Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

Even if you work every day in the world of new-venture funding, as I do, the options are confusing, and their meanings seem to change on a regular basis. I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

It was only a year ago that many in the Venture Capital industry were predicting that “winter was coming” and to be fair the author of this post was chief amongst them. billion in venture capital funds with one A-round fund and one late-stage fund. Actually, winter did come and I have the data that shows it.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Saudi Arabia Kuwait Burn Rate 150

Gust

DECEMBER 13, 2011

I’ve recently taken a look at seed stage funding by venture capitalists (VCs) and angel investors over the past five years. For VCs, I chose to look at all seed stage VC deals (from MoneyTree©) as well as those in five of the most active regions in the country. All Seed-VC. Silicon Valley. New England.

Seed Stage 162

Seed Stage Southern California San Diego Silicon Valley 162

View from Seed

JUNE 29, 2016

Recently, I shared a two-part essay on the atomization of seed venture capital rounds. We hope this helps clarify the current reality we’re seeing, while at the same time, empowering entrepreneurs to continue to think far beyond the seed stage as they grow meaningful companies. .

Venture Capital 120

Venture Capital Seed Stage Entrepreneur Startup 120

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

A Venture Capital Firm is a firm that invests in startups and early-stage companies. However, not all firms are venture capital firms. Early-Stage Investments vs. Mid-Stage Investments. Investing in a startup company carries a high degree of risk, particularly at the early stage.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

There has been much discussion in the past few years of the changing structure of the venture capital industry. The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). On the surface the narratives have been. The iPhone was released.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

That’s on average the time venture capital investors spend on a pre-seed pitch deck, according to the latest Dropbox/Docsend funding research report. I believe that VCs are in the ‘service’ business and capital is commoditised. 2 and a half minutes.

Technical Review 166

Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder Portfolio 166

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. However, our overall goal is to invest in the full spectrum of seed. Belief #1: The best time to invest is early.

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

Austin Startup

MAY 11, 2017

645 Ventures: A New Era of Venture Capital Investing Arena Growth Partners We help great leaders build great businesses. Our unique approach to investing, coupled with a pioneering spirit, provides the vision to guide early stage growth companies beyond today and toward future success.

Private Equity 48

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage 48

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. We detail below the major categories of VC: VENTURE CAPITAL TYPOLOGY. FLEXIBLE VC VS. OTHER VENTURE CAPITAL MODELS.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). Thus your startup maturity and growth stage is the primary key to success with potential funding sources.

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 12, 2010

Dan believed that consumer internet entrepreneurs have a choice now: traditional VC vs. super seed investors. Deals are getting done with a lot less capital which is creating a healthy debate in the industry. Not as many entrepreneurs are aspiring to do it any more. Is there a bubble going on in seed investing?

Seed Stage 232

Seed Stage Valuation Private Equity Venture Capital 232

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

As an entrepreneur himself, founding and operating printed circuit board factories in Taiwan, my father was debating between two places to immigrate to and build his next new venture: Los Angeles (“The Valley” aka San Fernando Valley) and Santa Clara (“Silicon Valley”).

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

ReadWriteStart

MAY 22, 2023

Governments may be able to provide support in these areas by removing barriers to growth and spurring venture capital to help Europe’s fledgling Metaverse ecosystem. Talent retention is one of the biggest challenges facing Europe’s Metaverse industry.

Finland 187

Finland Europe Estonia Silicon Valley 187

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

Genuine VC

SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

As the venture capital space matures, I see a similar pattern emerging. In many ways, the beer market of the 90’s is like the venture market today. The elite top-tier firms have a sustainable competitive advantage with both entrepreneurs (and LPs alike) given brand, a vast network, and self-reinforcing success.

Seed Stage 191

Seed Stage Belgium Differentiation LP 191

David Teten

APRIL 6, 2015

Our process hasn’t changed; if anything we remain even more focused on investing at the seed stage, typically at valuations below $5m pre-money. We do have very significant follow-on capital to invest in Series A and later rounds as companies mature, at or above our pro rata.”.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Stealth Seed Stage Bandwidth 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

In the early 80’s he left academia to work on venture capital investing with Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies. The discussion with Howard Morgan starts off by acknowledging Josh Kopelman as a co-founder of First Round Capital. Office Hours – Two or three partners post a sign-up sheet to meet with entrepreneurs.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). Thus your startup maturity and growth stage is the primary key to success with potential funding sources.

