors with great track records of repeat success, but when''s the last time you really tried to value an investor''s portfolio. Will the entrepreneur count that investor among their most helpful? We celebrate a strong effort. How long ago?

Syndicate 145

Syndicate Syndication Venture Capital Valuation 145

Agile VC

DECEMBER 19, 2013

Angel investing, particularly for entrepreneurs and others who’ve chosen a startup career path, can be rewarding in many different ways. But for angels primarily focused on insight, the scale of their investments matter less than having a more diversified portfolio and taking the time to connect with the startups they invest in (e.g.

Angel Investor 265

Angel Investor Early Stage Syndicate Syndication 265

Version One Ventures

JULY 6, 2016

Here’s a quick recap of some of this quarter’s news clippings for V1 and our portfolio companies. Portfolio companies in the news. We still like marketplaces (and recently syndicated our marketplace handbook in deck form ), but we’re also looking toward the AI/ML space. Funding announcements. Funding announcements.

San Francisco 104

San Francisco Syndicate Syndication Seattle 104

OnlyOnce

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

In our prior lives, the Bolster founders worked together to scale up a business called Return Path and also. worked as advisors and mentors to numerous early stage founders and startups. Any entrepreneur would be lucky to have one of these mentors in their corner. What about the middle?

Silicon Valley 62

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cap Table Early Stage 62

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

If the deal is from out of your geography and/or out of your focus area or a deal is being referred by a well-know investor who normally co-invests with similar syndicates – at least ask yourself, “Why am I so lucky to be getting this call.” I seek out great entrepreneurs. I wrote here about why I avoid party rounds.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Angel Investor 337

Rob Go

JANUARY 7, 2013

As a founder, it feels like a long time, but it’s really a blip on the radar in the scheme of things. This is why I’ve made a habit of profiling our portfolio quantitatively and why we write summaries announcing pretty much all of our new investments. So, here is our annual quantitative summary of our portfolio.

Portfolio 49

Portfolio Seed Stage Cofounder B2B 49

View from Seed

JULY 9, 2015

As an operator, not an investor, I’m amazed at how many casual, throwaway comments that happen inside a VC’s office would be genuinely useful to entrepreneurs building their businesses. In light of that partnership, founders should be proactive about asking them to delay — if that’s your desire. You get the idea.

Startup 120

Startup PR Cofounder Stealth 120

View from Seed

JUNE 16, 2015

I was recently asked to sit on panel with my fellow VC peers and some top entrepreneurs from the Boston tech community. Generally, my advice to entrepreneurs is to avoid these situations. I’d also question a founder who asks his or her investors to comment falsely on something — that puts the investor in an awkward spot.

Boston 120

Boston Syndicate Syndication eCommerce 120

Agile VC

JULY 15, 2015

This company will remain in stealth mode for at least a little while and it isn’t my place to divulge their plans, but we’re very excited about the founding team, market opportunity, and syndicate we will be part of. But we will undoubtedly continue to add more hardware related businesses to our portfolio.

Internet 100

Internet Stealth Cofounder Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

JULY 15, 2015

This company will remain in stealth mode for at least a little while and it isn’t my place to divulge their plans, but we’re very excited about the founding team, market opportunity, and syndicate we will be part of. But we will undoubtedly continue to add more hardware related businesses to our portfolio.

Internet 100

Internet Stealth Cofounder Seed Stage 100

Hunter Walker

APRIL 4, 2014

Part of our presentation will be portfolio financials, which, because we’re relatively new, aren’t exceptionally volatile (LP speak: most of our investments are still carried at original value since no additional fundraising has occurred). Sure, not coal miner hard, not startup founder hard. high net worth individuals.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Private Equity LP Syndicate 100

Agile VC

APRIL 27, 2012

We love meeting entrepreneurs who take this blank canvas approach when thinking about disrupting markets. My partner David recently wrote about how investors tend to bring their own inherent biases (both good and bad) into pitch meetings with entrepreneurs. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC.

