Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. You’ll need to hire and retain talen to grow your company. Tags: Startup Advice This Week in Venture Capital. The VC assumes you’ll have an option pool.

Valuation 405

Valuation Liquidation Preference Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 405

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

He wanted to work in venture capital and I was new to the industry and in no position to hire anybody. A few years later I was in the position to hire but Aaron was way more senior than our entry-level positions. We got along and shared stories about the startup market.

San Diego 344

San Diego Technical Review Seed Capital Sacramento 344

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2010

GRP Partners is looking to hire two analysts (maybe even three) to join our practice in Los Angeles. But every time I do recruiting I get so many applicants that don’t come close to the spec that I feel I have to put up at least some filters to avoid people unlikely to be hired from putting in too much work. Position: Analyst.

Los Angeles 290

Los Angeles Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital 290

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ).

Founder 309

Founder CTO Hire Silicon Valley Leadership 309

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

They hire key staff. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice startup technology vc venture capital. They tell you that they’re working on biz dev deals with distribution partners and they get the deals signed. They tell you they’re going to ship product and they do. They make progress. Neither is the norm.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

Huge structural under-employment in much of the country and full employment in some niche tech markets where it’s impossible to hire developers, designers or sales professionals. When your competition does irrational things to grow fueled by low-cost capital it makes it harder for you to compete by playing by the conventional rules.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 1, 2009

I know that people find safety in numbers (and there always seems to be 3 amigos) but imagine this for a moment – you go and raise venture capital and you’re fighting over whether to dilute with a VC by 25% or 30% as a company. Resist the temptation to hire clones of you. For me 3+ is usually a non starter.

Hiring 289

Hiring Cofounder Dilution Startup 289

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Recruits, hires, and retains the very best talent for the company. Hiring & Firing the CEO. Once you’ve been around for a few years, attracted some great people, landed real, paying customers and raised venture capital you’ve likely got a talented team around you. Selling the company.

Ireland 319

Ireland Sales Bankruptcy Germany 319

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

So then when I wanted to go into venture capital, they said, “You can’t do that, you need to be in EIR.” So when I got into venture capital, I thought, “Well, what can I do that’s different?” Should I hire or not hire this person? We’re not hiring now.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup San Diego 337

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

One is the “denominator problem&# which says that if an LP invests X% (the denominator) into “alternative investments&# such as venture capital and if their total amount available to invest (the numerator) goes down by 30% then the amount they allocate to VC will by definition need to go down by 30% to stay the same percentage.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

In the early 80’s he left academia to work on venture capital investing with Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies. The discussion with Howard Morgan starts off by acknowledging Josh Kopelman as a co-founder of First Round Capital. Management should communicate how the board can help - strategy, markets, key hires, introductions.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

Many startup companies hire advisory boards. Tags: Start-up Advice startup technology vc venture capital. This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. It’s very tempting. It’s mostly done by first-time entrepreneurs who want to persuade (bribe?) Others must echo my experiences. What do you think?

Advisory Board 306

Advisory Board Startup Equity Valuation 306

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

Sustaining short-term losses is all predicated on ability to finance the losses through venture capital or other means. The reason one would accept losses is when they are investments in fueling faster growth. But none of this matters if you run out of money. The dreaded trade-off between profitability and growth !

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

If you hire 6 senior sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business 6 months. If you don’t have a strong balance sheet and can’t hire more people that’s fine — but understand this may lead to slower growth.

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2019

You can have a 2-hour debate on important topics including pricing, product features, key hires, whatever and then still go away from the board meeting and have your executive team make decisions. You’ll notice that in this graphic I’m not proposing that you ask your board to make these decisions for you.

Management 234

Management Startup Dividend Early Stage 234

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

They hire their initial co-founders and early employees and everybody has a sense of “mission.” We’re a national venture capital investment firm but with our roots firmly in Los Angeles. We try to hire deeply analytical associates to can help companies problem solve and who make us better investors.

Leadership 150

Leadership Southern California San Diego Hiring 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

I’ve watched VCs help with valuation support (spreadsheets, comps) on next round financing, participate in M&A meetings, interview senior job candidates – even help terminate tricky senior hires. And so is venture capital. I’ve seen other VCs who seem to never have time to get their hands dirty. Commitment.

Portfolio 364

Portfolio Chicago Sales Incubator 364

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

They sold 2 years later for $16 million In the financial crisis of 2008 we had a company that had jointly hired lawyers to consider a bankruptcy and also pursued (and achieved!) Early-stage venture capital is about extreme winners. the sale of the company for $1 billion. It was ~30 days from bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy 294

Bankruptcy Bridge Financing Portfolio Angel Investor 294

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Again, Seth: “One of the things I noticed when I looked around at startups is that often the founding teams hired people just like themselves. He grew up in Connecticut attended Yale undergrad and worked for IBM after graduation doing M&A, strategy and venture capital. We then spoke about startups.

Connecticut 286

Connecticut Cofounder Silicon Valley Web 286

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.” interviewing critical hires at a time where they have 3 other offers. founder fighting. lack of traction, lack of downstream financing availability. strategic direction. and much more.