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

One is the “denominator problem&# which says that if an LP invests X% (the denominator) into “alternative investments&# such as venture capital and if their total amount available to invest (the numerator) goes down by 30% then the amount they allocate to VC will by definition need to go down by 30% to stay the same percentage.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Almost two years ago, in a private/closed meeting with K9 Ventures’ LPs only, I claimed that: What was being referred to in the press as the “Series A Crunch” was not because fewer Series A deals were being done, but because there were too many Seed deals being done. The risk here is what I refer to as the curse of over-capitalization.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2010

And the beneath-the-surface rumblings were about how it was screwing up the venture capital business model. But entrepreneurs, meanwhile, were looking for a lot less. He says, summarizing the Giga Om post: Unlike traditional VCs, super angels actively invest in seed stage companies. No, I don’t have data.

Disintermediation 66

Disintermediation Venture Capital Angel Investor Seed Stage 66

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

This is part of my series on Understanding Venture Capital. I’m writing this post to explain to entrepreneurs what you should be thinking about in terms of the VC’s you approach and the size and stage of their funds. You can ask around to startup lawyers and other entrepreneurs who know these things.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Early Stage Software Review 269

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 2, 2016

This quarter they interviewed me as part of it on Quarterly VC Update: Brad Feld on the State of Venture Capital Investing. There is much less focus on a $1 billion private valuation (thankfully) as both entrepreneurs and VCs have again shifted much of their discussion to what needs to be done long-term to build a successful company.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital Private Equity Early Stage Valuation 70

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

. “Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator. So what are you waiting for?

Silicon Valley 293

Silicon Valley Technical Review Southern California Angel Investor 293

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

I think that later stage valuations are frothy (for reasons I explain below) while earlier stage valuations are starting to stabilize from previous highs (with the exception of the superstar serial entrepreneur) - turns out scaling in a sea of competition (both startup and entrenched) is not so easy. Or so it seems.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

The number of these groups that did “direct” investments in venture capital used to be relatively small. But with the massive growth of seed funds being raised and the huge value increase of prorata rights many more LPs have stepped in to take their VC (industry term is GP) position. If only this industry were easy.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

View from Seed

JANUARY 5, 2015

Raising venture capital at any stage of company growth requires tremendous effort from entrepreneurs. That drive to focus on helping customers and growing their companies is even more commendable than the ability to raise capital. Note that this list was created specifically with seed-stage startups in mind.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Seed Stage Entrepreneur Venture Capital 120

Gust

DECEMBER 28, 2011

In the “good old days,” angels invested in seed-stage startups and teed up promising companies for subsequent venture capital financing. If the company was successful, this quickly led to an IPO – a very happy ending for the entrepreneur, the angels, and the venture capitalists.

IPO 153

IPO Venture Capital Entrepreneur Angel Investor 153

Version One Ventures

JULY 30, 2019

Venture capital clearly follows a power law in which outliers drive most of the returns. This is particularly true with seed-stage investing. BUT…most of those returns are currently unrealized and the next three to four years will be about working with our entrepreneurs to turn paper returns into “real” returns.

Portfolio 167

Portfolio Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 167

K9 Ventures

APRIL 28, 2010

I’m pleased to announce the formation of K9 Ventures, L.P. – a seed-stage fund. K9 Ventures, L.P. is a $6.25M fund that is designed to do concept and seed-stage investments in technology companies. “Project Oscar” (Concept/Seed).

Seed Stage 61

Seed Stage San Francisco IP Portfolio 61

Rob Go

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. However, our overall goal is to invest in the full spectrum of seed. Belief #1: The best time to invest is early.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. There is simply too much capital chasing too few good deals. Although it certainly doesn’t feel that way when you’re an entrepreneur trying to raise money for your own company. It is a tool.

Venture Capital 117

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 117

andrewchen.co

AUGUST 20, 2012

How long will the “seed stage bubble” last? It’s never been easier to raise seed funding, and there’s warnings that we’re in the midst of a “seed stage bubble.” Hi, my name is Andrew Chen and Im an entrepreneur and blogger based in Palo Alto, CA. Thanks, and enjoy!

Seed Stage 51

Seed Stage Early Stage Mobile Seed Money 51

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

The previous post described the evolution of the Chinese Venture Capital system. In the few days I was in China I met with several VC’s, angel investors, business press and spoke to hundreds of entrepreneurs. We had a fireside chat with a room full of eager entrepreneurs. China Venture Capital.

Silicon Valley 267

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 267

Ben's Blog

JANUARY 31, 2012

The two most obvious are: Why did such a new venture capital firm raise so much money? How did such a new venture capital firm raise so much money? After raising our first round of funding for Loudcloud in 1999, we went to visit our new venture capital firm and meet their full team.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Portfolio Cofounder Partner 78

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. There is simply too much capital chasing too few good deals. Although it certainly doesn’t feel that way when you’re an entrepreneur trying to raise money for your own company. It is a tool.

Venture Capital 105

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 105