500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

First Round became a very active investor in consumer internet and e-commerce, on a rather lean investment budget, with several notable exits (including Mint.com to Intuit in 2009 for $170M). and no, we didn’t. but the food was awesome, & the PR wasn’t bad either). Rise of Y Combinator, 1st Branded Entrepreneur Guild.

Silicon Valley 74

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

rapidrollout.wordpress.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

Also, working with a consulting CTO will prepare you for finding and selecting a permanent technology partner. Avoid delay by using a consulting CTO on a short-term basis while you are searching for a permanent technology partner. Referrals from your investors (or potential investment partners) are ideal.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

I got a job at a bank, and I worked in their corporate finance group. You’ve got entrepreneurs and founders who are really – a lot of them are in the very early stage of their startup. ” Well, I really wanted to be a general partner but there weren’t a lot of general partner openings.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup San Diego 337

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 4, 2019

While 2011 is only eight years ago, it’s a lifetime in the world of finance, private equity, venture capital, and business. Blackstone’s partners, though, had decidedly mixed feelings about the bonanza. If you were a seed or early stage investor during this time (+/- two years) your returns over the next decade would be epic.

Private Equity 82

Private Equity Cofounder Equity Venture Capital 82

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 26, 2022

Box had just 50 employees and was hitting an inflection point when I joined in 2009, so there was far more work to do than people to do it. My boss, Jen Grant , was an incredible manager, and Aaron Levie, the co-founder and CEO, was a fantastic partner on all things communications. Two additional moments stand out to me.

IPO 90

IPO Cofounder Early Stage Portfolio 90

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 16, 2019

a16z played disrupter, launching their first fund in 2009, based on a bold set of statements which, even if they were not individually unique, had never been combined before into a firm. All of their partners had to be former founders (since relaxed), sounding the bell that not just operators, but founders, would make the best investors.

Silicon Valley 70

Silicon Valley Early Stage Valuation Cofounder 70

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. As of near the end of September 2009, we’re up 46% since the March 9th nadir (yes, I need to find a way to use one of my SAT words ; – ).

IPO 255

IPO Investment Bankers Venture Capital Marketing 255

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking? Did the partner have a good or bad day, etc. Reply Richard Jordan , on November 5, 2009 at 3:36 pm Said: Steve, best article yet.

Customer Development 267

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 267

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2011

I strongly believe (at least for very early stage technology ventures) that you will get diminishing returns and arguably negative returns once you get past an initial threshold of team, product, market and financial diligence. ► 2009. (7). I immediately jumped up and called "b t". Not exactly extensive diligence.

Technical Review 31

Technical Review Due Diligence Silicon Valley San Jose 31

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Cautionary note: No competent VC is actually fooled when you show up after raising $6M in seed financing and say you’re now raising an A! There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.).

Cap Table 136

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Non-Compete 136

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Posted on November 14, 2009 by Travis Biziorek. Here is the original post: Early Stage Web Application Start-Up Seeking Developer/Designer. Hi D, Gosh, this post was way back in late 2009. I, too, like you were back in 2009, am involved a start up project. Skip to primary content. Skip to secondary content.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

Professor VC

APRIL 7, 2011

My partner in Menlo Incubator , Gary Kremen , and I had a recent debate on which one of us hates convertible debt more. This will also serve as a good pointer for all the entrepreneurs who ask why I am not interested in their company led convertible note financing round. In cases where it is truly a bridge financing (i.e.

San Jose 36

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Valuation 36

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Next Wednesday we’ll have Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, a New York / LA early-stage venture capital fund. Often times when companies raise “bridge” financing (this is money from internal investors. Swipely – Blippy competitor founded by TellMe founder, Angus Davis, in Fall 2009. Short answer: no.

Stealth 285

Stealth SEC Advertising Accredited Investor 285

Austin Startup

JUNE 21, 2010

Disclaimer: I am an investor in Sparefoot, and they were in the 2009 Capital Factory program where I am a Managing Director. In early 2009, the founders of Sparefoot (then called Homstie.com) had a vision of allowing people with extra storage space in their homes to make a match with people who wanted to store things.

Los Angeles 72

Los Angeles Aggregator Early Stage Partner 72

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

Tuesday, March 10, 2009. ▼ 2009. (7). I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases. I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State. ProfessorVC. The last blogger in Silicon Valley.

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

In the early spring of 2009, the fundraising nuclear winter of the previous year hadn't yet thawed. While my company may not have lasted, and even though I swore to myself that I wouldn't do another startup--this recently launched new venture is moving forward with the help of some fantastic partners.

LP 112

LP New York City New York Chad 112

K9 Ventures

MAY 14, 2011

In my view the terminology being used for early stage investors by the press and the media is not as clear as it should be. I’ve talked about this on several occasions when I’ve been at conference and on panels, but I figured it would make sense to do a post explaining my taxonomy of the early-stage investing world.

Preferred Stock 125

Preferred Stock Seed Stage Incubator Early Stage 125

cdixon.org

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

Another benefit of talking freely, is that you may also find potential partners or future employees–other key components beyond investment money. We fine tuned the idea throughout, even got letters of intent and partner contracts before we had a powerpoint. link] Finance Geek » Mistakes that startups make. [.] Watson. [.]

Stealth 68

Stealth Startup NDA Cofounder 68

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Thursday, November 19, 2009. November 19, 2009 8:17 PM. If you have a reputation for cutting corners, not treating employees or partners right, it will become very difficult to do business. November 20, 2009 8:26 AM. November 21, 2009 6:58 PM. December 29, 2009 9:11 AM. ProfessorVC. Steve Bennet.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

We’ve also worked with our Partner, Dana Kibler who is also our CFO for nearly 20 years. Obviously the funding environment has changed considerably in 2022 but as early-stage investors our daily jobs stay largely unchanged. In fact, I am still active on two boards where I first invested in 2009.

