Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). What have been your experiences in the past 6 months?

Technical Review 241

Technical Review IPO Southern California Venture Capital 241

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs, and a former angel myself, I still find startups confused about the definition of an angel investor, and how and when to attract one. You need to know why and how they invest, and then focus on the ones who are the best match for your startup. Thus they don’t live or fly above the clouds.

Angel Investor 322

Angel Investor Valuation Syndicate Syndication 322

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle , partner at Greycroft Partners , a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Another topic we debated early in the program was “lean startup” vs. “ fat startup ” where we both took the obvious hedge and said “it depends.” Total raised: $15.0mm.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2021

It’s enough to see the rapid adoption of new social platforms from Signal in messaging to Clubhouse’s $1 billion valuation in less than a year. In 2021, optimism on investing in social media has returned. Read A16Z’s social strikes back series to get a feel of just how much movement is in this space.

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Audio Forecast Social Media 207

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

This is a fundamental issue that does, indeed, boil down to understanding the post-money valuation of a company. At its core, this issue points to the lack of understanding about the importance of post-money valuation by both entrepreneurs and investors. But it is also a topic that many find esoteric and difficult to grasp.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

During the summer of 2010, I developed a workshop, A New ACEF Valuation Workshop for Angels and Entrepreneurs. To provide some reference points, I surveyed thirteen angels groups in North American to determine their recent experience in negotiating the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies. 2011 Angel Group Valuation Survey.

Angel Groups 125

Angel Groups Valuation Pre-Money Valuation St. Louis 125

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. If we got an offer to raise $25 million to grow would she take it or be too worried about exit price, dilution, valuation expectations, etc. They worry too much about missing out on a deal.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Individual accredited investors in typical angel deals put personal capital at risk for an equity share of growth-oriented, start-up companies. In 2011, the valuation of pre-revenue, start-up companies is typically in the range of $1.5–$2.5 Scorecard Valuation Methodology. million, indicating a somewhat normal distribution.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 3, 2014

The NYC startup community maintains a positive, supportive atmosphere. I was just noticing that a professional acquaintance of mine just changed jobs for the third time in two years--going from startup to startup to startup without, ostensibly, accomplishing much at any of the companies. At what valuation?

Syndicate 124

Syndicate Syndication Venture Capital Valuation 124

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. . See Bessemer Venture Partners’ A comprehensive guide to security for startups. Tribe Capital has developed A Quantitative Approach to Product Market Fit. . 2) Market .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 29, 2015

Now that everyone is overly focused on unicorns, the headline number on the valuation (e.g. Company X raised Y at a valuation of Z from A, B, and C) has crept into the story on big rounds. in Funding: Here is the Valuation, Term Sheet and Why We’re Doing It. It’s what the press likes to write about (e.g.

Atlanta 70

Atlanta Valuation Term Sheet Finance 70

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. and a VC’s fund has one purpose – startups. I’m sure this happens, too.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

When we started NextView, there were relatively few seed focused venture capital funds in the country, even fewer on the east coast, and almost none in the Boston area. In a frothy market, rounds can get done in this way at pretty high prices (or valuation caps for notes) albeit with less value-added investors involved.

Cram Down 66

Cram Down Institutional Investors Dilution Seed Stage 66

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

It’s just that he’s a “super seed&# investor in a firm, Founder Collective , that I really respect (and with whom I’ve done two deals and hope to do a third) and I’m a partner in a venture capital firm, GRP Partners. Tags: Startup Advice Tech Market Analysis VC Industry.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

Professor VC

JULY 25, 2013

Mike Markkula presenting Steve Jobs with first investment in Apple I recently watched an excellent documentary on PBS, Something Ventured: Risk, Reward, and the Original Venture Capitalists. Startup outcomes tend to be very binary. AngelList (which I remain a big fan) also recently launched a syndicate program.

Term Sheet 46

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 46

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Some can supply more when syndicating with other such groups. Email readers, continue here… ] The Angel Capital Association (ACA) lists over four hundred member groups, located throughout the USA. Then there is venture capital. Angel groups invest from $250,000 to $1,000,000 or more in qualified investments.

Equity 62

Equity Finance Liquidity Event Angel Groups 62

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

We were trying to optimize around a few criteria: price, size of round, number of syndicate partners and, of course, terms. million at a $15 million pre-money valuation. Morgan Stanley had proposed a higher valuation to let them in. It quickly became impossible to raise venture capital. Yes, this was stupid.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Want to start a startup? November 2005 Venture funding works like gears. A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. Few startups get it quite right. Apply for funding by March 3.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Rob Go

JANUARY 7, 2013

We have pretty strong guidelines internally about how much capital we want to invest in a given company, at what valuation, and thus, what ownership we are looking for. The fact that each member of our team has worked at larger, institutional venture capital firms is an important asset. Premium Service: 5. Commerce: 5.

Portfolio 49

Portfolio Seed Stage Cofounder B2B 49

David Teten

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

At my firm, ff Venture Capital, we’re trying our part to rethink how the industry works, and also actively looking for opportunities to invest in companies creatively disrupting this sector, e.g., our portfolio companies Addepar and Indiegogo. I think there are many more opportunities to disrupt the space.

Management 114

Management Pre-Money Valuation Venture Capital New Hampshire 114

Professor VC

MARCH 12, 2015

The above was the opening salvo of a controversial tweetstorm yesterday by my former student and 500 Startups founding partner, Dave McClure (full venom below). It was a great product addressing a large market opportunity and was interested in seeing how the AngelList syndicate process worked.

Syndicate 28

Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley Common Stock 28

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

When we sold our startup in 1998 I thought one day Id do some angelinvesting. You give a startup money and they give you stock. Thats how you win: by investing in the right startups. Mechanics Angel investors often syndicate deals, which means they join togetherto invest on the same terms. million, and youget.05/1.05,

Angel Investor 63

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Dilution 63

Professor VC

JUNE 6, 2016

However, in my 25 years in the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem, I've experienced the VC corollary to the golden rule much more often: "He has the gold makes the rules!" When AngelList first launched syndicates a few years ago, I was very skeptical of the idea of angels taking carry on my investment. I got over it.

Syndicate 28

Syndicate Syndication Cap Table Ratchet 28

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 18, 2015

There is a lot of uncertainty about the state of the private, high-growth technology markets and the venture capital markets that underpin them. Technology riches yield bumper crops in venture capital with new firms and new largesses – the rewards of LPs rediscovering our asset class. Are LPs to blame?

IPO 150

IPO Venture Capital LP SEC 150