View from Seed

MARCH 8, 2016

Jesse recently sat down with NextView (I assume he was sitting anyway — we spoke on the phone) to talk seed-stage company branding, building a startup identity, and some of the most common mistakes founders make when establishing a name for their companies. Whether we like to admit it or not, the best product does not always win.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Conversion Startup PR 120

View from Seed

OCTOBER 5, 2016

Whether an entrepreneur is raising a smaller (pre-)seed round entirely from individuals or she has a seed-stage or larger VC firm involved in (leading) the seed syndicate, it’s somewhere between necessary and optimal to have multiple individual angel investors involved. First and foremost, angels can provide capital.

Angel Investor 332

Angel Investor Boston Seed Stage Syndicate 332

ReadWriteStart

MAY 22, 2023

The Challenge of Talent and Funding FOV Ventures, the first venture capital firm in Europe to invest exclusively in early-stage Metaverse companies, has announced €25 million in funding for early-stage or seed-stage startups. Talent retention is one of the biggest challenges facing Europe’s Metaverse industry.

Finland 187

Finland Europe Estonia Silicon Valley 187

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

And seed VCs, especially as new firms were being established, were eager to encourage their portfolio startups to plant that flag in the ground publicly. It seemed like every other TechCrunch post was announcing a startups’s new seed financing round. Seed stage companies just aren’t announcing their rounds anymore.

Seed Stage 201

Seed Stage Stealth Seed Capital Later Stage 201

SiliconHills

OCTOBER 22, 2021

Gradient Works, a sales tech startup based in Austin, announced this week it has raised $2 million in seed-stage funding. The company is founded by Hayes Davis and Jenn Deering Davis, previously founders of Union Metrics, a social media analytics company that merged with TrendKite in 2018.

Seed Stage 130

Seed Stage Social Media Austin Analytics 130

Mucker Lab

JULY 11, 2023

Understanding the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) A good way to think about search is essentially as roadmaps drawn by targeted keywords, which branches outward to create intersections that become digital real estate - websites, media, ads, and more.

SEO 78

SEO Technical Review HTML Software Review 78

View from Seed

MARCH 22, 2016

This is for the early-stage companies — the entrepreneurs with great ideas and tireless work ethics who feel like they’ve emailed half of the country’s news outlets with nothing but the rare “thanks, but not interested” reply to show for it. The irony hurts. Every publication is different, so there’s no single blueprint.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage San Francisco Startup CTO Hire 120

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

Los Angeles, at least metaphorically, became more of a media/entertainment town. My partner Erik Rannala has had a similar experience, having worked as a VC at Harrison Metal before moving down to LA to co-found our seed stage venture firm. Likewise for Oculus, pioneering next-generation technologies like virtual reality.

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 12, 2016

smacks head] Since then, I've found success investing in two jewelry companies (chloe + isabel and Ringly), a fashion media company (Refinery29), a kids apps studio (Tinybop), a kids class company (Tinkergarten), a kids art ecommerce place (Plum Print), and a whole bunch of other companies where I have no special knowledge of the industry at all.

Software Review 60

Software Review Due Diligence Seed Stage Marketing 60

Genuine VC

MARCH 14, 2012

We at NextView have been thinking about and looking for investments in seed-stage startups which leverage the megatrend of transitioning computing away from a standard fixed-web PC world. Of course that includes “mobile-first” applications and companies which ride the adoption of tablet devices (more on those in upcoming posts).

Search 211

Search Boston Seed Stage Seattle 211

K9 Ventures

APRIL 28, 2010

– a seed-stage fund. is a $6.25M fund that is designed to do concept and seed-stage investments in technology companies. No advertising, content or media businesses which may have a three-way business model, but rather companies which deliver direct value to paying customers. K9 Ventures, L.P.

Seed Stage 61

Seed Stage San Francisco IP Portfolio 61

Austin Startup

MAY 11, 2017

A New Kind of Venture Firm AutoChrome Autochrome is an inception and seed stage venture capital fund. We invest at the earliest stages in transformative companies that are leveraging technology to move our species forward. Bryant Stibel - Value Growth Cowboy Ventures Cowboy Ventures helps seed-stage technology companies grow.

