Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2012

One VC (I won’t name but with whom I still won’t work today) called Marc Benioff directly. The only real benefit of their having this information is in preparation for a term sheet. ” Heading into a Term Sheet – Final Due Diligence. They somehow figured I wouldn’t find out. What did he do?

Technical Review 316

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Cap Table 316

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. We will continue to do more of this.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

You race back to the office to tell everybody how well it went and you wait for the follow-up call to have a partners’ meeting or talk about term sheets or at least dip into due diligence. The assistant tried to end the meeting twice but was shoooshed away. What do I do now?

Software Review 381

Software Review Churn Rate Due Diligence New York 381

Berkonomics

MAY 15, 2014

A good example was during the negotiation of a term sheet. These usually involve a handful of angel investors, and a few entrepreneurs, who all want to build the very best term sheet for their exciting nascent enterprise. Basil Peters is perhaps the best known name in the world of early stage company exits.

Term Sheet 91

Term Sheet Angel Groups Angel Investor Deal Structure 91

VC Cafe

JANUARY 30, 2023

SAFE note), shareholder agreements, company formation and governance documents (e.g. articles of incorporation, bylaws, shareholder agreements), employment contracts, patents and trademarks, contracts with providers, SEC filings, licenses Business documents – client contracts, pipeline (can be redacted: i.e

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Due Diligence Cap Table Startup 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2017

Deposit required to hold your terms. In this scam, you are offered a very attractive term sheet due to close in 90 days or so, with a deposit required to hold your position while due diligence is being conducted. The SEC and local law enforcement agencies can’t help you much with foreign scams. Delete the message.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Non-disclosure Agreement Due Diligence Entrepreneur 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

Deposit required to hold your terms. In this scam, you are offered a very attractive term sheet due to close in 90 days or so, with a deposit required to hold your position while due diligence is being conducted. The SEC and local law enforcement agencies can’t help you much with foreign scams. Delete the message.

Technical Review 202

Technical Review Non-disclosure Agreement Due Diligence Entrepreneur 202

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2023

The name “investment bank” somehow always sounded like a place where I could deposit my investments, and maybe even earn a little interest. For these fees, they will develop a business plan, solicit investors, and negotiate term sheets to a closing. None normally work for or provide funds for early-stage startups.

Early Stage 182

Early Stage Silicon Valley Private Equity Initial Public Offering 182

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2020

The name “investment bank” somehow always sounded like a place where I could deposit my investments, and maybe even earn a little interest. For these fees, they will develop a business plan, solicit investors, and negotiate term sheets to a closing. None normally work for or provide funds for early-stage startups.

Silicon Valley 362

Silicon Valley Private Equity Initial Public Offering Term Sheet 362

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

As Mark Suster pointed out yesterday on his blog , he's seeing more and more cases where "entrepreneurs are working hard to make sure they have as many VC names and famous angels on their cap table for signaling value." Tip 4: Really Understand Key Terms. Once you get the term sheet make sure you know how to read it.

Cap Table 125

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 125

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

My blog linked to Brad Feld’s blog because I was so grateful for his series on term sheets and he was one of the biggest reasons that as a VC I felt compelled to blog. It became a huge kerfuffle with many VC partners writing to thank me for the post, which exposed those that gave their industry a bad name.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2009

Ability to Pivot – I don’t like to invest in people that I’ve never met before who come through my office wanting to have a term sheet within 30 days. Yes, there is the mythical company you all heard about that walked into Sequoia and had a term sheet 24 hours later. I’m sure that happens.

Entrepreneur 291

Entrepreneur Term Sheet Early Stage Affiliate 291

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2010

I was raising money for my second company and having been burned by term sheets on my first company I was eager to get myself knowledgeable before signing up to take VC again. I started reading Brad’s “term sheet&# series. Brad Feld : I first learned of Brad Feld like many of you – through his blog.

