This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

The fact is, it''s just not cool to criticize the investing side of the venture capital market. That doesn''t mean I have anything against the founder or the investors. I just respectfully don''t see the same opportunity as her investors do, and I reserve the right to be 100% wrong. Venture Capital & Technology'

Venture Capital 151

Venture Capital Marketing Valuation Lead Investor 151

Genuine VC

JANUARY 15, 2015

The founder CEO is already a couple meetings deep into the process with others, at or nearing the final partner meeting decision, and somebody new is all of a sudden interested. The post The “Come-from-Behind” Lead Investor appeared first on GenuineVC.' But reality doesn’t always play out as neatly.

Lead Investor 100

Lead Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital Portfolio 100

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

But it is also large enough to write a $2M check to lead a post-seed round for companies that are starting to scale. What hasn’t changed is that our heart lies in working with founders to find product/market fit and to begin to grow. This year also marks the 10-year anniversary of the founding of NextView.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

It was a “disappearing text app” where the founders told me that they named the company because the idea came from how Tiger Woods got caught cheating on his wife because all of his mistresses had evidence that he cheated because they saved text messages from him. I didn’t do that. Because that would a very long and bitchy article I’m sure.

IPO 214

IPO Los Angeles Technical Review Silicon Valley 214

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” It’s hard to be a great lead investor . VCs take their time precisely for the reason Fred articulates – they play the role of “lead investor.”

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

In previous blog posts I’ve written about the two main approaches to building a seed round syndicate – the subscription method (where an entrepreneur presets a structure with a convertible note or SAFE and recruits investors who subscribe to the round, all without a term-driving lead investor) and a term-driving lead investor approach.

Syndicate 257

Syndicate Syndication Lead Investor Venture Capital 257

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 12, 2017

To outside investors, the future of early stage and startup companies can be murky. When investors believe in the founders, products, or ideas they will provide companies with funding. If there is insufficient cash, then the company should have a plan to obtain sufficient capital.

San Francisco 114

San Francisco Forecast Early Stage Term Sheet 114

David Teten

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

Prior to joining ff Venture Capital , I published the first-ever study of how private equity and venture capital funds originate new investments, with my coauthor Chris Farmer , CEO of SignalFire and an experienced VC. Annual Deal Pipeline for Selected VCs and Angel Investor Groups. Acquirer/ Investor.

Private Equity 114

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Equity 114

David Teten

JANUARY 10, 2012

Howard Lindzon is Co-Founder and CEO of StockTwits, a social network for traders and investors to share real-time ideas and information. Michael was the lead research analyst for the IPOs of Internet companies like UUNET, Yahoo! Christopher Ahlberg is the CEO and Co-founder of Recorded Future.

Technical Review 128

Technical Review Technology North Carolina Switzerland 128

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Belief #2: Capital is plentiful. Lead investors are few. Belief #1: The best time to invest is early.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 3, 2017

I'm a lead investor. But, you don't feel like that as the founder. That means I'm usually the first person to put down a price on what your company is worth--a dollar value on months, if not years, worth of your work, blood, sweat, tears, stress, etc. Here's a piece of paper that says how much I think your dreams are worth."

Venture Capital 71

Venture Capital Dilution Term Sheet Lead Investor 71

SiliconHills

APRIL 30, 2019

Cliently, which moved to San Antonio last July, announced Tuesday that is has received $1 million in venture capital. Active Capital, a new venture capital firm based in San Antonio and led by Pat Matthews, is the lead investor in the seed stage round of funding. Other investors include Altair.

San Antonio 109

San Antonio Seed Stage Venture Capital Lead Investor 109

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Note: If you’re a founder, stop reading this post now. If you build a good company, investors will hunt you down. If you’re even remotely connected to the “industry” of Venture Capital, you need to read Howard Marks’ It’s Not Easy memo.

Venture Capital 48

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Portfolio 48

Lightspeed Venture Partners

APRIL 12, 2016

Since then, as a team, we’ve been fortunate enough to invest behind the vision of the founders of some tremendous consumer companies across messaging, social media, e-commerce, Internet of Things, marketplaces and gaming. His full time job is CEO of Cheddar , the OTT video company he founded, and where Lightspeed is the lead investor.

Technical Cofounder 60

Technical Cofounder Cofounder SCRUM Committed Capital 60

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 30, 2022

Why Investing Our Savings Instead of Other People’s Money Let Us Rethink What Venture Capital PMF Looks Like in the Decade Ahead. Homebrew has invested in well over 100 seed stage startups this past decade, in most of them working closely with the founders and early team during their first several years. Part Two].

Cap Table 67

Cap Table Venture Capital Cofounder Portfolio 67

A Crowded Space

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Very shortly after I joined, Greg Gretsch (now my partner at Jackson Square Ventures) co-led oDesk’s Series A along with Venky Ganesan (partner at Menlo Ventures and lead investor in Rev.com). Full Circle My time at oDesk / Upwork directly led to my current venture capital career.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Bangladesh Ukraine Philippines 60

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 10, 2022

I love working with great people and as a venture capitalist, am fortunate the number of founders I’m impressed by far exceeds our investment capacity. Here’s an example of a founder that I’ve known for a while who recently raised a seed round with different firms than ours. The needs of the lead investor for ownership?

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Founder Acquisition Startup 89

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

For most founders, fundraising is a struggle. Only a small minority of people are born into the kinds of connections and life paths to provide them instant access to capital. The rest have to work super hard to create access for themselves, build trust and win investors over. No company is up and to the right the whole time.

