Feld Thoughts

MARCH 24, 2017

Lindel joined Foundry Group as a partner to lead the fund investing activity of Foundry Group Next. We’ve had the opportunity to work with Founder Collective’s partners – David Frankel, Eric Paley, and Micah Rosenbloom – over the years on several companies. We also know many of the entrepreneurs in their portfolio.

Founder 75

Founder LP Technical Review Seed Stage 75

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. LPs See The Over-Valuations and Don’t Like It. The Biggest Area of Concern is Late Stage Investments.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital LP Silicon Valley Marketing 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Investors call this the seed stage , where money is required to build a market and a real product. Government grants and industry partners are you best bet here, but Angel investors might give you $250,000 to $1 million, if you have the right business case and credentials.

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

George Deeb is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based Red Rocket Ventures , a startup consulting and financial advisory firm based in Chicago. If people are funding the business, they should get a premium because at the end of the day, cash funding founders are acting no different than a seed stage investor.

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Equity Founder Seed Stage 136

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Over the past five years, we’ve witnessed an Atomization of the Seed Stage. Early fundraising is no longer a one-and-done fundraise of a single round of Seed capital subsequently followed by a Series A 12–18 months later. Effective) post-money valuation. Seed stage startups are now graded on a curve.

Seed Stage 136

Seed Stage Post-Money Valuation Valuation Startup 136

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Almost two years ago, in a private/closed meeting with K9 Ventures’ LPs only, I claimed that: What was being referred to in the press as the “Series A Crunch” was not because fewer Series A deals were being done, but because there were too many Seed deals being done. Seed stage was super tough. Seed is the New A.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

I certainly bear no ill will to the various firms that ultimately passed on our fundraise… as a seed stage VC myself now I can appreciate how hard it is evaluating companies at the earliest stages of development. round which closed in November 2003, and the pre-money valuation between $10 million and $15 million.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5%

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

*This post is part of our “pitch deck” series where we dissect the seed stage pitch deck and discuss the ideal flow for a pitch. To provide relevant perspective, listing past convertible note(s) and/or equity financing(s) including total round size and valuation (caps) is helpful. Here we are, at (one of) the final slides.

Cap Table 211

Cap Table Seed Stage Valuation Dilution 211

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

As high-conviction, seed stage investors, we are inherently relationship-driven, and we value meeting exceptional founders face-to-face. Kent Bennett from Bessemer Venture Partners spoke to this initial slow down: “ We couldn’t do anything until we understood the new normal. billion in 148 funds for the first half of 2020.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

Post-money valuation probably no higher than $12M (2). Pre-money valuation was initially set higher but was adjusted to match the Ser B valuation. Pre-money valuation was approx. Pre-money valuation was approx. Led by Oak Investment Partners with participation by General Catalyst, Sequoia, & Accel and others.

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

View from Seed

JANUARY 10, 2022

We’re running our new and improved accelerator program back, we’re doubling our offering and raising the valuation cap (hello $400K) , and we’d love for you and your team to apply. We had the ability to work with all of the partners, which proved to be a very helpful opportunity” – Victor, Allay Health.

San Diego 156

San Diego San Francisco Alabama Valuation 156

The Equity Kicker

JULY 1, 2015

He used this chart as evidence: Second, I read Josh Kopelman’s/First Round Capital’s Open Letter to Investors from May this year which says that seed valuations are up 3x from 2007-2015 without a corresponding increase in exits. Note that we can see a similar increase in Series A valuations in Fred’s chart above.

Valuation 60

Valuation Seed Stage Partner Marketing 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They chose the name First Round Capital because they thought capital would be deployed most efficiently at smaller seed stage rounds considering the cost to build an internet business had come down drastically. Office Hours – Two or three partners post a sign-up sheet to meet with entrepreneurs. Investing Strategy.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

View from Seed

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Over the summer, based on feedback from our portfolio and the broader startup community, NextView created pre-formatted board deck templates for seed-stage startups — part of our Growth Guides series. As Rob Go wrote , board decks and board meetings can waste loads of time at the seed stage.

Seed Stage 331

Seed Stage Cap Table Metrics Burn Rate 331

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

” If you invested at $8m pre-money and put $2m in (thus you own 20% of a company at a $10m post-money valuation) and if you put another $2m into a round at a $40m valuation raising $10m ($50m post) you end up with half your money at $8m pre and half at $40m pre thus your average price goes up dramatically.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

Use good judgment, talk to your co-founders/investors/lawyers, and partner with a bank that values transparency and relationships such as SVB.]. NVV: Let’s talk about the seed stage specifically. It’s not often a seed-stage company — usually it’s later — but the trends are going earlier and larger.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

The very strongest companies can still likely get out if they really wanted, but may not command the valuations they hoped for in more bullish times. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010. My partner @ LeeHower looks back: [link] 5 days ago Search. Author howerl. Read More ».

IPO 100

IPO Marketing Silicon Valley Private Equity 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

. “Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator.

