David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Since 2017 we’ve managed $3 million in revenue-based financing, which helps cash-strapped technology companies grow. We’re currently evaluating about 20 companies a month and issuing term sheets to 25% of them; those that fit our investment criteria. “ You qualify if you have $5k+ MRR. Bigfoot Capital. Decathlon Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Hunter Walker

MAY 7, 2014

Whether it’s adding capacity to an existing function (#MawrEngineers) or bringing new talents onboard (“we intend to make our first marketing hire”), glossing over these bullet points towards the back of the pitch deck would be a mistake. I’m interested in not just what these people will be doing but how and when they’ll be hired.

Hiring 108

Hiring Option Pool Early Stage Term Sheet 108

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

I am reminded of this problem every time my firm does a financing where a note went before us but more specifically I was reminded by this great post by Brad Feld to talk about the pre-money vs. post-money conversion issue. So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages? It’s very simple. How much is in the option pool?

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Post-Money Valuation Dilution 150

Up and Running

MAY 18, 2016

If you have traction, things like hiring, raising funds, getting media attention, and getting acquired become a lot easier. The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance, or Grow Your Company with Your Customers’ Cash. Traction” will teach you how to build a customer base and how to pick the right customer base for your business.

Startup 80

Startup Venture Capital Angel Investor Lean 80

www.mattbartus.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Matt is a lawyer representing technology companies through all phases of their lifecycle, from pre-incorporation, seed & VC financings, exit transactions and IPOs (read more). Cooley Report Reviews Second Quarter Venture Capital Financing Trends. Do the implications of hiring independent contractors differ state to state?

Equity 40

Equity Vesting Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 40

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

Staring at us in the board meeting were three term-sheets from brand name VC’s and an unexpected buy-out offer from Google. They hired a world-class team with co-founders and early employees who shared their vision. After that, there was no doubt to existing employees and new hires what the company was aiming for.

Hockey Stick 276

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 276

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

So drawing on Spoon's post, here's a list of 20 recommended threads that address questions of team-building, financing, and press coverage. How does one hire really good product managers? Are there examples of good start up term sheets? You can "follow" these so that you receive notification when new responses are added.

Angel Investor 145

Angel Investor Term Sheet Startup Curation 145

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

To give visibility to these companies to: Sources of funding (angels / VCs), business development partners, mentors who have themselves built successful companies, the press and potential employees to hire. GumGum – Raises $11 million financing. To show these companies that they can remain in LA. This education will continue.

Los Angeles 287

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Incubator Startup 287

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

submitting term sheets. So if you hire a senior sales rep with 100% bonus on top of their $150,000 base salary they want to get paid $100,000 (33% of $300,000). Why should I pay 2x the price to hire a VP of sales as I would pay to hire a VP of Market, Technology or Finance? The work is the exact same amount.

Mexico 305

Mexico Term Sheet Hiring Search 305

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

Q&A: Group Commerce Plans Hires, European Growth with $21M Funding. Coats says the VC firm spent more than six years and invested millions of dollars to compile a database of key variables from more than 60,000 venture financing deals covering roughly 98 percent of all U.S. View More in Boston ›. View More in Detroit ›.

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

The Startup Lawyer

DECEMBER 13, 2010

Thus, when you encounter a legal issue (like incorporation) you conduct a cost-benefit analysis of hiring a startup lawyer. I understand the need to ensure you are getting value for the small amount of capital you start with — I did the same thing when I hired a large firm earlier this decade for my startup.

Term Sheet 87

Term Sheet Vesting Hiring Finance 87

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Was Paul Graham right in his “high resolution” financing post? I can’t say it much simpler than this: “What if I took some of the worst, most egregious terms in a standard term sheet and made them the defacto standard in most convertible debt deals? Let me explain it more clearly in equity terms.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

Steve Blank

APRIL 1, 2020

Some VC’s are walking away from signed term sheets. As part of these operating changes, make sure your heads of HR and finance recognize that they have entirely new jobs. Or if you have sufficient cash, now is the time to hire great people who were never available. Others are cutting their valuations.

South Korea 333

South Korea Salary Business Model China 333

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 10, 2017

I’ve been an avid reader of Dan’s Term Sheet while he was at Fortune , and now Pro Rata at Axios. This post is intended to be a dynamic document, and I will attempt to update it from time to time with new questions that may arise or as financing trends evolve. Q: What amount of financing is considered Pre-Seed?

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

Rob Go

JUNE 17, 2014

In my last post about raising seed vs. jumping straight to A, I received a good comment from Chris Woods that my analysis neglected to include the impact of option pools that are created at each financing round. As such, these numbers do not contemplate an extremely senior hire that ought to take up a large chunk of the pool on their own.

Option Pool 65

Option Pool Dilution .Net Term Sheet 65

www.mattbartus.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Let’s say you receive a term sheet for a $1 million investment at a $3 million fully diluted pre-money valuation, and you’re kind of disappointed. I just worked on a financing for a company that received a term sheet from a group of VCs at a $7 million pre-money valuation. Equity for Consultants - Keep.

Warrant 40

Warrant Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

They either do too many seed investments (for which they can spend no quality time with any) or they treat it as an option (“if you succeed come back and see us and we’ll match any term sheet you get&# ) – they view it as a sort of “right of first refusal.&#. The signaling affect is overrated. the $190 million).

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

Hunter Walker

APRIL 27, 2014

We founded Homebrew to be the type of fund we would have wanted to raise money from – early stage partner of conviction, leading financing rounds with great co-investors, leaning in to actually help when you need it. There were four basic sections: 1) What We Said We’d Do & What We Did. We issued 18 offers and won 14 deals.

