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Don’t get hung up on early stage valuation.

Berkonomics

Why fight about valuation, or disappoint the founder at the outset? The first is of a 2004 startup that I cofounded and led the investment group for several early rounds, then VC rounds. Email readers, continue here…] The second story involves the same founder. Lessons founders learned.

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Ted Rheingold Founded Dogster in 2004: Five Questions About Building a Startup, Selling a Startup and Whether SF Is Still a Good Place

Hunter Walker

Dogster launched January 12, 2004 (Happy 12th Birthday Dogster!) By the end of 2004 I had brought on two co-founders: John Vars – who is now the Chief Product Office at TaskRabbit, and Steven Reading took over Sales and Revenue. How do founders think about whether it’s time to move on or not?

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LinkedIn: The Series A Fundraising Story ? AGILEVC

Agile VC

Many assume it was a cakewalk, based on the success LinkedIn has enjoyed over time and the current stature of our founder/CEO Reid Hoffman (now Chairman). I thought I’d revisit it and share the story… First, you have to rewind mentally to early 2003. Google is still a private company (their IPO was Aug 2004).

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Congratulations to Upwork

A Crowded Space

I remember when I made that first flight out to San Francisco from Boston to meet the team in 2004, the company was down to its last $20K in the bank. Very shortly after I joined, Greg Gretsch (now my partner at Jackson Square Ventures) co-led oDesk’s Series A along with Venky Ganesan (partner at Menlo Ventures and lead investor in Rev.com).

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After Raising $6.7M For Startups And Winning SEC Approval, AngelList Opens Up Investment Platform To More Companies

techcrunch.com

From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. 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.

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What Are Pre-Seed Rounds and Why Do They Exist?

View from Seed

With that in mind, let’s look at an illustration of these trends below, which demonstrates what’s been happening to early-stage financing rounds over the last 15 years or so. Series A investors invested quite early, often before product/market fit. FWIW, that is not how we operate.).

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This Week in VC with @VCMike Hirshland of Polaris Ventures

Both Sides of the Table

This lasted from about 2001-2004. Since then Mike his built his career by investing in early-stage companies (seed or series A), which is remarkable given that Polaris Ventures is a $1 billion fund. Founded 2007 in Boulder, CO. Co-Founders Michael Clark (ex-Photobucket), Geoffrey Arone (ex-DanceJam).