Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

My blog linked to Brad Feld’s blog because I was so grateful for his series on term sheets and he was one of the biggest reasons that as a VC I felt compelled to blog. It became a huge kerfuffle with many VC partners writing to thank me for the post, which exposed those that gave their industry a bad name.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

Encyclopedic knowledge of term sheets and startup buzzwords can be quickly learned, trained, and packaged. Go to any of the LinkedIn profiles of entrepreneurs in Bay Area and you see names like Google, eBay, Apple, Yahoo, PayPal, and Facebook littered throughout. Stamps of Approval” and “Opportunity”.

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If an investor isn’t engaging then they’re not suddenly going to get a term sheet. If we feel a mutual connection then my goal is to make your life easier by offering you a term sheet before you’re even raising and I’ll spend the time and effort trying to prove that it isn’t worth running a process.

Term Sheet 332

Term Sheet Due Diligence Campaign Sales 332

OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 31, 2013

A distant third price is the VC who gives you two names and ask for time to prep them ahead of time. And this is true of any negotiation, not just a term sheet. The biggest warning sign to look for is someone who says things like “you have to agree on this term, because this is how we always do deals.”

Valuation 133

Valuation Term Sheet B2C Security 133

Altgate

AUGUST 20, 2010

-King&# Approach to Term Sheet Negotiations Posted on August 20, 2010 by fnazeeri I feel like I’m in that scene from The Jerk where Steve Martin sees his name in the phone book and exclaims, “I’m somebody!&# I’m published (sorta)! Bookmark the permalink. ← Why Don’t Universities Teach Sales?

Term Sheet 39

Term Sheet Venture Capital Angel Financing Framework 39

www.readwriteweb.com

DECEMBER 29, 2011

While certainly not every business needs to raise venture financing, it is the path for many high-growth technology startups. Tip 4: Really Understand Key Terms. Once you get the term sheet make sure you know how to read it. Once you have a term sheet you are happy with, don't over negotiate.

Cap Table 47

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 47

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

By far the hardest step in all this is getting a term sheet. Once you have a term sheet in hand, and assuming good faith, everything else will follow. The best way to get a term sheet is to concentrate your efforts on an investor who has the ability, history and interest in leading rounds.

Term Sheet 101

Term Sheet Angel Groups Finance Naming 101

finance.fortune.cnn.com

AUGUST 21, 2012

Term Sheet. Term Sheet The latest on private equity, M&A, deals and movements — from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Exclusive: Returns for brand-name VC funds By Dan Primack August 20, 2012: 12:15 PM ET. Term Sheet. Finance jobs. Fear & Greed. Mutual Funds. Shawn Tully.

Naming 49

Naming Term Sheet Private Equity Equity 49

Up and Running

MAY 18, 2016

The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance, or Grow Your Company with Your Customers’ Cash. By the end of this book, you’ll know how to read a term sheet, how venture capital deals are structured, and how to get a fair deal. B y John Mullins. Lucky or Smart: 50 Pages for the First Time Entrepreneur. Basic Berkonomics.

Startup 80

Startup Venture Capital Angel Investor Lean 80

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 6, 2010

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about The Proliferation of Standardized Seed Financing Documents. As many of you know, the issue is not only the term sheet, but also the underlying documents supporting the deal. Tags: Term Sheet seed documents VC. So, I’m going to leave it to them.

Term Sheet 118

Term Sheet LP Finance Email 118

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

They had received a term sheet from a VC and were wondering whether to work with this firm. But what about once you have a term sheet? They made great introductions, they helped you get financed, the put in more money themselves, they helped you strategically and they helped you with your exit.

Term Sheet 298

Term Sheet Venture Capital Stealth Cofounder 298

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. Term Sheets. Recent Posts. Intellectual Property. Negotiating.

Equity 40

Equity Vesting Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

What you don’t know is that MANY of these financings have been a months’ long series of no’s, compromises, hard terms, heartaches, arguments, self doubt, followed by a “yes” that saves the day. There was one guy named Ron Lawrence who always met girls and was always out dancing with or talking to girls.

Term Sheet 232

Term Sheet France Technical Review Restful 232

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

It’s why raising a round of capital often feels like a hollow victory because it almost feels like a temporary reprieve from the Grim Reaper and in a way every new round just sets the bar higher to clear for the next round of financing or the hope of reaching profitability. Funding is Binary — You Only Need One Yes Don’t give up.

Burn Rate 238

Burn Rate Term Sheet CTO Hire Fractional CTO 238

Scott Edward Walker

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

The deals are typically extremely complex because the name of the game is debt. The issue for you is that the acquisition agreement may contain a financing condition, which means that if they do not get their financing they may walk away with no recourse. How Is the Deal Structure Different with a Financial Buyer?