Silicon Valley 293

Silicon Valley Technical Review Southern California Angel Investor 293

Genuine VC

MAY 29, 2014

It’s been five years now since large VC ‘signaling’ entered the seed stage entrepreneur’s lexicon. It seems as though it’s been talked about ad nauseum in the blogosphere, but we see first-hand as entrepreneurs we’re investing in at NextView Ventures work through building their seed round syndicates, it really is a tough issue.

Syndicate 166

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Valuation 166

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

What’s the difference between an angel round and pre-seed round and why do I believe we’ll see more pre-seed rounds taking place in 2024? While the answers are somewhat semantic, the pre-seed funding round is making a comeback in 2024 startup financing.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

Investors call this the seed stage , where money is required to build a market and a real product. Government grants and industry partners are you best bet here, but Angel investors might give you $250,000 to $1 million, if you have the right business case and credentials.

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

View from Seed

JUNE 11, 2019

I believe it’s more important to optimize on the right lead investor vs. the highest valuations at the seed stage (within reason). The strongest investors usually aren’t cheap, but typically don’t do things outside of the normal bounds for a company at the seed stage.

Syndicate 202

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Lead Investor 202

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

But the emphasis of our program is the direct one-on-one interaction with NextView partners to help push the company forward. The partners at NextView hold sessions more than once per week to push the participants’ thinking and actions to strive towards making significant advances finding true-product market fit.

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 177

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

*This post is part of our “pitch deck” series where we dissect the seed stage pitch deck and discuss the ideal flow for a pitch. And often a deck is being read as a follow-up by the potential lead partner or the rest of her partnership. You can read the rest of the posts in the series by clicking here *.

Seed Stage 166

Seed Stage Retention Restful Valuation 166

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

In 2011, the valuation of pre-revenue, start-up companies is typically in the range of $1.5–$2.5 Scorecard Valuation Methodology. This method compares the target company to typical angel-funded startup ventures and adjusts the average valuation of recently funded companies in the region to establish a pre-money valuation of the target.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

YoungUpstarts

MAY 1, 2020

by Ash Rust , founder and managing partner of Sterling Road. Given that mindset, it’s only natural that most entrepreneurs jump at the first chance they get to secure early-stage startup funding. Ash Rust , founder and managing partner of Sterling Road , is an entrepreneur turned pre-seed investor.

Early Stage 165

Early Stage Security Angel Investor Lead Investor 165

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

And it’s not just that VCs cut their investment pace but they also indicated overwhelmingly that valuations of investments had dropped with 76% of all VCs surveyed suggesting 2016 had lower valuations than 2015. So if funding from VCs slowed, valuations dropped and burn rates were slashed, WTF happened to winter again?

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Saudi Arabia Kuwait Burn Rate 150

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

George Deeb is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based Red Rocket Ventures , a startup consulting and financial advisory firm based in Chicago. One of the questions I get, more often than not, is what is the appropriate valuation of my business. Each industry typically has its unique valuation methodologies. Your industry.

Valuation 167

Valuation Forecast Seed Stage .Net 167

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2014

Investors call this the seed stage , where money is required to build a market and a real product. Government grants and industry partners are you best bet here, but Angel investors might give you $250,000 to $1 million, if you have the right business case and credentials.

Angel Investor 232

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 232

Hunter Walker

MAY 4, 2014

Now that our seed fund Homebrew has past its first anniversary , people often ask what has surprised me during my year as a VC, or what am I liking/disliking about my new profession. My answers are actually bland, largely because I had a pretty good handle on what the initial 12 months would bring and a great partner in Satya Patel.

Software Review 100

Software Review Vertical Seed Stage Portfolio 100

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

I had met Brendan that past Spring when I had just left Insight Data Science and he was at Greylock Partners. If we define “success” as a company with a valuation of $1B, then our sample is skewed extremely heavily to failure. So, what do we do at the seed stage? 2) Does success = a $1B unicorn? .

Seed Stage 127

Seed Stage Later Stage Algorithm API 127

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

In December, AngelList , a service that matches early-stage startups with investors, debuted the ability to allow accredited investors to actually invest in startups on the platform with as little as $1,000. AngelList also partnered with SecondMarket to create an investment vehicle for these investments. 2011 Holiday. Gift Guide.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Entrepreneurs and investors who have spent any time dealing with convertible debt seed financing transactions are likely to have encountered the subject of valuation caps. Valuation caps can come into play in settings other than seed-stage convertible note financing rounds. Read on for a fuller explanation.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 16, 2020

As a seed stage investor, I know the math. Part of it was that we had gotten over our skis on valuation, making further investment unattractive to both new and existing investors. Half the companies I invest in won’t provide a financial return. We couldn’t fix the factory situation in time and before we ran out of cash.

Bankruptcy 95

Bankruptcy Private Equity Seed Stage Dilution 95

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

Xfund, Patrick Chung is a managing general partner in a venture capital firm that supports lateral thinkers. Pre-Seed Investments. Investing in a startup at the pre-seed stage is a great way to get in early on to the next big thing. A standard financial tool used in early-stage startups is a convertible loan note.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2016

Investors call this the seed stage , where money is required to build a market and a real product. Government grants and industry partners are you best bet here, but Angel investors might give you $250,000 to $1 million, if you have the right business case and credentials.

Matching 120

Matching Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers 120