Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

Examples of some leaders in this space include Ron Conway in Silicon Valley and Jeff Bezos , CEO of Amazon, who each may have over 500 startups in their portfolio. VCs tend to carry their partners much longer, in hopes of a big public offering (IPO) that could produce a windfall. Super angels sometimes drive up valuations.

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Angel Investor Venture Capital Silicon Valley Startup 314

www.mattbartus.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. Equity for Consultants – Keep it Simple! posted Feb 3 in Equity , People issues. for every hour works, consultant accrues [hourly wage]in debt that will convert to equity in the next round).

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Equity Vesting Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

So even within the “alternative class&# our LPs are looking at other asset investment choices such as distressed buyout funds, private equity or hedge funds. The best and most consistent funds in Silicon Valley (e.g. Many firms didn’t even return LPs their original money let along a profit. VC will shrink.

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LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

And as more economies worldwide seek to shift their investment strategies offshore and seek out technology, hubs like Silicon Valley and Shanghai, among others, have reaped the benefits. More and more angels will be minted as the 2019 IPO class emerges. Hundreds of new micro funds somehow keep getting into the market.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

Scalable Startup

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Imagine if you’re in Silicon Valley right now with no equity in a tech startup, but associated with several people getting six figure “bonuses” because they somehow wound up with some stock in one. If the startup actually makes it to an IPO, there is actually something you can do.

Silicon Valley 25

Silicon Valley Hawaii Angel Investor IPO 25

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

You never got around to agreeing exact equity splits but you had many conversations about it. When we want to sell or IPO companies they’re there again. Right sized : I tried to work with one of the best known firms in Silicon Valley. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes.

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Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

There is a second set of career discussions I have even more frequently than my “angel yourself” advice but this type is almost never discussed publicly in blogs, which tend to emphasize only billion-dollar opportunities, 20-something technical founders and Silicon Valley elitism. It will likely IPO in the coming years.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

Scalable Startup

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Imagine if you’re in Silicon Valley right now with no equity in a tech startup, but associated with several people getting six figure “bonuses” because they somehow wound up with some stock in one. If the startup actually makes it to an IPO, there is actually something you can do.

Silicon Valley 20

Silicon Valley Hawaii Angel Investor IPO 20

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

GameFly filed in 2010 and remains in registration, though 2011 has seen a positive start for VC-backed IPOs with 14 in Q1 2011. Now that Google’s acquisition of ITA is closed, following lenghty FTC review, it would appear Kayak is poised to proceed with their IPO in the coming months. =. Quinstreet priced at $15.00/sh

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 9, 2014

Surprising Trends in Startup Founder Equity Stakes | by Tomasz Tunguz – crowdspring.co/1njnhbl. Top Venture Capitalists Leave Silicon Valley, Bet Their Careers On Midwest – crowdspring.co/SEC1rh. With IPO Hopes Fading, Square And Box Face Reality Of Commodity Products | TechCrunch – crowdspring.co/1rWbako.

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

C-Corp largely because (i) VCs have historically favored C-Corps for nuanced tax and other reasons, and (ii) virtually all of the standardized legal infrastructure around startup finance and equity compensation assumes a C-Corp. Everyone is trying to be a billion-dollar company that will eventually get acquired or go IPO.

Delaware 48

Delaware LLC Startup Silicon Valley 48

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How we Hire for Sweat Equity (Part 2)… Posted on April 7, 2011 by Travis Biziorek. Surly, Silicon Valley wasn’t in a bubble. I’m not FaceBook or Twitter and have a s**t-ton of potentially imminent IPO stock options to offer someone. equity in the company. That’s not my argument.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

In 2001 companies IPO’d very quickly if they were working, by 2011 IPOs had slowed down to the point that in 2013 Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures astutely called billion-dollar outcomes “unicorns.” The legends of Silicon Valley?—?two How little we all knew how ironic that term would become but has nonetheless endured.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Steve Blank

JUNE 4, 2012

Alex is a successful serial entrepreneur –with the same drive and energy of many we have known here in Silicon Valley, but different. Alex’s first insight was that the traditional “how to write a business plan” was as obsolete for Main Street as it is for Silicon Valley. Lessons Learned.

