Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

She started it with a partner, 50-50. Equity for the future? If you are the person staying how resentful will you become working your arse off for equity that your co-founder who leaves will get value from. They were close friends, lived down the road and members of our synagogue.

Founder 340

Founder Sacramento Cofounder Technical Review 340

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

My job doesn’t involve the daily grind of customer complaints, product outages, business partner / channel problems, hiring / firing, etc. I still like spending time with our teams – at GRP Partners we have a great team – but I don’t have large numbers of people to be responsible for. We travel together.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Due Diligence Spain Warrant 312

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

I can save tons of development time and I think I can buy it for all equity. My recommendation to our lead partner looking at the deal, “Pass. I’m not saying there are never reasons to buy another company for cash and/or equity. A close friend of mine in LA who is 3 years into his startup called me about 2.5

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

This came in part due to the huge influx of money into VC but also because hedge funds and private equity shops with no VC experience wanted part of the action. So if you’re in year 8 of a 10-year fund and fund raising hasn’t gone so well, it’s no surprise that some partners will leave. and trying to raise their next fund.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

This week I sat down with Chris Dixon, co-founder / CEO of Hunch and Partner at Founder Collective in the most recent installment of This Week in Venture Capital. If you like the quick summary notes, please check out Adam’s blog on tech, entrepreneurship & VC as a thank you.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Cofounder API 281

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Called Tim Spicer (c-companies partner) and he told him matt, they only want one thing, more warrant coverage!!! Raised money from Splitrock Partners (of whom Matt thinks very highly) experience was so emotionally traumatic he came out of it vowing he’d never go thru that again – get cash flow positive RIGHT NOW!!! [if

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2015

If you hire somebody with 3 kids and who doesn’t have a lot of savings you’re naturally going to have somebody who cares more about cash than equity even though you REALLY WANT everybody in your company to have the same motivations as you. The sooner I realized that and didn’t take it personally the better.

Oauth 150

Oauth Software Review Technical Review IPO 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

This week’s guest was David Travers from Rustic Canyon Partners. What I found strange about this funded was the fact that it was led by Summit Partners. Investors: Summit Partners (lead), Jeff Clavier, Aydin Senkut, Gary Vaynerchuk. The investment will be used for product development initiatives. 4mm in Series A.

Venture Capital 270

Venture Capital Cofounder Spain San Diego 270

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Getting the first meeting with a VC isn’t easy because each partner at a VC firm gets so many requests for meetings that he/she couldn’t possibly take them all so they tend to prioritize people that were introduced from high-quality sources. Some people find this elitist?—?I and then asking to take a brochure home with you.

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Call any CEO that has me as a lead and they’ll tell you that I’ve been on midnight phone calls the night before big meetings acting as a sparring partner. M&A discussions (where your company is buying or being bought). interviewing critical hires at a time where they have 3 other offers. and much more.

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

It looks as though you’ve built a very interesting business, and I’d love to spend some time getting a better understanding of your future plans for the company and if there is an opportunity to partner with [My Firm]. Many of the growth equity firms have had outbound dialing programs for years. What a waste of my time.

Programming 294

Programming Entrepreneur Private Equity Equity 294

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

You never got around to agreeing exact equity splits but you had many conversations about it. Focus on the partner you would be working with. One issue he talked about was working with partners. I also like to work with partners. But I also know it’s not realistic for the partners to do all of the work.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

When I joined GRP Partners in 2007 I was offered a role as a General Partner. The compensation at the time was much less than what others told me a general partner at a VC firm would get. Who cares what my equity is. And then I think about me. My philosophy was simple. “I’ve never been a VC before.

Los Angeles 407

Los Angeles PR Networking Partner 407

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The first check I wrote was just over 10 years ago into a company called Invoca who just announced a new $56 million in funding led by Scott Hilleboe at HIG Growth Partners. It proved to be fortuitous because it allowed me the time & space I needed to get to know tons of founders and VCs and to hone my craft. Over the past 2.5

IP 223

IP Intellectual Property IRR Cofounder 223

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2011

You often have very limited perspective on whether this person will continue to be a great partner 2 years down the line, 4 years down the line, 8 years down the line. You’re only going to find out whether they’re TRULY a great partner after you’ve put in years of money, blood, sweat & tears. Hire your co-founder.

Cofounder 393

Cofounder Founder Vesting Founder Vesting 393

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Convertible or equity? If you’re a seed fund that raised money from limited partners your fiduciary responsibility is to “make a buck.&# But I bet his broader point was to tone down the rhetoric and stop with inside baseball. Have you looked at competition? How well financed is the competition? How much are they raising?

Entrepreneur 292

Entrepreneur Technical Review Stealth Valuation 292

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

each with partners as the lead. that broadly covers decentralized applications and possibly even decentralized autonomous organizations (which could imply that in the future VCs need to be more focused on token value and monetization than equity ownership models? Where are Things Headed for VC in 2031?

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

I often advise startup companies not to try and pin all of your brand equity into an announcement. If you’re an associate, an assistant, in finance or a new partner interviewing with the firm – you know what we expect! Greg Bettinelli – You may know that we added partner Greg Bettinelli earlier this year.

Ireland 324

Ireland Jordan Portfolio Flash 324

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

I’ve heard the following so many times that it still makes me scratch my head, “if those guys are going to get rich off of our backs then we’re going to look like fools if we don’t have equity.&#. I’ve already made clear that I think raising equity from “strategic money&# is an oxymoron.

