Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. But it will be patiently deployed, waiting for a cohort of founders who aren’t artificially clinging to 2021 valuation metrics. What is a VC To Do?

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

Managers of VC funds typically want to grow their business aggressively, just like the founders we back. But, we normally have a clear ceiling on how high we can grow AUM, before hitting practical limits to deploying capital within the traditional VC model. . – Launch a “ venture studio ” or “ foundry ”. (I’m

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 26, 2022

Except, that is, for the bottom feeders of the Venture Capital business – investors who “ cram down ” their companies. They offered desperate founders more cash but insisted on new terms, rewriting all the old stock agreements that previous investors and employees had. W hy would any founder agree to this? They’re Back.

Cram Down 404

Cram Down Founder Venture Capital Recapitalization 404

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

The following is a condensed explanation of seed funding: Seed money is a form of early-stage financing that new businesses receive from investors in exchange for a share of ownership in the company. Seed venture capital firms can make more significant follow-on investments to keep or increase their equity stake in the company.

Seed Stage 126

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 126

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

The sudden arrival of the global pandemic has shifted the playbook for founders and venture capitalists. As high-conviction, seed stage investors, we are inherently relationship-driven, and we value meeting exceptional founders face-to-face. Following initial decision paralysis, many venture capitalists have returned to pace.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

When I first read Paul Graham’s blog post on “High Resolution&# Financing I read it as a treatise arguing that convertible notes are better than equity. “A startup could also give better deals to investors they expected to help them most&# – That is a quote from Paul on the “high resolution financing&# post.

Finance 286

Finance Term Sheet Technical Review Warrant 286

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. why the hell has seed financing declined so much in the past 3 years?? The “A Round” of my startup in 1999 was $16.5

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

View from Seed

APRIL 14, 2020

This led to a number of repercussions that most VC’s have lamented during this time, including higher prices, larger rounds, shoddy due diligence, and many companies raising large sums of venture capital that probably aren’t suited to VC funding. VCs are always founder focused no matter the market environment.

Early Stage 374

Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 374

SiliconHills

APRIL 13, 2024

Female founders need more money to finance their ventures – that’s the key takeaway from the documentary “Show Her the Money.”

Founder 133

Founder Venture Capital Austin Finance 133

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

VC Financings: 1. ShoeDazzle has Kim Kardashian as a co-founder / company as a spokesperson as well as Brian Lee who was a co-founder at Legal Zoom. Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners (Jeremy Liew) (lead), with existing investors Polaris Venture Partners, Crosscut Ventures. 13mm in Series B.

Venture Capital 270

Venture Capital Cofounder Spain San Diego 270

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

One of the things that founders have the most angst about is whom they should have on their board and at what stage of the business. Why you should set up a board at the seed round of funding I know these days with SAFE documents and rolling convertible notes many founders prefer not to set up a board early on.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

Many are reporting that they’re seeing a more diverse pool of applicants than traditional equity VCs… even though virtually none have a particular focus on women or underrepresented founders. I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Cofounder Founder Venture Capital 60

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened?

Valuation 466

Valuation San Francisco Ratchet Liquidation Preference 466

David Teten

MAY 9, 2012

We are in the midst of two great disruptions to American business: the internet’s ongoing disruption of most traditional industries: finance, healthcare, retail, finance, fashion, etc. VCAP© Addresses the Gap between Venture Capital and Funding for Women and Diverse Entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital Programming Accredited Investor New York 154

View from Seed

DECEMBER 11, 2019

I’m thrilled to announce that I’m joining [New Firm] as a Partner where I will continue to invest in great Founders across the industries I care about.”. “I So why is there so much turnover in Venture Capital? The median average investment time period to liquidity for a venture investment is currently 6.5-7.5

Venture Capital 204

Venture Capital Cap Table Partner LP 204

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Does the traditional VC financing model make sense for all companies? I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. I believe that Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem.

Revenue 60

Revenue Term Sheet Founder Technical Review 60

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs. In finance they call it “terminal value” but the truth is the price is as arbitrary at your A round as it is at your seed round. We raised a seed round. About $1 million. Me: At what price?

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 27, 2014

It was a company whose product I believed in and whose founder I liked, but a firm lobbed in a term sheet at a price 33% higher than what I had offered using a very light agreement meant for a much earlier stage company. Then, I read about the idiotic comments made by a co-founder of Rap Genius. Perhaps we all should. No, probably not.

Term Sheet 143

Term Sheet Founder Cofounder Software Review 143

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 5, 2023

The last few months have been an unprecedented time for entrepreneurs and startup founders on the market. Figures provided by Crunchbase show venture capital funding dropped by 33% in Q3 2022 compared to Q2 and almost 53% down from the same time in 2021. billion of venture capital investment came from startups located in Lagos.

