VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

For the past 10 years, with interest rates near zero, VC investors plowed record amounts into tech startups and enjoyed a seemingly ‘easy’ investing environment. Prices went up from round to round, and startups were encouraged to grow, grow, grow, and not to worry about profitability.

Venture Capital 215

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Institutional Investors 215

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. As the risks below get eliminated the higher the valuation investors are prepared to pay.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you. Of course, unlike cars there is no direct comparison across each startup so these are just some general guidelines to try and even the information field.

Valuation 324

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

VC Cafe

MAY 29, 2022

Building on my post on ‘ Advice for startups in a downturn (May 2022 edition) ‘, this week I continued to follow with interest the impact of the current correction on startups and venture capital, particularly in early stage. Which Startup Investors Pulled Back The Most So Far In 2022?

Venture Capital 183

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Startup 183

VC Cafe

JANUARY 29, 2024

2023 was a rough year for Venture Capital and for startups, and it might get even worse. That’s the case for most companies that are already in the market, especially if they raised funding at imaginary valuations before. Spoiler alert: I believe that 2024-2025 will be an amazing time to invest in early stage startups.

Generative AI 171

Generative AI Global Venture Capital Valuation 171

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2020

by Rizwan Virk, author of “ Startup Myths and Models: What You Won’t Learn in Business School “. If you are building a startup, you’ll find no shortage of people who are willing to give you advice, particularly when it comes to raising financing. Myth #3: Take the Highest Valuation You Can Get. Well not, wrong exactly.

Finance 205

Finance Silicon Valley Valuation Startup 205

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

The 2022 Founders Factories report by DealRoom and Accel shines a spotlight on the startup clusters that produced most unicorns across Europe and Israel, and then tracks the alumni of those unicorns to test where the talent goes to found their next companies. London and Tel Aviv are home to the most founder nurturing unicorn startups.

Europe 97

Europe Balance Sheet Valuation 97

ithacaVC

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

I have written about startup valuations previously. If you are advising startup founders, I strongly suggest having them read all 4 of the posts to get the lay of the startup valuation land. A founder is about to raise their first round and asking me how to value their company. [1].

Valuation 69

Valuation Startup Down Round Early Stage 69

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

So, it is important for the entrepreneur to identify, address and mitigate each of these in order to increase valuation and decrease the risk of ultimate loss of the business. Reduction or elimination of one or more of these risks increases the valuation of the company and certainly improves its chances of survival and growth.

Valuation 62

Valuation Down Round Early Stage Demand 62

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. How do you think they’ll feel if your next round is at a $50 million post money valuation and their hard-earned $25,000 is worth 0.05% of your company? People seem concerned about valuation.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Want to start a startup? A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. Few startups get it quite right. A lot of startups that end upgoing public didnt seem likely to at first.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 25, 2016

On Friday it seemed like everyone in the venture capital industry was again reading about market turmoil, this time the news is that angel investors are pulling back and valuations taking a hit. The best startups capture all the returns so focusing too much on entry valuation is a mistake.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Angel Investor Startup Participating Preferred 60

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

Below, he gives an honest take about what he’d do differently and what he’d do again as a startup CEO. Now that Backupify has had a nice exit and my life is in a different place, I agreed to write this post, full of my own advice based on my experience as a startup CEO. Startups are incredibly hard. Keep at it.

Founder 120

Founder Startup Cofounder Business Model 120

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

In addition, I think that a “peace treaty&# between early-stage investors and startup companies on standard terms (at least at a term sheet level) is a step in the right direction. I suspect that this seems reasonable if there is basically no due diligence due to the early stage of the companies. (By

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

Hippoland

NOVEMBER 13, 2016

It takes a long time to see the results of a startup that does well. But as we’ve seen, these valuations can be hocus-pocus — even at later stage rounds, we’ve seen lots of companies of late fall from grace and become massively devalued overnight when they cannot raise their next round at a higher valuation.

IRR 48

IRR Valuation Portfolio Due Diligence 48

Tim Keane

AUGUST 20, 2009

Startups and angels: Along the way to success.   So to the extent that he sees that the quality of the investor and his/her connections and abilities is really what the early stage company is buying, the more Jason and I would agree.   And it is unarguably what has driven valuation bubbles in the past.  

Milwaukee 60

Milwaukee Bootstrapping Cram Down Deal Structure 60

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

However, many variables come into play when investing at the early stage. A VC’s job is to spot sustainable trends while they are in formation stages, and form a point of view on the timing of the adoption of those trends. Pay attention to who you’re taking money from and aim for a reasonable valuation.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

However, many variables come into play when investing at the early stage. A VC’s job is to spot sustainable trends while they are in formation stages, and form a point of view on the timing of the adoption of those trends. Pay attention to who you’re taking money from and aim for a reasonable valuation.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

In February of last year, Fortune magazine writers Erin Griffith and Dan Primack declared 2015 “ The Age of the Unicorns ” noting — “Fortune counts more than 80 startups that have been valued at $1 billion or more by venture capitalists.” Next came Rolfe Winkler’s deep dive “ Highly Valued Startup Zenefits Runs Into Turbulence. ”

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Altgate

MARCH 8, 2009

I say ecosystem as opposed to industry because it is not just the VC funds themselves that are imploding, instead the collapse includes entrepreneurs and startups that were funded by VCs, angel investors, service providers like lawyers, bankers and accountants as well as limited partner investors in VC funds. But some will be saved.

Later Stage 34

Later Stage Early Stage Venture Capital Portfolio 34

Scalable Startup

OCTOBER 26, 2011

The Second Round, or “B Round”, or “Follow On” round can be the achilles heel of a startup. No doubt the first round of external funding for a startup is usually critical to a startup as it can be the difference between continuing your startup or shutting it down.

Mezzanine 22

Mezzanine Due Diligence IPO Angel Investor 22

NZ Entrepreneur

JULY 8, 2019

In the first of a three part series on early stage business investment, we asked serial entrepreneur and investor Josh Comrie what three key things New Zealand entrepreneurs must get better at when it comes to seeking angel investment. So, I went deep (currently sitting at 26 different early-stage ventures). Valuations.

New Zealand 42

New Zealand Entrepreneur Valuation Dilution 42

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

The funding environment for tech startups is an ever shifting ground as we go through predictable shifts that go hand-in-hand with the slowing of the overall market. Boom in Number of Startups. There was an explosion in number of startups both because it was cheap and there was tons of available capital.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Burn Rate LP 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 18, 2015

“Trade in an asset at a price that strongly deviates from an asset’s intrinsic value” The arguments against that, “This time the startups have real revenues!” Either we’ve discovered magical beans and elixir or perhaps we’ve gotten ahead of ourselves on valuation. 25% “down rounds?

IPO 150

IPO Venture Capital LP SEC 150