Silicon Valley 305

Silicon Valley Lean Utah Customer Development 305

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

A few, like Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), actually do provide management services to startups, invest in startups, or provide early-stage venture capital, but that is not called an investment service and is part of a function called Emerging Technologies, or sometimes Private Equity. Marty Zwilling.

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IPO Silicon Valley Private Equity Initial Public Offering 205

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

Examples of some leaders in this space include Ron Conway in Silicon Valley and Brian Cohen , chairman of the New York Angels, who each may have over 500 startups in their portfolio. VCs tend to carry their partners much longer, in hopes of a big public offering (IPO) that could produce a windfall.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Startup Portfolio 260

prosperati.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Silicon Valley is a great place for technology startups in no small part due to its culture of entrepreneurship and innovation. How do you emulate this culture outside of Silicon Valley? There must be a healthy acquisition or IPO pipeline in the market. If you hire the best, this person will lead you to the rest.

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Offshore Malaysia Developer Stock Options 40

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

Facebook S-1: The Most Anticipated IPO in a Decade. Here’s my first look at Facebook viewed through the lens of their IPO filing. Without knowing more details about the employee equity plans, it’s unclear how much more cash of this nature could come in during 2012 or 2013. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

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IPO South Korea Venezuela Revenue 100

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Convertible Equity, A Better Alternative To Convertible Debt? Ecosystem 101: The Six Necessary Categories To Build The Next Silicon Valley – [link]. Facebook Handled their IPO Exactly Right – [link]. Pricing Experiments You Might Not Know, But Can Learn From – [link]. – [link].

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

Pascal's View

AUGUST 12, 2009

I liked the Friday, August 7 Wall Street Journal editorial, Washington vs. Silicon Valley , but it does not go far enough. It boggles the mind that Washington would enact new policies sure to prolong this (IPO) drought and strike at the heart of American innovation.” from the WSJ editorial). years in 1998 to 9.6

IPO 28

IPO Silicon Valley Merger Sweat Equity 28

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

First, I’d like to quote (paraphrase) Brad Feld speaking at Twiistup in LA in 2009, “I keep hearing people in LA talking with a chip on their shoulders about building a tech business here relative to Silicon Valley. But LA is not Silicon Valley and we don’t need to aspire to be so. You don’t.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Technology Los Angeles Southern California 290

Agile VC

MAY 9, 2014

Such an approach is common in Silicon Valley… Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others have dual-class equity structures which give the holders of one class of shares (typically founders) disproportionate voting rights relative to their fully-diluted ownership stake in the company.

Government 153

Government Silicon Valley China Cofounder 153

Venture Chronicles

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

Like most people, I had the opportunity to review Facebook’s IPO filing yesterday and admit that, like Apple’s recent earnings announcement, this is pretty damn impressive. Here are a couple of lessons worth reinforcing: 1) People’s view of what is normal and acceptable in emergent online activities is constantly evolving.

IPO 47

IPO Silicon Valley Private Equity Stock 47

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

Or, as my friend Marc Andreessen might say, Software Eats the Private Equity World. note: apologies in advance for the west coast bias; i’m in silicon valley). Scaling Up & Out: The Valley is Flat (and Global). Ok, let’s dive in and discuss in more detail. Mega VC, Micro VC.

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Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

YoungUpstarts

MAY 16, 2018

Instead, he would take his evident talent to Silicon Valley. There, he would be showered in venture capital, build a team of similarly brilliant twenty-somethings, acquire millions of customers seemingly overnight, and steer his startup to an IPO and himself to the cover of Inc magazine well before his 30th birthday.

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Silicon Valley Forecast Venture Capital Business Plan 142

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2011

A few, like Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), actually do provide management services to startups, invest in startups, or provide early-stage venture capital, but that is not called an investment service and is part of a function called Emerging Technologies, or sometimes Private Equity.

