Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 2, 2016

The existential freakout that occurred in January and February seemed like the distant past with the lingering hangover being a clearer focus on valuation and overall funding needs from new investors. At the early stages, raising the first $2m tends to be straightforward in most geographies that have meaningful startup communities.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital Private Equity Early Stage Valuation 70

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

Feld Thoughts

JULY 29, 2011

Finance Friday’s gets off the ground with today’s post by introducing you to an imaginary startup, the entrepreneurs that we’ll being following throughout the series, and their first challenges: splitting up the founders’ equity and addressing the case where one of the founders provides the initial seed capital for the business.

Equity 137

Equity Finance Pre-Money Valuation Denver 137

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 5, 2014

Fred Wilson wrote a great post titled The Bubble Question a while ago where his punch line was: It is the combination of these two factors, which are really just one factor (cheap money/low rates), that is the root cause of the valuation environment we are in. But I think cheap capital is only half of the equation.

Valuation 144

Valuation Venture Capital Flash Government 144

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

But a lot of these are paper unicorns, so their valuations may not be real for a while.” Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen warned in a tweetstorm that startups with high burn rates would “vaporize.” There is nothing special or magical about $1 billion valuation. They will be given a new sobriquet: “unicorpse.””

Liquidation Preference 70

Liquidation Preference Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net 70

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Mark Suster wrote a great post yesterday titled The Resetting of the Startup Industry. This is a little tricky in early rounds and with modest up-round financings, as you’ll often have a liquidation preference that is high relative to your overall valuation. But, as you raise more money at higher valuations, this will normalize.

Cap Table 70

Cap Table Down Round Liquidation Preference Founder 70

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

.” Mark says plenty of other things, along with walking us through some dynamics in 2008 around the macro, startups, and the global thermonuclear financial freakout that was occurring. Ok – let’s move on to Mark Suster’s What Most People Don’t Understand About How Startup Companies are Valued.

Silicon Valley 70

Silicon Valley Term Sheet Early Stage New York 70

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 30, 2011

Both are good friends of mine and have really interesting philosophies about startup funding. Keith has over a decade of experience running startup companies and is extremely passionate about BigDoor, which made him aggressive in any discussions involving giving up a stake to both Founder’s Co-op and Foundry Group.

Cofounder 112

Cofounder Seattle Equity Valuation 112

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

In the case of an early-stage startup that hasn’t issued preferred stock yet, the debt converts into stock of the acquiring company (if it’s a stock deal) at a valuation subject to a cap. Some sort of conversion does occur. If it’s not a stock deal, then one normally sees one of the above scenarios.

Conversion 96

Conversion Sales Later Stage Preferred Stock 96

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 20, 2015

While ostensibly it’s a post about lean vs. fat startups, it really is about discovering product/market fit and it gives a good history lesson on the thinking circa 2010 on this issue. higher multiple, but not linear) your valuation will be. Ben eventually states, and then explains, four product/market fit myths.

Product 70

Product Marketing Valuation Search 70

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 28, 2023

KG companies have decisive tax disadvantages for startups and are, therefore, rarely used in this area. Since the attractiveness of investments is also largely related to exit channels, this aspect affects the availability of capital and company valuation at every stage. BAND) and the Bundesverband Deutsche Startups e.V.

Germany 165

Germany Liquidation Preference Option Pool Advisory Board 165

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 1, 2018

We refer to B and C rounds as early growth – essentially financings with valuations between $50m and $300m pre-money. We are full lifecycle investors and willing to invest, and lead, Series A, B, and C rounds.

Syndicate 17

Syndicate Syndication IRR Canada 17