Valuation is an important aspect of VC deal terms, and a major determinant of your ultimate outcome.  I unexpectedly found that it was more helpful to think about the company valuation as an output variable in the fund-raising equation.  The net effect was more money raised, higher valuation and the same percentage of equity sold.  MORE >>

tech bubble is the rapid inflation in the valuation of public and private technology companies that exceeds their fundamental value by a large margin. Today, the signs of the new bubble are the Linked-In initial public offering (IPO), Facebook’s stratospheric valuation and the rapid rise of early-stage startup valuation. MORE >>

Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. It should answer every question an investor or associate might ask, including current valuation, funding needed, and exit strategy. Network to the maximum with investor connections. Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. MORE >>

Focus (a lot more than you’d expect) on building “social proof.&# But one very clever field you’ll find only on AngelList is a category called “social proof.&# But don’t stop there-- prod your social proof folks into action. In short, get your social proof points talking. To wit: 1. function. MORE >>

This post is the first of a series on  “unexpected lessons&# learned through my experience as co-founder and CEO of Snapvine , a venture-backed mobile social networking service founded in 2005 and acquired by WhitePages in June of 2008. What if we DO prove out the concept but fail to raise money? Just effing do it. Am I screwed? MORE >>