Rob Go

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

I was chatting with Nick Chirls from Betaworks recently and we talked a bit about Angelist syndicates and the incentives surrounding it. Betaworks was one of the first investors to use Syndicates on the platform in their investment with Estimote (a really cool company, BTW). Almost no early stage funds have deal-by-deal carry.

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Syndicate Syndication Early Stage Portfolio 68

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

Especially in the early stages, so much about the company may change in how they think about product or go-to-market — and change multiple times — before raising an institutional round. If they can’t, then we want to know more about the existing investor syndicate, so we’re not the only ones at the table.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

I have seen this criticism at various places where this recap is syndicated on a weekly basis, as well as in certain random forums on the internet. Well, I have coached early stage entrepreneurs for a couple of years now - diligently, patiently - and have learned a few things.

Silicon Valley 114

Silicon Valley Technical Review Startup Early Stage 114

Rob Go

OCTOBER 1, 2013

Which is why I’m pretty psyched about Angelist syndicates, especially in relation to the Boston startup community. It’s a pretty high bar for most people to be putting $500K – $1M to work in early stage startups each year. Enter Angelist Syndicates.

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Syndicate Syndication Boston Community 64

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Asking for early-stage money before you have customers and revenue will likely kill your credibility with real investors. Yet, knowing this distinction is important.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Seed investors are aplenty and of course they need downstream money to fuel their early-stage bets. I told my friend that I felt that in 2014 too many new VCs feel the pressure to chase deals, to be a part of syndicates with other brand names and to pounce on top of every startup whose numbers are trending up quickly.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

View from Seed

AUGUST 20, 2014

Definition: This is the case when a large VC (i.e. Definition: This is a case where two large VCs partner to take a significant portion of the round together, often leaving only a small piece for value added angels or seed investors. Lots of credibility, even at a very early stage. The One-VC-Led Seed.

Startup 301

Startup Syndicate Syndication Boston 301

View from Seed

JANUARY 26, 2016

For now, it’s fine to think about pre-seed rounds as relatively small ($750K or less), early (pre-product), and typically followed by a larger round within 12 months ($1M – $3M). This is actually an imperfect definition, but let me first talk about why these are happening in the first place.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Cofounder Finance 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

A better approach is to first understand who these people are, why and how they invest, and then focus on the ones who are the best match for your particular startup stage, location and industry. By definition, angels are accredited investors, who invest their own money for a percentage of the business.

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Angel Investor Accredited Investor Venture Capital Startup 120

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

By definition, all entrepreneurs should think that their endeavor is truly exceptional and above average. But, also by definition, that just can’t be the case. Building a startup and currently in the seed stage? Follow us on Twitter and tweet your questions about early-stage fundraising and entrepreneurship to @NextViewVC.

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Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

So if a VC wants to work with really talented early-stage entrepreneurs there are times where they have to be willing to seed fund them in order to be in the deal. A very well known early stage fund used to have a rule that they didn’t do follow ons. Bandwidth and hosting charges were expensive.

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Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

View from Seed

JUNE 30, 2015

As a founder, I think it’s easier to talk to potential investors about where they invest across the lifecycle of a company (whether it’s truly early-stage/early lifecycle, for instance), versus round stages like seed, series A, etc. Almost all VCs actually invest across this spectrum.

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Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication Dilution 120

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

It had a good mix of viewpoints with east ( James Geshwiler, Common Angels ) and west coast (yours truly) angels, early stage venture capitalist ( Jason Mendelson, Foundry Group ), and a couple of attorneys ( Dan Hansen and Mario Rosati ). It is obviously too late to dial-in to the call, but you can still order a CD of the session.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Rob Go

OCTOBER 21, 2013

By definition, this means that they will work harder to build conviction around an opportunity and move more slowly. These investors have come face to face with more companies that have failed or are struggling, especially in the wake of the series A crunch, so the problems with early stage companies are more salient than ever.

Seed Stage 53

Seed Stage Due Diligence Early Stage Syndicate 53

View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

There are a lot of options to expand your deal sourcing, like AngelList, syndicates, angel groups, etc. There is no sub-prime market in early-stage investing. Tell me at any point when I should make the intro, but definitely don’t feel any pressure for me to connect you unless you think you are ready.”

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

There are a lot of options to expand your deal sourcing, like AngelList, syndicates, angel groups, etc. There is no sub-prime market in early-stage investing. Tell me at any point when I should make the intro, but definitely don’t feel any pressure for me to connect you unless you think you are ready.”

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 120

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Furthermore, angel groups frequently syndicate (co-invest) with neighboring angel organizations in an effort to help fill round of investment for local companies and assist members in diversifying their portfolios with investments in nearby regions.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 2, 2010

Whether you buy this or not for public equities, the market for early stage private companies has always been wildly inefficient. For angel funding, my choice would definitely be AngelList. The theory states that all ifnormation is publicy available and it is not possible to earn returns above average on a risk-adjusted basis.

Angel Investor 28

Angel Investor Angel Groups San Jose Venture Capital 28

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

There are definitely some lessons in the story for entrepreneurs and angel investors, but before discussing, I thought Id share a bit about the early financing history for iControl. I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

If you’re working with an open source project, for example, it’s important that you have a definitive business model to drive revenue — though not at the cost of alienating your community of core contributors. To that end, companies will offer enterprise-ready software that comes with additional features, services and support.

France 77

France Marketing Social Media Startup 77

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

No doubt early-stage companies can be started on a shoestring by low-paid entrepreneurs, but when financing a scalable, sustainable product, a free application server won’t make much of a difference. In fact, it’s barely even the beginning for most companies in their seed stage financings. All Rights Reserved. startupcto

Startup 79

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network 79

Austin Startup

AUGUST 1, 2017

TL;DR: In a market that has historically idolized huge, splashy financings and exits, an increasing number of entrepreneurs are realizing that everyone else’s definition of success — particularly among certain large VCs — isn’t necessarily aligned with their own.

Liquidation Preference 48

Liquidation Preference Common Stock Valuation Silicon Valley 48

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

So if youre going to sell cheap stockto eminent angels, do it early, when its natural for the companyto have a low valuation. Some angel investors join together in syndicates. Angels and even VC firms occasionally do this, but they alsoinvest at later stages. The problems are different in the early stages.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Hunter Walker

MAY 19, 2014

Anecdotally, over the last 3-6 months we’re definitely seeing more examples of larger early stage or multistage funds offer to do 80-100% of a company’s seed round. This theory is the most structural one suggested here and I tend to believe is influencing some early stage investment behaviors. (d)

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Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication Founder 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 18, 2015

Our late-stage, privately held technology market is clearly in a bubble. Here is the Wikipedia definition of a bubble. The definition of a bubble from Investopedia. And what many people don’t realize is that most syndicates get what is known as “deal-by-deal” carry. Markets are markets.

IPO 150

IPO Venture Capital LP SEC 150

mashable.com

OCTOBER 5, 2012

Naming can be one of the most difficult challenges in the early stages of a startup. Naming your startup is definitely a challenging process! Global Syndication Partners. But while many people have written about the topic, few have actually codified the process to help entrepreneurs succeed in the endeavor. Julia Cowher.

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Naming Startup Social Media RSS 84