View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Of the last 15 investments we’ve made, we’ve been the lead or co-lead investor over 80% of the time. .

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

There’s been a lot of digital ink spilled around the various types of capital available to startups today. What is it, and how should founders think about it? As a startup grows, venture debt becomes a viable option to continue that growth. You’ll also see some startups use it as an additional cushion.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. This also appears as a guest post at Fortune’s Term Sheet. 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). How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. May 26, 2011.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. I had really positive experiences such as working with Greg Gretsch at Sigma Partners where he championed us to a partners’ meeting where we sort of got crucified.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 5, 2014

Managing short-term tactical outcomes with longer term relationship cultivation. Meeting new founders while collaborating, recruiting, analyzing, doing whatever it takes, to help our current founders build strong companies. Doing what excites me and gives energy. 1) Evaluate New Opportunities.

Software Review 103

Software Review Balance Sheet Cofounder Technical Review 103

Austin Startup

JULY 22, 2021

On October 4th, five technology startup finalists will pitch to a panel of advisors and judges made up of successful investors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders. Any software, hardware, or CPG startup in Texas with a female founder or co-founder can apply to participate. Startups, submit your application now!

San Antonio 107

San Antonio Dallas Houston Founder 107

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Of the last 15 investments we’ve made, we’ve been the lead or co-lead investor over 80% of the time. .

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Launchpad LA today announces it will accept applications for its third class of Los Angeles-based tech startups. To give visibility to these companies to: Sources of funding (angels / VCs), business development partners, mentors who have themselves built successful companies, the press and potential employees to hire.

Los Angeles 287

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Incubator Startup 287

OnlyOnce

APRIL 27, 2021

Last week, I blogged about Bolster’s Board Benchmark survey results , which really laid bare the lack of diversity on startup boards. My new mantra for Startup Boards is simple: 1-1-1. The conversation with your co-founder about only one founder/executive on the board. Seats don’t turn over often.

Vesting 48

Vesting Cofounder Startup Term Sheet 48

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

Oblong, led by Kwin Kramer, which houses more MIT grads per startup than probably any other in LA. So many had names of partners (Kleiner Perkins) or local favorite identifiers like trees (Sequoia). A quick survey of their portfolio tells you just how many high-profile startups have included them in their rounds. downtown LA].

Community 304

Community Los Angeles Startup Silicon Valley 304

Haystack

FEBRUARY 9, 2019

At the beginning of 2018, we almost invested in a startup with two strong founders. To make a long and private story short, on the morning I was about to call the founders to let them know I was in, they decided to amicably part ways. This is the story of how we invested in Fiddler Labs. I’m glad we did.

Artificial Inteligence 107

Artificial Inteligence Algorithm Term Sheet Cofounder 107

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

And they should be; the feeding frenzy in the innovation economy is in some cases because startups are eating the lunch of more established companies. Previously she was Co-Founder and CEO of SNAZZ, a cloud-based event management platform. However, founders shouldn’t take money from corporate VCs because of an exit expectation.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Agile VC

JANUARY 22, 2014

I thought I’d share a little of what makes us enthusiastic to partner with Ben, Derek, and their team to help them as they build their business. This was before we started NextView and at the time Ben was still building Zeo, the prior company he co-founded. I first met Ben about 5-6 years ago.

Term Sheet 173

Term Sheet Cofounder Mobile Cloud 173

View from Seed

MARCH 12, 2015

In a typical first meeting between a VC and team of co-founders, the investor typically ends up asking more questions than the founders. And of course, many individual VCs blog or have social media presences, so you can get a sense of what a particular partner is interested in or what themes they’ve concentrated on.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Cofounder SEC Portfolio 120

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet (by WSGR – disclaimer, I represent the Founders Institute and was involved in drafting this document). This post assumes that you have a basic understanding of Series A financing terms. Co-sale rights. Dividend preference. Voting agreement.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

Sakti3 Founder Sastry to Step Down From U-M. Startups ›. View More in Startups ›. Co-Founder and CEO, Wetpaint. Managing Director, Enterprise Partners. Founder, DEKA Research and Development Corporation. Subscribe for Free. Xconomy San Diego. Our Cities ▾ Boston ›. View More in Boston ›.

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

I recently wrote a blog post about why I believe that startup teams in close proximity perform better. I’m surprised how few people talk about valuations, term sheet terms, how much to pay recruiters, etc. Uh, I guess he won’t be co-sponsoring a technology lab in LA with me then?

San Francisco 285

San Francisco Incubator Silicon Valley Startup 285

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

I was recently speaking with some founders about their fund raising process. They had received a term sheet from a VC and were wondering whether to work with this firm. As in real life – those that rush into marriage often find out what their partner is really like after the fact. When the world was ending?

Term Sheet 298

Term Sheet Venture Capital Stealth Cofounder 298

ReadWriteStart

MAY 8, 2012

Approaching investors for the first time is a daunting exercise for any startup. The best way to do that is to leverage the hard-won experience of real-world startup. Turns out that while every startup is unique, they share some common difficulties in trying to find just the right strategies and tactics for funding their companies: 1.

