Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Windows Mobile has been a disappointment to date but Azure (an outgrowth of the.NET framework) is growing as a force on the cloud/server side. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. The Difference Between Apple & Facebook. June 5, 2012.

Java 170

Java Flash Software Azure 170

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Salesforce.com is a startup with 76,000 subscribers (over 2.1M I also joke with Reid Hoffman that this was back in the days before he was “Reid” Reid’s an incredible entrepreneur, startup investor, and human being. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. May 26, 2011.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Mobile Usage: 8% of 2010 query volume (mobile app download growth of 344% YoY). How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC Syndicate 10 July 2012, 5:13 pm What A VC Orders for Breakfast Says 27 June 2012, 10:16 am To Leave or Not to Leave as Your Startup Grows 12 June 2012, 12:21 pm.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Agile VC

OCTOBER 27, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. But in the next 5 years the web and mobile app stores will increasingly be a force in selling and customer acquisition for busines software. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. The Consumerization of Business Software. October 28, 2011.

Software 100

Software B2B Silicon Valley Acquisition 100

Agile VC

AUGUST 22, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Odds Are, Your Startup Probably Isn’t a Platform. I have the great privilege of meeting lots of entrepreneurs every day and hearing about the startups they’re building. But the reality is that most software-based startups aren’t really platforms.

Silicon Valley 113

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Startup Syndicate 113

Agile VC

JANUARY 4, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Coordinates Recent Posts The Rise & Fall of Great Venture Firms [Part 1] 11 July 2012, 1:57 pm Our Investment in Cloze 25 June 2012, 5:36 pm Mobile Payments: The Trillion Dollar Industry That’s Never Happened 12 June 2012, 4:19 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. January 4, 2012.

Community 100

Community Estonia Syndicate Syndication 100

Agile VC

JANUARY 22, 2014

We’ve met with many startups working in this area over the last 2-3 years. 3) Mobile Is First Major Platform Shift for Self Learning/Improvement – Most of the consumer-facing companies we’ve been investing in are “mobile first” and we’ve been talking about ubiquitous computing for several years.

Term Sheet 173

Term Sheet Cofounder Mobile Cloud 173

Agile VC

OCTOBER 1, 2013

I believe we’re going to look back in 2-5 years and realize that we’ve been in a once a decade boom for internet & software startups. Facebook will do $7-8B in revenue this year, essentially none was from mobile ads last year and now >40% of their ad revenue is from mobile ads.

IPO 147

IPO Cloud Valuation Mobile 147

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

Most consumer web/mobile companies focus on user growth and usage early in the company’s lifecycle before shifting to monetization. But B2B startups need to take a different tack. Arguably revenue is the best signal of product-market fit for B2B startups.

Revenue 234

Revenue Product B2B Marketing 234

Agile VC

JUNE 12, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Mobile Payments: The Trillion Dollar Industry That’s Never Happened. Mobile payments are the trillion dollar industry that everybody’s been waiting for but has never materialized. Thus far mobile payments have failed to create or be coupled to a new store of value.

Mobile 250

Mobile Disintermediation SMS Government 250

Agile VC

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

As many of you know, in the past I’ve done a series of posts deconstructing the S-1s of VC-backed internet startups going public. A few years ago this was sort of a novelty… not that many startups were going public and not that many bloggers or mainstream journalists took the time or had familiarity with combing these SEC filings.

IPO 194

IPO Aggregator B2B Internet 194

Agile VC

JUNE 30, 2016

As an investor, I am also bullish about the innovation wave already in its early innings around mobility and autonomy. But a realistic understanding of the potential timeline for autonomous vehicle adoption is vital to decision making as a startup entrepreneur or investor in this area. . ==. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Virginia 100

Virginia Acquisition California Global 100

Agile VC

MARCH 13, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. I have some limited experience in dealing with patents though, both from my time as a VC and also back in my own startup days. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. vs Facebook: Lame Lawsuit, Good Timing. March 13, 2012. Yesterday Yahoo!

IP 100

IP IPO Social Network Silicon Valley 100

Agile VC

MAY 21, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. And it’s not just because there will be more transactions and more competition for exciting startups. I think that’s about right, 2-3 dozen exits a year for VC backed startups in the $100M+ range. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future.

Acquisition 162

Acquisition Silicon Valley B2B Seed Stage 162

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. I recently wrote a post noting that while the growth cycle of startups has clearly accelerated in the last 5 years, the number of truly monster new businesses (a company ultimately worth $75-100B) remains about the same … it’s a once in a decade sort of thing. February 2, 2012.

IPO 100

IPO South Korea Venezuela Revenue 100

Agile VC

JANUARY 27, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Something has clearly changed within the last 5-6 years in terms of the speed with which monster startups are created in the software and internet space. Multi-billion dollar valuations for late stage startups like Dropbox, et al. Are Google-Scale Outcomes More Frequent?

Hockey Stick 113

Hockey Stick Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate 113

Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Coordinates Recent Posts The Rise & Fall of Great Venture Firms [Part 1] 11 July 2012, 1:57 pm Our Investment in Cloze 25 June 2012, 5:36 pm Mobile Payments: The Trillion Dollar Industry That’s Never Happened 12 June 2012, 4:19 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. June 5, 2011.

North America 100

North America Chicago Boston Silicon Valley 100

Agile VC

APRIL 27, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Apple’s not a startup but thanks in large part to the spirit Steve Jobs infused in the company, they do an incredible job of imagining a product from scratch as it should be. On the startup side, Square’s done a particularly good job of this in payments. April 27, 2012.