Social Network 347

Social Network Networking Southern California Term Sheet 347

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Consumers responded to name and concept well, solves real problem, o Took 4 months to build initial prototype. He met with 8 companies and got 6 term sheets, decided to take General Atlantic deal and that’s when Experian came back to buy the whole thing. He typed lowermybills.com was not registered and available so he bought it.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

Investors typically negotiate from a term sheet, which if not handled properly can create problems that can hurt or kill the startup’s chances when they do their Series A round of funding. If a domain name is critical to a brand and the domain is not empty, the best course may be to find a new name.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

Encyclopedic knowledge of term sheets and startup buzzwords can be quickly learned, trained, and packaged. Go to any of the LinkedIn profiles of entrepreneurs in Bay Area and you see names like Google, eBay, Apple, Yahoo, PayPal, and Facebook littered throughout. Stamps of Approval” and “Opportunity”.

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If an investor isn’t engaging then they’re not suddenly going to get a term sheet. If we feel a mutual connection then my goal is to make your life easier by offering you a term sheet before you’re even raising and I’ll spend the time and effort trying to prove that it isn’t worth running a process.

Term Sheet 332

Term Sheet Due Diligence Campaign Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

During the final pre-term sheet due diligence we discovered that the CEO had had a felony arrest for a significant crime that he hadn’t disclosed to us. I’ve heard this about similar technology executives of some of the biggest names out there in history. I also know him to not be a very happy man.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Due Diligence Entrepreneur Early Stage 284

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 21, 2023

There’s a term sheet. And then, even when they have, they still remain “interested” should Sequoia decide to throw down a term sheet.) was a term sheet. If they don’t like it, they can give you a better term sheet.” Now that we’ve established that, let’s talk about founder blind spots.

Cap Table 78

Cap Table Term Sheet Database Option Pool 78

Austin Startup

JULY 22, 2017

I’ve named the Walker Rule after Madam C. The Rooney Rule requires every NFL team to interview at least one minority candidate for head coach vacancies. In the years following its implementation, the number of minorities hired to fill head-coach roles doubled. Walker (1867–1919) who was America’s first female self-made millionaire.

Austin 54

Austin Angel Investor Startup Term Sheet 54

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

In 2017 we began inserting an “Inclusion Clause” into our term sheets because we believe that the culture one establishes at the earliest stages of one’s business will set out the course of how it will grow and develop. We believe that diverse teams produce diversity of thought and that this leads to better decisions and outcomes.

Term Sheet 284

Term Sheet Los Angeles Open Source Portfolio 284

Feld Thoughts

JULY 15, 2015

.” In my comment thread, and in Joanne’s, a number of folks asked us to call out the various players (especially the investors and the company) by name. Same response – I’m not interested in calling people out by name. As a result, there are many cases like this where there is no value in naming names.

Naming 70

Naming Term Sheet Matching Security 70

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

In fact, choosing the right partner to champion your deal can have a huge impact on whether or not you get a term sheet in the first place. If you have a NINA (no influence, no authority) or somebody timid or who cares too much about CYA then your deal may not overcome objections raised. ” Some firms are collegiate.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Detroit Early Stage Partner 150

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

While that post resulted in term sheets for Dennis and Naveen from VCs, the original intention was actually to get Yelp to invest in the company. I figured if I threw Yelp's name in there, maybe they'd check it out, and they'd agree to stick $200k in the company to let them keep going, maybe hire someone.

Term Sheet 108

Term Sheet API Search Technical Review 108

Altgate

AUGUST 20, 2010

-King&# Approach to Term Sheet Negotiations Posted on August 20, 2010 by fnazeeri I feel like I’m in that scene from The Jerk where Steve Martin sees his name in the phone book and exclaims, “I’m somebody!&# I’m published (sorta)! Bookmark the permalink. ← Why Don’t Universities Teach Sales?

