Genuine VC

APRIL 29, 2013

The goal of any VC fundraising process is in reality a bit more nuanced, as there are two key events an entrepreneur should be working towards: Partnership Conviction – having not just the sponsoring partner at a VC firm, but the entirety of the firm’s partnership, on board with the investment.

Term Sheet 150

Term Sheet Valuation Partner Conversion 150

Genuine VC

MAY 29, 2014

Many in the blogosphere including my partner Rob have drawn the distinction between large VCs making low-velocity high-conviction investments and large VCs writing machine-gun velocity option bets. Follow the larger VCs argument that it’s best to have accesses to capital with “deeper pockets” than exclusively seed-stage VCs?

Syndicate 166

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Valuation 166

Genuine VC

AUGUST 14, 2012

Having a crisp story about the vision behind a business can be leveraged multiple times with other constituents to effectively reach customers, partners, press, and even potential acquirers with the right communications message. Yes, often the best part of fundraising is the end of it.

Seed Capital 163

Seed Capital Customer Development Partner Developer 163

Genuine VC

AUGUST 3, 2012

CEO Anne Raimondi and my partner Rob were colleagues together at eBay in the early 2000’s before she went on the lead product and/or marketing at many household internet names like Zazzle, InsiderPages, and SurveyMonkey.

Seed Stage 199

Seed Stage Cofounder Portfolio Curation 199

Genuine VC

JANUARY 15, 2015

In other words, as much as feasible, to gate all of the VC discussions so that they’re progressing along essentially the same pace – with the goal to receive multiple terms sheets near simultaneously in order to best select the best offer and best partner, with full information. But reality doesn’t always play out as neatly.

Lead Investor 100

Lead Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital Portfolio 100

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 9, 2011

If a brand-name VC is an investor, it means that at one time one single partner at the firm saw enough promise in the venture to make a bet on it – it doesn’t mean that a company is doing well now. Which VC firm provided the most recent funding round and when was it?

Startup 146

Startup Burn Rate Technical Review Down Round 146

Genuine VC

JULY 9, 2013

Plus, my partners and I saw entrepreneurs repeatedly starting from square-one each time, which just didn’t seem efficient if we could help in some small way. And the results were pretty interesting, especially as they clustered with meaningful overlap among companies.

Early Stage 246

Early Stage Boston Portfolio Silicon Valley 246

Genuine VC

JULY 30, 2012

Sharing these expectations early in potential lead investor discussions fundamentally qualifies the conversations, but it also runs the risk of prematurely losing a potential financing partner or reducing options to maximize a financing process outcome. It’s like opening a job interview by sharing salary requirements.

Valuation 136

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Syndicate 136

Genuine VC

JUNE 27, 2012

Eggs Benedict – VC partner who just had a monster exit and is in the mood to celebrate. Bowl of oatmeal but he barely touches it – he eats a networking breakfast every day of the week, but the oatmeal is really just a prop as he’s really engaged with what the other person has to say.

Portfolio 248

Portfolio Venture Capital Networking Conversion 248

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

All five of them (Authentic, Blank Canvas, Golazo, Invited Guest, & Tribe) we’ve listed on our website since it went live a little more than a year ago, and my partners in recent blog posts have discussed in more detail two qualities of our Ethos, Invited Guest and Golazo. At NextView, we aim to be on the far end of the latter side.

Portfolio 114

Portfolio Seed Stage Venture Capital Partner 114

Genuine VC

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

Coming straight out of my first meeting with Bridj’s Founder, Matthew George, I called both of my partners to share my excitement about what I had been immediately convinced was our next investment.

Artificial Inteligence 129

Artificial Inteligence Boston Algorithm Green 129

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

All five of them (Authentic, Blank Canvas, Golazo, Invited Guest, & Tribe) we’ve listed on our website since it went live a little more than a year ago, and my partners in recent blog posts have discussed in more detail two qualities of our Ethos, Invited Guest and Golazo. At NextView, we aim to be on the far end of the latter side.