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 124

Agile VC

JANUARY 18, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Being a startup founder isn’t for everyone ultimately, in fact it probably isn’t for most people. 2) The Pyramid Scheme of Startup Equity - Just like multi-level marketing schemes, in startups it pays to get in on the ground floor. How To Think About The Future.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Cofounder Silicon Valley Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

Big tech has long had a history of phoenixes rising from the ashes… think near death of Apple which in the long run came to dominate mobile computing, or IBM which went from a dying “Big Blue” to todays “THINK” which dominates tech services and much server-side computing.

Cloud 113

Cloud Azure Phoenix Non-Compete 113

Agile VC

JUNE 24, 2013

Today you can buy an Audi or a Dodge Ram pickup with a wifi hotspot (connected via mobile broadband) and you’ll see similar capabilities from other manufacturers in the next 1-2 years. My thoughts here are still at the 60,000ft, macro-economic level and not at the micro startup opportunity level but here are a few.

Internet 153

Internet Caching Aggregator Audio 153

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. I wanted to touch on ‘golazo’ as it’s my fault we use this strange verbiage, but also a critical element we look for in all the startups we invest in. These are the same qualities we’re looking for in terms of ambition and potential scale of the startups we invest in.

South Korea 124

South Korea Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate 124

Agile VC

JULY 15, 2015

But the Mosiac browser wasn’t released until ’93 and opened the door to the world wide web, which of course has evolved from the desktop internet to the mobile internet to a soon to be pervasive internet. So the answer to “Do you guys invest in hardware startups?” ” is indeed yes.

Internet 100

Internet Stealth Cofounder Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

JULY 15, 2015

But the Mosiac browser wasn’t released until ’93 and opened the door to the world wide web, which of course has evolved from the desktop internet to the mobile internet to a soon to be pervasive internet. So the answer to “Do you guys invest in hardware startups?” ” is indeed yes.

Internet 100

Internet Stealth Cofounder Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

AUGUST 2, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Coordinates Recent Posts The Rise & Fall of Great Venture Firms [Part 1] 11 July 2012, 1:57 pm Our Investment in Cloze 25 June 2012, 5:36 pm Mobile Payments: The Trillion Dollar Industry That’s Never Happened 12 June 2012, 4:19 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. August 2, 2011.

Silicon Valley 113

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 113

Agile VC

JANUARY 12, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Good investors try to be clear in terms of what they look for in terms of progress and milestones of the startups they invest in. As I’ve stated before, I’m a big believer in being deliberate and explicit in startup fundraising. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 100

Agile VC

DECEMBER 5, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. There’re lots of reasons why we’re pleased to be involved, from the market opportunity and product and beyond, but of course team is central for all startup investments. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. December 5, 2011.

Silicon Valley 100

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 100

Agile VC

OCTOBER 17, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. non startup/VC types) folks decorate their laptop with stickers, personalize their smartphones with covers/wallpaper/ringtones, and generally consider one or more computing devices a highly personal item that’s a ubiquitous part of their life. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

Silicon Valley 133

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 133

Agile VC

MAY 23, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. within the extent of my professional lifetime) there’s a great opportunity for newly formed startups to disrupt vast swathes of the economy with internet-enabled innovation. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. The End of “Internet” Companies.

Internet 182

Internet Silicon Valley IPO Seed Stage 182

Agile VC

MAY 16, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Thematic investing is where VCs research a macro trend or specific market, form a thesis around why this trend/market will serve as a good basis for building great startups, and then pursue as many exceptional investments in this theme as appropriate for the VC’s strategy. May 16, 2012.

Seed Stage 124

Seed Stage Silicon Valley B2B Syndicate 124

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. We’re thrilled to have among our limited partners a select group of individuals from the startup ecosystem as well as several large institutional investors (including a university endowment, a corporate pension fund, and a multi-family office). How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

LP 100

LP Seed Stage Silicon Valley Limited Partner 100

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Startups in NextView’s portfolio frequently receive inbound interest from other VC investors who are intrigued about what they’re doing, and I often talk with other early-stage entrepreneurs how to approach similar situations. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley 100

Agile VC

JANUARY 13, 2016

Looking back at 2015, the standout theme in the VC/startup ecosystem was unicorn hunting. People started thinking of startup unicorns like this: Illustration for WSJ: Chris Silas Neal. The answer seems much simpler to me… the VC & startup ecosystem was seduced by growth above all else, but terminal scale still matters.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review .Net Revenue Software Review 157

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Coordinates Recent Posts The Rise & Fall of Great Venture Firms [Part 1] 11 July 2012, 1:57 pm Our Investment in Cloze 25 June 2012, 5:36 pm Mobile Payments: The Trillion Dollar Industry That’s Never Happened 12 June 2012, 4:19 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. September 27, 2011.

Silicon Valley 100

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 100

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Coordinates Recent Posts The Rise & Fall of Great Venture Firms [Part 1] 11 July 2012, 1:57 pm Our Investment in Cloze 25 June 2012, 5:36 pm Mobile Payments: The Trillion Dollar Industry That’s Never Happened 12 June 2012, 4:19 pm. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. September 19, 2011.

Silicon Valley 100

Silicon Valley Private Equity Seed Stage Syndicate 100

Agile VC

MARCH 8, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. I remember when it was a rare, extraordinary thing for a software/internet startup to even file an S-1. What’s the impact for early-stage startups? How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. Tech IPOs Are Back – So Now What? March 8, 2012.

IPO 100

IPO Silicon Valley Revenue Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

APRIL 13, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Urbanization of Startups. I spent some time with some startups in San Francisco proper, as opposed to the heart of Silicon Valley (see Note 1). Also all the big anchor companies that a startup might want to partner with at that time (eBay, Google, Oracle, Yahoo!, April 13, 2012.

Silicon Valley 185

Silicon Valley San Francisco San Jose Startup 185