Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

The company has done $400k in sales in less than two years and had an early test deal with a local supermarket chain that they were massively overperforming on. He had been at it for 6 months and had no sales or distribution lined up yet. In this way, they remind me of the Lifter Hamper entrepreneur. Fair enough too.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

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

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Key Variables to Consider: Sales units. Founders are typically ambitious when projecting sales volumes. Some common drivers of sales underperformance include product-market fit challenges, slow/low sales channels, and poor execution. What if the number of sales is much less than expected? Timing of sales.

Startup 69

Startup Sales Cycle Down Round Revenue 69

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 18, 2018

For investors, a subsequent down round at a lower valuation than the last, or an exit opportunity at a loss are all opportunities for the affected stakeholder to show a side that can sometimes shock an entrepreneur or CEO. The chasm between management and employees. Simple building blocks for difficult times.

Valuation 96

Valuation Dilution Down Round Employee 96

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 22, 2014

In my experience this is one of the hardest points for many entrepreneurs to grasp. A few quarters in, you realize that product/market fit is not quite there, or you’re not as far up the sales learning curve as you thought, or your LTV/CAC is suddenly in the toilet. It perhaps happens most at Series B, but can certainly happen earlier.

Venture Capital 102

Venture Capital Down Round Valuation Lean 102

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

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

At the time, they said, it’s not enough to design a product that’s good for sales, it must also be good for the environment. And then how are some ideas for other entrepreneurs and other people thinking of doing it? And I made a decision not to do an equity round, because I thought it would be a down round.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 69

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 9, 2009

Although attendence was down, it is still an insanely large audience of 130,000 attendees and 2,700 companies. CEA head Gary Shapiro reported in his keynote that industy sales were up over 5% and that 2009 will be flat or slightly down. But Intel Capital will be happy to invest in their down rounds.

Down Round 20

Down Round Forecast Portfolio Government 20

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

We entrepreneurs have been spinning that line for decades in every boom cycle. If you can get a round done at the price you expect – well done. Don’t assume that you can “just do a down round” if necessary. Down rounds are corrosive. This prudence is smart and welcomed.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Balance Sheet Dilution 150

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 8, 2013

In order to launch a successful business and raise the capital needed to do so, a startup needs to consider several aspects of the business including the management team , the size of the opportunity, the product/service/technology, the market/sales/distribution channels, the competitive environment and several other factors.

Business Plan 67

Business Plan NDA Exit Strategy Valuation 67

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

In 2010, we were recruiting for a Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Backupify, and it was clear that many of the people I was interviewing wanted the CEO role. I called the recruiter running the search and told him I was going to step down and hire a CEO. Disclosure: NextView was not an investor in Backupify.).

Founder 120

Founder Startup Cofounder Business Model 120

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

My general opinion is that anything that makes the financing process faster and easier or otherwise educates entrepreneurs is a good thing. (A Given that the Series Seed is issued at a fairly low valuation, anti-dilution protection is probably not that important, as a “down round&# from a low valuation in the Series Seed is unlikely.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

An entrepreneur starts a company in classic " bootstrap " fashion - with a combination of sweat equity and their own financial resources. The angel then introduces the entrepreneur to his or her wealthy friends and business connections who, based on the good reputation of the referring angel, also invest. All live happily ever after.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

At the time, they said, it’s not enough to design a product that’s good for sales, it must also be good for the environment. And then how are some ideas for other entrepreneurs and other people thinking of doing it? And I made a decision not to do an equity round, because I thought it would be a down round.

Silicon Valley 36

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 36

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

After the market downturn on Monday I set several limit orders – primarily on tech holdings that I wanted to increase positions in – in my personal account and went back to meeting with entrepreneurs. Resilient entrepreneurs confront challenges quickly, and utilize all the resources at their disposal to overcome them.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

After the market downturn on Monday I set several limit orders – primarily on tech holdings that I wanted to increase positions in – in my personal account and went back to meeting with entrepreneurs. Resilient entrepreneurs confront challenges quickly, and utilize all the resources at their disposal to overcome them.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

thebarefootvc

JULY 26, 2015

After the market downturn on Monday I set several limit orders – primarily on tech holdings that I wanted to increase positions in – in my personal account and went back to meeting with entrepreneurs. Resilient entrepreneurs confront challenges quickly, and utilize all the resources at their disposal to overcome them.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 7, 2011

For investors, a subsequent down round at a lower valuation than the last, or an exit opportunity at a loss are all opportunities for the affected stakeholder to show a side that can sometimes shock an entrepreneur or CEO.

Valuation 54

Valuation Dilution Down Round Employee 54

David Teten

AUGUST 7, 2019

Likely signs of a Momentum investment: the round is oversubscribed and the entrepreneur has more negotiating leverage than VCs during the closing process. . You could argue that when they were [raising] oversubscribed [VC rounds], Facebook, Google, Amazon, etc., were clearly Momentum, but [in hindsight] they were also Value.”

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Valuation Stock NDA 60

Hippoland

NOVEMBER 13, 2016

When I was an entrepreneur, it never crossed my mind how VCs measure their success. So, as an entrepreneur, in many cases, you are pitching people who may not even be good investors. Companies that exit are valued at whatever the sale is. If a company raises a good round, it gets marked up to the new value.

IRR 48

IRR Valuation Portfolio Due Diligence 48

Scalable Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

And that’s been reflected in the entrepreneurial community, where entrepreneurs, especially between 2000 and 2008, entrepreneurs really only wanted to do — for the most part wanted to do consumer software, because that’s the only software that they could actually get anybody to adopt. But they don’t buy servers. I don’t know.

Software Review 22

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Stock 22

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder is able to 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 69

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 69

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

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

Many modern entrepreneurs have limited exposure to the notion of failure or layoffs because it has been so long since these things were common in the industry. Also, they have a strong belief that any sign of weakness (such as a down round) will have a catastrophic impact on their culture, hiring process, and ability to retain employees.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40