Portfolio 100

Portfolio Seed Stage Venture Capital Partner 100

Genuine VC

MARCH 8, 2012

It’s fairly telling to note, that of the fifteen portfolio companies we’ve invested in here at NextView, between the three of us partners we had said “no” to the founders at some point on eight of them. And if that feedback opens the door for a long-term dialog, then that’s just an additional benefit.

Venture Capital 167

Venture Capital Portfolio Conversion Partner 167

Genuine VC

JANUARY 17, 2011

Last summer, I along with my partners announced that we were forming a new micro venture capital firm. I’d encourage you to follow both his blog and my partner Rob’s as we share our story.?. Now six months later, we’re ready to lift the covers on what we’re doing (although there have been a few previews ).

Seed Stage 125

Seed Stage Boston Early Stage New York 125

Genuine VC

MAY 5, 2015

When we thought there may be a match, my partners and I would introduce someone who we knew was looking for a new job straight to a portfolio company. That is NextView’s overall mission, and that is the reason we exist and partner with exceptional entrepreneurs. But it seemed like it wasn’t enough. We could be doing more.

Portfolio 100

Portfolio Startup Boston Seed Stage 100

Genuine VC

APRIL 24, 2012

How much board-level capacity the individual partner has remaining – is he overloaded with board commitments or is he in investment-seeking mode? Where the company would “fit” well into the firm’s existing portfolio, filling in gaps from a stage or sector standpoint. The above list is illustrative but in no way intended to be exhaustive.

Syndicate 224

Syndicate Syndication PR Portfolio 224

Genuine VC

APRIL 4, 2013

However, it wasn’t until we started NextView a few years ago did I (along with my partners) find sherpas who possessed an extremely generous willingness to help in building our firm, and I discovered a kind of advisor which was really different.

Peru 189

Peru Startup Cofounder Founder 189

Genuine VC

MARCH 24, 2014

A couple years ago, my partner Lee penned a blog post about the milestone benchmarks for startups raising a Series A round of financing.

Seed Capital 212

Seed Capital Metrics Cofounder Revenue 212

Genuine VC

MARCH 4, 2015

This point is especially true if the inbound reference is directed towards another partner at the firm who isn’t the primary point person on the potential investment. The best strategy is a Goldilocks one timing: not too early (overwhelming) and not too late (less influential to outcome).

Finance 100

Finance Email Entrepreneur Partner 100

Genuine VC

JULY 8, 2010

My new partners, Rob Go and Lee Hower , and I are very enthusiastic about starting our new firm, NextView Ventures. ” Thanks to the support of our current sponsors Microsoft NERD , Gesmer Updegrove , and Silicon Valley Bank , the event will not only continue to thrive but also evolve.

Silicon Valley 154

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Cofounder Venture Capital 154

Genuine VC

APRIL 12, 2012

We have and will continue to fund young entrepreneurs in their twenties – and as my partner Rob Go likes to say, we’re proud of it. Subtly behind that question is often one about the experience-level of the founders. The answer, however, doesn’t fit into a neat soundbite.

Vertical 144

Vertical Portfolio Search Internet 144

Genuine VC

JULY 26, 2010

While traditional VCs sometimes have a love/hate relationship with their syndicate partners (often depending on how well their mutual portfolio companies are performing), it seems as though in the Micro VC arena all of the players speak and act like best friends. What’s the reasoning for all of this chummy behavior?

Syndicate 128

Syndicate Syndication Due Diligence Seed Stage 128

Genuine VC

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

In our NextView Ventures portfolio, Eliot Buchanan (Founder CEO of Plastiq ) was the master of this approach and was able to bring on high-profile partners (think: Mastercard) to his business before even graduating from undergrad! Immerse yourself in domain to develop authentic idea.

Cofounder 256

Cofounder Portfolio Venture Capital Reputation 256

Genuine VC

JANUARY 22, 2014

My partner Rob wrote bit more on his blog about our motivations for adding our first new team member at NextView Ventures — a Director of Platform and Community. All three of us are excited to expand our efforts and are currently in the process of seeking an exceptional individual to fill a unique role in building our firm together.

