Ben's Blog

MAY 24, 2021

IPO market. billion multi-stage venture capital firm focused on IT-related investments… I also serve on various investment committees, including for the St. With the benefit of increasing IPOs in the last few years, we are starting to see better growth: In 2020, there were close to 500 IPOs in the U.S.,

SEC 36

SEC Accredited Investor IPO Technical Review 36

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 11, 2023

It might ‘exit’ again at a later point (anything from a sale to an IPO), but it’s no long dependent on VC funding. PE generally thinks of their role as a three-stage journey “Buying > Value Creation > Value Realization.” This means the company is predominantly owned by the management/team and TPG.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Equity DC Leveraged Buyout 78

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. I have seen bad behavior from later-stage VCs, believe me.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

It’s meant to support and grow a business until an “exit” in the form of an IPO, a merger or acquisition, or in less than ideal scenarios, a company shutdown. At its most basic form, venture capital is a source of funding for companies that are too risky to be ideal candidates for other forms of funding, like a bank loan.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

With more competition in early-stage many VCs are investing smaller amounts at earlier stages. Some are going later stage to not miss out on hot deals. I call this “stage drift.&#. What I’ve started to observe is that we’re certainly headed for a bit of a brick wall for early-stage companies.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Angel Investor 289

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

VCs like acquisitions as much as IPOs because the acquiring companies often can rationalize paying large multiples over the current valuation of the startup. If they acquire later stage companies who already have users/customers and/or a predictable revenue stream, they are acquiring companies which are executing.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2012

Mid and later stage companies attracted $1.48 Seed stage companies attracted 5%, a slight increase from 3% in 2010, and Early stage companies accounted for 26% of the investment, down from 35% in 2010 and 29% in 2009. A decade ago, such companies would most likely have gone the IPO route, raising funds publicly.

Technical Review 111

Technical Review IPO Seed Stage 111

VC Cafe

APRIL 29, 2020

According to the Covid-19 impact report by research firm Beauhurst: 5,070 UK companies are at a ‘severe’ or ‘critical’ risk 615K startup and scaleup jobs are at risk Later stage startups are at the most risk Across the board, tech sectors and verticals are the most likely to experience a positive or low impact.

SBA 124

SBA Technical Review Startup 124

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

The earlier you invest the higher the chances the company won’t work out and thus you pay a lower price than later-stage investors. Then you can do a little bit of research and find out that very few companies ever achieve this valuation in a trade sale so you’re clearly gunning for an IPO.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

I think that later stage valuations are frothy (for reasons I explain below) while earlier stage valuations are starting to stabilize from previous highs (with the exception of the superstar serial entrepreneur) - turns out scaling in a sea of competition (both startup and entrenched) is not so easy.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

This strangely may come even more quickly in the more successful funds, because any funds (ours included) who still hold some public stock from a recent IPO will likely be seeing write-downs sooner due to the immediacy and transparency of public stocks being repriced.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital LP Silicon Valley Marketing 150

VC Cafe

JANUARY 2, 2023

The ten biggest exits of the year included a mix of IPOs and acquisitions. As a result, I expect to see slower pace of investing across stages. Lower valuations , especially in later stage. We started to see down rounds taking place especially in growth stage. Total deal value this year was $16.9

Valuation 158

Valuation Down Round Venture Capital 158

Version One Ventures

APRIL 14, 2021

It is also the first IPO in the Version One family and hence, a special milestone for us as a fund. . It was a much later stage for us than our typical pre-seed/seed investment. The IPO will now give more investors, who believe in Coinbase and its mission, the opportunity to join in the journey going forward. .

IPO 121

IPO Later Stage Early Stage Portfolio 121

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

We both agree that the later-stage valuations are being driven up to a point that feels irrationally priced [he uses b-round SaaS valuations as an example and I am willing to be even more broad based]. I wrote my version here and Scott wrote an excellent write-up of his views here. And we ended.

Valuation 309

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Later Stage Non-Compete 309

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2012

Mid and later stage companies attracted $1.48 Seed stage companies attracted 5%, a slight increase from 3% in 2010, and Early stage companies accounted for 26% of the investment, down from 35% in 2010 and 29% in 2009. A decade ago, such companies would most likely have gone the IPO route, raising funds publicly.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review IPO Seed Stage 60

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

To analyze what’s become of the OG Unicorns, it’s first worth noting that at the time of the 2013 post about 2/3rds of the 39 on the list had already been realized via IPO or $1B+ acquisitions. Most startups that hit this level did so via IPO or acquisition value. IPO value, $2.8B IPO value, $1.5B IPO value, $31.2B

IPO 120

IPO Valuation San Francisco Silicon Valley 120

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 24, 2017

Not only are the downsides of overcapitalization problematic for founders, but FC also examined overcapitalization in upside scenarios by studying the data from the last five years of tech IPOs. We know many firms that build portfolios with great logos by buying into companies at later stages and higher valuations.

Founder 75

Founder LP Technical Review Seed Stage 75

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

For life sciences it was the Genentech IPO in 1980 that proved to investors that life science startups could make them a ton of money. Fourth, in the last decade, corporate investors and hedge funds have jumped into later stage investing with a passion.

Restful 222

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222

Feld Thoughts

JULY 13, 2014

But I’ve also invested in a number of companies that have had exits between $100m and $1b that resulted in much larger returns for me, both on an absolute basis as well as a relative basis, than unicorns have for their later stage investors. So, let’s zone this in on an early stage discussion.