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. And given how easy it is to meet VCs through introductions I also wonder what’s wrong with your startup teams that given the unprecedented amount of transparency and access now in our industry – why they chose to hire a banker. What stage?

Early Stage 361

Early Stage Deal Flow Investment Bankers Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Contrary to popular opinion I actually believe crowd-funding is best used after seed capital or venture capital. If you haven’t yet raised an A-round my recommendation would be that you not yet hire a big, well-known PR firm. It super charges a business that is closer to product delivery.

PR 319

PR Venture Capital Hiring Seed Capital 319

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. And given how easy it is to meet VCs through introductions I also wonder what’s wrong with your startup teams that given the unprecedented amount of transparency and access now in our industry – why they chose to hire a banker. What stage?

Deal Flow 347

Deal Flow Early Stage Investment Bankers Technical Review 347

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

People often ask me what VCs look for when we hire partners and many have asked how to become VCs themselves one day. As I like to say (and as Kara humbly hates when I do so in front of others) … she has a much better resume to a venture capital partner than I do. But she also has the temperament, which is important.

Partner 408

Partner Las Vegas Los Angeles Baltimore 408

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 16, 2011

To run an effective business it’s really important to hire women in your company & as advisors - “Men tend to pump up their chests more (than women). I think it’s really important (to hire women). Make sure 50% of the people you hire are women. Women take a look at things differently.

Startup 311

Startup Sales Database Community 311

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2013

The first time I met Andy Dunn he was working for the venture capital firm Maveron. Is it true that VCs sometimes hire the wrong CEOs for all the wrong reasons or make false assumptions about a founder’s ability? Raising Venture Capital Tech Market Analysis' The moral compass in all of us. by Dorrian Porter.

Silicon Valley 315

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Video 315

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

Just ask the people of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Iowa, Princeton, Dallas or countless other cities that don’t have enough venture capital. If you don’t live in a major VC zone, I have some tips for how to make it easier to raise Venture Capital. Ask SuperCell. Or UrbanAirship. I know local talent.

Kansas City 365

Kansas City San Diego Kansas Dallas 365

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

The Aqui-hire Business. Hire legions of young, impressionable graduates from the top engineering universities. Acquihires and Venture Capital. But that’s not how you make money in the venture capital business. Chief Vesting Officers)? It says if you want to make “real” money - quit.

Liquidation Preference 357

Liquidation Preference Early Stage Retention Lock-up Period 357

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Marketing with long payback is precisely what requires venture capital. It would take 2 years to catch up but believe me they have the capital to do so. They might struggle to hire a-players because, well, would you go work at Public Storage to build their software capabilities? Or would you go to a disruptor in stead?

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

Because Bird was first to market, extremely innovative, quick to hire talented leadership and an experienced founder it was able to raise $125 million in an extraordinarily short period of time. Ah, but Bird doesn’t have network effects! There is nothing viral! Anybody can launch a scooter service! Not really.

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Technical Review Los Angeles 256

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

o Early on they hired 3 people from ACT software at once (more team hiring) on staff and supplement it with Agency (in LA worked with First Communications – good). If you need money to even hire a developer [means you cannot even excite one person to put in some sweat equity – not a good sign about your ability to motivate people.].

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

to “Jeez — they sure are hiring a ton of staff. to “How can we hire more staff to keep up with the services they offer?” But I do know that nobody I know in the industry (Ok, maybe 1 or 2 people) doubts that A16Z is building a great venture capital firm that will have enviable returns. Can that really work?” Nobody knows.

LP 264

LP Jordan Cofounder Limited Partner 264

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Frankly, I think venture capital is that way, too. How does the world in Los Angeles intersect differently with venture capital? I have written about the need for entrepreneurs to take inventory in themselves before deciding whom to hire as the rest of the team. And I don’t want to be complacent.

Los Angeles 400

Los Angeles Venture Capital San Francisco Philadelphia 400

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

And the most wonderful byproduct is that I believe it helps communicate with all of our team and with future hires what our expectations are. Hamet Watt – More recently we announced that we hired Hamet Watt as a partner as well. Hamet is a 3x entrepreneur and also former EIR with True Ventures. It would be out of sync.

Ireland 324

Ireland Jordan Portfolio Flash 324

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

One day if you’re lucky you’ll be big enough to work with recruiters to hire senior members of your team or your board. VENTURE CAPITAL. And finally that brings me to obvious topic of venture capital. EXECUTIVE RECRUITERS. After I posted I saw the following Tweet. No exceptions.”

Startup 363

Startup PR Venture Capital Angel Investor 363

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2016

My partner Greg Bettinelli (worth following on Twitter) was recently named by The LA Business Journal as the “ Top deal maker in Los Angeles in Venture Capital.” I joined Upfront Ventures in 2007 and took over as co-Managing Partner in 2011 along with the founder, Yves Sisteron. ” Numero uno.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Early Stage LP Partner 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

Consider this story from the founders of Kayak quoted in this excellent article about the most respected venture capital firm in the business – Sequoia. Teams that didn’t hire you only to be impressed later by your performance and / or persistence. ” This is the norm. ” This is the norm.

Email 389

Email Europe Venture Capital Leadership 389