Community 113

Community Boston Seed Stage Venture Capital 113

Genuine VC

MARCH 8, 2012

It’s fairly telling to note, that of the fifteen portfolio companies we’ve invested in here at NextView, between the three of us partners we had said “no” to the founders at some point on eight of them. And if that feedback opens the door for a long-term dialog, then that’s just an additional benefit.

Venture Capital 103

Venture Capital Portfolio Conversion Partner 103

Genuine VC

OCTOBER 2, 2012

And even if the relationship with the VC partner leading the investment seems solid, entrepreneurs have little window into his partnership political dynamics during that time which could force him to lose his hold on pushing the commitment over the line.

Term Sheet 162

Term Sheet Founder Vesting Due Diligence Syndicate 162

Genuine VC

JANUARY 22, 2013

My partner Rob Go recently took a stroll through the NextView portfolio in a post which only briefly touched upon geography.) So just as a thought-experiment, I plotted both NextView Ventures’ Boston-based and Manhattan-based companies on a map to see what the picture looked like.

Boston 169

Boston Startup Portfolio Green 169

Genuine VC

MAY 20, 2013

More importantly, a handful of VCs are indeed truly engaged supportive partners with entrepreneurs in building their businesses. That set of experiences alone provides a unique perspective about companies facing similar challenges which adds constructive diversity to board room discussions.

Venture Capital 244

Venture Capital Cap Table Portfolio Early Stage 244

Genuine VC

MARCH 16, 2015

Successful exits include Wildfire ( to Google for $350M ), Behance ( to Adobe, $150M ), and RentJuice (a NextView-backed company co-founded by David Vivero , to Zillow for $40M ).

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Stealth Warrant Venture Capital 100

Genuine VC

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

My partners and I at NextView talk a lot about how fundraising is about finding the true believers rather than convincing the skeptics. The energy that it takes persuading someone who starts with a bias not to invest is much better suited searching for additional prospects who want to believe in what you’re building.

Search 143

Search Seed Stage Forecast .Net 143

Genuine VC

APRIL 12, 2012

We have and will continue to fund young entrepreneurs in their twenties – and as my partner Rob Go likes to say, we’re proud of it. Subtly behind that question is often one about the experience-level of the founders. The answer, however, doesn’t fit into a neat soundbite.

Vertical 109

Vertical Portfolio Search Internet 109

Genuine VC

MAY 1, 2014

They have relationships with over 3,000 publisher and author partners, including all of the Big Five publishers and hundreds of small-to-midsize presses. On the surface, BookBub is an ebook discovery service for consumer readers, featuring acclaimed ebooks in categories matching readers’ interests.

Cofounder 118

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Social Network 118

Genuine VC

APRIL 24, 2012

How much board-level capacity the individual partner has remaining – is he overloaded with board commitments or is he in investment-seeking mode? Where the company would “fit” well into the firm’s existing portfolio, filling in gaps from a stage or sector standpoint. The above list is illustrative but in no way intended to be exhaustive.

Syndicate 114

Syndicate Syndication PR Portfolio 114

Genuine VC

AUGUST 3, 2010

During the seed stage where Micro VCs invest, there are three primary diligence factors: Team and individuals – The information discovery here involves conversations with former coworkers, cofounders, partners, investors, and customers. partners); or a multi-stage, a multi-sector, or a multi-country investment strategy.

Seed Stage 123

Seed Stage Cofounder Metrics Forecast 123

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2012

A vast majority of the seed rounds in our portfolio have angel participation; and as my partner Rob explained in a recent overview , a third of our initial investments are syndicates comprised of just the NextView Ventures fund plus individual angel investors.

Angel Investor 257

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 257

Genuine VC

JANUARY 5, 2010

Different entrepreneurs have disparate needs and qualities which a VC can compliment and partner with, and those aspects can even change for the same entrepreneur depending on where he is in the company life-cycle. What do you want from your VC?”

Boston 150

Boston Early Stage Venture Capital Operations 150

Genuine VC

JULY 6, 2011

Even the next few successive conversations usually don’t move too much faster after that – if there’s interest, a VC partner will ping his network to gut-check his instincts as a diligence item and begin to socialize the opportunity within his firm, both of which (usually) take time.

Term Sheet 150

Term Sheet Deal Flow Venture Capital Conversion 150