Private Equity 48

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage 48

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

For example, assume you are a seed-stage company that needs $500,000 but you go out looking for $1 million. But also check out the websites, blogs, and social media posts of multiple VCs to learn what types of companies they invest in, what stage of growth they prefer to invest in, past successes, failures, approaches, and strategies.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence 100

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

And even other strong, but perhaps not standout, companies like Active Network and Demand Media completed their own offerings. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010. For a time that meant that other category leaders accelerated their own IPO plans… think Groupon and Zynga.

IPO 100

IPO Marketing Silicon Valley Technical Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

He talked about how we were going through a period of time in which people were measuring “likes” and “followers” but not the real value of social media conversion by tracking what actually converts into business and that few people understood the catalyst of what drove a successful campaign in the first place.

Technical Review 303

Technical Review Cofounder Analytics Founder 303

Agile VC

MARCH 18, 2012

Why Twitter is A Media Company. CEO Dick Costolo famously said that Twitter is not a media company about six weeks ago at the AllThingsD conference. To be fair, Costolo said that Twitter isn’t a media company but is “in the media business” To some that may be a distinction without a difference.

Media 113

Media Advertising Silicon Valley Revenue 113

Agile VC

OCTOBER 27, 2011

But as social media continues to pervade businesses large and small, and purchase decisions increasingly happen at the user level (see #2) we will see dramatically more customer acquisition happen via the web. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010. Pingback: silver philharmonic.

Software 100

Software B2B Silicon Valley Acquisition 100

David Teten

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

10 Insights That Helped Me Level Up as a Seed Stage VC — Part 1 and Part 2. Lastly, I suggest use Feedly to follow the newsletters/media which cover our sector. VCs eating their own dog food: Using technology and analytics to make better investments in private companies. I’m leaving VC; this is what I didn’t expect to learn.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Seed Stage 78

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

And it was these conversations that I believe led to the team’s decision to add their own stubborn presence to stand up for seed-stage startups in NYC … me. Here’s a long story short: We believe firmly that entrepreneurship and startups in New York are alive and well, and we’re here to support them as local seed investors.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage New York New York City Startup 120

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2010

This was before the great recession, but in the middle of the explosion of web apps and social media. He cites Seed Deals Account for 26% of Early-stage Web Investments in which Giga Om points out the rise of a relatively new class of angel investors, which they call super angels. About three years ago I attended a Web 2.0

Disintermediation 66

Disintermediation Venture Capital Angel Investor Seed Stage 66

Genuine VC

MARCH 14, 2012

We at NextView have been thinking about and looking for investments in seed-stage startups which leverage the megatrend of transitioning computing away from a standard fixed-web PC world. Of course that includes “mobile-first” applications and companies which ride the adoption of tablet devices (more on those in upcoming posts).

Search 100

Search Boston Seed Stage Technical Review 100

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

New media platforms are enabling a new creator type: Digitally Native Vertical Creators , Eric Feng. The number of enabling platforms for creators has grown to all media types including music, social, gaming, education, publishing, adult video and so on. ” Eric Feng. Unbundling Work from Employment , Li Jin. Source: Graphtreon.

Aggregator 207

Aggregator Vertical Audience Seed Stage 207

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 9, 2023

Building links from trustworthy media outlets is not an easy task. A platform connecting journalists with industry experts, HARO enables businesses to gain media coverage and foster authoritative links. Not only does this enhance your credibility but can also result in backlinks from reputable media outlets.

SEO 78

SEO PR Reputation Engineer 78

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

This is especially true for those with a media / ad based business model (e.g. You will be benchmarked on revenue and paying customers when you seek Series A funding… conceivably even at seed stage. Some potential customers won’t take your product seriously unless you’re charging for it.

