Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

I like the guy because he’s credited with coining the word entrepreneur. According to Schumpter, capitalism is an evolutionary process where new industries and new companies continually emerge to knock out the old. As the venture capital business has come roaring back in the last 5 years, startups are awash in available capital.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Business Model 325

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2018

As an active angel investor, I’m accustomed to hearing entrepreneurs pitch their expectation to quickly create a new dominant brand, based on their disruptive technology. More capital is available for scaling and brand building. Investors measure their success by looking at the internal rate of return (IRR).

IRR 143

IRR Marketing Startup Angel Investor 143

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

Just as I was getting the swing of things the world shifted beneath my feet and the stock market went into a free fall and venture capital all but shut down for nearly a year. The advantage is that in many of our best deals we now have $50+ million invested so we can really support entrepreneurs as their businesses scale.

IP 223

IP Intellectual Property IRR Cofounder 223

Up and Running

JUNE 17, 2013

As the session got into open-ended questions, I was surprised, and even shocked, by a frustration shared by several of the entrepreneurs. And Internal Rate of Return (IRR)? If you’re the one telling entrepreneurs they need to show some fantastic return on investment, stop it. I trust my judgment on that.

IRR 71

IRR Flash Angel Investor Venture Capital 71

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Please see later version of this post on May 16, 2010 Entrepreneurs are often not experts in the area of term-sheet negotiations and all of the surrounding issues.   Investors sometimes “present” the terms they’d like and expect the entrepreneurs to react.   Internal Rates of Return naturally compound, so a 50% IRR is 7.59

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

David Teten

MAY 8, 2012

As Steve Case has said, it’s ridiculous that anyone can gamble and be guaranteed to lose money, but there are strict regulations around who can invest in early-stage private companies and earn (in some cases) a 27% IRR on their capital. *. The Entrepreneurs Access to Capital Act helps to redress this. Start now! *

Securities and Exchange Commission 148

Securities and Exchange Commission IRR Entrepreneur Angel Investor 148

David Teten

APRIL 8, 2013

Based on a range of sources, we believe that most funds with well-developed Portfolio Operator models have top-quartile returns (typically above 20% IRR in the relevant time periods). Analytics and Data Contributed Articles Portfolio Operations Private Equity Venture Capital'

Private Equity 114

Private Equity Hungary IRR Venture Capital 114

Hippoland

NOVEMBER 13, 2016

When I was an entrepreneur, it never crossed my mind how VCs measure their success. The #1 problem with the venture capital game, in general, is that *actual success* is measured over decades not years. So, as an entrepreneur, in many cases, you are pitching people who may not even be good investors.

IRR 48

IRR Valuation Portfolio Due Diligence 48

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 28, 2013

However, in this moment, I think one''s career in venture capital depends on changing your perspective. If you are a venture capital investor and you''re not preparing yourself to succeed in a more diverse ecosystem of entrepreneurs, you''re just going to get left behind. Venture Capital & Technology'

Venture Capital 152

Venture Capital Cofounder IRR Dilution 152

The Equity Kicker

MAY 27, 2015

This applies to all classes of fund managers, including pension fund managers, IFAs, private equity fund managers, and venture capital fund managers. In fact, our strategy is to have higher expenses in order to attract the best entrepreneurs and help their companies achieve better results.

Cost 60

Cost IRR Private Equity Salary 60

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Should you raise venture capital from a traditional equity VC or a Revenue-Based Investing VC? BJ Lackland, CEO of Lighter Capital, observes that RBI-backed founders “want to maintain control, ownership and optionality. These entrepreneurs want to maintain two major options: 1) To raise VC later (or not), and/or.

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

In other parts of the country, this is business as usual: Identify a customer need Build a product Sell the product In the valley, the knee jerk reaction is to start with the powerpoint deck and look for the venture capital drug. Jon Fisher purposely avoided raising venture capital in his ventures. Venture News.

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

Growthink Blog

JUNE 3, 2014

Over the last three weeks, we have discussed the various factors that drive the 25% IRR return potential of the startup and emerging company investing class. And more to the point, the great entrepreneurs, the builders of businesses, those that actually create wealth… …have always percolated at the edges and NOT in financial centers.

Omaha 91

Omaha Accredited Investor IRR Silicon Valley 91

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.”

LP 374

LP Later Stage IRR Term Sheet 374

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited angel investors. The amounts from angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. How experienced is your team?

Angel Investor 314

Angel Investor Entrepreneur IRR Valuation 314

K9 Ventures

MAY 14, 2011

This is probably the very first group that an entrepreneur who is starting out may approach for some funding for his or her idea. Angels : Angels are individual investors, who are investing their own capital and doing so on a part-time basis. Friends and Family : Or sometimes referred to as the 3Fs for Friends, Family and Fools.