Cofounder 140

Cofounder Startup San Francisco Silicon Valley 140

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 7, 2017

You know, the one where you advise the company “plan to take 2-3 months to get one or more term sheets and then another month to close.” The startups which took longer were mostly very solid businesses with quality teams. The startups which took longer were mostly very solid businesses with quality teams.

Term Sheet 70

Term Sheet Cofounder Lean Portfolio 70

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 17, 2020

As she recalls, "once we as a team and ecosystem of stakeholders got our plan together--and a big part of that was our incredible school partners, who said, 'We are going to feed as many kids and families as we can,'-- within a week, we were building at light speed what would be the next iteration of Revolution Foods and our feeding system."

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Security Founder Entrepreneur 60

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

As in real life – those that rush into marriage often find out what their partner is really like after the fact. But what about once you have a term sheet? How do you then reference check your VC to be sure that you’ve chosen a good firm and partner? When the world was ending? After Sept 11th? After Sept 08?

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Term Sheet Cofounder Partner 288

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 27, 2011

The post “ What I learned from raising venture capital ” by Gabriel Weinberg , the founder of DuckDuckGo is one of them. Choosing your VC essentially as choosing a co-founder. They will be there long term, have significant equity and help making strategic decisions. Get the right partner at the firm.

Venture Capital 109

Venture Capital Term Sheet Angel Investor Due Diligence 109

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 5, 2018

Entrepreneurs need to understand what’s involved – from what to consider when picking the right venture partner and how to think about the economic and control rights at stake, to what life will be like after the deal closes. That not only benefits them, but it benefits us as their partners and investors. Raising money is hard.

Venture Capital 77

Venture Capital Cofounder Video Partner 77

Hippoland

AUGUST 9, 2016

or “We want to co-lead if you find another co-lead!” Get a standard convertible note (or convertible security such as 500 Startups’ KISS A), and fill it out. However, once you get a term sheet from a potential lead investor, you have a lot of leverage. At this point, you need to move on. are not in your round.

Lead Investor 48

Lead Investor Term Sheet Due Diligence Convertible Security 48

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

First, if the VC does 15-20 of these under one partner then it is certain he can’t spend any time with these investments. We used the Y Combinator open source term sheet. We signed the term sheet within 48 hours and had funded in under 2 weeks. That founder wasn’t one of your angels.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

Hunter Walker

APRIL 27, 2014

I’ve written before about our fundraising process and how it very much resembles that of a startup. We founded Homebrew to be the type of fund we would have wanted to raise money from – early stage partner of conviction, leading financing rounds with great co-investors, leaning in to actually help when you need it.

LP 97

LP Cofounder Term Sheet Valuation 97

Reid Hoffman

DECEMBER 15, 2020

In this essay, which is based on a Greymatter podcast episode I recorded with my Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh, I discuss why it’s so lonely to be an entrepreneur, how I dealt with this challenge through both success (LinkedIn) and failure (SocialNet), and how entrepreneurs can find allies and aid in their struggle against loneliness.

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Restful Silicon Valley Term Sheet 69

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Startups in NextView’s portfolio frequently receive inbound interest from other VC investors who are intrigued about what they’re doing, and I often talk with other early-stage entrepreneurs how to approach similar situations. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley 100

BeyondVC

OCTOBER 13, 2004

I was speaking with a friend of mine today who mentioned that his term sheet for his Series A round fell through. To make a long story short, one of the co-founders of the company built the company’s software in his spare time. The more prepared you are the more impressed the VC is and the quicker the deal closes.

Software Review 60

Software Review Intellectual Property IP Due Diligence 60

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. The reality today is that capital is more available than ever and entrepreneurs have become more sophisticated, so founders are looking for more than just cash from their venture backers.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 23, 2015

.” I was told this several times about becoming a parent but the same can be true about the life of a founder. Although the way we spend our days are different than the teams we’ve backed, Homebrew started in Jan 2013 with the goal of feeling like a startup, just one which writes checks instead of code.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Term Sheet Metrics .Net 48

Eric Friedman

AUGUST 18, 2021

Dan is the co-founder of Standard Treasury, a Y Combinator backed company. He is also co-founder and Managing Partner of Deciens Capital, an early stage investment fund. I hope you take this as a term of endearment. Fred Ehrsam , his co-founder, is also incredible. On Sushi and VC.

Silicon Valley 88

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Africa 88

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

But in business, you want a lot of partners. To learn more about this space, I suggest join an online community I co-founded, PEVCTech. . In the private equity universe, most Partners have primary training as deal-makers, not as managers. See Bessemer Venture Partners’ A comprehensive guide to security for startups.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

We had many term sheets (it was 1999 and we had a pulse) and we were deciding which one to take. We were trying to optimize around a few criteria: price, size of round, number of syndicate partners and, of course, terms. We ended up agreeing a term sheet for $16.5 I was resolute. You never know.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

As I discussed last week in the Greymatter podcast with my friend and Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh , I believe that a knowledge of philosophy is actually a great asset for entrepreneurs. Greylock Partners · Reid Hoffman | Philosopher Versus MBA. Nothing gets in the way of their pursuit of startup success.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69