View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

It occurred to me that although we mentioned our new thematic approach when we raised our last fund in 2017, we haven’t really shared a broader manifesto about how we are approaching the early stage market. It’s been an interesting several years in the early stage venture eco-system, and the sands have shifted considerably.

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

View from Seed

OCTOBER 16, 2019

Similarly, the best kind of deal flow for a VC is organic deal flow. Even if you are just meeting a founder for the first time, I think of deal flow as being organic when an intro is made by a founder that the investor trusts well before an active fundraise process has begun.

Deal Flow 45

Deal Flow Syndicate Syndication Cofounder 45

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

And early stage investing is about finding outliers, which requires some flexibility to stretch beyond your rules to test your beliefs without going too crazy. Early stage investing is much less efficient than you think, so trust yourself! Except… Spotify). There are a few things that don’t change.

Early Stage 120

Early Stage Florida Deal Flow Venture Capital 120

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

I spent my first year developing proprietary deal flow and learning the business and then the Sept 2008 / Lehman Bros collapse / financial meltdown happened. Working with early-stage teams : coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, rolling up sleeves: 9/10. I become a venture capitalist in September 2007 – exactly 6.5

Los Angeles 387

Los Angeles Intellectual Property LP Venture Capital 387

Gust

OCTOBER 29, 2014

For Gust, Digital.NYC represents a new paradigm for connecting the early-stage ecosystem. Our vision has always been to facilitate the connections between entrepreneurs and early stage investors. From our inception we have been perfecting this process from the perspective of deal flow.

Early Stage 133

Early Stage Technical Review New York Deal Flow 133

Version One Ventures

DECEMBER 18, 2018

Now as projects are developing, it is clear that blockchain technology is still in the early stages. US VC deal flow in healthcare hit an all-time high this year as we continue to refine our thesis on the space. Some say that we are in “crypto winter.” This helps encourage the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency ).

Technical Review 124

Technical Review North America Seattle Deal Flow 124

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

AngelList 101 : As you know, AngelList is a platform where angels can invest in semi-screened tech deals. It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. Social proof can be helpful. ” This is my guess, too.

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

For example, we created a pipeline management tool that automatically adds deals along with relevant information (such as attachments received) to our funnel. This tool serves to standardize & automate the process of collecting inbound deal flow. It seamlessly creates a deal folder (company name) in our Google Drive.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

For example, we created a pipeline management tool that automatically adds deals along with relevant information (such as attachments received) to our funnel. This tool serves to standardize & automate the process of collecting inbound deal flow. It seamlessly creates a deal folder (company name) in our Google Drive.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 14, 2018

At this year’s FUND Conference in Chicago, Illinois, over 100 startups presented their early-stage companies in front of hundreds of investors and industry leaders. FUND is a national connector of entrepreneurs, VCs, angel investors, and industry experts with a focus on deal flow and making connections.

Chad 111

Chad Illinois Nepal Haiti 111

David Teten

MAY 9, 2012

HBSAANY is comprised of New York City tri-state area Harvard alumni who are venture capitalists and other accredited investors investing in early-stage, private companies around the United States. The Marathon Foundation (TMF) is a business development network dedicated to entrepreneurial growth, access to capital and deal flow.

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital Programming Accredited Investor New York 154

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

The event presenter, FUND, is a national connector of entrepreneurs, VCs, angel investors, and industry experts with a focus on deal flow and making connections. The FUND Conference brings together over 100 startups to present their early-stage products and pitches in front of hundreds of investors and industry leaders.

Technical Review 153

Technical Review Software Review Illinois Due Diligence 153

Gust

FEBRUARY 22, 2014

As I’ve discussed elsewhere, Gust’s long-term goal is to serve as the infrastructure platform for the entire global, early stage finance industry. Instead, it is our eight years of indefatigable relationship and customer building with large segments of the world’s early stage finance industry.

Belarus 107

Belarus Kazakhstan Portugal Accredited Investor 107

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

Real Ventures , an early-stage, Canadian-based fund, runs a two-day Founder Camp every six months. A true industry luminary will help in deal flow & differentiation . These folks are rare, expensive, and often have multiple side obligations (book deals, speaking engagements, etc.). Disadvantages.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2021

The thesis is that before investing in an early-stage startup it is close to impossible to know which of the deals you did will break out to the upside. It’s therefore important to have enough deals in your program to allow for the 15–20% of amazing deals to emerge. Don’t rush to do deals.

Angel Investor 301

Angel Investor Deal Flow Portfolio Forecast 301

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

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

The key reason for the explosion in capital flowing into the industry, and therefore the large increase in practitioners, had nothing to do with 1970’s performance, early stage investing, or technology. Some were Silicon Valley early stage companies, such as Apple, Quantum, and Masstor Systems.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

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. Sebastian Soler recently launched Knowledge.vc , which uses software and machine learning to enhance deal sourcing and diligence for VC firms.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Haystack

JULY 4, 2019

Most folks who are not close to early-stage startups and new company formation would be surprised to discover that a high number of companies, after receiving funding from individuals or institutions, do not send updates to their investors. For me, I am pretty zen about this after six years of early-stage startup investment.

