Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Mark Suster wrote a great post yesterday titled The Resetting of the Startup Industry. Once again, as we find ourselves in the middle of a significant public market correction, especially around technology stocks, there’s an enormous amount of noise in the system, as there always is.

Cap Table 70

Cap Table Down Round Liquidation Preference Founder 70

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 21, 2016

Bill Gurley wrote an incredible post yesterday titled On the Road to Recap: Why the unicorn financing market just became dangerous … for all involved. 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.

Marketing 70

Marketing Down Round Startup IRR 70

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

They have seen one side of a market where many of us have seen the ebb and flow multiple times. Still, market amnesia by ordinarily rational actors always surprises me. I believe a bubble occurs when a market is willing to pay greater than intrinsic value for an asset class. I spoke about a lot of things during the keynote.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

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. It’s simply what a market is willing to pay based on a future belief that your company will grow and non-linear rates and be worth much more in the future. A down round? Stock Option plans. Employment.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 31, 2022

This is largely due to several major stock market crashes and global economic uncertainties. It’s a tough time for a lot of startup founders right now. Many companies are now having to resort to tough measures in order to stay afloat, including layoffs, down rounds and tough terms from current investors.

Founder 173

Founder Technical Review Down Round Liquidation Preference 173

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 8, 2023

At the time, this is last quarter and the stock market has trended upwards nicely since then (a potential leading indicator of private tech valuations), we all agreed venture portfolios were probably still 25-40% overvalued. Restructures, Down Rounds, and Pay to Plays. Soft Acquisition Market. Valuations.

Portfolio 98

Portfolio Cap Table LP Valuation 98

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

If you run a startup and are currently raising money, you probably planned for a somewhat different fundraising environment than the one you find yourself in today. What about the efficient market hypothesis? Aren’t markets rational? Because markets are not logical; markets are emotional. Hope that you feel this.

Down Round 78

Down Round Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation 78

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. Of course sentiment can swing wildly with new information but I set out to take the pulse of the market as we enter 2016. State of the Market.

LP 150

LP Valuation Burn Rate Pre-Money Valuation 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

Much has changed in the past four months of the technology startup world and how outsiders value the business. And when prices are dropping on a VCs existing companies in market, there is a substantial reduction in FOMO (fear of missing out) for new deals, which means that investors take their time in making investment decisions.

Burn Rate 150

Burn Rate Cap Table Balance Sheet Dilution 150

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

Week three’s breakdown covered topics like how hard momentum is to turn around, and how participating preferred stock works. This time I’ll break down week four of this season. As Cuban pointed out, this is a “down round” Zomm is seeking $2M for 10% of the company, implying an $18M pre money valuation today.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

After a tumultuous week in global markets, today the US stock market ended higher on the session. As a former investment banker who followed the markets closely once upon a time (especially when I was in the midst of public market M&A transactions), I now have the luxury of watching from an arm’s length.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 26, 2015

After a tumultuous week in global markets, today the US stock market ended higher on the session. As a former investment banker who followed the markets closely once upon a time (especially when I was in the midst of public market M&A transactions), I now have the luxury of watching from an arm’s length.

Marketing 40

Marketing Investment Bankers Valuation China 40

Ben's Blog

JULY 16, 2013

If you run a startup and are currently raising money, you probably planned for a somewhat different fundraising environment than the one you find yourself in today. What about the efficient market hypothesis? Aren’t markets rational? Because markets are not logical; markets are emotional. Outkast, Ms. Silly them.

Marketing 46

Marketing Preferred Stock Post-Money Valuation Down Round 46

ithacaVC

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

It is highly typical for a startup to have small investors on its cap table. The treatment of the friends, family and angels (FFA) as the startup matures and raises larger rounds of financing over time is interesting. Startups often get stuck, restart, pivot/change/move, etc., So not very good odds.

Preemptive Right 45

Preemptive Right Cap Table Valuation Dilution 45

The Equity Kicker

NOVEMBER 20, 2015

That’s good news for both companies, because first day declines can sour a stock for months to come. So the share price has been trending down for some time before popping after the IPO. The interesting question for me is what this means for startup valuations more generally.

IPO 60

IPO Matching Ratchet Valuation 60

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

I recently survey more than 150 VC friends from all stages and geographies what they thought about the market by asking “Which of the following statements best describes your mood heading into 2016?” ” “Mark has a vested interest in talking down valuations of startups.” All of these are false.

Valuation 150

Valuation Down Round Startup Later Stage 150

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., Security, Cloud, NoSQL databases, etc.

Software Review 22

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Stock 22

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

Why the Unicorn Financing Market Just Became Dangerous…For All Involved. 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.” Emotional Biases.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2016

It is an heroic accomplishment in a brutal fund-raising market in which only market leaders can bring in that sort of money. Every VC who’s been the business for a long time realized first hand that the VC markets were changing rapidly as early as Q3 of 2015. But of course public markets had begun gyrating. $30 million.

Balance Sheet 150

Balance Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Forecast 150

www.quora.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Type to Add and Search Questions; Search Topics and People Startups Startup Compensation Entrepreneurship Compensation Stock Options Major Internet Companies Silicon Valley Why is there such a large founder to early employee equity drop-off? Many startups these days are first-time entrepreneurs. After that various i.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

As I’m sure most would agree, Airbnb is one of the most iconic startups to have been formed in the world. And all of the other smart and operational decisions that have enabled Airbnb to weather the storm and go on to have one of the most successful public market debuts. It’s a market. And I thought, well, no one’s marketing.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 69

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. The great companies that are breaking out will be fine in any market. These inside rounds will lead to one of a few possibilities: 1) No insiders are supportive. These companies shut down.

Cram Down 60

Cram Down Pay to Play Angel Investor Warrant 60

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

As I’m sure most would agree, Airbnb is one of the most iconic startups to have been formed in the world. And all of the other smart and operational decisions that have enabled Airbnb to weather the storm and go on to have one of the most successful public market debuts. It’s a market. And I thought, well, no one’s marketing.

Silicon Valley 36

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 36

NZ Entrepreneur

JULY 8, 2019

I made my first investment in the stock market when I was 12 years old. 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. I killed it, everyone did. The ability and willingness to be coached.

New Zealand 42

New Zealand Entrepreneur Valuation Dilution 42

VC Cafe

MAY 18, 2022

After a 13 year bull market run, anywhere you look in the stock market these days, it’s mostly RED. The tech companies that have been stock market darlings, breaking new records, are struggling, many missing analysts expectations. And the markets reacted to all of these. Down rounds are coming.

Term Sheet 190

Term Sheet Startup Valuation Ukraine 190

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 18, 2015

There is a lot of uncertainty about the state of the private, high-growth technology markets and the venture capital markets that underpin them. There is nobody to blame for this abandonment of common sense – it is simply the market being the market and we’re doomed to repeat history. It’s just a market.

IPO 150

IPO Venture Capital LP SEC 150