Term Sheet 39

Term Sheet Venture Capital Angel Financing Framework 39

OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 31, 2013

A distant third price is the VC who gives you two names and ask for time to prep them ahead of time. And this is true of any negotiation, not just a term sheet. But they’ll all tell you what I’m like to work with.” First prize is the VC who volunteers this information. Second prize is the VC who gives it to you when you ask.

Valuation 133

Valuation Term Sheet B2C Security 133

www.readwriteweb.com

DECEMBER 29, 2011

As Mark Suster pointed out yesterday on his blog , he's seeing more and more cases where "entrepreneurs are working hard to make sure they have as many VC names and famous angels on their cap table for signaling value." Tip 4: Really Understand Key Terms. Once you get the term sheet make sure you know how to read it.

Cap Table 47

Cap Table Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Technical Review 47

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 5, 2014

At this point we’re doing reference checks and providing names of other founders to the entrepreneurs so they can diligence us (in reality we’ve likely all been asking about each other along the way too). Stage 3 : Let’s make a deal!

Software Review 103

Software Review Balance Sheet Cofounder Technical Review 103

finance.fortune.cnn.com

AUGUST 21, 2012

Term Sheet. Term Sheet The latest on private equity, M&A, deals and movements — from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Exclusive: Returns for brand-name VC funds By Dan Primack August 20, 2012: 12:15 PM ET. Term Sheet. Fear & Greed. Mutual Funds. Beyond the dotcom-era benchmarks.

Naming 49

Naming Term Sheet Private Equity Equity 49

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

Brad wrote up his answer here – you should read it because it’s very instructive for how I believe communities ought to think about naming conventions. ” Many people on the Westside of Los Angeles are using the term Silicon Beach these days to describe the amazing renaissance that is truly happening here.

Community 304

Community Los Angeles Startup Silicon Valley 304

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet (by WSGR – disclaimer, I represent the Founders Institute and was involved in drafting this document). This post assumes that you have a basic understanding of Series A financing terms. Y Combinator Series AA Equity Financing Documents (by WSGR). Dividend preference.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

By far the hardest step in all this is getting a term sheet. Once you have a term sheet in hand, and assuming good faith, everything else will follow. The best way to get a term sheet is to concentrate your efforts on an investor who has the ability, history and interest in leading rounds.

Term Sheet 101

Term Sheet Angel Groups Finance Naming 101

David Cohen

MARCH 18, 2019

If they want to invest, they’re going to want to lead and will throw out a term sheet. Perhaps one of them has a big name or other advantage, which will lend credibility. Let them know they’re wanted. You never have to ask them to be your “lead investor.” ” That’s what they do.

Lead Investor 129

Lead Investor Term Sheet Seed Stage Venture Capital 129

www.seriesseed.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Series Seed Term Sheet (v 2.0). Series Seed Term Sheet. Ted - I think if you simply remove the spaces in the file names, that should solve the download problems, e.g. the term sheet doc should be renamed to "SeriesSeedTermSheet.doc" Same with the others. :). Great effort!

Finance 40

Finance Term Sheet Vesting LLC 40

Up and Running

MAY 18, 2016

By the end of this book, you’ll know how to read a term sheet, how venture capital deals are structured, and how to get a fair deal. You’ll learn about finding funding, choosing the right ideas, and overcoming inevitable obstacles, just to name a few of the topics covered. Basic Berkonomics. Edited by Dave Berkus.

Startup 80

Startup Venture Capital Angel Investor Lean 80

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

The name “investment bank” somehow always sounded like a place where I could deposit my investments, and maybe even earn a little interest. For these fees, they will develop a business plan, solicit investors, and negotiate term sheets to a closing. None normally work for or provide funds for early-stage startups.

IPO 205

IPO Silicon Valley Private Equity Initial Public Offering 205

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 6, 2010

As many of you know, the issue is not only the term sheet, but also the underlying documents supporting the deal. So, while a simple term sheet might be able to be agreed on, I realized that getting the actual docs agreed on would be a miserable, and likely impossible, thing to try to deal with.

Term Sheet 118

Term Sheet LP Finance Email 118