ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. I have interacted with a lot of founders who funded their initial business expenses through credit cards. So, I would suggest that you bootstrap during the inception stage. ? Seed stage.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

View from Seed

JUNE 7, 2016

Today we’re thrilled to re-launch our most popular resource ever: board deck templates for seed-stage startups. But more so, these decks are about one thing: upping your board game as a founder. Said another way, seed-stage companies can be led by a founder; scaling companies require a CEO.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Founder Seed Capital Institutional Investors 120

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

And from my perspective as an engaged seed stage venture investor, this makes them unfundable. So why do inexperienced (as entrepreneurs), ultra-skilled CTOs fall into the trap of engaging a business partner too early? I advocate treating them like a co-founder in every way except when they join and how much equity they get.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Founder 150

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

How to Sell Your Startup’s “Secret” Master Plan at the Seed Stage “Articulating and selling your long run vision is important, but trying to convince those that are deeply skeptical about it is simply a mutual waste of time.” Magic Graph: How Much Seed Capital Should You Raise? ” (Rob Go).

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 24, 2017

Foundry Group is best known for our investments in startups, but our vehicle currently investing in other venture funds, Foundry Group Next, is off to what we believe to be a great start and I wanted to share an update about it by talking about our new investment in a fund managed by Founder Collective.

Founder 75

Founder LP Technical Review Seed Stage 75

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

As a seed stage VC, I have a unique privilege of confidentially spending time with a number of entrepreneurs throughout their company formation and initial product development process. And it’s amazed me how many times I’ve seen two or more entirely separate groups of founders?—?without

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Startup Cofounder Stealth 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Asking for early-stage money before you have customers and revenue will likely kill your credibility with real investors. A seed-stage “super angel.”

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. They are not interested in research and development, or funding at the idea stage. Lack of intellectual property.

Due Diligence 271

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

With all other things equal, that means that a 50/50 split between two co-founders (evenly split if there are more than two), or a 66/33 split based on the premium for coming up with the original idea, and for starting the initial development efforts and sourcing the original team. Entrepreneur Analysis and Opinion' Whose idea was it?

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Equity Founder Seed Stage 136

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Belief #1: The best time to invest is early. And by early, we mean pre-traction. This is not what Nextview is about.

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

View from Seed

MAY 19, 2015

To me, the most exciting (and most perilous) times in a company’s lifecycle are the early first stages when it is just getting off the ground. At the seed stage, the founder’s or co-founders’ role in the company is essential and therefore carries a great deal of risk for missteps. Inauthenticity.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Liquidity Event Cofounder Startup 120

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

I touched on this in my post “ Founder Investor Fit “ Passing the initial filtering process. Most of these can sound like common sense, but you’d be surprised how many founders skip this initial research. What should be in your pre-seed pitch deck. What would make an investor more interested in your pitch deck.

Technical Review 166

Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder Portfolio 166

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 23, 2023

Entrepreneur : A successful CIA case officer must be able to operate amid ambiguity and make judgment calls that require strong second- and third-order thinking. Most people believe case officers and entrepreneurs are big risk takers, when, in fact, they’re risk mitigators. Both are possible on the outside. Know your appetite for risk.

Government 212

Government Advisory Board Salary Sales Cycle 212

Agile VC

DECEMBER 13, 2011

One of the hardest things for me as a VC remains telling entrepreneurs I like and respect that we’re passing on their investment round. I often tell these entrepreneurs that I genuinely hope they prove us wrong, and are wildly successful with their startup. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC.

Seed Stage 185

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 185

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 10, 2017

by Mark Gilbert, founder and CEO of MBS Accounting Technology & Advisory. For the last eight quarters, the number of angel and seed stage deals has declined, according to an Eisner Amper VC report. For the last eight quarters, the number of angel and seed stage deals has declined, according to an Eisner Amper VC report.

Software Review 124

Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence Startup 124

View from Seed

DECEMBER 17, 2015

I recently chatted with Saurya about how he approaches hiring engineers at Google and what founders can learn. We also talked about how he’d want to be interviewed if approached by a non-technical startup founder. (I’ve How do you position yourself as the latter if you’re a seed-stage startup founder?

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Engineer Software Review Founder 120

View from Seed

OCTOBER 5, 2016

Whether an entrepreneur is raising a smaller (pre-)seed round entirely from individuals or she has a seed-stage or larger VC firm involved in (leading) the seed syndicate, it’s somewhere between necessary and optimal to have multiple individual angel investors involved. Affinity by personal background.

Angel Investor 332

Angel Investor Boston Seed Stage Syndicate 332

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.