Later Stage 195

Later Stage Early Stage Valuation Seed Stage 195

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

A 1997 vintage is likely to perform much better than a 2000 vintage because the former got to ride the dot com bonanza and likely saw some quick IPOs and crazy trade sales while the latter is more likely filled with many companies that never reached the promise land (or are still trying). Why does vintage matter to you?

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Early Stage Software Review 269

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2011

Today, the signs of the new bubble are the Linked-In initial public offering (IPO), Facebook’s stratospheric valuation and the rapid rise of early-stage startup valuation. The awareness phase is where other later-stage investors start to notice the momentum, bringing additional money in and pushing prices higher.

Silicon Valley 327

Silicon Valley Stealth Valuation Mississippi 327

VC Adventure

FEBRUARY 13, 2018

Venture is being increasingly driven by large rounds (especially at the later stages – this is significantly skewing the overall funding numbers that are being reported). IPOs are the new Unicorns (they’re becoming more scarce than their $1BN valued cousins).

Later Stage 54

Later Stage Marketing IPO Venture Capital 54

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

” If the “nut” is too high I usually veer them towards later-stage opportunities (post B or C round) where the comp is higher, the exit is more likely / nearer, the upside is still nice but obviously not the same as if you joined early). It will likely IPO in the coming years.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2015

In a period of “uncertainty” about the future venture capital rounds take longer – particularly later-stage deals. And it doesn’t change the fact that our late-stage venture markets are over-valued relative to public markets, so either. public stocks go up and privates can grow into IPOs; or.

Balance Sheet 150

Balance Sheet Valuation Burn Rate Stock 150

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 22, 2017

Later-stage companies are in operating mode. Pamela Springer, CEO of ORIS Intelligence is a veteran executive with more than 20 years’ experience growing tech-based companies, including re-starts and IPOs, including building Manta Media into one of the largest, most trafficked websites in the US.

Private Equity 113

Private Equity Later Stage IPO Early Stage 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding. Funding sources specialize in certain growth stages. Angel investors typically provide early-stage funding, while venture capital firms typically come in at later stages.

Investment Bankers 241

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 241

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When we want to sell or IPO companies they’re there again. So I tell you this because if you build a strong relationship with an early-stage VC they can be a great source to help you with your funding. On later stage LA Tech M&A deals I’ve heard there’s none better than David Hernand of Gibson Dunn.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Austin Startup

AUGUST 30, 2018

Of these rounds, nearly every one was classified as a Series B or later-stage round, with the exception of a few debt and equity financing rounds. A trend towards larger, later-stage companies typically means investors are looking to take on less risk and invest in more established companies.

Austin 48

Austin Early Stage San Francisco Later Stage 48

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2010

You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding. Funding sources specialize in certain growth stages. Angel investors typically provide early-stage funding, while venture capital firms typically come in at later stages.

Investment Bankers 231

Investment Bankers Venture Capital Startup Initial Public Offering 231

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 14, 2019

The senior management team you have now won’t be the same that’s around you when you ring the NYSE bell at your IPO. You don’t want to prematurely hire people who are best-suited to the later stages.

Silicon Valley 28

Silicon Valley Early Stage Hiring Employee 28

Rob Go

JUNE 7, 2012

There is a dark cloud over the internet sector due to the weak performance of the Facebook IPO. But a lot of entrepreneurs and investors were hoping for a really strong showing to drive more liquidity in the market and continue the surge in hype around internet companies (both start-ups and later stage companies).

Technical Review 61

Technical Review SMS Internet B2C 61

Austin Startup

JUNE 27, 2017

Many investments in startups start with local venture firms in the early stages and then attract non-local venture firms for later stage and larger deal size opportunities. Entrepreneurs with early stage companies typically look for local funding before going out of region to pursue other funding sources.

Venture Capital 54

Venture Capital Austin Texas Private Equity 54

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

While larger funds are interested in these companies at later stages of development, the resources it takes to cover the international markets at seed stage is likely not one they want to make. Institutional VCs rely a model which optimizes for billion dollar outcomes via an acquisition or IPO.

Syndicate 98

Syndicate Syndication South America Seed Stage 98

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 9, 2011

Extremely important for companies to plan their IPOs during a “strategic window” that will increase their odds of success. Going public is not easy : companies should be preparing for IPO in terms of media communication and internal management over a year ahead of IPO. October 2011 was the worst month for IPOs since 2008.

IPO 92

IPO Cofounder Europe 92

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

Whenever I suspect that someone who isn’t a white male is sandbagging their pitch with the probable vs the possible , I’ll turn around and ask the question—is it possible this is an IPO? I suspect there are a lot of later stage companies run by female founders not wanting to just keep raising round after round for as much money as possible.

Venture Capital 162

Venture Capital Cofounder Deal Flow Later Stage 162

Gust

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

You also will find that the stage your startup is in dictates where you go to seek funding. Funding sources specialize in certain growth stages. Angel investors typically provide early-stage funding, while venture capital firms typically come in at later stages.

Venture Capital 171

Venture Capital Investment Bankers Angel Investor Initial Public Offering 171

Duct Tape Marketing

JULY 27, 2023

And I think fortunately these days there are more opportunities to, to sell down along the way as companies get big enough later stage investors will come in and offer to buy a small chunk of earlier investors. Like when, when Slack IPOed, I went down to Wall Street and saw the banner up there and it was kind of cool.

Cofounder 56

Cofounder Artificial Inteligence New Zealand Analytics 56