Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

They have too many highly paid partners, fat fees, an aging corporate infrastructure and difficulty raising money from institutions. As lifecycle investment partners, they have become weighted down with portfolios still recovering from the economic downturn. Super angels sometimes drive up valuations. Marty Zwilling.

Angel Investor 314

Angel Investor Venture Capital Silicon Valley Startup 314

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

If your financial model projects a negative cash flow in this period of $400,000, you should buffer this amount by 25 percent, and ask for $500,000. Be prepared to explain your business model. The average valuation for angel investments is $2 million, which will get you $500,000 for 20 percent of your startup.

Startup 337

Startup Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity 337

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

Use good judgment, talk to your co-founders/investors/lawyers, and partner with a bank that values transparency and relationships such as SVB.]. And it’s that important because all companies will go through good times and tough times, and we’ll want to make sure we’ve got the right partner on the other side. Business model?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

They have too many highly paid partners, fat fees, an aging corporate infrastructure and difficulty raising money from institutions. As lifecycle investment partners, they have become weighted down with portfolios still recovering from the economic downturn. Super Angels sometimes drive up valuations.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Startup Portfolio 260

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

And, oh by the way, we also really like the idea of the 1M/1M entrepreneurs building valuation and negotiating leverage through these business development efforts, instead of signing off large chunks of their company in form of equity early on.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

Everyone moved to earlier stage – part of the decline in late stage investing is the ‘baggage’ of companies that previously raised money at inflated valuations that they would struggle to justify in today’s market. That’s yet another reason for micro funds to move earlier in the fundraising timeline.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2015

If your financial model projects a negative cash flow in this period of $400,000, you should buffer this amount by 25 percent, and ask for $500,000. Be prepared to explain your business model. The average valuation for angel investments is $2 million, which will get you $500,000 for 20 percent of your startup.

Preferred Stock 120

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 120

Ben's Blog

AUGUST 17, 2020

When speaking with founders and private growth investors, we hear countless references to “multiples paid” on current or near-term revenue; both obsess over this because a higher multiple translates to a higher valuation. How valuation multiples work Why did multiples become a shortcut-heuristic for estimating valuations in the first place?

Valuation 36

Valuation Balance Sheet Cofounder Forecast 36

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 22, 2012

As you may have already seen , I’ve been breaking down the pitches on this season’s Shark Tank while wearing my work hat as a Managing Director at Lightspeed Venture Partners. This implies a pre money valuation of $1.045M. See my breakdown of week 2 for more on how to calculate pre money valuation.). Cousins Maine Lobster.

Pre-Money Valuation 101

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution Differentiation 101

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

It doesn’t mean that you should change your business model because one person suggested it, but listed to the feedback and if you see similar patterns over and over again, make changes. Patents are nice but… in a consumer Internet business, it’s most likely that you aren’t re-inventing the wheel.

Elevator Pitch 103

Elevator Pitch Incubator Technical Review Startup 103

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

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

This past week while I was in Tokyo for meetings with potential partners for Fab, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion on startups. million registered users, 7500 supplier partners, 600 team members, and a run-rate of more than $150M in sales in just 15 months. Never, ever, choose your investors based on valuation.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Most venture capitalists who have been in this business for a long time foresaw this correction and have been talking about it privately for the better part of the last year or two. I have been talking about my concerns about valuations for the past couple of years because, well, they’ve been rising very rapidly the past two years!

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

The founder wanted to take the offer, but he called his advisor (his business school professor) who told him it was too much dilution for this stage, so he turned it down. The founders clearly believed in the upside of the company and that is why they were willing to take a lower valuation but wanted minimal dilution.

Silicon Valley 163

Silicon Valley Salary Dilution Indiana 163

Professor VC

DECEMBER 8, 2015

one company running out of cash and another with cash but searching for a business model). I think we will see more of these in 2016 and beyond as IPOs are still far and few between and unicorns struggle to justify their stratospheric valuations. Both companies offered home security and automation services through partners.

Merger 28

Merger LP IPO Redemption 28

Lightspeed Venture Partners

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

post money valuation. Mark Cuban offered $300k for 33% of the company, implying a $900k post money valuation. implying a $600k post money valuation. The company ended up negotiating with Cuban and settled on $300k for 30% of the company, or a $1M post money valuation. post money valuation and a $1.35M pre money valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 159

Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Valuation Dilution 159

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 13, 2015

Business Model: running a lot of experiments - pricing, packaging, value proposition. The founders are getting restless because they have been diluted, have less responsibility and realize that the company isn''t going to reach $1 billion in 3 years. The first version of the go to market team is hired (i.e., 10-50 million.

Mezzanine 20

Mezzanine IPO Finance Business Model 20