Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. He also says it is important to be able to participate in follow on rounds so as not to get “crammed down”. First Round Capital makes 20-25 investments a year with an average size of $500k. They follow on when milestones are met.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

In times when venture capital is hard to get, investors extract high costs for failure (down-rounds, cram downs , new management teams, shut down the company.) Blog at WordPress.com. Reply Sean Murphy , on November 2, 2009 at 11:55 am Said: This is a common misunderstanding and one that bootstrappers trip over.

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Haystack

JANUARY 12, 2020

For those following this blog and the seed market over the past decade, you may have noticed that every year, we see increases across the board — more investors, newer funds, and funds that get larger. Rather, this short blog is filled only with my own observations from being in the middle of the evolving seed market since 2013.

Seed Stage 106

Seed Stage Cram Down Early Stage Cofounder 106

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

As I’ve blogged about in the past, there are positives and negatives to this strategy, but it is a viable option to some founders. Getting Crammed Down. If a), you reduce the cram-down risk, but also reduce the fund’s upside because you own less of your portfolio companies to begin with.

Cram Down 66

Cram Down Institutional Investors Dilution Seed Stage 66

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

This combo all too often leads to various forms of deal unpleasantness, like cram-down rounds, liquidation preferences, and change of control provisions, which in turn, often lead to unhappy founders and angel investors even in somewhat successful exits. And they hire very aggressive securities attorneys to represent their interests.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

Tim Keane

AUGUST 20, 2009

"  The problem has been that too-high valuations and too generous terms have spawned painful down rounds that squash the entrepreneur and his early investors.    New money, usually VC money, comes in and crams down those early investors and takes substantial shares from the entrepreneur. 

Milwaukee 60

Milwaukee Bootstrapping Cram Down Deal Structure 60