View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2019

At the time, I spent most of my time describing the metrics themselves and how VCs and their LPs evaluate performance based on these measurements. If you aren’t familiar with these metrics, I recommend reading the original post to get a sense of the numbers that I’ll be reviewing here. So, is this good or bad?

LP 256

LP IRR Distribution Portfolio 256

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? There were no metrics. Him: On metrics. Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. If we priced it based on any metrics your company would likely be worth less than 7 figures at your A round.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

" Revenue doesn't pay your bills, GM does  —  @msuster 2/ Founders obsess with revenue as a vanity metric. But if you want to add some in the comments section on Medium and I’ll make sure to read them. Some even grow "bad" revenue just to show growth. Usually a terrible idea as runway extension.

Founder 242

Founder Dilution Software Review Later Stage 242

View from Seed

DECEMBER 11, 2019

But even at the Partner-level, the amount of transition in Venture Capital is much more than you perhaps would expect… especially in a business which should have a long term orientation with portfolio investment-hold periods and Partnerships lasting more than a decade. So why is there so much turnover in Venture Capital?

Venture Capital 204

Venture Capital Cap Table Partner LP 204

NZ Entrepreneur

MAY 31, 2021

Jason Graham from Movac provided an early-stage venture capital fund perspective, detailing 35 investments made across 5 funds and 22 years. Marcus Henderson and Hursh Shah provided the institutional venture capital perspective, with NZGCP’s Aspire NZ Seed Fund having invested in over 160 companies over 15 years.

Portfolio 81

Portfolio New Zealand Management Technical Review 81

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued? With the enormous changes to our economies and financial markets?—?how

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

6/ Venture Capital In Expansion Phase. Public investors, cross-over investors, and even traditional private equity firms have taken notice, further blurring the lines of what constitutes true venture capital. by a mile, continued to soar in volume and valuation. Coinbase, the largest crypto startup in the U.S.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

At NextView Ventures we have written many pieces about venture capital — how to raise it, build your business, engage with investors, iterate your product, navigate expanding industries, etc. What Are Your Valuation Expectations? I’ve Been in Venture Capital for Two Months. VCs sure do love writing.

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

This structure allows for alignment on the front end, and real-time flexibility for performance metrics,” says Samira Salman , a family office investor and advisor. . Flexible VCs have created structures based on other company performance metrics than revenues, such as profits or founder salaries. Flexible VC 102: Variations.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

The law firm has done its job of preparing the stock option requests, board meeting minutes, 409a valuations. Often board members themselves don’t do the work to say “what metrics would we like to see.” If you have some key metrics or financial figures that go with the pre-read even better. The meeting starts.

Stock Options 226

Stock Options Metrics Stock Valuation 226

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking. If you have one, please contact me.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Altgate

DECEMBER 15, 2010

@altgate Startups, Venture Capital & Everything In Between Skip to content Home Furqan Nazeeri (fn@altgate.com) ← No one wants to tell you your baby is ugly More on Liquidation Preferences → Pre-Money Valuation vs Number of Founders Posted on December 15, 2010 by admin Here’s a chart of the day worth sharing.

Pre-Money Valuation 66

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Cofounder Founder 66

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

As the venture capital business has come roaring back in the last 5 years, startups are awash in available capital. Instead of measuring success in dollars of profit, …firms focus on measuring capital efficiency. Look at the valuations of companies like Tesla, Illumina, and Twitter.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. The Yin and Yang of Product and Engineering - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 22, 2010 For a tech company, product and engineering are the heart and soul of the business.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

When you see startups like SpaceX and Pinterest grow from a low valuation to a billion dollars in just a few years, it’s easy to assume that if you just keep doing what you are doing, you can get there as well. Switch your focus from product development to sales. Increase communication, both internally and externally.

Merger 379

Merger Due Diligence SEC IPO 379

VC Cafe

JANUARY 14, 2022

Many of the companies that went public via SPACs saw their valuations dramatically reduce in the months that followed post IPO. Blackstone added Yifat Oron to lead the local office, and the team has already invested in Wiz, a cybersecurity startup that reached $6 billion valuation in two years.

Technical Review 158

Technical Review Lock-up Period South Korea 158

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

While 20th century metrics were revenue and profit, today it’s common for companies to get acquired for their user base. As long as the CEO’s behavior affects their employees not their customers or valuation, VCs often turn a blind eye. Filed under: Venture Capital.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. As the risks below get eliminated the higher the valuation investors are prepared to pay. So rounds tend to be “range bound&# where the top end of the valuation spectrum often being done in boom markets (i.e.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

You’ll certainly want to be clear about your unique differentiators, but VCs also want to see numbers and metrics, along with well-thought-out plans for how you’ll meet those metrics. Have a reasonable attitude about your early-stage valuation, and don’t get too hung up on it. Tailor your pitch deck.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

David Teten

AUGUST 7, 2019

Likely signs of a Value investment: the company has challenges in filling out the round; the investors have more negotiating leverage than the founders during the closing process; the company has significantly better metrics (e.g. than comparable companies in the same sector that raised at a higher valuation. Why, yes, they are.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Valuation Stock NDA 60

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

What most founders don’t realize is: Every stage of a startup requires a different set of metrics and milestones and founder skills. What is some of the critical metrics that matter? Note that each market – web/SAAS/physical products – and channel – online/direct sales – has different metrics and a different funnel steps.)For

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2011

Founders that learn are more successful : Startups that have helpful mentors, track metrics effectively, and learn from startup thought leaders raise 7x more money and have 3.5x However, this does not mean that investors don’t have a significant effect on valuations and M&A). Startup Genome Report. Some of their key findings : 1.

