Up and Running

APRIL 12, 2018

To do it properly, you need to give yourself time and objectively and rationally evaluate your past, present, and future. Forecasting matters, and a comprehensive forecast can help you both weather storms and reach new heights. Creating a forecast is a substantial undertaking.

Forecast 77

Forecast Early Stage Software Review Technical Review 77

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

I am fond of quoting that about 70% of my investment decision of an early-stage company is the team. And the folks at Startup Grind have been kind enough to invite me to present this morning in Mountain View on the topic. Resist the temptation to build a group of “C Level” execs in an early stage business.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

For early-stage startups, the goodwill component can easily exceed the size of all the financial elements together, or can just as easily mark a company with good financials as not investable. In the investment community, these leadership elements are often called “goodwill.” Execution leadership.

Valuation 311

Valuation Technical Review Due Diligence Leadership 311

Feld Thoughts

JULY 19, 2018

In addition to our own funds, we are investors in a number of other early-stage VC funds as part of our Foundry Group Next strategy. “Historically, the $10 million valuation mark has been somewhat of a ceiling for seed stage startups. The post Early Stage VCs – Be Careful Out There appeared first on Feld Thoughts.

Early Stage 105

Early Stage Seed Stage Valuation Finance 105

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 10, 2012

I did a presentation recently for a graduate class from The Founder Institute around getting online/mobile products out the door. I LOVED it because, the presenting part was over quickly and we got into specific issues that the founders had in terms of getting things built. It just didn't dawn on me how common this need is.

Technical Review 332

Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO Software Review 332

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

These usually play a role in the very early stage of your business, primarily pre-revenue. The seed stage is focused on building the core team, product optimization, exploring avenues for monetization. ? Early-stage. An early-stage investor usually looks at a return of 10 to 15 times.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

NZ Entrepreneur

MAY 31, 2021

The Angel Association of New Zealand ( AANZ ) is co-hosting with New Zealand Growth Capital Partners ( NZGCP ) a series of workshops on early-stage investment. Jason Graham from Movac provided an early-stage venture capital fund perspective, detailing 35 investments made across 5 funds and 22 years.

Portfolio 81

Portfolio New Zealand Management Technical Review 81

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

While the rewards may be a boon to their company in the short term, the consequences of accepting outside funding too early can be debilitating. There’s a reason why I refer to early-stage VC funding as vulture capital, and to be honest it’s pretty accurate. Money in Exchange for Control. It certainly was for us.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

Austin Startup

MARCH 20, 2017

Still, there are currently only 6 early stage women-led venture capital funds in the United States investing with a gender-lens, all of which are on the East and West Coasts (there are none in the Central U.S.!). Contrasted with an average VC fund size of $30M… there is a mismatch. Enter True Wealth Ventures.

Private Equity 54

Private Equity Venture Capital United States Equity 54

SiliconHills

FEBRUARY 1, 2017

By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News The StARTup Studio put on by the Innovation Center at the University of Texas at Austin had a decidedly pharmaceutical focus during its January presentations.

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Texas Startup 48

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

This may vary from fund to fund, but in general here is the top level criteria VCs would use to check initial fit: Stage – is the startup raising a round which is within the range of the fund (pre seed, seed, series A, early stage, growth, etc.). Stake – can the fund secure it’s minimum stake in the business?

Technical Review 166

Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder Portfolio 166

Up and Running

OCTOBER 28, 2022

This presents the question—how much of your personal money should you put into your own business? And there are often many unexpected expenses in the early stages of a new venture. You’ll need to make some allowances in the early stages of the business. You may need to fund the enterprise on your own.

Cost 138

Cost Startup Early Stage Vesting 138

Austin Startup

JULY 7, 2019

Funding early-stage resources?—?how For early-stage, we raise 77 cents on the dollar to men. Can we talk about the hundreds of presentations with no previous traction that were pitched by tech bros that got funded? Without these things, how are we supposed to get more women past early-stage!?

Early Stage 51

Early Stage Founder Austin Conversion 51

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

While the success of a product is heavily dependent upon value, it’s not uncommon for many to fail in their very early stages—this is especially true with little funding, research, and long-term planning. However, there is no better source than the actual customer using the product in the present.

Software Review 100

Software Review Management Early Stage Startup 100

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

It turns out capital is not a weapon, especially in the early stages of building a business, and even experienced founders who can raise huge sums often realize this and right-size their asks. But others were obviously viewing seed investing as a means to an end and crept later and later stage once the opportunity presented itself.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 2, 2013

Then I got an email that asked: I'm leading the marketing efforts for an early-stage startup. The challenge is that LinkedIn is not that great with finding people who were at early-stage startups. An early-stage startup is a different animal. For me, I'd use LinkedIn. Most of us are not Google.

Startup 259

Startup Early Stage Incubator Los Angeles 259

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

Among these opportunities, the chance to pitch an investor and secure funding is perhaps the greatest of all — at least in the early stages of your startup career — as it can ultimately determine the long-term fate of your company. Have a reasonable attitude about your early-stage valuation, and don’t get too hung up on it.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

Pitch Decks and Presentations. Each firm can also focus on a particular stage of investment, from seed and early-stage funding all the way through to Series C and beyond. They often invest in the technology industry and in other areas with great potential for growth. Understand VC Term Sheets.

Venture Capital 144

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Security 144

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. Prepare an executive summary and investor presentation. These are all accredited investors who risk their own money.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Angel Groups 120

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2017

Management teams whisk through slides trying to get through a presentation to share how great things are going and they are eager to get through the meeting so they can get back to their real jobs. Once you prepare the deck each department that contributed slides feels compelled to get it’s half hour of time presenting their progress.