LP 97

LP Cofounder Term Sheet Valuation 97

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2021

In reality, a financing negotiation is not a single-round winner-take-all game, since a “good” deal requires that both parties walk away satisfied -- with a win-win relationship. On the other hand, when negotiating a financing for your company, you should never present your term sheet first.

Term Sheet 328

Term Sheet Bootstrapping Finance Startup 328

ithacaVC

MARCH 2, 2011

Hypo: you are CEO at a venture backed company and you receive a term sheet from a potential investor that has unacceptable terms. Do you share the term sheet with your board or do you try to negotiate it first and then disclose? The board hires and fires the CEO. Not always an easy decision.

Term Sheet 40

Term Sheet Non-Compete Hiring Finance 40

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2013

Most sophisticated investors will already have terms they typically prefer in a deal, but they should be open to discussion. There are also some standard term sheets you can reference to see what’s already out there. Business Planning Finance angel investors elevator pitch fundraising investor presentation pitching'

Elevator Pitch 79

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Term Sheet Business Model 79

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

You may happen to emphasize the right points that pique an investor’s interest, but you shouldn’t leave your financing up to chance. Second, understand the broader financing climate. There will be one to three issues that are potentially problematic for your financing — address them head on. What will their concerns be?

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

You’ve come full cycle from vision, to hiring some people, raising some cash, arguing about direction, setting a release date, missing a release date, feeling like you’ve effed everything up, regrouping, rethinking, getting back on track and then setting your baby loose into the wild. But we had a term sheet !!!

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 384

The Startup Lawyer

AUGUST 22, 2011

Here’s a list of the top 5 deal terms that cause harm to startups at the seed financing stage and therefore should be avoided: 5. This is something you might see in a late stage private equity financing with a company that has a history of generating revenue. What a deal — for the investor.

Angel Investor 99

Angel Investor Dividend Dilution Cofounder 99

Altgate

AUGUST 16, 2010

King&# Approach to Term Sheet Negotiations → Why Don’t Universities Teach Sales? Why, in business alone, you can get a masters or PhD in marketing (sales’ evil cousin), finance, human resources and entrepreneurship (which isn’t even a business function, but rather a business practice). A “Rich-vs.-King&#

Sales 49

Sales Term Sheet Michigan Sales Cycle 49

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

If they don’t have the right skills or resources, they’ll pick them up along the way by hiring someone, partnering with someone, or just learning it themselves. In particular, Bill Sahlman’s Entrepreneurial Finance course was excellent. It’s not like after completing the class I was prepared to negotiate a term sheet.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

If they don’t have the right skills or resources, they’ll pick them up along the way by hiring someone, partnering with someone, or just learning it themselves. In particular, Bill Sahlman’s Entrepreneurial Finance course was excellent. It’s not like after completing the class I was prepared to negotiate a term sheet.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 15, 2009

VCs have an unfair advantage when it comes to financings. A typical start-up company will do 2-4 venture capital financings before a successful exit (or, conversely, an ignomious ending). In contrast, the typical venture capitalist, either individually or across their partnership, will do 5-10 financings in any given year.

Pre-Money Valuation 49

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Stock Options Post-Money Valuation 49

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

Having been through the company-building process myself and after a decade in VC working with thousands of companies and negotiating hundreds of term sheets, I wrote this book to help demystify the process. Getting a hire wrong is certainly painful, but waiting too long to get the right person in the seat can be equally damaging.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

You’ve come full cycle from vision, to hiring some people, raising some cash, arguing about direction, setting a release date, missing a release date, feeling like you’ve effed everything up, regrouping, rethinking, getting back on track and then setting your baby loose into the wild. But we had a term sheet !!!

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 176

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2019

In reality, a financing negotiation is not a single-round winner-take-all game, since a “good” deal requires that both parties walk away satisfied -- with a win-win relationship. On the other hand, when negotiating a financing for your company, you should never present your term sheet first.

Term Sheet 201

Term Sheet Bootstrapping Finance Reputation 201

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

Why the Unicorn Financing Market Just Became Dangerous…For All Involved. By the first quarter of 2016, the late-stage financing market had changed materially. Investors were becoming nervous and were no longer willing to underwrite new Unicorn-level financings at the drop of a hat. The Sharks Arrive With Dirty Term Sheets.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2018

If you can't handle the cold inbound, hire some help. I offered a term sheet to lead a $1.6mm financing. However, if you don't want to evaluate your inbound deal opportunities, that's the job, my friend. Your network never signed up to do your outsourced job for you. Vetting deal flow is part of the job.

Founder 100

Founder Conversion Naming Term Sheet 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2017

In reality, a financing negotiation is not a single-round winner-take-all game, since a “good” deal requires that both parties walk away satisfied -- with a win-win relationship. On the other hand, when negotiating a financing for your company, you should never present your term sheet first.

Search 146

Search Term Sheet Bootstrapping Finance 146

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2013

In reality, a financing negotiation is not a single-round winner-take-all game, since a “good” deal requires that both parties walk away satisfied -- with a win-win relationship. On the other hand, when negotiating a financing for your company, you should never present your term sheet first.

Term Sheet 246

Term Sheet Bootstrapping Finance Reputation 246

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2012

In reality, a financing negotiation is not a single-round winner-take-all game, since a “good” deal requires that both parties walk away satisfied -- with a win-win relationship. On the other hand, when negotiating a financing for your company, you should never present your term sheet first.

Entrepreneur 248

Entrepreneur Term Sheet Finance Bootstrapping 248

Eric Friedman

AUGUST 18, 2021

From who we hire to the way we go to market, from how we engage with our limited partners to how we engage with founders, it’s all about being very focused on quality and consistency so as to affect strategies to generate meaningful carry for ourselves and our limited partners. We do that primarily through leading financings.

Silicon Valley 88

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Africa 88