Technical Cofounder 333

Technical Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 333

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

Term-sheets and Valuations: Thinking about Negotiations.   I’ve sat down with entrepreneurs and a copy of a term sheet guide I like [ “Term Sheets & Valuations - A Line by Line Look at the Intricacies of Venture Capital Term Sheets & Valuations ” by Alex Wilmerding, Aspatore Press.]

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Warning – this assumes some basic knowledge of VC performance metrics. Or is there a major disconnect between a portfolio’s valuations and the actual dollars returned to LPs? Was this a lost decade for venture capital? Both early- and late-stage startup valuations are currently elevated. Ok, let’s jump in.

Valuation 319

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 319

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Warning – this assumes some basic knowledge of VC performance metrics. Or is there a major disconnect between a portfolio’s valuations and the actual dollars returned to LPs? Was this a lost decade for venture capital? Both early- and late-stage startup valuations are currently elevated. Ok, let’s jump in.

Valuation 295

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 295

Ben's Blog

MARCH 24, 2011

As we do so, keep in mind that the relevant bubble statistic is not valuation. High valuations are fine if the underlying value is there. Let’s look at public market comparables and venture capital flows to see if we can find a match. Venture capital flows. It’s the valuation:value ratio.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Database 78

VC Cafe

MAY 18, 2022

2) Valuation multiples are always a hack proxy. venture capital and private equity) the VC index (by Refinitiv) shows a nearly 40% decline. After the crazy year that was 2021 in venture capital, the tone has rapidly changed in May 2022. Tom Tunguz, Redpoint Capital. Re-evaluate your valuation.

Term Sheet 190

Term Sheet Startup Valuation Ukraine 190

Cracking the Code

JULY 6, 2007

Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. SaaS business metrics: why are they different? Different models require different performance metrics. The MRR is a great metrics, but it can be perfected. Cracking The Code. Friday, July 06, 2007.

Software Review 66

Software Review Metrics Valuation Technical Review 66

The Equity Kicker

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Fortieth in a series of weekly posts by myself and Nicholas Lovell of Gamesbrief which answer the fifty questions you should ask before raising venture capital. With earlier stage companies investors generally don’t have the luxury of being able to rely on hard metrics and instead have to rely on gut feel – i.e. ‘direct’ evaluation.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Product Venture Capital Valuation 123

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Over the same 30 years, Venture Capital firms have honed their skills and strategies to match Wall Streets needs to achieve liquidity for their portfolio companies. One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. What Do VC’s Do?

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Low supply of companies with traction drove the valuations and deal sizes up. The risk here is what I refer to as the curse of over-capitalization. The Venture Capital industry as a whole does a terrible job of giving things the right name and so we end up keeping the same name, but changing the meaning out from under it.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 23, 2011

Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. Venture Capital. (3). SaaS business metrics: why are they different? Explore Venture Capital.

Software Review 101

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Europe 101

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 13, 2014

The Essential Email Marketing Metrics You Should Be Tracking | Hubspot blog – crowdspring.co/1gY786G. Guerilla tips for raising venture capital | VentureBeat – crowdspring.co/P6hM3O. Does A Billion-Dollar Valuation Buy Employee Happiness? ReadWrite – crowdspring.co/1ekm5xR. 1gY63vJ.

Social Media 96

Social Media Small Business Design Media 96

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 5, 2019

Are you fresh out of Y Combinator with $1 million in funding at a $10 million valuation? But flattering media attention too easily shifts focus away from the metrics that matter. Call me old school, but I believe in metrics like growth, revenue, and profit. All other metrics are irrelevant. You must be the man (or woman)!

Valuation 162

Valuation Cofounder Metrics SEC 162

Cracking the Code

JANUARY 16, 2012

Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. Venture Capital. (3). SaaS business metrics: why are they different? Explore Venture Capital. S&M productivity (CAC ratio) for the SaaS 13 Index. My Investments. CornerstoneOnDemand. anecdotes. (13). internet. (6).

Software Review 95

Software Review Europe Technical Review Spain 95

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Warning – this assumes some basic knowledge of VC performance metrics. Or is there a major disconnect between a portfolio’s valuations and the actual dollars returned to LPs? Was this a lost decade for venture capital? Both early- and late-stage startup valuations are currently elevated. Ok, let’s jump in.

Valuation 156

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 156

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 19, 2015

If you’re even remotely connected to the “industry” of Venture Capital, you need to read Howard Marks’ It’s Not Easy memo. I like to think of it as looking at the derivative (in a mathematical sense, not a financial sense) is often more revealing than looking at the raw change in a metric.

Venture Capital 48

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Portfolio 48