Early Stage 212

Early Stage Technical Review Email Valuation 212

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2017

The more team members you include in early stage brainstorming, the better. When presenting the points you want to deal with during the brainstorming, you can use online courses and include media resources, such as videos or images, to enrich the presentation and enhance the creativity of your employees.

Cofounder 180

Cofounder Leadership Early Stage Employee 180

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

And to be fair that was the was the point of the last part of Bill’s presentation.) How do you get your early customers to advocate on your behalf? Most early stage startups don’t have the regulatory domain expertise in-house. It’s the antithesis of how founders want to build a business.

Washington 271

Washington Government Marketing Silicon Valley 271

deal architect

APRIL 25, 2021

This time it is Jason Corsello who presents on his fund Acadian Ventures, an early-stage venture firm. As we have moved to virtual briefings, I have increasingly been excerpting short segments (with permission), as part of my Analyst Cam series.

Early Stage 221

Early Stage 221

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 11, 2009

She is a go to person for me when I have questions around technology or early stage marketing and branding. I hadn't talked to her in a while and then because of a presentation I did around Social Media for Service Professionals she and I reconnected. I've known Farida for quite a while. Maybe ten years. landing pages, etc.

Early Stage 150

Early Stage Southern California Los Angeles Marketing 150

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 14, 2022

At this stage, the founder mainly raises funding from their sources or family and friends. If you are one of the fortunate early-stage investors to be presented with such an opportunity, it could lead to rewarding returns. The right amount of funding is needed for the idea to be nurtured. 2) Seed funding.

Technical Review 146

Technical Review Due Diligence India Startup 146

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 22, 2013

Crowdfunding presents a new and exciting opportunity to provide entrepreneurs access to early-stage capital, an important success factor in turning ideas into prosperous business enterprises that create new jobs,” said Allen Kunkel, associate vice president for Economic Development at Missouri State University.

Networking 228

Networking Missouri Early Stage Cofounder 228

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

I’ve asked this question many times of presenters in Angel meetings, and often get a blank look. Don’t waste time talking to VCs for requests less than $1M, or very early stage, and don’t expect professional investors to jump in if you have no “skin in the game.” Then you have to have evidence to support your request.

Software Review 265

Software Review Due Diligence Elevator Pitch Startup 265

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 25, 2018

Today, Mark Attanasio gets to flex his full range of expertise and interests as co-founder and Managing Partner of Hillcrest Merchant Partners, a Toronto-based merchant bank focused on early stage and mid market growth companies. Even better, Attanasio says, is if they have done extensive due diligence first.

Partner 113

Partner Technical Review Management Due Diligence 113

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

First, if it’s an early stage company, I don’t need to see a powerpoint deck. I would argue that this mostly consists of consumer Internet companies (although not exclusively) and it is predominantly early-stage people who are product gurus and have a mildly technical bend to them. I funded them 8 weeks later.

Early Stage 299

Early Stage Venture Capital B2B Sales 299

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

As an advisor to many early-stage entrepreneurs, I caution them to always be prepared for that chance meeting with a famous investor, a potential partner or an industry guru. If you are presenting to a group of angel investors, assume business attire or match the norm of members.

Due Diligence 321

Due Diligence Founder Angel Investor Affiliate 321

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

If we’ve seen a company present where we feel that the CEO is shady. A few months ago we saw a CEO present who had personally made hundreds of millions of dollars in a financial services business and had a plan to capitalize on the current market conditions.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Due Diligence Entrepreneur Early Stage 284

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 21, 2014

will be presenting 16 new startups at its Demo Day on 21 August at Orpheum Theater. “I’m looking forward to seeing this cohort of early stage entrepreneurs take the stage at the Orpheum Theater to showcase their work and share their experiences from the Summer of Acceleration with the community,” shared Mathews.

Memphis 170

Memphis St. Louis San Francisco Tennessee 170

Steve Blank

MARCH 7, 2012

Today, the first half of the Stanford Engineering Lean LaunchPad Class gave their final presentations. The 2012 Stanford Lean LaunchPad Presentations. Our goal is to teach them the art, science and strategy of entrepreneurship that will forever change how they view early stage ventures. Here are the first five.

Lean 256

Lean Business Model Agile United States 256

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2016

It can be easy to forget — not to mention boring — but it presents a tremendous obstacle when it comes to fundraising. Unfortunately, we work with companies that realize the IP actually belongs to a former partner or the organization that the founders worked for during the product’s early stages.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Burn Rate IP Intellectual Property 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2012

I’ve asked this question many times of presenters in angel meetings, and often get a blank look. Don’t waste time talking to VCs for requests less than $1M, or very early stage, and don’t expect professional investors to jump in if you have no “skin in the game.” Then you have to have evidence to support your request.

Software Review 250

Software Review Due Diligence Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur 250

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 12, 2015

It is my privilege to work with the next generation’s best and brightest in the early stages of their careers. Bosworth’s presentation offered a multi-faceted, in-depth view of what it means to be a leader. You will do well if you pursue such negative feedback.” Teambuilding. Leadership vs. Authority.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Leadership Early Stage Technical Review 100

View from Seed

MARCH 11, 2020

If you are an early stage company, this is particularly sensitive, so good investors tend to do this late in a process. Typically, founders ask for investor references after a term sheet as been presented or there has been some clear approval from their team to move forward with the investment. Talking to your customers.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Seed Stage 279