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 124

Version One Ventures

APRIL 8, 2014

start-up databases/networks like CrunchBase and AngelList ) has led to unparalleled access to investment capital as more seed funds, angels, and syndicates emerge on the scene. In just a few clicks, you can find everything from the company’s tagline to information on founders and investors, number of employees, funding rounds, etc.

Venture Capital 160

Venture Capital Vertical Curation SEC 160

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

However, in private markets, there is more room to optimize across all 11 steps of the investing process: firm management , marketing, fundraising , origination , manage relationships, due diligence, negotiation, monitoring, portfolio acceleration , reporting, and. 2) Market . 3) Raise capital. I never used the word qualified.’.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Rob Go

JANUARY 27, 2014

It’s an exciting time to be an entrepreneur and investor in this ecosystem. In the early stages, entrepreneurs have historically known who all their investors are. Entrepreneurs will certainly know the VC’s that led their round, and they certainly know the friends and family that invested in their companies.

Syndicate 73

Syndicate Syndication Early Stage Cap Table 73

Austin Startup

MARCH 7, 2021

It seems like every day there is a new headline about an exceptional startup founder, investor, or corporate headquarters moving to Texas. It’s like a dam has broken and now there is a flood of new entrepreneurs, investors, and big companies moving to Texas. Startups and investors should treat Texas like one big city. Joe Lonsdale.

Texas 90

Texas San Antonio Houston Dallas 90

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. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC. February 28, 2012.

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley 100

View from Seed

JANUARY 28, 2016

But let’s make this more concrete in the context of an entrepreneur raising a round: How NextView Approaches Pre-Seed Rounds. As a founder, you and your team are building value every day, but there are certain step-function moments where the value creation significantly increases.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Finance Founder Syndicate 120

Rob Go

NOVEMBER 18, 2014

This week, we helped organize an Angel Bootcamp where some of Boston’s most successful angel investors shared their experiences and lessons learned to a crowd of aspiring angels and entrepreneurs. The reason is that most seed syndicates have room for 5-10 angels or more, but only room for 1-3 funds. 2: Flexibility.

Syndicate 66

Syndicate Syndication Due Diligence Liquidity Event 66

Rob Go

JANUARY 8, 2014

It’s been a yearly tradition for me to share a semi-quantitative view into our portfolio at NextView. Three years ago, I published our first “Stroll through the portfolio” and I’ve published updates each year in January. Syndicates: We have a bias to lead rounds. Traction in Ad Tech Portfolio.

Syndicate 45

Syndicate Syndication Portfolio Advertising 45

Agile VC

MAY 16, 2012

Rather these firms know that there are countless bright, hard-working entrepreneurs out there thinking 24/7 about the next big thing and so they remain open to these innovative ideas even if the firm hasn’t previously formed a specific investment thesis about that space. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC.

Seed Stage 124

Seed Stage Silicon Valley B2B Syndicate 124

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

Some founders are able to skip an institutional seed round and go straight to a multi-million dollar A-round where a larger VC puts in the lion’s share of the capital. As I’ve blogged about in the past, there are positives and negatives to this strategy, but it is a viable option to some founders. Skipping Straight to A.

Cram Down 66

Cram Down Institutional Investors Dilution Seed Stage 66

VC Adventure

JULY 23, 2013

Update below with the final email in the chain where the entrepreneur apologizes (and talks about some challenges around fundraising that led to his frustration). I just tweeted about an unfortunate email exchange I just had with a company founder, but 140 characters isn’t enough to really do the matter justice. than anything.

SBA 117

SBA Syndicate Syndication Email 117

Rob Go

MARCH 10, 2012

By spreading out our investment period over several years, we minimize the amount of exposure that the entire portfolio might have to sudden shocks in the market. We try to build out a portfolio with some level of diversification on the profiles of the businesses we invest in. Syndicate diversification.

Seed Stage 49

Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication Marketing 49

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

I know many super experienced entrepreneurs who don’t understand the basics of how fund size and age can affect them so I thought it was worth establishing a baseline. In a world of The Funded, VentureHacks and entrepreneur blogs this kind of informations spreads like wildfire. Let me explain: 1. And they don’t.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265