South Africa 136

South Africa New York City San Francisco Technical Review 136

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Most healthy businesses need business financing at some point. Startups have to deal with starting costs and ongoing businesses have to finance growth and working capital. Financing options depend on what kind of business you have. Don’t waste your time looking for the wrong kind of financing. Venture capital.

SBA 161

SBA Venture Capital Angel Investor Technical Review 161

YoungUpstarts

MAY 17, 2017

Furthermore, they] are usually small and initially financed and operated by a handful of founders or one individual.”. This definition leads us to one of the most important questions that every startup founder needs to ask: How are you going to fund the company in its initial stages? Venture capital.

San Diego 138

San Diego Venture Capital Startup Bootstrapping 138

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Every Flexible VC structure allows founders to access immediate risk capital while preserving exit, growth trajectory, and ownership optionality. . Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

The objection goes something like this: “yes, I can see rookie founders turning to you for a seed round. But won’t all good founders go to established firms that raise series A’s out of the gate?”. If there are venture capital history books, NextView will be a minor mention in the chapter about the 2011-2021 era.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

View from Seed

OCTOBER 24, 2019

As seed rounds have atomized, it’s not uncommon for founders to raise 3 or even 4 rounds prior to a series A. The reality is that if a founder raised every one of these rounds, and lead investors always got their “target” ownership, the level of dilution would be ridiculous. Founders with limited experience. should be avoided.

Dilution 149

Dilution B2B Burn Rate Early Stage 149

VC Adventure

JUNE 14, 2022

Companies looking to raise money turn to venture capital for a variety of reasons. Top among them is generally access to capital, but often on the list is the hope that raising capital from experienced (and well-networked) investors will have other positive impacts on their business. The answer may surprise you.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Due Diligence Portfolio Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” Founder: “$250k / month.” Founder: “Um. Why are you raising so much?” Let me check my plan.”

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2015

This raises an interesting question: is the credibility of female entrepreneurs in the eyes of New York VC’s something about the venture firms, or is it about the industries they are funding? One can make the case that New York venture capital industry is rooted in the 21 st century not the 20 th. If it’s real why?

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley New York City New York Venture Capital 120

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 2, 2021

Why should a founder entertain this idea? Lower tax rates allow an LLC to be more flexible with finances. However, most institutional investors (venture capital groups, for instance) don’t mind this structure, and they, in fact, prefer to invest in corporations due to protections from issuing stocks. Long-Term Strategy.

Technical Review 158

Technical Review LLC IPO Stock 158

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

Although some founders take venture capital in exchange for equity, that’s not the only way to do it. To learn more about the pros and cons of venture capital — and founders’ funding alternatives — I caught up with Mark McKee. Mark McKee : Most first-time founders I’ve met don’t, frankly.

Venture Capital 105

Venture Capital Equity SBA Finance 105

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). 5 years ago. Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10.

Los Angeles 387

Los Angeles Intellectual Property LP Venture Capital 387

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2020

If you are building a startup, you’ll find no shortage of people who are willing to give you advice, particularly when it comes to raising financing. For some entrepreneurs, raising financing can seem like a full time job, particularly in these trying times. He is also a venture partner at several VC firms. Who is in your tribe?

Finance 205

Finance Silicon Valley Valuation Startup 205

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Every potential early-stage Venture Capitalist should take a year and do it before he or she makes partner. Venture capital as a profession is less than half a century old. Early-stage Venture Capital firms grow their partnerships in different ways, some hire: partners from other firms. Here’s why. ——-.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 332

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And the loosening of federal monetary policies, particularly in the US, has pushed more dollars into the venture ecosystems at every stage of financing. how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? What Has Changed in Financing? two founders in a garage?—?(HP Of course we can’t.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

At Homebrew we’ve stayed a very small group by design, believing at the earliest stages of a company, continuity of relationship between the investor and founders is essential to preserve trust and context. During this period we, and the Homebrew founders, have benefited tremendously from Kate’s work.

Venture Capital 85

Venture Capital San Francisco Portfolio Operations 85

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

At NextView Ventures we have written many pieces about venture capital — how to raise it, build your business, engage with investors, iterate your product, navigate expanding industries, etc. Doing Reference Checks on VCs “Try to speak to at least one founder that the investor has worked with in a failed investment.

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

Sakti3 Founder Sastry to Step Down From U-M. Co-Founder and CEO, Wetpaint. Founder, DEKA Research and Development Corporation. New San Diego VC Firm Emerges as ‘The Moneyball of Venture Capital’. venture investments since 1987. Subscribe for Free. Xconomy San Diego. Our Cities ▾ Boston ›. New York ›.

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 22, 2013

Crowdfunding, the new in-thing in micro-financing that’s taken the world by storm thanks to the likes of Kickstarter , takes a twist with new crowdfunding site CrowdIt. The Springfield, Missouri-based startup is privately held and backed by venture capital firm Baron VC.

Networking 228

Networking Missouri Early Stage Cofounder 228