Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

Many VCs will have a distribution curve where they’ll do a small number of early-stage deals (say $1.5–3 3 million invested at a $6–10m pre-money), a larger number of “down the fairway” deals ($4–5 million at a $15–25 million pre) and a few later-stage deals (say $8–10 million at a $30–40 million pre).Of

Valuation 324

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

Many aspiring entrepreneurs jump ship from corporate environments, complaining that they want to be their own boss, only to find that investors are more demanding bosses than the ones they left. Investors expect nothing less than a full-time commitment, even in the early stages when the business model has not yet been proven.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Exit Strategy 120

Rob Go

AUGUST 29, 2016

When I first started out as a VC nearly 9 years ago, most early stage company valuations were expressed as pre-money valuations. Today, nearly all early stage term sheets I see are expressed as post-money valuations. In the old world, this additional dilution would end up being shared, since the pre-money was fixed.

Post-Money Valuation 52

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Term Sheet 52

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. VI: Revenue-based financing: The next step for private equity and early-stage investment. His work on VC and small communities can be found at greatercolorado.vc/blog. II: Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs?

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

rapidrollout.wordpress.com

JANUARY 15, 2011

He or she might call himself a “consulting CTO,&# “freelance CTO,&# “on-demand CTO,&# “CTO on call,&# “CTO for hire,&# or just a “technology strategy advisor.&# Also, working with a consulting CTO will prepare you for finding and selecting a permanent technology partner.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE 40

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. 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. And then there is GRP Partners.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.). Entrepreneurs started demanding that VCs call their first-round financings “seed” rounds even if they were $3 million.

Cap Table 136

Cap Table Silicon Valley Term Sheet Non-Compete 136

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2023

Angels are more likely to fund new entrepreneurs, and early-stage or seed rounds, while VCs tend to focus on entrepreneurs with a successful track record, and later stage rounds. VCs tend to demand more control of your spending and strategic decisions, with required board seats and lower valuations.

Angel Investor 246

Angel Investor IRR Venture Capital Valuation 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2020

Angels are more likely to fund new entrepreneurs, and early-stage or seed rounds, while VCs tend to focus on entrepreneurs with a successful track record, and later stage rounds. VCs tend to demand more control of your spending and strategic decisions, with required board seats and lower valuations.

Angel Investor 314

Angel Investor Entrepreneur IRR Valuation 314

The Next Web

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Here’s the problem: this opportunity doesn’t exist for early-stage startups, because, by definition, they have no users or customers. Worrying about “scale” in the early days of your startup is simply a bad investment. And consider this: when your company is three people (e.g.

Cofounder 155

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 155

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

A lawyer I asked about it said: When the company goes public, the SEC will carefully study all prior issuances of stock by the company and demand that it take immediate action to cure any past violations of securities laws. Whatkind of anti-dilution protection do they want? The problems are different in the early stages.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

Here’s the problem: Let’s say you have 5 VCs (plus angels but let’s ignore that for now) and each one owns 5% so you took 25% dilution to get the round done. Let’s say each of those 5 partners has at least 7 other investments each. The most common case is that the partner who did the deal left the firm.

Dilution 314

Dilution Cap Table Due Diligence Option Pool 314

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2014

Angels are more likely to fund new entrepreneurs, and early-stage or seed rounds, while VCs tend to focus on entrepreneurs with a successful track record, and later stage rounds. VCs tend to demand more control of your spending and strategic decisions, with required board seats and lower valuations.

Angel Investor 266

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Venture Capital IRR 266

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Additionally, as Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman points out, competition from the big companies isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “If All of these early-stage companies, you’re taking a risk on a bet; a bet of a future market, a bet on what demand will look like, a bet on how this will evolve.

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Additionally, as Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman points out, competition from the big companies isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “If All of these early-stage companies, you’re taking a risk on a bet; a bet of a future market, a bet on what demand will look like, a bet on how this will evolve.

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

What is the best advice you can give for finding a business partner? Don’t quickly choose any business partner. The key is to ask the right people what they think – not your friends, parents or partner. When it comes to early stage investing – it’s all gut. Especially if you need to quickly choose someone.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

by John Vrionis, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. As a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, what gets me up in the morning is the work I do serving and coaching young entrepreneurs. They give up balance, which leads to dilution of focus, in favor of an “all in” and committed attack.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Dilution Chicago Partner 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2016

Angels are more likely to fund new entrepreneurs, and early-stage or seed rounds, while VCs tend to focus on entrepreneurs with a successful track record, and later stage rounds. VCs tend to demand more control of your spending and strategic decisions, with required board seats and lower valuations.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor IRR Valuation Startup 120

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

All Unicorn participants — founders, company employees, venture investors and their limited partners (LPs) — are seeing their fortunes put at risk from the very nature of the Unicorn phenomenon itself. Never in the history of venture capital have early stage startups had access to so much capital. LIMITED PARTNERS (LPS).

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

A startup is all about "execution" - meaning the equity should be allocated based on the value that each partner brings to the table in each of these dominant variables: Experience running a startup business. The next big challenge for a multi-partner startup is the allocation of roles. Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO?

Intellectual Property 252

Intellectual Property Equity Cofounder CTO Hire 252

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

A startup is all about "execution" - meaning the equity should be allocated based on the value that each partner brings to the table in each of these dominant variables: Experience running a startup business. The next big challenge for a multi-partner startup is the allocation of roles. Who will be the CEO, CFO, and CTO?

Equity 228

Equity Intellectual Property Cofounder CTO Hire 228

Ben's Blog

MAY 24, 2021

Editor’s Note: This testimony was delivered by a16z managing partner Scott Kupor to the U.S. By way of background, I am the Managing Partner for Andreessen Horowitz, a $16.5 billion multi-stage venture capital firm focused on IT-related investments… I also serve on various investment committees, including for the St.

SEC 36

SEC Accredited Investor IPO Technical Review 36