View from Seed

FEBRUARY 16, 2021

Out of hundreds of applications, we selected six pre-seed stage teams building companies shaping a brighter collective future by combining software and creativity to drive change in the lives of everyday people — their businesses include everything from empowering local main street businesses to making automobile insurance more accessible.

Seed Stage 285

Seed Stage Programming Finance B2B 285

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

Obviously the funding environment has changed considerably in 2022 but as early-stage investors our daily jobs stay largely unchanged. And while over the past few years we have been laser-focused on cash returns, we are equally planting seeds for our next 10–15 years of returns by actively investing in today’s market.

San Francisco 408

San Francisco Early Stage Venture Capital Los Angeles 408

Hunter Walker

JULY 22, 2014

Hey founders, want to hear something incredibly frustrating about seed financing? It’s a great discussion point to understand how you think of your business’ potential but as an operating plan? Important to make sure your forecast and your operating plan match up! Yeah, that one. Throw it away post-funding.

Forecast 95

Forecast Early Stage Seed Stage Startup 95

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

John Berger, Director Operations & Impact Solutions, Toniic , observed that this has clear investor benefits: “ The grace period became a feature because it benefits investors in regions like the US where there can be tax differences between short and long term gains. Payments are commonly delayed for a grace period of 12-36 months.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 13, 2010

Accenture opened massive operations in India & China and continued its industry dominance. “Reality is, at the seed stage, most rocketships look more like the cardboard variety you’d make as a kid than something NASA developed. These companies will grab massive market share as others fall behind.

Turkey 302

Turkey Differentiation IP Technical Review 302

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical VC thesis: “we invest in tech startups in Europe at an early stage” However, our experience shows that in many cases: . Thirty-four VC firms in OpenVC call themselves “early-stage” Yet, 30% of those don’t actually invest in pre-revenue startups. 2) Business model-defined funds.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

For startups the early stage funding landscape looks like this: Step 1: The Pre-seed round – you raise $100-$750K. Step 2: The Seed round – you raise $1-$3M (in some cases even $2-5M). Btw, the definition of each startup financing stage has changed in the last decade. Pre-seed Round of Funding.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

As an entrepreneur himself, founding and operating printed circuit board factories in Taiwan, my father was debating between two places to immigrate to and build his next new venture: Los Angeles (“The Valley” aka San Fernando Valley) and Santa Clara (“Silicon Valley”).

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 22, 2012

Let’s start out with the basic functions of a tech company: 1) Engineering 2) Marketing 3) Sales 4) Business development 5) PR 6) Design 7) Product Management 8) HR 9) Operations 10) Finance Ok, that's just overwhelming. Ready to start simplifying? The last two are pretty basic.

PR 144

PR Technical Review Seed Stage Design 144

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

The NextView Accelerator Doesn’t Operate in Strict Cohorts. . Most accelerators operate in class cohort “batches.” Some prospective seed stage VCs may consider the remaining startups “passed over” and of lesser quality, when in reality great startups take time to mature and blossom. .

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Alabama 177

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Almost two years ago, in a private/closed meeting with K9 Ventures’ LPs only, I claimed that: What was being referred to in the press as the “Series A Crunch” was not because fewer Series A deals were being done, but because there were too many Seed deals being done. Seed stage was super tough. Implications for Founders.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2023

We wholeheartedly believe in the potential of each company we select; the smaller batch size allows the NextView partners, who possess deep operating and founding experiences at companies like LinkedIn, PayPal, eBay, and Blue Apron, the space to spend meaningful one-on-one time with each founder every single week.

Programming 156

Programming Sacramento San Francisco Founder 156

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

So when I tell you what I’m seeing in venture financing these days if you disagree with me, it might just be that we’re touching different parts of the elephant. Haystack’s Semil Shah wrote up his POV on what this has all meant for the seed market and one point in particular caught my eye.

Cap Table 93

Cap Table Valuation Salary Seed Stage 93

techcrunch.com

SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

There has been no shortage of controversy and criticism around the convertible note, a popular investing vehicle that’s used by seed stage and angel investors. As a refresher, a convertible note is a loan that automatically converts into equity upon the closing of a Series A round of financing.

Equity 87

Equity San Francisco Technical Review Angel Investor 87

View from Seed

AUGUST 13, 2014

We at NextView Ventures invest exclusively in a startup’s seed-stage round , meaning that many if not most of our deals are made alongside individual angel investors. Investors in this category are usually operating executives who have spent their entire careers in a specific industry vertical, like internet travel, for example.

Angel Investor 334

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 334

Rob Go

MAY 5, 2014

Seed stage investing has developed significantly over the past 7 years that I’ve been in VC. It’d pretty standard for entrepreneurs to contemplate raising an “institutional seed round” prior to approaching VC’s for series A rounds. Many have said that the institutional seed is the new series A.

Seed Stage 69

Seed Stage Leadership Portfolio Boston 69

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

A Venture Capital Firm is a firm that invests in startups and early-stage companies. Early-Stage Investments vs. Mid-Stage Investments. Investing in a startup company carries a high degree of risk, particularly at the early stage. Pre-Seed Investments. Management Company.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

View from Seed

JANUARY 26, 2016

In the next post, I’ll talk about how we think about pre-seeds at NextView. It’s become increasingly common for startups to raise several seed rounds, and this has led to a bifurcation in the seed stage between what are known as “pre-seed” (or “genesis”) and institutional seed rounds.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Cofounder Finance 120

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2012

We at NextView Ventures often invest in a startup’s first round alongside other funds; either seed stage focused ones like ourselves or larger traditional firms. Addressing both of those issues can stem from the motivations as to why someone would want to put their hard-earned cash into a risky early-stage startup in the first place.