Seed Stage 150

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 150

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. Lower-Than-Market Value.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

View from Seed

AUGUST 12, 2015

I loved the founder but was struggling because this just didn’t seem “big enough” to me. I wondered if it could potentially be a “platform” for something else (the most meaningless and overused phrase that entrepreneurs and investors try to use to make companies seem more important than they are). It’s very discouraging.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Marketing Angel Investor Term Sheet 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 12, 2015

I loved the founder but was struggling because this just didn’t seem “big enough” to me. I wondered if it could potentially be a “platform” for something else (the most meaningless and overused phrase that entrepreneurs and investors try to use to make companies seem more important than they are). It’s very discouraging.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Marketing Angel Investor Term Sheet 120

View from Seed

APRIL 16, 2015

An easy way to think about it is that value over time doesn’t go up and to the right in a straight line like this: Instead, it’s more of a stair step like this: So, what are the value inflection points that create the stair steps, and how does one think about it at the earliest stages? These might include: Bring on a technical co-founder.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Cofounder Early Stage Startup 120

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

Traction is a biweekly podcast where founders share the creative or unusual things they did during the seed stage to make early progress. Founders from LinkedIn , DraftKings , General Assembly , The Muse , Behance , InsightSquared , and more have appeared on the show. Subscribe on iTunes , SoundCloud , or Stitcher.

CTO Hire 120

CTO Hire Framework Cofounder Seed Stage 120

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

*This post is part of our “pitch deck” series where we dissect the seed stage pitch deck and discuss the ideal flow for a pitch. After 12 years of hearing startup pitches, my favorite first 5 minutes came from John Katzman, the founder of 2U. At the time, 2U was pre-launch, raising what today would be considered a super-seed.

Southern California 159

Southern California Phoenix Technical Review Seed Stage 159

View from Seed

APRIL 2, 2015

And since I’m an operator, not investor, I recognize just how valuable all the casual, daily discussions inside a VC’s office can be to fellow operators and entrepreneurs. Few projects in an entrepreneur’s life can lead to more scope creep and more agony over little details than the company pitch deck. Does it matter?

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Design Startup Early Stage 120

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2015

“As a seed-stage investor, should you pay up for team or traction?” So, if you are going to pay up as a seed-stage investor, pay up for team. Great companies are often founded by first time founders who don’t seem obviously special. The Founder’s Perspective. The Case for Traction.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage B2B Distribution Early Stage 120

View from Seed

MARCH 31, 2015

Editor’s note: Unlike the Ubers and Airbnbs of the tech startup world, seed-stage companies don’t typically have the valuations, awareness, or traction typically associated with press coverage. That said, coverage is important, and early-stage companies would be wise to work with local press in addition to national.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage PR North Dakota Startup 120

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2019

Specifically, there are five challenges that emerging business typically put on the backburner between funding rounds: Seed to Series A: Customer Testing. Hypotheses should be tested extensively and disproven, which is where customer testing plays a central role for seed-stage startups. At Women 2.0

Technical Cofounder 113

Technical Cofounder Burn Rate Seed Stage Cofounder 113

View from Seed

MARCH 8, 2016

Jesse Derris is the founder and CEO of Derris & Company , a PR, branding, and communications firm based in New York. Jay: How should a tech entrepreneur frame “brand” as an idea in the first place? What are some common, early mistakes entrepreneurs make when developing their company’s brand identity and message?

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Conversion Startup PR 120

The Equity Kicker

DECEMBER 5, 2013

As I’ve written before here at Forward Partners we work with entrepreneurs to help them launch and scale their companies in two different ways. Right now we’re looking to invest in up to two amazing new entrepreneurs or founding teams at that true startup stage.

Partner 117

Partner Software Review eCommerce Due Diligence 117

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

. $100M is a meaningful increase from our $50M third fund, though it’s still quite small in the grand scheme of venture, especially amid the recent wave of late stage financings and SPACs. We believe that this fund is the perfect size for us to be the best possible partners to early-stage entrepreneurs today.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

SiliconHills

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

Austin-based Perigon has closed on a $5 million seed stage round of financing led by LiveOak Venture Partners. Josh Rickel, co-founder, said the company plans to use the money to hire key employees and further develop its technology.

Austin 71

Austin Seed Stage Cofounder Finance 71

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Over the past five years, we’ve witnessed an Atomization of the Seed Stage. Early fundraising is no longer a one-and-done fundraise of a single round of Seed capital subsequently followed by a Series A 12–18 months later. A seed extension has ceased to be the equivalent of scarlet letter, and instead has become commonplace.

Seed Stage 136

Seed Stage Post-Money Valuation Valuation Startup 136

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Every Flexible VC structure allows founders to access immediate risk capital while preserving exit, growth trajectory, and ownership optionality. . Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

At NextView, for instance, one of our more popular posts centers on atypical seed rounds to know. What is it, and how should founders think about it? From a company milestones perspective, entrepreneurs who take on venture debt are almost always thinking about raising that next round of capital from other institutions.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2010

Finally, when everyone else had their turn, the grey-haired VC turned to the founder and said, “If you do what we tell you to do and fail, we’ll fire you. He turned to the other VC’s and added, “That’s why we write the checks and entrepreneurs run the company.”. And if you do what you think is right and you fail, we may also fire you.

Business Model 332

Business Model Agile Customer Development Startup 332

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. The discussion with Howard Morgan starts off by acknowledging Josh Kopelman as a co-founder of First Round Capital. I'm a huge fan of this innovation.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284