Preferred Stock 125

Preferred Stock Seed Stage Incubator Early Stage 125

ithacaVC

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

So God Made a Venture Capitalist! And on the 8th day God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker for all those entrepreneurs – the crazy ones!” So, God made a venture capitalist (VC)! He is the author of “The Business of Venture Capital”, and co-author (with Brad Feld) of “Startup Boards”.

Liquidation Preference 55

Liquidation Preference IRR Due Diligence LP 55

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2023

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited angel investors. The amounts from angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. How experienced is your team?

Angel Investor 246

Angel Investor IRR Venture Capital Valuation 246

Professor VC

JANUARY 17, 2008

I think the title of this post is a TV show, but fitting as there has been much debate in the venture community as to the whether angel investors are good or bad for entrepreneurs and VCs. One group charges entrepreneurs "an administrative fee" to present to the group. Touched by an Angel. return on investment after 3.5

Pre-Money Valuation 28

Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Angel Groups Valuation 28

Up and Running

AUGUST 19, 2014

An angel investor is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. Many angels are entrepreneurs themselves, or executives and business or community leaders. And what have been the pros and cons of taking venture capital? Tweet This Tip.

Angel Investor 161

Angel Investor Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital 161

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2014

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. The amounts from Angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. How experienced is your team?

Angel Investor 266

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Venture Capital IRR 266

David Teten

OCTOBER 15, 2013

ff Venture Capital has consistently generated a gross IRR on invested capital in excess of 30%, in a world where the average ten-year returns for venture capital firms are in the single digits. But what about venture capital firms? Now we can. Indiegogo is a ffVC portfolio company.

Venture Capital 114

Venture Capital Accredited Investor IRR Later Stage 114

Up and Running

DECEMBER 22, 2015

My personal favorite in the “pure nonsense category” is the IRR, the Internal Rate of Return , something that was interesting for about one hour as part of the MBA curriculum, but which has no relevance in the real world. See Also: 17 Venture Capital Blogs You Should Be Reading. You’re out of school now.

Angel Investor 60

Angel Investor IRR Software Review Startup 60

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

For many entrepreneurs “raising money” has replaced “building a sustainable business” as their goal. Entrepreneurs need to think about 1) when to raise money, 2) why to raise money and 3) who to take money from, 4) the consequences of raising money. What is an IRR? There are two reasons to take venture money.

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 333

Seeing Both Sides

APRIL 10, 2011

In 1997, a Charles River Ventures fund yielded a stunning 15x return, backing such superstars as Ciena, Vignette and Flycast. Matrix had a fund in 1998 that yielded an eye-popping 514+% IRR. The average venture capital fund raised between 1995 and 1997 returned more than 50% per year.

IPO 48

IPO IRR Brazil Government 48

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

For many entrepreneurs “raising money” has replaced “building a sustainable business” as their goal. Entrepreneurs need to think about 1) when to raise money, 2) why to raise money and 3) who to take money from, 4) the consequences of raising money. What is an IRR? There are two reasons to take venture money.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 225

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2011

Rose, who has been described as "the Father of Angel Investing in New York" by Crain's New York Business, and a "world conquering entrepreneur" by BusinessWeek. The second company in which I invested, back in 2001, was a novel concept from the serial entrepreneur who invented social networking.

New York 221

New York Accredited Investor Advisory Board IRR 221

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2016

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. The amounts from Angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. How experienced is your team?

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor IRR Valuation Startup 120

Agile VC

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

There are some obvious structural reasons why a shakeout in the venture capital industry takes a long time. The reality is that it wasn’t until the GEC (Global Economic Crisis, Great Recession, Credit Crunch, call it what you will) of late 2008 and early 2009 that the shakeout really began for venture capital.

LP 154

LP Portfolio Venture Capital IRR 154

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

Many modern entrepreneurs have limited exposure to the notion of failure or layoffs because it has been so long since these things were common in the industry. About this same point in time, the journalists that focus specifically on the venture capital industry noted something quite profound. Entrepreneurs/Founders/CEOs.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 30, 2008

The business of venture capital is relatively young. The birth of modern-day venture capital (not considering the European monarchs financing explorations and projects as venture capital) can be traced back to American Research and Development, which was started by Georges Doriot.

IRR 48

IRR Venture Capital LP Early Stage 48

David Teten

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Blue Future Partners, a venture capital fund of funds, recently interviewed me on ESG in venture capital. For example, I’m an investor via ff Venture Capital in: – Plated.com is a meal kit company, delivering you the recipe and fresh ingredients to make a gourmet meal in your own kitchen.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Partner Technical Review Cofounder 60