YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

by Jason Mendelson and Brad Feld, co-authors of “ Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist “ So, you’ve got a brilliant idea and you’re ready to launch a company. This is a one- to three-page description of your idea, product, team, and business. You’re passionate and ready to act!

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence 100

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

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). Yes… he was a very successful PayPal exec and previously co-founder & VP Product of SocialNet.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

Version One Ventures

JULY 20, 2017

million seed round, we’re looking back at our journey with founders Mike Murchison and David Hariri. Intrigued, Boris reached out to Mike Murchison and learned that he and his co-founder David Hariri were building a social network to help others solves problems online. . By the summer of 2016, Volley was now Ada.

Artificial Inteligence 151

Artificial Inteligence Silicon Valley Stealth Term Sheet 151

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

What is it, and how should founders think about it? note: We’d like to be extra clear that founders should not take on venture debt if they don’t have 100% visibility into repaying the loan, as banks that need to recoup their loan my force the company or you as the guarantor into liquidation or bankruptcy.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

Another called Parker Harris, the co-founder and CTO. My blog linked to Brad Feld’s blog because I was so grateful for his series on term sheets and he was one of the biggest reasons that as a VC I felt compelled to blog. We started building the product 18 months ago so we are in better shape than 99% of start-ups.

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. Alternative Capital. “

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 13, 2021

However, too many people approach it by just copying what it seems like everyone else is doing without taking a hard look at what your actual goals are and really learning how to go about the job of Founder and CEO. I’m actively funding company builders in NYC —13 deals (11 led), plus three term sheets out in the last year.

Startup 145

Startup Term Sheet Differentiation Cofounder 145

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

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

The sponsoring partner will be given feedback on what some partners don’t like about the team, the market, the product, the competition or the deal terms and that partner may have to answer back on those topics at the next partner meeting or maybe even just later that day (depending on time sensitivity of the deal).

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Detroit Early Stage Partner 150

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, 8 have been pre-product or pre-seed style rounds. And by early, we mean pre-traction.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Note to self, this event is not for alpha products with no customers. Use the 10-5-3-1 formula for raising money: Have 10 great meetings with investors, 5 of those do detailed due diligience on your company, get 3 term sheets, and 1 transfer into your bank account! Presenter: Jennifer Bonnett (Founder & CEO, Nexpense).

CTO Hire 49

CTO Hire Cofounder Fractional CTO San Francisco 49

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Note to self, this event is not for alpha products with no customers. Use the 10-5-3-1 formula for raising money: Have 10 great meetings with investors, 5 of those do detailed due diligience on your company, get 3 term sheets, and 1 transfer into your bank account! Presenter: Jennifer Bonnett (Founder & CEO, Nexpense).

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Cofounder Fractional CTO San Francisco 40

K9 Ventures

APRIL 14, 2020

My inclination was that “this is a team of scrappy founders, and I like how they think.”. Several months ago I was having a conversation with my friend and former co-worker @ HiHello, Leith Abdulla , about how I am frustrated with Slack and want a tool that removes the friction for communication with the remote team.

Cofounder 127

Cofounder Venture Capital Guerilla India 127

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 28, 2016

In addition to fixing some lingering errors, lousy grammar, and poor word choices, we founder a few more places to insert Oxford commas so Amy and Ryan would be happy. There are two new forewords – one from Fred Wilson at USV (the VC perspective) and one from James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit (the entrepreneur perspective).

Term Sheet 70

Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital Equity 70

Up and Running

MAY 18, 2016

The Business Model Generation was co-created by 470 Business Model Canvas practitioners from 45 countries. Lean Customer Development: Building Products Your Customers Will Buy. Before you develop and build a product, you have to know your customers, and you have to address their pain points. B y Cindy Alvarez.

Startup 80

Startup Venture Capital Angel Investor Lean 80

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 17, 2020

Here's my conversation with the founders of Revolution Foods. I'm the co founder and Chief Impact Officer at Revolution Foods. I'm the co-founder and CEO of Revolution Foods. I co-founded Revolution Foods with Kirsten Tobey in 2006 to ensure quality food access for all children across the nation.

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Security Founder Entrepreneur 60

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 27, 2017

Founders don't start companies so they can spend half their time asking people for money and VCs don't love the dance either. It's fine if you want to learn about blockchain or you never do pre-product and maybe the founder will oblige your curiosity at some point, but right now, they need cash, so don't waste their time if chances are 0%.

Due Diligence 136

Due Diligence Term Sheet Cofounder Founder 136

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

Previously she was Co-Founder and CEO of SNAZZ, a cloud-based event management platform. What are some of the unique benefits and constraints from the point of view of a founder? . However, founders shouldn’t take money from corporate VCs because of an exit expectation. Some corporate VCs even have seed funds.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

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. But what about once you have a term sheet? You’d be surprised how many ex-founders and ex-CEO’s you can find this way.