Private Equity 59

Private Equity New York City Equity Deal Structure 59

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

But what about once you have a term sheet? They made great introductions, they helped you get financed, the put in more money themselves, they helped you strategically and they helped you with your exit. One small hack – go to LinkedIn and do a search for the company name. For some reason most entrepreneurs do.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Term Sheet Cofounder Partner 288

Professor VC

JULY 25, 2013

I''m all for transparency, but won''t be naming names in this post as I don''t want to put some entrepreneurs in a difficult position. Finally, I have to bring up some bad behavior by a name Sand Hill Road firm (SH). An entrepreneur received two Series A term sheets, one lead by an international investor and the other from SH.

Term Sheet 46

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 46

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 grow their business via profits or traditional bank financing. In fact, Google’s offer for $15 Million was equal to the highest valuation from the venture firms.

Hockey Stick 276

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 276

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

OnlyOnce

DECEMBER 14, 2011

One of the most important things you can do as an entrepreneur is to surround yourself with a great lawyer (as I mentioned in my posting on negotiating term sheets ) and a great accountant. I echo that and would add to it a cautionary note about big, brand name firms. Picking Professional Services Firms.

Silicon Valley 67

Silicon Valley Term Sheet Finance Partner 67

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. Term Sheets (6).

Warrant 40

Warrant Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 40

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

How-to learn about angel/vc term sheets - Gabriel Weinberg , June 28, 2010 I think every startup entrepreneur (and angel investor) should have a good understanding of financing term sheets. But let's remember, unitasking has a downside too — namely, what works for one person slows down others. Twittering.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

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. Credibility : Getting our name out there. We try to give real, honest feedback to anyone we meet with.

LP 97

LP Cofounder Term Sheet Valuation 97

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 approves financing and sale terms.

Term Sheet 40

Term Sheet Non-Compete Hiring Finance 40

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

But we had a term sheet !!! Every one of these events (with names changed) has happened to companies I’ve worked at or closely with. Imagine how Flurry felt when Steve Jobs called them out by name. Google DID NOT just acquire our main biz dev partner. We now have to re-convince everybody? 8 beers that night.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 384

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.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

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. No need to name names. Why did you decide to write a manual like this, especially right now?

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2018

On an app advertised to "meet inspiring people" for meaningful networking, someone tells this black founder, whose last name is "Youngblood" that is name is inappropriate. The person goes on to blame the uncommonness of the name. I offered a term sheet to lead a $1.6mm financing.

Founder 100

Founder Conversion Naming Term Sheet 100

Scott Edward Walker

JUNE 9, 2011

Introduction This post originally appeared as part of the “ Ask the Attorney ” column I am writing for VentureBeat ; it is another installment of my ongoing series regarding venture capital term sheets. Conversion Rights What Are Conversion Rights?

Term Sheet 60

Term Sheet Conversion Rights Venture Capital Liquidation Preference 60

Pascal's View

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Dan Primack posted an article in Term Sheet last week titled Yelp This: IPO Market Is Killing It. ’ While I commented again on Dan’s article on Term Sheet , below is a more extensive response with additional facts: To be very clear, the central issues behind the systemic dysfunction in the U.S.

IPO 31

IPO Term Sheet Marketing United States 31

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 28, 2010

In negotiating term sheets, performing the inside-outside financing dance , discussing exit scenarios - and many other elements of the start-up journey - misalignment between VCs and entrepreneurs is common, natural and inevitable.

Entrepreneur 38

Entrepreneur Term Sheet Venture Capital Finance 38

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

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. For example, MBA students take classes on accounting and finance. I think a lot of entrepreneurs don’t fully understand how venture capital works.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

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. For example, MBA students take classes on accounting and finance. I think a lot of entrepreneurs don’t fully understand how venture capital works.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

But we had a term sheet !!! Every one of these events (with names changed) has happened to companies I’ve worked at or closely with. Imagine how Flurry felt when Steve Jobs called them out by name. Google DID NOT just acquire our main biz dev partner. We now have to re-convince everybody? 8 beers that night.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 176

The Startup Lawyer

FEBRUARY 4, 2011

Like any issuance of stock or investment, one of the main things a startup should be concerned with is: Is this going to fuck up a future financing ? If the terms won’t hinder a future financing, then your startup is good to go. If not, the incubator is just a bridge financing to potentially nowhere for your startup.

Incubator 105

Incubator Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Advisory Board 105

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