VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Taking stock of the venture capital market in 2023, it’s clear to see that we’re in a transition point. In today’s market, I believe small is beautiful, and that specialisation matters. Essentially, show that you can build a great portfolio and deploy all capital pre series A.”

Venture Capital 215

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Institutional Investors 215

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 8, 2023

Obvious caveats to my POV here, most specifically: exposure is limited to largely the US/SiliconValley ecosystem, driven by our own portfolio, my friends and co-investors, the funds I’m a LP in, and our institutional LP relationships. Valuations. Soft Acquisition Market. And that’s what’s happening here.

Portfolio 98

Portfolio Cap Table LP Valuation 98

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

The next reason is to establish a competitive advantage over your competition and quickly acquire a substantial market share. Let’s take an example – In the case of an internet or app business, the user traction and market penetration is a must. Establish a competitive advantage. Both of which are expensive and time-consuming.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 14, 2021

Round sizes increased significantly across all stages, as did valuations. The incredible pace of the start-up market in 2021 is also reflected in the Version One portfolio: . We made 15 investments in new portfolio companies in 2021, roughly twice our yearly average.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review North America Portfolio IPO 87

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. We’re going to start aggressively spend money on marketing our product. (it is also the title of a fabulous book from Internet 1.0

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

Steve Blank

JUNE 27, 2017

Initially, a startup has no business model and no market share to defend. But often the legal obstacles confronting startups have been put in place by companies that look to the government and regulators as their first line of defense against new market entrants. Startups can do anything. to stifle competition.).

Startup 275

Startup New York City Valuation Distribution 275

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. New funds have formed, old market leaders are gone or walking dead. But the reality is that the more interesting the market, the more likely there is to be rapid and unpredictable change. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. ” Fire, Ready, Aim. IPOs dried up.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

We are in a bubble (with so many private $1bn+ valuations). 15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). Where are we today?

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

Using NextView as an example, since we both seek to lead the seed round and only lead during this round, I’ve seen this trend manifest in one of two ways: In a priced round, the entrepreneur will often share their valuation ask (or a stated floor) for the pre-money valuation of their company much sooner in the process.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

The Innovation Portfolio. Companies manage these three types of innovation with an innovation portfolio – they build innovation internally, they buy it or they partner with resources outside their company. However, these nosebleed valuations make it even more important in getting the acquired company integrated correctly.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. New funds have formed, old market leaders are gone or walking dead. But the reality is that the more interesting the market, the more likely there is to be rapid and unpredictable change. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 156

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 156

Version One Ventures

JUNE 30, 2021

Here are just some of many activities and accomplishments in the V1 portfolio during the past quarter…. Ada, Outreach and Shippo all raised hefty rounds this quarter and reached the one-billion-unicorn valuation mark! valuation. . Shippo raised a $50M round led by Bessemer Venture Partners at a $1B valuation. .

Portfolio 60

Portfolio Valuation Canada IPO 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Harry was gracious enough to invite me back so this past week we recorded an episode discussing the current market environment. Nobody will be immune because in a bull market executives are paid to “innovate” so they sign software contracts and run projects. Biggest Advice I Give to Portfolio Founders?

Marketing 263

Marketing Valuation Churn Rate Balance Sheet 263

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture. In this post I set out to explain why the seed market emerged as its own category in the first place and why it’s declined as of late. ( The “A Round” of my startup in 1999 was $16.5

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. New funds have formed, old market leaders are gone or walking dead. But the reality is that the more interesting the market, the more likely there is to be rapid and unpredictable change. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 136

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 136

Hunter Walker

JUNE 9, 2023

My friends at Weekend Fund recently put out a round-up newsletter of some investor responses to the question “ Do Valuations Matter? They view valuation as an important guardrail in evaluating an investment opportunity. Like NEA, Homebrew takes an ownership-driven approach to investing.

Valuation 68

Valuation Seed Stage Portfolio Framework 68

David Teten

JULY 23, 2019

I regularly meet with other VCs, and based on their criteria, I share with them whichever portfolio companies fit their areas of interest. . – Fundraising history summary, including notable current investors and last round valuation. . Subject line: Relevant Portfolio Companies . – 1-2 sentence elevator pitch. .

Portfolio 60

Portfolio Elevator Pitch Syndicate Syndication 60

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 20, 2021

And if you haven’t seen it already, you can read our Year in Review post, where we reflect on the incredible pace of the start-up market in 2021. . Everyone (investors and founders alike) has underestimated the size of the addressable market for tech over the past decade. Our top three topics from the year: . 1/ Is 10x the new 3x?

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review IPO 60

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Startup IPO Market: A Fickle Mistress. The IPO market, she is a fickle mistress. In the first half of 2011, the IPO markets were looking strong for VC-backed companies. But if you read the whole article you glean more insight… the entire public equity markets have sunk in the last 3-4 months. September 15, 2011.

IPO 100

IPO Marketing Silicon Valley Technical Review 100

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 10, 2020

It’s common knowledge that the housing market is a little less stable and accessible than it was in previous generations. This is where your overall delve into the property market will inevitably hinge: can you make up the funds to invest? Now it’s time to look to the market to understand where you ought to invest.

