View from Seed

JUNE 7, 2016

Founders who set up and lead effective board meetings from the very beginning stages of the business more quickly develop that crucial muscle memory. She wanted to receive feedback early and get into the practice in anticipation of later rounds and later-stage problems and opportunities.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Founder Seed Capital Institutional Investors 120

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Incubators and accelerators like Y-Combinator have institutionalized experiential training in best practices (product/market fit, pivots, agile development, etc.); A 20th century VC was likely to have an MBA or finance background. And in later stage rounds an explosion of corporate VCs and hedge funds now want in to the next unicorns.

Founder 274

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 274

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. I would say the norm for many early-stage companies is somewhere between 6-10 in-person meetings per year. In his spare time he raised nearly $30 million.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

In turn, this leads to the development of a thriving startup ecosystem which paves the way for technology and innovation. Drives development in technology. The constant innovation thus drives development in technology throughout the region. KPMG’s Venture Pulse Q3 2017 reported that the Asian market has raised $12.3

Venture Capital 196

Venture Capital Asia Artificial Inteligence Later Stage 196

David Teten

MAY 9, 2012

We are in the midst of two great disruptions to American business: the internet’s ongoing disruption of most traditional industries: finance, healthcare, retail, finance, fashion, etc. Founded in 1970, NAIC firms invest in venture (early stage/later stage) and private equity (growth/buyout/mezzanine/distressed/secondary funds).

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital Programming Accredited Investor New York 154

thebarefootvc

JANUARY 27, 2014

I think that later stage valuations are frothy (for reasons I explain below) while earlier stage valuations are starting to stabilize from previous highs (with the exception of the superstar serial entrepreneur) - turns out scaling in a sea of competition (both startup and entrenched) is not so easy. The answer is yes and yes.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Valuation Venture Capital Investment Bankers 63

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

David's firm most recently participated in the $77 million second round financing of SoFi, a one year old startup focusing on student loans. I suppose, more specifically, the bubble ended in the last two weeks of September--right after this financing. International and non-Valley startup communities are developing at a rapid pace.

Venture Capital 130

Venture Capital Marketing Term Sheet Software Review 130

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

The first post described how China built a science and technology infrastructure to support advanced weapons systems development. The second wave of technology investors were Chinese banks, who provided the majority of the later stage investments in the Torch Program. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital'

Venture Capital 276

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 276

VC Adventure

MARCH 17, 2022

With the markets down significantly, financings (at least at the later stages) slowing down, and inflation and interest rates on the rise, perhaps now is a good time to talk about your burn rate. Hopefully, you took advantage of the robust financing markets of the past few years to put some money on your balance sheet.

Balance Sheet 121

Balance Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Metrics 121

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 24, 2017

In general, these investments were rarely competitive at the time of their first financing. We know many firms that build portfolios with great logos by buying into companies at later stages and higher valuations. FC’s portfolio is made up exclusively of seed stage investments at seed valuations.

Founder 75

Founder LP Technical Review Seed Stage 75

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

The first post described how China built a science and technology infrastructure to support advanced weapons systems development. The second wave of technology investors were Chinese banks, who provided the majority of the later stage investments in the Torch Program. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital'

Venture Capital 168

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 168

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

This provides us more time to develop meaningful relationships with prospects and customers. Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. Tribe Capital has developed A Quantitative Approach to Product Market Fit. . 3) Raise capital.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Most of those companies will still require seed capital to assemble their team and fund a year or two of initial development and experiments. In short, token sales allow early stage companies to skip the series B round and beyond. A company that can successfully raise money in an ICO may never need venture capital again.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Most of those companies will still require seed capital to assemble their team and fund a year or two of initial development and experiments. In short, token sales allow early stage companies to skip the series B round and beyond. A company that can successfully raise money in an ICO may never need venture capital again.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 30, 2016

It’s important that we stay current in and debate others on what is actually happening: In late-stage financings, in IPOs, in M&A, in crowd funding, etc. There are some out-of-town, small, early-stage funds where we regularly look for inspiration and investment opportunities like K9 , Ludlow and SK Ventures and many others.

Community 150

Community Los Angeles LP Portfolio 150

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Like many established finance & media companies, GLG knows that the tech startup sector is a growing part of the economy. For example, if you’re an early stage company dealing with complex regulation (think Uber in transportation, Oscar in healthcare, LendingClub in finance), we have people who can help.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Ben's Blog

MAY 24, 2021

Third, the cumulative effect of these changes is a hollowing out of the broader US capital markets and a decline in corporate competition: the number of publicly listed companies in the US declined by 50% over the last 20 years, while other developed countries have experienced a 50% increase over the same time period.

SEC 36

SEC Accredited Investor IPO Technical Review 36

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 11, 2020

Rather, the point of the dashboards was to provide a comprehensive view that everyone could see, architect your work processes with those dashboards, and develop the kind of fine awareness that lets you see when a number is just wrong. I thought that was very smart, so I thought about it and developed it further.

Cofounder 36

Cofounder Leadership Metrics Later Stage 36

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 10, 2017

This post is intended to be a dynamic document, and I will attempt to update it from time to time with new questions that may arise or as financing trends evolve. Q: What amount of financing is considered Pre-Seed? It’s a legitimate stage of financing in the venture eco-system as of this writing (October 2017).

Seed Stage 82

Seed Stage Finance Later Stage Equity 82

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2010

What startup stage do they typically invest in? Do they “get&# Customer Development ? What Startup Stage Do they Invest In? Certain VC’s like the new class of Super-Angels and small VC funds specialize in the early stage of a startup where you are searching for a business model. Do They Get Customer Development?

