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Founders Finding Funding From Friends May Be Fools

Startup Professionals Musings

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. Some founders are too focused on quick repayment, and they compromise strategic decisions.

Founder 254
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Want to Know How First Round Capital was Started?

Both Sides of the Table

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. The discussion with Howard Morgan starts off by acknowledging Josh Kopelman as a co-founder of First Round Capital. I'm a huge fan of this innovation.

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6 Keys To Managing Funding From People Close To You

Startup Professionals Musings

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. Some founders are too focused on quick repayment, and they compromise strategic decisions.

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The Damaging Psychology of Down Rounds

Both Sides of the Table

” In the article I discussed the downside of raising capital at a too high of a price and referred people to a previous article I had written encouraging founders to raise “ At the Top end of Normal ” as opposed to stratospheric prices. But in this case it works against the founders. ” (before fund raising).

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Lean Startups aren't Cheap Startups

Steve Blank

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.) The Customer Development Venture Pitch At this point I often hear entrepreneurs say, “We don’t have the money to scale. How do we raise the big bucks?”

Lean 244
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The Good The Bad And The Ugly Of Funding From Friends

Startup Professionals Musings

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. Some founders are too focused on quick repayment, and they compromise strategic decisions.

Cram Down 148
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Don’t Hurt Friends and Family Investors Who Love You

Startup Professionals Musings

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. Some founders are too focused on quick repayment, and they compromise strategic decisions.

Cram Down 230