Term Sheet 298

Term Sheet Venture Capital Stealth Cofounder 298

View from Seed

AUGUST 12, 2015

I loved the founder but was struggling because this just didn’t seem “big enough” to me. Today, Lumos Labs is better known by their product’s name, Lumosity.com, which is used by more than 70M worldwide. Similarly, I remember years ago when I was looking at the series A investment in a company called Lumos Labs.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Marketing Angel Investor Term Sheet 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 12, 2015

I loved the founder but was struggling because this just didn’t seem “big enough” to me. Today, Lumos Labs is better known by their product’s name, Lumosity.com, which is used by more than 70M worldwide. Similarly, I remember years ago when I was looking at the series A investment in a company called Lumos Labs.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Marketing Angel Investor Term Sheet 120

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

Sakti3 Founder Sastry to Step Down From U-M. Co-Founder and CEO, Wetpaint. Founder, DEKA Research and Development Corporation. So Coats and Kienzle set up Correlation to be a co-investor, not take board seats, and invest quickly—making it easier for lead investors and companies to quickly put a round together.

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

There were regular events where experts talked about: fund raising, term sheets, constructing a team, product development, establishing biz dev partners, M&A, dealing with the press, etc. He previously co-founded Charlie , a Los Angeles based media company and interactive agency. So What is Different for Class Three?

Los Angeles 287

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Incubator Startup 287

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 4, 2016

Glowforge has a product that uses lasers to perform the subtractive process. As a result, it took Formlabs longer to get their product into the market. By the end of 2015, Formlabs shipped their Form 2 printer, which is a spectacular product. Instead of an additive process, Glowforge uses a subtractive process to create objects.

Finance 70

Finance Term Sheet Cofounder Boston 70

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 9, 2017

Jud Valeski, the co-founder of Gnip, wrote a great one a few days ago. “This conflict between your product and the publisher, is real, and it can make or break you. While in the midst of the start of our initial term sheet negotiations with GNIP, my team was moved under a new executive.

Term Sheet 70

Term Sheet Cofounder Revenue Partner 70

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

One of the highlights of my trip was a startup dinner which included Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of 37signals. Pivoting - Chris Dixon , June 14, 2010 My Hunch cofounders and I frequently ask ourselves: “If we were to start over today, would we build our product the same way we had so far? Now I have.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

A first order filter is whether the founders are aiming for a scalable startup. Staring at us in the board meeting were three term-sheets from brand name VC’s and an unexpected buy-out offer from Google. The question was: what did the founders want to do? They wanted to build an industry not just a product or a company.

Hockey Stick 276

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 276

ReadWriteStart

MAY 8, 2012

Gina Mancuso , Founder and CEO of LoveThatFit. Like most first-time entrepreneurs, we were so excited by our first term sheet — and scared we wouldn’t get another — that we came very close to accepting it, even though the investors weren’t the best fit. Avichal Garg , Co-Founder and CEO of Spool.

Cofounder 140

Cofounder Startup San Francisco Silicon Valley 140

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

Second, more damning is the “signaling problem.&# This means that if a VC invests in your seed round and does not participate in a future round the next round investor will think to himself, “well, if Big VC Co. We used the Y Combinator open source term sheet. That founder wasn’t one of your angels.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

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. Make a concerted effort to meet them.

Venture Capital 109

Venture Capital Term Sheet Angel Investor Due Diligence 109

Hunter Walker

APRIL 27, 2014

We brief our major investors quarterly and decided to model our LP meeting after what “big funds” do, albeit with a few Homebrew flourishes :) Logistically this meant an afternoon session with presentations/Q&A then a dinner with founders/advisors. We love our founders. 2) Product Market Fit & Our Roadmap.

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

Spencer Fry

DECEMBER 7, 2011

One day you're on the top of the world — you've hired the person you dreamed about, you received your first term sheet, you pocketed your first revenue, etc. — You NEED a Co-Founder to Offload Stress. I use to think that after having co-founded two successful startups I wouldn't need a co-founder for my next one.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Startup Term Sheet IPO 78

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 17, 2012

I got a term sheet out less than 100 days into the job and was lucky enough to get to work with my friend Rob May as a Board Member for my first investment, Backupify. It has always been of critical importance to be able to sit across the table from an entrepreneur and believe in my product. The Brooklyn ecosystem.

New York City 120

New York City New York Venture Capital Term Sheet 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Every year I teach classrooms full of students who leave class understanding the basics of how to search for product/market fit—and thinking their next goal is to “get funded.”. You (think) you have product-market fit with real customers and real revenue and need money to grow and expand. That’s a mistake.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

If a company has reached a level of success, has been around for a few years and you believe the company has potential to break out into a much bigger company then you should let the founders take money off of the table. Founders however are asked to take low salaries and never really get back the time they worked for free.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

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. Like many first time founders, I ran over that landmine. It’s not like after completing the class I was prepared to negotiate a term sheet.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69