Founder 232

Founder Vesting Later Stage Early Stage 232

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Some have done earlier-stage deals and done well. Others have chased earlier-stage but lack the skills or relationships to do this effectively. Some have moved into later stage investments in an effort to “put logos on their websites.&# These trends have put pressure on traditional VCs.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Software LP Early Stage 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2012

Generally, the same criteria applies to venture capital investors, although they invest other people’s money, at a later stage, in larger amounts. Such a business shouldn’t need a large investment to get started (no product to develop), and it probably won’t scale quickly (limited supply of experts). Restaurants and retail.

Angel Groups 237

Angel Groups Angel Investor Early Stage Startup 237

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2015

Between my experiences as a management consultant, as well as my product and marketing roles at multiple tech companies, I felt that I had enough operational experience to make that leap sooner than later. Additionally, I had already studied Economics and Finance during undergrad, making the academic part of an MBA seem a little redundant.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor eCommerce 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

VC Financings: 1. The investment will be used for product development initiatives. You also might enjoy hearing him talk about his background – including the fact that he was actually the executive assistant for Condoleezza Rice during one of the more historic and controversial periods of time in recent history!

Venture Capital 270

Venture Capital Cofounder Spain San Diego 270

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 14, 2019

In this environment of constant change—both in personnel and organizational structure—you need to develop a coherent culture the organization and its members can rely on to help guide their actions. Can code 10x faster than the average developer? You don’t want to prematurely hire people who are best-suited to the later stages.

Silicon Valley 28

Silicon Valley Early Stage Hiring Employee 28

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

Early Stage Investment (Series A & B) 4. Later Stage Investment (Series C, D, and so on) 5. Mezzanine Financing Most companies that raise equity capital and are eventually acquired or go public receive multiple rounds of financing first. Series B is the round that follows series A in early stage financing.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

Much of the VC blogosphere commentary about startups covers venture and angel financing with advice focused on company founders. The first decision, and the most critical decision, of what type of startup to join is based on the current stage of the company. And that derisking is only for 12 +/- 6 months.

Startup 241

Startup Later Stage Angel Financing Seed Stage 241

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2011

Generally, the same criteria applies to venture capital investors, although they invest other people’s money, at a later stage, in larger amounts. Such a business shouldn’t need a large investment to get started (no product to develop), and it probably won’t scale quickly (limited supply of experts). Restaurants and retail.

Angel Investor 217

Angel Investor Angel Groups Early Stage Startup 217

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 20, 2018

Later stage capital markets seem to be more willing to pile into perceived “winners” so the Series A VC can draw a path to where the next few rounds will come from. Founders benefit from having a financing partner who will write more than one check into the seed phase when necessary or desired.

Forecast 108

Forecast Early Stage Dilution Later Stage 108

Gust

JULY 1, 2012

Generally, the same criteria applies to venture capital investors, although they invest other people’s money, at a later stage, in larger amounts. Such a business shouldn’t need a large investment to get started (no product to develop), and it probably won’t scale quickly (limited supply of experts). Restaurants and retail.

Angel Groups 143

Angel Groups Angel Investor Early Stage Startup 143

Version One Ventures

MAY 22, 2018

Some of the best later-stage investors walk founders through an institutionalized “reverse” pitch. Are you looking for help and expertise in hiring, product strategy, customer development, fundraising, coaching, therapy, etc.? Lastly, dig down into how an investor behaved during new financing rounds or during exits.

Cap Table 60

Cap Table Cofounder Syndicate Syndication 60

Austin Startup

JUNE 26, 2019

That’s all every person does until a life-changing application is developed that addresses their problem.) (We once had an investor say, “won’t women just figure it out?” Of course we will. That’s all we do all day long. Or, I’d recommend consumer-facing founders start networking with the Angel groups in Silicon Valley immediately.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup B2C Sweat Equity 54

Small Business Force

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

In early stage companies (and even some later stage or mature ones), there is no one area where most entrepreneurs and small business owners are lacking in just basic fundamentals, than in dealing with their company's finances and financial management.

Finance 37

Finance Management Forecast Entrepreneur 37

Up and Running

JANUARY 30, 2014

My partner is a full-time developer and math teacher, and I’m an engineer. Accelerators focus on early-stage startups, while incubators are geared toward later-stage startups. Some accelerators have themes or focus on certain business sectors such as education, healthcare, or finance. Accelators.

Incubator 105

Incubator New York City Venture Capital Startup 105

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

While larger funds are interested in these companies at later stages of development, the resources it takes to cover the international markets at seed stage is likely not one they want to make. Lee Jacobs is one example of a Syndicate lead who is sourcing deals from South America. 2) The Bundled Expertise Syndicate.

Syndicate 98

Syndicate Syndication South America Seed Stage 98

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2010

Generally, the same criteria applies to venture capital investors, although they invest other people’s money, at a later stage, in larger amounts. Such a business shouldn’t need a large investment to get started (no product to develop), and it probably won’t scale quickly (limited supply of experts). Restaurants and retail.

Angel Groups 121

Angel Groups Angel Investor Early Stage Later Stage 121

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2010

He says they are just as selective on seed investments as they are in later stage deals. Venture Financings we Discussed. Developer and publisher of social mobile games. Simple: according to Mike Polaris has followed on nearly every seed investment that they’ve done. You can hear his full argument in the interview.

San Francisco 230

San Francisco Los Angeles Cofounder SMS 230