This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

Governance Moreso than a lot of actual VCs, a lot of high-net-worth folks tend to ask for board representation—even in the super early stages of a company where boards tend to be a little less formal. This is a business and the goal should be to get the best people at every position, regardless of their position on the cap table.

.Net 88

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 88

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Adjust your valuation down proactively so that outsiders can still fund you at what the market considers a normal valuation for your stage & progress. How Complicated is Your Cap Table? Cap Table issues are seldom understood by entrepreneurs. You are in a classic cap table pinch. Let me explain.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Valuation Software Review 150

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Long-term alignment : Many Flexible VCs retain a small residual stake in the company after the return cap is reached, driving alignment well beyond the horizon of the revenue share, similar to the long-term orientation of equity VC. Growth stage and beyond: clear pathway to outcomes of over $1 billion. Short track record.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

One of the most important decisions for a founder of an early stage company is deciding who should be on the cap table. Many Series A investors have bigger platforms and can provide a myriad of valuable services to an early-stage company but there may be risks.

Cap Table 351

Cap Table Due Diligence Early Stage Portfolio 351

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

We also use Carta , which specializes in cap table management and has just launched a fund administration service which we have transitioned to. See for example Totem , a spinoff of ff Venture Capital (my prior firm). 9) Accelerate portfolio company value. 10) Time, market, and exit investment.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

We also use Carta , which specializes in cap table management and has just launched a fund administration service which we have transitioned to. See for example Totem , a spinoff of ff Venture Capital (my prior firm). 9) Accelerate portfolio company value. 10) Time, market, and exit investment.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 3, 2019

This was not our early-stage sweet spot and the $100M valuation felt rich. Carta went on to become the standard for cap table management and is a unicorn many times over. . Early-stage investing is not easy and we make a wrong decision every day! Early-stage investors are more wrong than right.

Portfolio 202

Portfolio Cap Table Early Stage Valuation 202

Hunter Walker

OCTOBER 31, 2021

and my answer is that generally while a particular zip code or two might feel ‘overfunded’ at a moment in time, that early stage entrepreneurism is still UNDERFUNDED globally by at least an order of magnitude. If you can be more valuable than that, I’d love to bring you on to the cap table of the next seed round we lead.

Cap Table 122

Cap Table Cofounder Early Stage Portfolio 122

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. The Pocket Negotiator is very early-stage attempt to aid in the negotiating process itself. 645 Ventures released a cap table simulator to help level the playing field. What’s Your VC Tech Stack?

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

OnlyOnce

JULY 30, 2020

Sometimes you can have a major internal problem related to the cap table–a founder with a lot of stock needs liquidity or you need to push this person out of the company. That’s the most important thing to think through, deeply, at the early stages of working on selling your company.

Cap Table 48

Cap Table Institutional Investors Startup Early Stage 48

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical VC thesis: “we invest in tech startups in Europe at an early stage” However, our experience shows that in many cases: . Thirty-four VC firms in OpenVC call themselves “early-stage” Yet, 30% of those don’t actually invest in pre-revenue startups. . 7) Stage-defined funds.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Early-stage VCs have realized that they need to capitalize on this trend, which is why many traditional VCs have set up “opportunity” funds that sit alongside their core funds as a means of capturing more private-market (pre IPO) value. Of course strongest industry players don’t stand still.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

VC’s in early rounds will argue that “participation&# is simply downside protection and if you sell for a lower price they should get more of the proceeds. Privately some early-stage VC’s talk about participation helping them to “juice their returns&# on smaller exits. This is a shame.

Valuation 405

Valuation Liquidation Preference Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 405

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

They want to lock in future clients at an early stage. For a very small fee they can get your Delaware C corp registration, make sure that you have IP protection and ensure you didn’t make an early bumbling mistakes that you’ll pay for dearly in the next 7-10 years of hard work. Our lives are intertwined.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 22, 2014

I''ve funded or committed to a few dozen seed companies in the last few years and worked for First Round Capital and Union Square Ventures--two of the best early stage firms on the planet. Others talked as if they were the ones doing the deals--even though they''re just the ones making the cap tables in Excel.

Venture Capital 140

Venture Capital Cap Table Startup Early Stage 140

View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

I spent time talking to many mentors and friends, investors and founders alike, about what drives them, what makes an effective partnership, the evolution of early-stage investing, and what’s possible for the future of our industry.

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Semil asserts, Seed-stage valuations have generally been left-unchanged, and I could argue even they’ve gone up since the beginning of 2022. Early-stage is perhaps a more attractive stage to deploy smaller dollars these days – a friend remarked everyone wants to gamble, but no one wants to sit at the whale tables just yet.

Cap Table 93

Cap Table Valuation Salary Seed Stage 93

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

However, at the very early stage, they are taking as much risk with their future as the founders. Cap tables sound intimidating. In exchange, the engineer is likely offered the promise that his or her option shares will one day turn into big money. Engineer #1?

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 28, 2021

And for the most part, the same is true about our cap table. No institutional debt like a messy cap table, legacy people issues, leases for offices we don’t want or need any more. First, I am working with a hand-picked group of people. More friction-free or at least low-friction work.