Revenue 234

Revenue Product B2B Marketing 234

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

The current portfolio ranges from 60 Ghz chip sets (Nitero) to enterprise 2.0 ( InXero ) to family media ( Famigo ) companies. The Assistant Director will also help host the Texas Wireless Summit , the Wireless Seed Stage Forum and the Entrepreneur Lounge at SXSW (this alone is worth it).

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Intellectual Property Incubator Due Diligence 70

Haystack

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

With over 150 customers now, they range from financial institutions such as VC and PE firms, consumer product companies, and media organizations. On the other hand, solid businesses like SecondMeasure which have found product-market fit within the seed stage have more leverage on when to take financing and from what firm.

Seed Stage 106

Seed Stage Retention Finance Conversion 106

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

In case you’re keeping score at home — that’s approximately the size of 65 US seed-stage funds managed by one company. Those two investments represent the equivalent of another 32 US seed-stage funds just in two deals. WeWork raised $690 million from Chinese investors, NextVR $80 million and Meta AR $50 million.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Saudi Arabia Burn Rate China 150

Rob Go

NOVEMBER 12, 2012

We are pretty explicit that we are a dedicated seed stage fund focused on internet-enabled businesses. Finally, I’m also pretty responsive on social media when folks engage with us. Social media can be an effective way to build some rapport with someone before even having met them.

Social Media 67

Social Media Portfolio Seed Stage Email 67

View from Seed

JULY 22, 2015

Andy Crestodina, Author & Co-founder, Orbit Media – @Crestodina. To get all episodes of Traction as soon as they’re live, plus exclusive resources and advice for seed-stage startups, subscribe to the View From Seed or follow @NextViewVC.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Cofounder Viral Audience 120

View from Seed

JANUARY 8, 2015

So the question needs to be asked: Should seed-stage startups even blog in the first place? My definition is as follows: Content marketing is just solving the same problems that your product solves through media you create and promote. That requires a ton of content, which most seed-stage startups struggle to deliver.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Startup Audience Leadership 120

Genuine VC

JANUARY 22, 2014

Formulate and conduct NextView’s media relations strategy, both with traditional media journalists and online influencers (creating, executing, and measuring). Execute effective social media strategy and broader targeted outreach (including writing and managing multiple social media presences).

Community 113

Community Seed Stage Boston Venture Capital 113

Austin Startup

JULY 29, 2018

It doesn’t make any sense to pitch a later stage, “growth” investor with your seed stage idea just like it doesn’t make much sense to pitch a new tech startup to an investor who only does oil & gas. Some will invest in a great person with a big idea and others need to see customer traction and revenue first.

Angel Investor 59

Angel Investor Technical Review Los Angeles Seed Stage 59

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Seed-stage compatible: Like traditional equity VC investors, Flexible VCs accomodate early-stage investment risk within their portfolios better than a traditional RBI funder. Tim O’Reilly, CEO, O’Reilly Media, argues , “Blitzscaling isn’t really a recipe for success but rather survivorship bias masquerading as a strategy.”

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 10, 2017

One of the people I respect the most in the VC/PE media ecosystem is Dan Primack. Earlier this week, Dan said something in passing which took me by surprise: “In a related note, I wasn’t really aware that pre-seed was a thing.” In contrast, you *don’t* need much to qualify as a Pre-Seed stage company.

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

Genuine VC

MARCH 4, 2013

Using real-time image engagement analytics, the company identifies and amplifies brands’ images through initiating paid media and catalyzing earned media. With all of our seed stage investments here at NextView, we both look at the market opportunity as well as the team behind the startup.

Seed Stage 124

Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication Cofounder 124

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

Startups here are primarily in what they call the TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) segment. About 1/3 of all China’s Venture Capital investment is made in Beijing and the majority of those investments are in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) sector I’ll describe shortly. Closed for You, Open For Us.

Silicon Valley 267

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 267

K9 Ventures

JULY 19, 2012

which was a $6.25M fund designed to be deployed over 3-4 years, making initial investments between $100K – $250K in concept and seed stage technology companies located in the San Francisco Bay Area. No three-way business models and no content, media, advertising-based companies.

Technology 132

Technology Seed Stage San Francisco Limited Partner 132