San Francisco 408

San Francisco Early Stage Venture Capital Los Angeles 408

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2008

The spring semester of my Entrepreneurial Finance class starts tomorrow. We will also look at a variety of financing methods including venture capital, angel investing, licensing, franchising, roll-up, venture debt and my old favorite, bootstrapping. Labels: entrepreneur , entrepreneurial finance course , venture capital.

San Jose 28

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Venture Capital 28

VC Adventure

AUGUST 30, 2010

I think the answer to these questions are that 1) it’s not at all clear that this trend is as definitive as Graham suggests; 2) it’s a mixed bag for entrepreneurs (more positive in the short run, potentially negative in the long term); and 3) it’s clearly not a positive trend for early-stage investors. Has Convertible Debt Won?

Angel Investor 103

Angel Investor Early Stage Equity Valuation 103

www.startuplessonslearned.com

MAY 4, 2012

They assume that the tasks that they are performing during the early stage of startup development are the same tasks that will be performed during the next and very different stages. Robin wondered when her partner would be able to become more involved, but, in the end, Antje never joined full-time.

Equity 72

Equity Founder Technical Cofounder Cofounder 72

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

Scott Kupor is the managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he’s responsible for all operational aspects of running the firm. He's been with the firm since its inception in 2009 and has overseen its rapid growth, from three employees to 150+ and from $300 million in assets under management to more than $10 billion.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Babbling VC

MARCH 11, 2012

So, back to the original topic: If you look to the US, who's doing the most innovative stuff in the financing space? This is the future of early-stage financing and an evolution of activites such as Y-Combinator. Actually, a large VC fund, USV, is backing Kickstarter and since 2009 !!! Germany though???

Germany 86

Germany Incubator Europe Finance 86

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

org/2009/02. Mark Suster • Nov 1, 2010 Here is a post on Brad Feld's blog on the seed financing docs he found, some of which you mention: [link] chives/. Ivan Gaviria , Partner at Gunderson Dettmer [link] 1 vote by Anon User Here is the Gunderson term sheet for a traditional Series A. TechStars did one, too: [link].org/2009/02.

Term Sheet 41

Term Sheet Startup Angel Investor Wiki 41

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2008

Once the point is reached where you want to move ahead, we put the sales hat on and convince our partners about the incredible opportunity that we are lucky enough to be able to invest on the ground floor. As early stage investors, our goal is to eliminate as much risk as possible with the least amount of cash spent.

San Jose 31

San Jose Technical Review Venture Capital Angel Investor 31

www.instigatorblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The more that those first employees feel like founders in terms of their ownership, emotional attachment, responsibility and overall understanding of the startup process (including financing , running day-to-day activities, etc.) I do believe that early employees should trade salary for equity. the better the startup will be.

Equity 41

Equity Employee Startup Vesting 41

Professor VC

JANUARY 17, 2008

A partner from the law firm (sponsor, covers the drinks and food) tosses out some softball questions to the panelists, the audience chimes in with Q&A and finally, culminates with the meet and greet where the panelists are flooded with business cards and pitches on the next great thing, which is often very similar to the last great thing.

Pre-Money Valuation 28

Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Angel Groups Valuation 28

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

Which at this stage of the company was marketing and financing. The positive effect of the tidal wave of press was as a door opener for us to raise money from corporate partners. Reply steveblank , on July 13, 2009 at 9:52 pm Said: Dmitriy, I don’t advise or go near “freemium&# models.

Silicon Valley 122

Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122

venturehacks.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

SUPPORTED BY Products Archives @venturehacks Books AngelList About RSS How to pick a co-founder by Naval Ravikant on November 12th, 2009 Update : Also see our 40-minute interview on this topic. The best sellers can sell to customers, partners, investors, and employees. Venture Hacks Good advice for startups. Date first. Coincidence?

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 101

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 7, 2007

Or the founders have taken on a small amount of seed financing, just enough to get them into the market. If our aim was to raise financing and employ these people directly, we’d have burnt through $5-7 million before launch. There are a couple of good reasons a company should consider bootstrapping its market entry. Nice article.

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Offshore Startup EC2 41

Professor VC

JANUARY 20, 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009. The latest statistics from VentureSource show 554 financings in Q4, down from 620 in Q3 and 718 in Q4 2007. On that front, I take pride in the second headline with news that Fliqz , where I am CFO, just closed on $6 million in Series C financing. ProfessorVC. The last blogger in Silicon Valley.

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley San Jose Bootstrapping 28

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

I've been driving the implementation of systems to track these types of metrics at our company (fast growing, recently public), and also have spent some time on the phone with one of your early stage founders (Ellen) discussing the metrics we track and how we think about them at our company. Great stuff! All rights reserved.

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2008

I spent most of the time with the reporter talking about Sand Hill Angels and how we add value to the start-ups and entrepreneurs that we partner with, which is why I just have a small mention in the article. Labels: angel groups , angel investing , CFO , early stage investing. ► 2009. (7). Steve Bennet. at 3:48 PM.

Angel Groups 28

Angel Groups San Jose Early Stage Angel Investor 28

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Thursday, September 24, 2009. I was a limited partner in Angel Investors, LP, Ron Conways fund in the late 1990s. ▼ 2009. (7). I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases. ProfessorVC.

San Jose 33

San Jose Angel Investor Venture Capital Mezzanine 33

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

My first reaction is incredulity that limited partners would buy into this idea. Seed stage investing is all about the team, so there may be something to this idea. Labels: entrepreneur , seed investing , venture capital , venture financing. ► 2009. (7). I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State.

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Venture Capital Angel Investor 28