VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? To reduce the impact of dilution, the expectation is that startup valuation should more or less double between the pre-seed to the seed, and seed to series A (ideally backed by reasonable traction/ revenue multiples). A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”?

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Investing: a new option for founders who care about control. II: Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs? III: Why are Revenue-Based VCs investing in so many women and underrepresented founders? IV: Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing?

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. ” .

Revenue 60

Revenue Cofounder Founder Venture Capital 60

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

If you’re thinking of hiring a Partner, I suggest see How to Negotiate a Partner Role at a Venture Capital or Private Equity Firm. HOF Capital provides hands-on support through our in-house team, plus a network of outside mentors who work with portfolio companies on an as-needed basis. For more, see the Startup Studio Playbook.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Apply for contests and business grants.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

It has historically been the case that VCs would rather fund the promise of 100x in a company with almost no revenue than the reality of a company growing at 50% but doing $20+ million in sales. also wins by making sure we don’t have too much concentration in technology innovation, which is surely a great thing for us all.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital LP Valuation Later Stage 363

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened? Until we weren’t.

Valuation 466

Valuation San Francisco Ratchet Liquidation Preference 466

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Rise of Global Tech Hubs An exciting shift in recent years is the emergence of new technological hubs across the globe. The Venture Capital Influence The role of venture capital (VC) has become increasingly prominent in shaping the tech startup scene.

Technical Review 137

Technical Review Startup Silicon Valley Agile 137

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Client work serves as an additional source of revenue to form new startups. This outside work provides a valuable source of revenue able to be used to fund operations. Over time, this revenue reduces the dependency on outside venture capital sources. Build a Talented Team of Technology and Business Professionals.

Incubator 188

Incubator Startup Software Developers Software Development 188

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

In January, Jerry Neumann wrote a long and detailed analysis of his view of the VC industry in the 1980’s titled Heat Death: Venture Capital in the 1980’s. So contrary to the piece, it wasn’t VC were good at early stage technology, it was that they had newfound capital and a big exit window. This isn’t true.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

His work in social media, e-Learning and Performance Support has won awards and has led him into engagements at many Fortune 500 companies including Credit Suisse, Royal Bank of Canada, Citibank, Lexus, Microsoft, Nissan, Universal, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Fidelity Investments, Symbol Technologies and SHL Systemhouse.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles 150

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. Bigfoot Capital. Capital need of up to $1.5M

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund and mutual fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. According to Knowledge.VC , under 5% of US VCs have a full-time team member focused on technology. . Why is it now more feasible to use technology in the VC investing process?

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2019

As there was no venture capital, these early startups were funded by early sales to weapon systems prime contractors and subcontractors. One of the unintended consequences was that many of the academics went off to found a wave of startups selling their technology to the military. America’s adversaries understand this.

Government 308

Government Artificial Inteligence Silicon Valley North Korea 308

VC Cafe

MARCH 4, 2024

CYBER – Israeli startup Wiz reaches $350M in ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) just four years from inception, making it the fastest growing cybersecurity company in the world. Imagindairy creates animal-free milk proteins from microorganisms via proprietary precision-fermentation technology. Wiz is valued at over $10 billion.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital 78

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Almost overnight the floodgates opened, and risk capital was available at scale from venture capital investors who rushed their startups toward public offerings. But as Carlota Perez has so aptly described, all new technology industries go through an eruption and frenzy phase, followed by a crash, then a golden age and maturity.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

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. . When I met my now-wife, I realized that any technology that can find me a spouse is a killer app. I previously posted a detailed presentation with sales technology tools useful for B2B sales.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

Seed venture capital firms can make more significant follow-on investments to keep or increase their equity stake in the company. This suggests the firm should have a list of paying customers, consistent sales cycles, a clear value proposition, and a developing revenue pipeline in the ideal situation.

Seed Stage 125

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 125

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Apply for contests and business grants.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Apply for contests and business grants.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Dino Vendetti a VC at Bay Partners, moved up to Bend, Oregon on a mission to engineer Bend into a regional technology cluster. Today with every city, state and country trying to build out a technology cluster, following Dino’s progress can provide others with a roadmap of what’s worked and what has not. The Bend Experience.

Early Stage 286

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 286

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

As Venture Capital emerged as an industry in the mid 1970’s, investors in venture-funded startups began to give stock options to all their employees. And Mark Suster of Upfront Capital has a great post that summarizes these changes. It’s called Growth capital. Who leads that process best?

Stock Options 333

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 333

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5% raised from angels.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. Should SaaS companies trade at a 24x Enterprise Value (EV) to Next Twelve Month (NTM) Revenue multiple as they did in November 2021? We also focus heavily on geographies.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

David Teten

APRIL 6, 2015

There are multiple reasons for that, but a major one is that both VC and research funding is concentrated in areas where there appears to be short-term revenues, as opposed to areas that will save more lives and quite likely generate both long-term revenues and savings for society. Source: NIH, CB Insights.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Non-Compete Philadelphia 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Apply for contests and business grants.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

abovethecrowd.com

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

These days, many technology companies have deployed a dual class stock structure as part of going public. At least for companies generating meaningful revenue, investors should look to have an annual audit with one of the Big Four accounting firms, or one of the more reputable smaller firms like Grant Thornton.

Venture Capital 113

Venture Capital Non-Compete Government Delaware 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. After all, growth equals high valuations and loads of venture capital! That leverage technology or drive change. So I like that bit, too.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

I had a husband who was gone more hours than he was home, working at a technology startup while getting his MBA at night. Turns out, women-led companies regularly outperform men, starting with 50% less capital and having 13% higher revenue than their male counterparts. But I didn’t listen, and I didn’t fail. First, receive.

Technical Review 370

Technical Review United States Bootstrapping Venture Capital 370

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

SIGNIFICANCE PROMINENT. --> The Venture Capital Secret: 3 Out of 4 Start-Ups Fail. An entrepreneur with a hot technology and venture-capital funding becomes a billionaire in his 20s. The National Venture Capital Association estimates that 25% to 30% of venture-backed businesses fail.

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island North Dakota 107

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2020

HBCUvc is seeking to expand its VC Lab and Fund program that invests in Black, Indigenous, and Latinx entrepreneurs building technology companies. Fellows originate and execute startup investments under the supervision of HBCUvc’s investment committee, a team of experienced venture capital investors.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Due Diligence Syndicate Syndication 100

VC Cafe

JULY 26, 2020

“After the crash, venture capital was scarce to non-existent. In a capital scarce environment following the Dot Com crash, startups needed to do more with less and survive long enough to generate revenue. Most of the funds that started in the late part of the boom would be underwater).

Lean 214

Lean Seed Capital Startup Burn Rate 214

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

We’re standing 15 air miles away from the epicenter of technology innovation. I’ve been asked to talk today about the future of Innovation – typically that involves giving you a list of hot technologies to pay attention to – technologies like machine learning. In fact, it’s not about any specific new technologies.

Restful 222

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

YoungUpstarts

JULY 16, 2019

New emerging technologies have been the key catalyst for in-demand jobs. Information and communications technology include 4,600 companies and 45,000 employees. This generated $16 billion in annual revenues in 2015. tests new technology on a province-wide scale for industry and government. billion in revenue.

Canada 167

Canada Hiring Artificial Inteligence Software Developers 167

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series of posts and I need to file this one under both Raising Venture Capital and Startup Advice. I’m not even talking about your 12-page Powerpoint presentation that you need to raise venture capital or to talk with potential biz dev partners. Let’s take your revenue line.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334