Early Stage 167

Early Stage Deal Flow Finance Metrics 167

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

It occurred to me that although we mentioned our new thematic approach when we raised our last fund in 2017, we haven’t really shared a broader manifesto about how we are approaching the early stage market. It’s been an interesting several years in the early stage venture eco-system, and the sands have shifted considerably.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

David Teten

DECEMBER 12, 2017

As a globally focused LP in early stage VC funds, we at Blue Future Partners have observed a growing trend of firms investing substantially in software tools, whether developing proprietary solutions or adopting off the shelf tools. What tools to VCs use to manage their deal flow and internal processes? Methodology.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Venture Capital 60

Haystack

JULY 15, 2018

Recently on this blog, I’ve been attempting to unpack how an investor can sort through deal flow and potential investment opportunities. After writing about “ the quick kill ” to discard of inbound flow, next I wrote about what actually captures my attention and graduates to a meeting.

Founder 60

Founder Syndicate Syndication Deal Flow 60

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 3, 2020

Are investors allowed to come into deals that the fund does side by side with the fund? This creates a source of deal flow for investors who aren’t out there full time creating opportunities. In fact, those deals are actually set up as mini-funds. Access to the partner.

Portfolio 134

Portfolio Syndicate Syndication Deal Flow 134

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

Deal Flow I often talk about how I think the best VCs “ play offense ,” by which I mean proactive go out and find a market segment or niche that they uniquely know, can uniquely serve or have some other natural advantage and go out and find deals you like. Deal flow and winning will drive change faster than any other outcome.

Founder 256

Founder San Francisco Deal Flow Los Angeles 256

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

The firm attracts deal flow by promising a decision (positive or negative) in under 2 weeks, with minimal paperwork and without repeating due diligence. Another example is Correlation Ventures ($300M+ AUM), a VC firm which co-invests in financings with at least one other new outside VC.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

thebarefootvc

JULY 3, 2017

Success in early stage investing is about spotting unique talent and collaborating with entrepreneurs to help grow their businesses, not a prescribed method of pattern recognition. This tends to reinforce the lack of diversity in deal flow. When I started my career, I never envisioned starting a fund.

LP 65

LP Technical Review Silicon Valley Limited Partner 65

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

It’s probably not too controversial to say that the median level of sophistication of early stage entrepreneurs in Los Angeles is lower than that of Bay Area. The top tier funds see almost all of the best deals. From my experience, it’s not necessarily about “quality,” but rather about “sophistication.”

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

Access to the best deal flow – I think the most obvious thing you need to be successful is access to the right deals in the first place. Their first call is often into one of the above or the many other successful early stage investors including Marc Andreessen, Jeff Clavier or Mike Maples. Are you sure?

Silicon Valley 306

Silicon Valley Deal Flow Angel Investor Cofounder 306

Haystack

AUGUST 18, 2019

4/ Orthogonal Competition – I recently tweeted about a new breed of early-stage technology investor that has its roots in public equities (hedge funds, long/short, etc.) Many of these new data-driven funds are hiring experienced VCs across early stages and building outposts in the Bay Area.

Seed Stage 108

Seed Stage Cap Table Early Stage Malaysia 108

Gust

AUGUST 27, 2014

Most are somewhere in between, focusing primarily on early-stage, high-growth companies with scalable business models. Benefits of joining a group include pooling deal flow, capital, domain expertise, and investing experience. Some are wide open, investing in everything from real estate to films.

Angel Investor 133

Angel Investor Accredited Investor Angel Groups Syndicate 133

Gust

APRIL 23, 2014

The result is that nearly $2 billion has been invested directly as primary investments into more companies than in total are traded on the NYSE and NASDAQ combined.

Angel Groups 127

Angel Groups Accredited Investor Private Equity Deal Flow 127

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2010

Part 1 – Access to Great Deal Flow – is here. Most people think that being a successful investor is about finding the right deals and nurturing the teams through the difficult times to come out with a great company. One of her early-stage investors, Jeff Clavier, played a very active role.

Silicon Valley 280

Silicon Valley Early Stage Portfolio Chad 280

Haystack

DECEMBER 27, 2018

It’s not popular to admit, but I believe there’s really no way for very early-stage investors to control what deals they ultimately see. Deal flow, then, is often a random walk.

Portfolio 118

Portfolio Syndicate Syndication Flash 118

David Teten

JUNE 1, 2011

I enjoyed participating in last week’s Capital Roundtable Private Equity Masterclass on “ Best Practices for Sourcing Quality Deal Flow & Developing New Business ” (May 26 th , 2011). High Road Capital Partners Deal Sourcing Keynote. Question : What portion of your deal flow is proprietary?

Private Equity 122

Private Equity Deal Flow Equity Developer 122

Gust

JANUARY 22, 2014

Gust is the infrastructure that underlies much of the professional world of early stage finance. Above is a screen shot I just took of my Gust investor dashboard.

Angel Investor 150

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor Early Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

Why VC’s who have “dial out&# programs to early-stage startups damage their reputation. - My blog and what it’s done for my deal flow. - . - Talked about the roles of partners, venture partners, associates and principals in a VC. - and much more.

Venture Capital 232

Venture Capital IPO Valuation Deal Flow 232

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 13, 2011

The investment analysts at CB Insights have released their quarterly report on venture capital activity, and in terms of deal-flow and funding levels, the news is good. According to the deals tracked by CB Insights, 738 deals were funded in the first quarter, with a total of some $7.5 billion in VC investment.

Illinois 124

Illinois Massachusetts Deal Flow California 124