Portfolio 81

Portfolio Valuation Management Marketing 81

VC Cafe

AUGUST 2, 2022

billion valuation) to invest in the Metaverse and build the future of digital entertainment Epic owns Fortnite, one of the most popular multiplayer games, enabling users to interact with each other online in an immersive way to play, socialise, attend to virtual concerts. Roblox is publicly traded and has a market cap of $27.2

IP 206

IP Cofounder Valuation Acquisition 206

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Businesses utilize a plethora of information to assess markets, competitors, customer preferences, organizational performance, etc. Knowing the consumers that are more likely to become loyal buyers in the future can help you in directing your marketing investments appropriately. Not every product aims at the entire market.

Analytics 132

Analytics Portfolio Advertising Technical Review 132

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 13, 2020

If things are going great, you still may get a lower valuation or smaller round. Or go to a flea market and haggle. Highlighted Homebrew Portfolio Jobs. What I’ve concluded is that if you’re an “all steak, no sizzle” CEO you’re gonna harm your company if you don’t address this weakness (but good news, you can address it).

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Startup Matching 144

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 9, 2014

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Fantastic essay by @abbymyles on the current obsession with design/designers & market realities – crowdspring.co/1lWpMjT. 1j3n4bO. . ” – crowdspring.co/1j0HTod.

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. A first or second-time fund has an easier time fund raising when they can show a few 4-8x’s in their portfolio than if they always average up. And sometimes they take part of their prorata right.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

VC Cafe

MAY 29, 2022

Sequoia’s “Adapting to Endure” Sequoia presented this deck to a group of portfolio founders and it quickly spread online to founders worldwide. Carta’s State of Private Markets Q1 2022. Investing at this stage is primarily focused on founders, market tailwinds, and underlying product/strategy (in that order).

Venture Capital 183

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Startup 183

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Will Quist did a great job of explaining this market rhetoric in this thread. The three-question framework goes as such: Q: How much tech-related market cap will be created in the next 10-20 years? So, on one hand, the market see ms like a total frenzy these days. However, I am not sure that is the case with VC.

Valuation 319

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 319

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 3, 2021

Dapper Labs raised another $250M, putting their valuation at $7.6B. Zenput raised $27M in Series C led by Golub Capital to continue improving its application to automate operations procedures such as food safety tracking, public health standards, and changing market circumstances. and new investors too. Guesser was acquired by Gemini.

Portfolio 60

Portfolio Canada API Valuation 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

I’m not recommending that you saturate your discussions with lingo, but responding with a blank stare once-too-often won’t convince anyone that you can build the next world-changing business or outpace the market. This term is currently applied to recent startups who profess a current valuation which exceeds $1 billion.

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

Start Up Blog

MAY 28, 2020

If a firm seems ‘futuristic’ enough, the market can be incredibly irrational. Uber has lost $38 billion since 2013 and yet still has a market valuation of around $60 billion. The figures below represent the market capitalisation of the biggest car companies in the world, divided by how many cars they sell per year.

Valuation 48

Valuation Technical Review Singapore India 48

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Think about this; 7 years ago Nokia owned 50% of the handset market. Fast-forward to today—Apple is the most profitable Smartphone company in the world and in Spain Android commands a market share of more than 90%. Its worldwide market share of Smartphones has dwindled to 5%. Apple owned 0%. Think about this.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 24, 2017

We also know many of the entrepreneurs in their portfolio. This means FC avoids trends and relentlessly questions entrepreneurs about how their product enables specific use cases and market opportunities. Founder friendly” is an overused term, but there is a big difference between marketing this as a concept and living it every day.

Founder 75

Founder LP Technical Review Seed Stage 75

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 24, 2023

The focus at this level, primarily in companies that have a long history of success, usually in very stable markets, is to continue sustaining and exploiting existing advantages. I see this often in highly regulated markets, and ones driven by bureaucrats. Innovation seems risky and unattractive.

Silicon Valley 277

Silicon Valley Government Early Stage Valuation 277

Steve Blank

APRIL 26, 2022

At the turn of the century after the dotcom crash, startup valuations plummeted, burn rates were unsustainable, and startups were quickly running out of cash. A down round is when a company raises money at valuation that is lower than the company’s valuation in its prior financing round. They’re Back. Why do VCs Do This?

Cram Down 404

Cram Down Founder Venture Capital Recapitalization 404

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Will Quist did a great job of explaining this market rhetoric in this thread. The three-question framework goes as such: Q: How much tech-related market cap will be created in the next 10-20 years? So, on one hand, the market see ms like a total frenzy these days. However, I am not sure that is the case with VC.

Valuation 295

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 295

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

Hundreds of new micro funds somehow keep getting into the market. If every sector is to be transformed by technology, and if private markets keep growing, it makes today’s conditions understandable. More and more angels will be minted as the 2019 IPO class emerges. 5/ Early Effects Of The Softbank Effect.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165