Warrant 298

Warrant Dilution Startup Stock Options 298

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2009

To be clear – it is not about being stingy with or hoarding equity – it is about having a prenuptial agreement. I believe that it very important to spread the equity. I believe that you should have a “partner&# or 2 in the company. I believe you should treat them as partners. To the contrary.

Founder 251

Founder Cofounder Equity Stock Options 251

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

But this mania to not miss out on the next big thing is driving some investors to pay growth-equity prices for traditional market risk (as in, they’re paying up before it is clear there is product / market fit). So at GRP Partners we’re very active now. And well they should be. And so on down then line.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing. If no financing happened then this “note&# may not be converted and thus would be senior to the equity of the company in the case of a bankruptcy or asset sale. VC’s money comes from mostly institutional investors called LPs (limited partners).

Startup 290

Startup Burn Rate Warrant Bankruptcy 290

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

Never say never – GRP Partners is actually looking very closely at a company in its A round that is raising a large sum of money. my firm, GRP Partners, was an investor). Scott Painter , founder of CarsDirect has created two new generation LA startups (Zag and TrueCar, both backed by GRP Partners).

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Technology Los Angeles Southern California 290

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

We try to recruit investment partners who bring startup operating experience. And brining in new general partners – like Greg Bettinelli and Kara Nortman – has certainly helped refine the vision of the firm by challenging some of our accepted wisdom. You don’t have unlimited equity to dole out.

Leadership 150

Leadership Southern California San Diego Hiring 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

It might be a big law firm behind your deal but it is an individual partner and human being working on your deal. I would gladly part with equity (actually, I have) to work with people like her on deals. Some of the most helpful people to me personally have been people not being directly compensated for doing so.

Startup 363

Startup PR Venture Capital Angel Investor 363

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

You might start with a partner in the meeting or it might be a principal or associate. It doesn’t have to be a partner?—?every Summary Fund-raising is a sales & marketing process in which the buyer is a VC and the product is equity in your company. This is the exception, rather than the rule.

Term Sheet 332

Term Sheet Due Diligence Campaign Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

Inbound calls from partners, people who want to join, atta boys from friends. We just landed the biz dev partner we’ve been working on for 9 months. Google DID NOT just acquire our main biz dev partner. Let’s say you became a partner in a VC fund in 1995 and started investing heavily in 1997-99. La vita e bella.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 384

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2010

Imagine having 10 people reporting to you all bringing you problems as well as our client and my senior partners. Option 3: “we could promise pay increases on next fund raising round and not focus on equity. But I have my own shit to deal with – believe me. You think you have problems? that would certainly help also.

Equity 342

Equity Hiring Developer Management 342

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

– I spoke about GRP’s recent exit of Ulta in which we returned $320 million to our limited partners. Convertible debt is a loan to the company that doesn’t typically get paid back but rather “converts&# into equity when you raise a larger round at a later date. Great exit. -

Southern California 210

Southern California Venture Capital Seed Stage Angel Investor 210

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Next Wednesday we’ll have Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, a New York / LA early-stage venture capital fund. But when the finally convert the debt to equity the round gets filed with the SEC and thus journalists often pick up on it. Klarna is apparently the first European board for legendary Sequoia partner, Michael Moritz.

Stealth 285

Stealth SEC Advertising Accredited Investor 285

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. Sales people aren’t always motivated only by cash – especially in early-stage business you need to focus on equity because cash won’t be plentiful. And that leads me to today’s post.

Startup 319

Startup Early Stage Sales Cofounder 319

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

Defy teaches them personal finance like how to keep a checking account, the difference between debt and equity, what cashflow is and so forth. She was smart (she started her career in private equity!) So I committed to going back again and partnered with Brad Feld to bring a team of 75 entrepreneurs and VCs to do it with us.

California 150

California Programming Private Equity Equity 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

These are not to be confused with incubators like YCombinator or IdeaLab which look to invest in your company and take equity positions. Dogpatch was the brainchild of Mike Hirshland , partner at Polaris. It’s far easier to stroll through such a center and see 20 companies than to travel around to them all individually.

San Francisco 285

San Francisco Incubator Silicon Valley Startup 285

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 1, 2009

I advocate treating them like a co-founder in every way except when they join and how much equity they get. But whether it’s Naval’s “power of two&# or my “start things and then hire your co-founder&# approach the reality is that you’ll need to find a partner.

Hiring 289

Hiring Cofounder Dilution Startup 289

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

Or you find out that management has been through a few rounds of dilution such that the management team only has 10-15% of the total equity of the company and as a new investor you know a priori that management is either going to quit soon after your investment or are going to ask you for a big increase in their equity package.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Common Stock Dividend 289

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2009

It’s just that many companies waste equity on advisory boards, pick the wrong advisers or set up advisory boards with the wrong expectations. VC partners will often ask to have an associate attend board meetings along with them. People love their advisers and I don’t blame them.

Advisory Board 215

Advisory Board Strategic Investors Venture Capital Later Stage 215

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

Inbound calls from partners, people who want to join, atta boys from friends. We just landed the biz dev partner we’ve been working on for 9 months. Google DID NOT just acquire our main biz dev partner. Let’s say you became a partner in a VC fund in 1995 and started investing heavily in 1997-99. La vita e bella.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 176