Cap Table 163

Cap Table Cofounder Private Equity Finance 163

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

I’ve written on the expert network industry a fair amount in the past: see How to Earn More Consulting Revenue from Expert Networks and How Executives Can Work with Private Equity and Venture Capital Portfolio Companies. Two: the founders – are they curious, do they love to learn, and ask lots of questions?

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Austin Startup

APRIL 1, 2017

out of state VCs Don’t rush a term sheet In assessing financing terms and interacting with their lead investors, most founders instinctively focus on two core things: economics and control. And some founders are quite good at it too. Background Reading: How to avoid “captive” company counsel Local v. Yes, this happens.

Term Sheet 48

Term Sheet Institutional Investors Technical Review Lead Investor 48

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

Create your Gust profile to show off your venture in the best possible light. I am continually surprised at founders who spend ten minutes throwing up a barebones profile and are dismayed that money doesn’t start flowing in. Any legitimate investor who finds you through Gust will also contact you through Gust!

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

At its core, this issue points to the lack of understanding about the importance of post-money valuation by both entrepreneurs and investors. In contrast, there is limited benefit for being the 2 nd investor or the 10 th investor joining the syndicate of a priced round, so it is common for investors to wait to see “who else is involved”.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

This is part of a series of advice for founders who need to raise money from venture capitalists. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. This is where most founders err.

Term Sheet 332

Term Sheet Due Diligence Campaign Sales 332

Up and Running

JANUARY 25, 2017

See Also: Venture Capital Funding: A Curated List of Our Best Resources. Securing startup capital: A brutal experience that drags on and on. See Also: 17 Venture Capital Blogs You Should Be Reading. See Also: What Do Venture Capital Firms Want? The danger zone: Answering questions after the pitch.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Cofounder Security Partner 60

Scott Edward Walker

JUNE 9, 2019

Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful for founders to discuss these rights and to point out the problems they create for startups. Simply put, pro rata rights permit the investor to maintain its percentage ownership in subsequent financing rounds. This is a huge red flag and founders should push back very hard.

Preferred Stock 56

Preferred Stock Term Sheet Dilution Stock 56

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. You were a VP at a company that sold for $200 million making the founder very wealthy. is now a VC.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

Professor VC

JANUARY 20, 2009

The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic. Ill share a few points about how we were successful, but most of the credit goes to Benjamin Wayne , founder and CEO of Fliqz, a passionate, strategic and tactical executive. Our lead investor, Triangle Peak Partners closed on a $170 million first fund in late 2008.

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley San Jose Bootstrapping 28

www.readwriteweb.com

MARCH 7, 2011

Chris McCann is the co-founder of StartupDigest , the members-only guide to the tech startup world. Theres now a heated discussion in the investor class about AngelList. The startups and investors can do the round however they like. spray-and-pray? approach vs. the concentrated approach. AngelList is a community. startupcto

Technical Review 50

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Angel Investor 50

The Startup Lawyer

JUNE 9, 2010

A startup’s Series A financing shouldn’t be a large liquidity event or salary payday for the startup’s founders. While a startup typically receives millions of dollars in a Series A, if too much of that $$$ flows guaranteed to the founders, various incentives get out of whack. Case Study.

Salary 99

Salary Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Liquidity Event 99

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

One comment made by Jason was that angels tend to be less sensitive than VCs on valuation and can potentially make it difficult to get a venture financing done at acceptable valuation. While this may certainly be the case with unsophisticated angels (much less of these now) or in cases with no lead investor, Id argue the opposite.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 2, 2010

This prompted me to write a post titled AngelList Boulder and Some Thoughts on Seed Investing where I promised to write up some of my thoughts on how and why VCs could be good seed investors. They are: Fred Wilson: Lead Investors, Dipshit Companies, and Funding Every Entrepreneur.

Angel Investor 152

Angel Investor Cofounder Syndicate Syndication 152

Haystack

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

His tweet reads: New weak investor move. If you have conviction : invest and help the founder finish their round with good intros to other investors. Yes, sure, some of them are “rolling” closes where the investor who commits signs a document (usually a SAFE note) and then wires around that time.

Seed Stage 76

Seed Stage Seed Capital Equity Europe 76

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

It’s just that he’s a “super seed&# investor in a firm, Founder Collective , that I really respect (and with whom I’ve done two deals and hope to do a third) and I’m a partner in a venture capital firm, GRP Partners. So we’re bound to frame the issue in slightly different terms.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2010

and FashInvest invite the online fashion community to present their startups to the audience and special feedback panel consisting of leading investors in the space. This month's talk is about corporate formation, investor visas and and tax accounting for startups. Tags: Venture Capital & Technology nextNY.

Community 60

Community Cofounder Venture Capital Social Network 60

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

How To Pitch A Product - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , August 4, 2010 I've said a bunch of times on this blog that the perfect pitch is a very short intro to provide context followed immediately by a demo. Before I get into the details for founders, let me talk about options-hungry employees. Dying at 70? Who doesn't?

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

Rob Go

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

A friend of mine just completed a very successful fundraise for an institutionally led seed-round of capital. Increasingly, these seem to be the most common ways that venture-funded companies get started. This is kind of the equivalent of “I’m in as long as you have a lead” but sounds a lot better. In a given $1.5M

Term Sheet 73

Term Sheet Due Diligence Valuation Seed Stage 73

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 26, 2021

But every so often another founder also sits on the board. If that’s the case, it’s essential that that founder and the CEO have a very tight relationship and coordinate closely to avoid allowing members of the organization to use that alternate channel to the board to get around the CEO’s decisions. Maybe it’s an economic challenge.

Startup 36

Startup Equity Early Stage Green 36