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. Unfortunately, most startups don’t meet their initial rosy projections.

Finance 205

Finance Silicon Valley Valuation Startup 205

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

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

” “Mark has a vested interest in talking down valuations of startups.” Most prefer not to say this publicly for two reasons: 1) they have an entire portfolio of startups, many of whom are raising capital and 2) they prefer not to be attacked publicly or seem “anti entrepreneur.” goes into a startup.

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

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

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 21, 2023

Before we get into a debate about how much a founder should own, there’s a context implicit in the question that is easily overlooked. It’s this part: “I’m getting inbound from investors…” Nearly all of the inbound VC interest happening out there is from non-partner investors (i.e. A check-writing partner reaches out to you.

Cap Table 78

Cap Table Term Sheet Database Option Pool 78

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I recently spoke at the Founder Showcase at the request of Adeo Ressi. I said that at the Founder Showcase, too. And for many of these they were (over) funded 7-10 years ago and don’t necessarily all represent great returns for investors or founders. New investors hate down rounds. That’s a fact.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

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

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

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 25, 2016

Startups everywhere will need to adjust their fundraising strategies and good investors will be helping them to adjust quickly – it’s much less painful that way. However severe our current situation is, I’m sure there will be plenty of short term negatives, including more job losses, company failures and down rounds.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Angel Investor Startup Participating Preferred 60

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

While many travel industry leaders chose to “go dark,” as Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky put it , while they decided how to navigate next steps, Chesky took a different approach: He got candid. Greylock Partners · Brian Chesky | People-First Capitalism. So we have to think of ourselves as partners. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 69

Scalable Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

The Future of Startups 2013-2017, beginning of a series. Marc Andreesen gave a great interview about a year agi about “The Future of the Enterprise” and where the next startups will be playing – Hadoop, Big Data, BYOD, etc. Some of these next big startups are in L.A., You mean startups? I don’t know.

Software Review 22

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Stock 22

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2016

Investors sat with the founder & CEO, Jason Spievak, and asked him what he wanted to do about the future. Mark dutifully went to partner meetings, back-channel references began, firms started calling existing VCs to “test prices” and we started debating whom our best partner would be.

Balance Sheet 150

Balance Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Forecast 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

” There are a lot of data points that one can observer to get a sense of the venture capital markets – both LP fundings into venture and VC financings of startups. Limited Partners (LPs) who invest in VC funds have continued to pour money into venture – with the market returning to pre-recession levels.

LP 150

LP Valuation Burn Rate Pre-Money Valuation 150

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

Usually unbeknownst to all, the decision around pursuing or accepting a venture capital round will be the most important factor in determining the investment return for the founder and the original angel investors in the company. But here is the key – contrary to popular wisdom it is negatively correlated.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 17, 2016

They might have to get another round in, and that round will most certainly be a down round. They might be doing board meetings more frequently, coaching first time founders through layoffs and debating with their partners which companies they should bridge until things thaw out. They're just.

Dilution 60

Dilution Portfolio China Down Round 60

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

While many travel industry leaders chose to “go dark,” as Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky put it , while they decided how to navigate next steps, Chesky took a different approach: He got candid. Greylock Partners · Brian Chesky | People-First Capitalism. So we have to think of ourselves as partners. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT.

Silicon Valley 36

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 36

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

A Crowded Space

MAY 31, 2016

We expect there to be an increase in down rounds, flat rounds, inside rounds and various pay-to-play scenarios. These shut downs are likely to happen when companies are funded solely by seed funds and angel investors that have not reserved significant capital for follow-on investments.

Cram Down 60

Cram Down Pay to Play Angel Investor Warrant 60

NZ Entrepreneur

JULY 8, 2019

I waited for the ‘casino-like’ world of startup investing until I was 28 years old, putting $10,000 into a friend’s software distribution company – a tidy sum for me at that age. There are numerous unforeseen and unknowable challenges when running a startup; one person’s experience is rarely sufficient to identify a great solution.

New Zealand 42

New Zealand Entrepreneur Valuation Dilution 42

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet (by WSGR – disclaimer, I represent the Founders Institute and was involved in drafting this document). Almost all startup companies don’t declare dividends, so deletion of a dividend preference is irrelevant to an investor. Yes for Series Seed holders and founders.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

www.mattbartus.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

Perspectives on issues affecting founders, startups and investors from a veteran startup lawyer in Silicon Valley. If you are a company that is fundraising, keep in mind that there are a few different levers you can pull to change the amount of dilution that the founders will experience. — 23 Comments.

Warrant 40

Warrant Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 40

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

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

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

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