Angel Investor 257

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 257

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

This change means that virtually any individual, not just the wealthy, will have opportunities to make equity investments in early stage companies. That suggests, potentially, more early stage capital for entrepreneurs. It is often seed stage investors who help open the doors to all these types of relationships.

Equity 100

Equity United Kingdom Cap Table Oklahoma 100

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 4, 2017

Chances are if things are going good (or even not so good) those early stage startups you were so passionate about 12 or 18 months ago will be coming to the market again asking for more money. Do you have relationships with other investors at the next stage of the investment lifecycle? Operational Expertise.

Pre-Money Valuation 187

Pre-Money Valuation Seed Stage IP Deal Flow 187

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 6, 2011

If you are in the very early stages with your company and there are no major reasons (e.g. Jeff Clavier, Seed stage investor in 90+ consumer internet startups, said: We all have a different approach to non Silicon Valley opportunities. R&D in your home country, HQ in US with the CEO moving over).

Silicon Valley 104

Silicon Valley Startup Seed Stage Delaware 104

Austin Startup

MAY 19, 2018

 —  @birsic So without further ado, here are my thoughts on some dos and don’ts for early stage investors. The bottom line is that being a seed stage founder is mostly a very thankless job. Don’t boomerang founders If you have specific metrics you look for in early stage companies.

Founder 75

Founder Early Stage Software Review Deal Flow 75

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

While it it may not feel that way, the data suggest that there is indeed too much capital in the system — especially so at the seed stage, with more and more individuals and larger funds trying to invest in companies at this stage.). This is because excessive capital becomes toxic for an early stage company.

Venture Capital 117

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 117

K9 Ventures

APRIL 9, 2014

Yes, almost everyone who was operating as a Super Angel, went on to raise a venture fund. Instead, it was more of a result of over-funding at the seed stage. There was simply too much money coming in to the seed stage, which increased the supply of companies at the seed stage.

Mezzanine 134

Mezzanine Seed Stage Early Stage IPO 134

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

And that’s what we had the chance to do in early 2019 when Kate Stern joined Homebrew. We mutually anticipated it would be a three year role, after which Kate could decide if she liked investing or wasn’t ready to leave the world of operating (she joined us from 5+ years at Uber). It’s very different in venture.

Venture Capital 85

Venture Capital San Francisco Portfolio Operations 85

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

While it it may not feel that way, the data suggest that there is indeed too much capital in the system — especially so at the seed stage, with more and more individuals and larger funds trying to invest in companies at this stage.). This is because excessive capital becomes toxic for an early stage company.

Venture Capital 105

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 105

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

million in venture financing. No doubt early-stage companies can be started on a shoestring by low-paid entrepreneurs, but when financing a scalable, sustainable product, a free application server won’t make much of a difference. In fact, it’s barely even the beginning for most companies in their seed stage financings.

Startup 79

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network 79

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Open cloud led by Amazon with their AWS services drove total operating costs down by 90%. Amazon in turn led to the formation of an earlier stage of venture capital now led by what I call “micro VCs&# who typically invest $250-500k in companies rather than the $5-7 million that VCs used to invest. There are also others.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Software LP Early Stage 296

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

For the first-time entrepreneur or founder looking for seed stage funding, this circle can be especially difficult to penetrate. Mashable Mashable reached out to angels, seed stage investors and VC firm partners and asked them to share their wisdom with the rest of us.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2012

We at NextView Ventures often invest in a startup’s first round alongside other funds; either seed stage focused ones like ourselves or larger traditional firms. Addressing both of those issues can stem from the motivations as to why someone would want to put their hard-earned cash into a risky early-stage startup in the first place.

Angel Investor 128

Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 128

K9 Ventures

OCTOBER 12, 2015

That is because the venture capital industry operates in cycles. Not to mention that in later stages, high valuations can almost be fatal for some companies that don’t have the operating metrics to justify those valuations once the market turns. This means more noise in the system for seed stage investors.

Venture Capital 48

Venture Capital Seed Stage LP Valuation 48

Hunter Walker

APRIL 20, 2018

Like we do at the seed stage, USV almost always plays the role of “ lead investor.” A rushed financing makes it harder and can lead to miscalculations on both sides.” But asking myself Fred’s questions clarifies my own approach.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Lead Investor Portfolio Reputation 48

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 28, 2022

To provide an accurate prediction, an analyst would need to have a thorough understanding of the company’s operations. For example, during a seed financing round, an investor contributes money to a business in return for a portion of the company’s stock ownership. Select an appropriate valuation method.

Valuation 108

Valuation Equity Warrant Common Stock 108

Hunter Walker

OCTOBER 23, 2014

We stress to founders that seed stage Board meetings are about dashboards and discussions. again, we''re talking early stage companies]. Firstly, your normal operating environment should be created to solve this inclusion. A chance to shine or impress investors. This is a trap for two reasons.

Employee 91

Employee Silicon Valley Seed Stage Startup 91

Seeing Both Sides

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

We selected this benchmark because it reflects the phase in which companies have proven product viability, achieved initial product/market fit, and are now expanding sales and growing more complex operations. Understanding the market and establishing product/market fit is a critical seed-stage milestone.

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Review United States 20

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 19, 2013

Since raising our fund earlier this year, we’ve invested in a number of strong teams but this isn’t an easy business and we’re committed to bringing an operators mentality to what we do: measure and improve, every day, week, month. It''s not about the investors, it''s about the CEO ]. Two learnings.

Cofounder 105

Cofounder Term Sheet Seed Stage Portfolio 105