View from Seed

JULY 8, 2020

Today I’m excited to announce the relaunch of our most popular resource ever: board meeting deck templates for seed-stage startups, now in conjunction with an investor update email template. We first released a version of the board meeting deck template template back in 2014 and then a revised version a couple of years later.

Email 331

Email Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 331

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Incubator 398

Incubator Silicon Valley North America Startup 398

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

The number of startups rose in 2015 for the first time in five years, with the largest year-over-year increase in two decades. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

YoungUpstarts

JULY 30, 2019

Startups and SCRUM. Why SCRUM for startups? As an entrepreneur, you might always be concerned about execution, speed, and pivots, and scrum provides you all of this. Each sprint is reviewed to minimize the errors so that the confusions during the later stages are avoided. Employing SCRUM for startups.

SCRUM 113

SCRUM Software Review Hiring Agile 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still less than half the rate of 15 years ago. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 120

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still half the rate of 15 years ago. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 218

IPO SEC Prospectus Technical Review 218

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

In the old days, every entrepreneur planned on taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is finally up from the dead zone of the last two decades, and is now double the rate back in 1999. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

IPO 245

IPO SEC Prospectus Startup 245

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Want to tap in to the best startup advice from entrepreneurs who are out there doing it? Welcome to ‘500 Founders’ where we ask innovators from around New Zealand for their top insights for first time startup founders. Luke Campbell – Cofounder. Surround yourself with people and things that lift you up and support you.

Founder 101

Founder Cofounder New Zealand B2C 101

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. I have seen bad behavior from later-stage VCs, believe me.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. I know that people have an allergy to lawyers out of fear of being screwed.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

The Equity Kicker

OCTOBER 14, 2014

. ———————————– If you ask most VCs what they look for in a startup they will say great team, great product and great market. Early stage investors like Forward Partners look for a minimum of a great entrepreneur and a great idea.

Early Stage 123

Early Stage Institutional Investors Venture Capital Startup 123

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Part 1: Bend, Oregon Ecosystem and Entrepreneurs. Part 2: Early-stage Regional Venture Funds. Success depends on finding startups that have identified acute customer pains in large markets where conditions are ripe for a new entrant. Few entrepreneurs find this scalable and repeatable business model because it’s not easy.

Early Stage 287

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 287

NZ Entrepreneur

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Building a tech startup? While capital to large tech companies is increasing, smaller rounds for early-stage companies is drying up. This decline has also become evident in startup accelerator programs shifting their focus on later-stage scale-ups that provide higher returns.

Developer 68

Developer Early Stage Later Stage Acquisition 68

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. I acknowledged this in the article.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

Many thanks to David Rose , Ilana Grossman , Justin Stanwix , and the whole Gust team for making the Gust Blog such a valuable platform and resource for entrepreneurs and angel investors. The amount of investment in IP in any direct sense is generally small for early stage startups.

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Incubator 231

Incubator Silicon Valley North America Small Business Administration 231

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Here are the key principles I recommend as an advisor to many entrepreneurs: Start your business in your own home. Most new teams are geographically dispersed these days anyway, so paying rent for an office should be differed to later stages when revenue is plentiful. Practice living on a shoestring budget. Marty Zwilling

Equity 349

Equity Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity 349

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

As you can see – they bring both executive & domain knowledge - which I’m on record as saying gives entrepreneurs “an unfair advantage.&#. And normally the rest of the team are young & inexperienced because that’s all the startup could afford to bring on. But wait, there’s more!

Later Stage 310

Later Stage South America Mobile Silicon Valley 310

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

There’s been a lot of digital ink spilled around the various types of capital available to startups today. As a startup grows, venture debt becomes a viable option to continue that growth. Glen is an active contributor to the local tech ecosystem and well-versed in how and when startups can use venture debt to their advantage.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Thomas Clayton has started and run numerous high-tech startups in Silicon Valley. He is currently CEO of Bubbly , a social media startup backed by Sequoia Capital, SingTel Innov8, and JAFCO. The company is one of the largest VC–backed startups in Southeast Asia, having raised over $60M in funding. Sequoia , Accel , NEA , etc.).

Asia 132

Asia Silicon Valley India Term Sheet 132

View from Seed

JANUARY 5, 2016

I realize sports analogies for startups can feel trite, but as you think about the different phases of team-building in a startup, this one is actually pretty spot on. At the beginning, a startup team is typically just a couple of co-founders. Basketball or football? Below, I take a look at each. Below, I take a look at each.