Cap Table 62

Cap Table Early Stage Cofounder Leadership 62

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

In venture capital in particular, early-stage companies are often operating in frontier industries, where the rules are unpredictable and conventional analytic frameworks may be misleading. The Pocket Negotiator is very early-stage attempt to aid in the negotiating process itself. . Accompany focuses on this use case.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Early stage startups have to survive one day at a time and are often presented with limited choices of the moment that enable them to continue. At early stages you probably don’t have an assembly line and can’t clearly define any particular job. Your Cap Table is something that deserves constant care and attention.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

This change means that virtually any individual, not just the wealthy, will have opportunities to make equity investments in early stage companies. That suggests, potentially, more early stage capital for entrepreneurs. As a VC and angel investor, I believe deeply in entrepreneurs. Timeframes are defined and short.

Equity 100

Equity United Kingdom Cap Table Oklahoma 100

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

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. That way, startups only have one entity in the cap table, which simplifies documentation and structure.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 21, 2018

When they’re at seed stage, we’re deferring to the founders’ decisions but also trying to help them understand the challenges associated with a hard pivot if their cap table isn’t supportive of the direction. My opinion? Startups are really hard. We’re prepared to take the risk and redeploy. .

Founder 96

Founder Cap Table Seed Stage Cofounder 96

Haystack

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

I can’t afford — workwise or simply emotionally — to have a CEO I work with getting advice from 25 people all the time, because I now know from investment experience what happens in those situations: The noise of the cap table drowns out the signal from reality.].

Cap Table 110

Cap Table Marketing Early Stage Founder 110

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

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.). It is less about actual money and more about structure of your Cap Table. My personal definition?

Cap Table 399

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Finance 399

Haystack

AUGUST 18, 2019

Back in 2017, Fred Wilson noted the strategic importance of the seed stage , writing: Seed is really hard. You lose influence as larger investors come into the cap table and start throwing their weight around. You lose way more than you win. You wait the longest for liquidity. It is where most people start out.

Seed Stage 108

Seed Stage Cap Table Early Stage Malaysia 108

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

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.). It is less about actual money and more about structure of your Cap Table. Invested Interests cap table venture capital'

Cap Table 136

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Non-Compete 136

venturehacks.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

One thing I’d recommend about the dating period is if you’re looking for a co-founder for an existing concept of an early stage product, present their participation as a “trial&# before extending an offer. How to build your core team for early-stage startup? Trying it out for a bit is really important.

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 101

Haystack

OCTOBER 2, 2019

Those of us in the early-stage tech ecosystem by now well know that saying “there are a LOT of seed and new startups” is a gross understatement. Doing them online removes the critical in-person touch that’s required (in my opinion) to assess at the early stages. 5/ Who Is On The Hook?

Deal Flow 106

Deal Flow Cap Table Early Stage Institutional Investors 106

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

My experience with early valuations by founders for friends… I’ve arrived at a significant number of companies that were looking for additional growth capital after a “friends and family” round and had to “clean up” the cap table more than a few times over the years.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

View from Seed

MAY 29, 2019

But taken to the extreme, you would have rounds with only one lead and almost no one else on the cap table. At the early stages of building a company, it is tremendously helpful to tap into a broad support network outside of your immediate circle.

Syndicate 267

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Cap Table 267

OnlyOnce

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

worked as advisors and mentors to numerous early stage founders and startups. The middle” consists of venture-backed companies that are neither early stage nor mature. The roots of Bolster Prime and Bolster Ventures pre-date the founding of Bolster. What about the middle? Come take a look and see what’s in it for you.

Silicon Valley 62

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cap Table Early Stage 62

David Teten

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Some firms provide tools to do this online, e.g., Capital ’s Cost of Equity estimator ; Lighter Capital’s Cost of Capital Calculator ; 645 Ventures’ cap table simulator. A similar, open-source, highly visual tool focused on VC is Venture Dealr. Major options include: Traditional equity venture capital and private equity.

SBIC 60

SBIC SBA Cap Table Database 60

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

Besides, there were a limited number of places where I could do my job in venture capital anyway—and while I might be a go to for a pitch from super early stage pre-seed and seed founders looking for quick answers and decisive term sheets in New York City, the reality is that I would be pretty far down the list in the Valley.

Ukraine 128

Ukraine Russia Cap Table New York City 128

NZ Entrepreneur

JUNE 21, 2022

From how to develop your idea, to customer validation, investment, communication & marketing, governance, cap tables, due diligence, sales, are just some of the areas that as a founder you will need to navigate. They will work with you to understand your business and assign you a mentor with experience in your area.

Founder 88

Founder Cap Table Cofounder New Zealand 88

Genuine VC

MAY 20, 2013

VCs who swear publicly that they’ll never make an investment with less than 20% ownership show up on cap tables in the teens… the 20% pronouncements are just posturing for negotiation. Entrepreneurs should remember that while these targets are real, they’re just that – targets.

Venture Capital 244

Venture Capital Cap Table Portfolio Early Stage 244