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Silicon Valley Private Equity Initial Public Offering Startup 211

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 20, 2013

I think I’m right in saying that this is the first guest post we’ve ever had on The Equity Kicker and it’s from my partner Simon Cook who has a few things to say about the budget. The gap between the UK and Silicon Valley in terms of technology investing is only about £2bn a year. UK vs. rest of the world.

Government 111

Government Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Equity 111

Austin Startup

MARCH 7, 2021

When it comes to founders, Texas has jewelry mogul, Kendra Scott; Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban of Shark Tank; Whitney Wolfe Herd of Bumble; video game developer, John Carmack; Vista Equity Partners Founder, Robert Smith; Michael Dell of Dell Technologies; and now Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla! After more than eight years?—?they’ve

Texas 90

Texas San Antonio Houston Dallas 90

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Instead of hearing from your long lost third-cousin, you will be inundated with an avalanche of ‘congratulatory’ emails, calls and letters from people who want to relieve you of the burden of your hard-earned equity round. Many such ‘congratulations’ will come from consultants. Remember – your adVenture’s time is precious. link] Luis Rivera.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

Growthink Blog

OCTOBER 1, 2014

Last week , I wrote about the strong ambition across the globe to have a "Silicon Valley of One''s Own," and to replicate the otherworldly innovation of a region that has produced more than 75% of the World’s Unicorns - technology companies started since 2003 that now have valuations of more than $1 billion.

Silicon Valley 63

Silicon Valley Private Equity Venture Capital IPO 63

Austin Startup

JUNE 27, 2017

There are many investors in Silicon Valley that are looking to invest not just in great companies but those that are thinking really big and looking to create and define new categories. We would also welcome seeing more high risk, high reward investing by the firms in Austin. Those help build local capital availability.

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Venture Capital Austin Texas Private Equity 54

Agile VC

JULY 11, 2012

in equity & loans which was ultimately worth >170x ($355M) when DEC went public about a decade later. Merrill, Pickard, Anderson & Eyre [Silicon Valley] –> Itself an outgrowth of the venture investing arm of the original Bank of America (based in SF), Merrill Pickard backed many startups that ultimately went public.

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Silicon Valley Carried Interest Cofounder Boston 240

philipsmith.typepad.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Silicon Valley Frontlines. Two Tales of "Working For Equity". Working for equity only is, realistically, the way most startups have to get going. a year burn rate and your equity is worthless due to numerous recapitalizations and bridge loans from investors then either you don't get it or I'm stupid to do it.

Silicon Valley 40

Silicon Valley Equity Technical Review Recapitalization 40

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

If you’re a visiting dignitary whose country has a Gross National Product equal to or greater than the State of California, your visit to Silicon Valley consists of a lunch/dinner with some combination of the founders of Google, Facebook, Apple and Twitter and several brand name venture capitalists. Hackers’ Guide to Silicon Valley.

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Silicon Valley San Francisco San Jose Venture Capital 335

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

The return only happens when there is an exit via acquisition or an IPO. Some well-known Silicon Valley angel groups are Band of Angels, Sandhill Angels, TIE angels and others. Convertible Debt” is a loan, which is automatically converted to equity at maturity or upon the closing of a round of financing.

Finance 93

Finance Accredited Investor Angel Investor Seed Capital 93

Gust

OCTOBER 17, 2012

Valuable lessons learned from Andy’s personal experience venture investing in Silicon Valley. Fortunately there is now good data on angel returns in Silicon Valley and nationally, and while more research is certainly needed, the data suggest that angel investors can and often do make money.

Angel Investor 152

Angel Investor Venture Capital Seed Stage Silicon Valley 152

Growthink Blog

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Now let's turn to the only topic that self-interested and red-blooded investors really care about when it comes to Facebook and its IPO. So if neither the rich nor the poor can do it, and if all of the best deals are snatched up by the Silicon Valley Technocrati anyway, what about the rest of us? read more.

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Silicon Valley Private Equity Early Stage Equity 78