Founder 120

Founder Cofounder Startup Early Stage 120

David Teten

MAY 9, 2012

I am very happy to announce today a new program I’ve been working on designed to support women and diverse entrepreneurs, particularly those in the technology sector. VCAP© Addresses the Gap between Venture Capital and Funding for Women and Diverse Entrepreneurs. According to the U.S. for non-diverse firms.

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital Programming Accredited Investor New York 154

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

There is much talk these days that startup valuations have decreased and may continue to do so and that the amount of time it takes to fund raise may take longer. I’m surprised how few entrepreneurs have this open conversation with their investors. In fact, most entrepreneurs I know don’t ask – why is that?

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Valuation Software Review 150

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2015

As I read stories of college dropouts who had successfully sold tech companies, or entrepreneurs with innovative ideas who made it big on Shark Tank, it became clear that there was no set path to startup success. It helps mitigate startup risk. Is business school really necessary? It’s a place to form a founding team.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor eCommerce 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2022

I saw these summarized clearly in a new book, “ BUILD ,” by a well-known entrepreneur and technologist from Silicon Valley, Tony Fadell. Micro-management at a later stage only increases stress and slows progress. In my experience, there are only a few basics to remember and practice.

Leadership 345

Leadership Advisory Board Developer Silicon Valley 345

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 18, 2012

And while many companies start with a great idea and loads of confidence, a startup company requires a solid business model and a proper plan in place in the earliest stages of its development for the best chance for success.

Technical Review 174

Technical Review Later Stage Incubator Business Model 174

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

Or the Cliff Note’s version: Open Source & Cloud Computing (led by Amazon) drove down tech startup costs by 90%. The result was a massive increase in startups & a whole group of new funding sources: both angels & “micro VCs&#. Some are going later stage to not miss out on hot deals.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Angel Investor 289

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2020

Here are the key principles I recommend as an advisor to many entrepreneurs: Start your business in your own home. Most new teams are geographically dispersed these days anyway, so paying rent for an office should be differed to later stages when revenue is plentiful. Practice living on a shoestring budget. Marty Zwilling.

Hockey Stick 423

Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 423

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

There is a thin line between success and failure for startups, and that is usually determined by capital. The more capital a startup has, the easier it is to get off the ground and ramp up growth. In turn, this leads to the development of a thriving startup ecosystem which paves the way for technology and innovation.

Venture Capital 196

Venture Capital Asia Artificial Inteligence Later Stage 196

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. I attended events. I hustled.

Deal Flow 347

Deal Flow Early Stage Investment Bankers Technical Review 347

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

In my role as an angel investor to startups, I’m struck by the broad variety of advisor strategies I see in investor presentations and business plans that cross my desk. Some entrepreneurs are “lone rangers,” never mentioning any outside guidance, while others tout dozens of advisors. Advisors in name-only will hurt you.

Advisory Board 310

Advisory Board Angel Investor Later Stage Stock 310

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. I attended events. I hustled.

Early Stage 361

Early Stage Deal Flow Investment Bankers Technical Review 361

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 19, 2015

In the words of an alum from the 2006 cohort: Companies are joining YC at a much later stage. Today, there are six YC companies worth over a billion dollars, and as a result new startups aim much higher. That marks a shift in the YC investment strategy which used to focus on younger businesses.

Later Stage 60

Later Stage Private Equity Venture Capital Valuation 60

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

Conversely many VCs believe that constraining cash can often lead to increases in creative solutions at a startup. One entrepreneur refrain I sometimes hear is “We want to raise some extra money for M&A activities.” This is a red flag for VCs. Every VC knows that the amount you raise is often a proxy for your valuation.

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

Austin Startup

JUNE 30, 2017

But as with education, that bundle of resources can be unbundled, and that’s what’s happening among entrepreneurs who don’t need or want the “full package.” The value and purpose of accelerators tracks almost exactly the above points about universities; just replace “students” with “entrepreneurs” and perhaps “employers” with “investors.”

Curation 48

Curation Startup Cofounder Equity 48

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

Many entrepreneurs I know don’t realize that the language they learned in the corporate world, or even their recent MBA class, won’t get them ahead in the startup world today. Even if you have heard some of the new terms, but can’t explain how, when, and why they are relevant to your startup, you may be in jeopardy.

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Accredited Investor Silicon Valley Angel Investor 274

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Incubator 247

Incubator Silicon Valley Startup Small Business Administration 247