Steve Blank

OCTOBER 23, 2023

Venture Capitalist : An early-stage VC requires some of the same skills as a Case Officer – spotting, assessing, developing, recruiting, and handling founders building a company amid an uncertain operating environment that will bring a heavy return on investment. How should you think about and mitigate risk if joining a startup?

Government 212

Government Advisory Board Salary Sales Cycle 212

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

I was just asked about a particular startup situation (seed stage, CMO hire, non-founder) and particularly what compensation and equity is appropriate. Seed Stage Compensation What are typical compensation numbers?

CTO Hire 329

CTO Hire Equity Seed Stage Option Pool 329

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture. The reality is that as a result of two major trends the costs of starting a technology startup went down massively. The “A Round” of my startup in 1999 was $16.5

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

Startup funding is largely driven by The Golden Rule: He who has the gold, makes the rules. Let’s face it, the rules for getting a startup funded at the seed stage aren’t very clear. Note: When I say “seed stage startup,” I’m specifically referring to software/app startups that are eitherpre-product or early product.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 100

YoungUpstarts

MAY 1, 2020

Given that mindset, it’s only natural that most entrepreneurs jump at the first chance they get to secure early-stage startup funding. Most startups will need a viable product and proof of credibility before they can expect early-stage investors to really bite. Instead, approach your fundraising in tiers.

Early Stage 165

Early Stage Security Angel Investor Lead Investor 165

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Asking for early-stage money before you have customers and revenue will likely kill your credibility with real investors. A seed-stage “super angel.”

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

You have a strong network in the NYC startup ecosystem that is additive to our team. You have an authentic passion for startups and a deep respect for entrepreneurship. NextView is a thematic, seed-stage VC firm focused on the Everyday Economy with $500M+ of capital under management. You act as an “ invited guest.”.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review North America Seed Stage Bandwidth 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2011

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups, the hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play.

Early Stage 231

Early Stage Seed Stage Angel Investor Silicon Valley 231

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups. Early-stage startup. Super Angels.

Early Stage 253

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 253

David Teten

DECEMBER 12, 2017

As a globally focused LP in early stage VC funds, we at Blue Future Partners have observed a growing trend of firms investing substantially in software tools, whether developing proprietary solutions or adopting off the shelf tools. But what tools are they using themselves to automate their own processes? Methodology.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Venture Capital 60

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

It occurred to me that although we mentioned our new thematic approach when we raised our last fund in 2017, we haven’t really shared a broader manifesto about how we are approaching the early stage market. It’s been an interesting several years in the early stage venture eco-system, and the sands have shifted considerably.

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

With the investor slowdown we’ve seen so far in 2022, approximately 30% globally in Q2 2022 (compared to the equivalent period last year, according to Crunchbase ) it’s more difficult for startups to get funded, which increases the important of finding the right investor, as quickly as possible.

Technical Review 166

Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder Portfolio 166

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2019

It’s not uncommon for startups that are laser-focused on fundraising to deprioritize certain challenges. Startups tend to put a premium on being “agile,” but that doesn’t always work – and certainly won’t replace the effective collaboration a business needs to grow. by Everett Harper, CEO and cofounder of Truss.

Technical Cofounder 113

Technical Cofounder Burn Rate Seed Stage Cofounder 113

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 31, 2023

At the time Melania was in discussions with Ethena about joining the startup as VP People, happily employed at a larger company but knowing she wanted new challenges. Hunter Walk: One of my favorite things to do for founders is speaking with people who are considering joining their startup. In my opinion, this is a hugely risky move.

Employee 113

Employee Startup Vertical Leadership 113

Haystack

AUGUST 18, 2019

If you’ve been following my tweets lately, you’ve read some of my quick musings on the state of the seed market this summer. years of investing in the seed stage, I have never seen activity levels like I’m seeing today. That amount can rise to $500-750K pretty quickly for a pre-seed round. Granted, 6.5

Seed Stage 108

Seed Stage Cap Table Early Stage Malaysia 108

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

When Jay joined our team back in 2014, we were the first early-stage VC in Boston to have a dedicated head of platform and one of the first handful in the country to do so. Internally to our portfolio, platform means developing “products” to help our portfolio companies get from zero to one on their most critical seed stage priorities.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Boston Early Stage Portfolio 120

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

When Jay joined our team back in 2014, we were the first early-stage VC in Boston to have a dedicated head of platform and one of the first handful in the country to do so. Internally to our portfolio, platform means developing “products” to help our portfolio companies get from zero to one on their most critical seed stage priorities.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Boston Early Stage Portfolio 120

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

Startup salaries — especially on the engineering side — are at near record highs. As startups raised more capital and needed to compete for the best talent, they’ve been forced to give both real equity and pay market rates. These two costs suck up a lot of the money in an early stage company.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage San Francisco Startup Valuation 120

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

So super angel and seed funds are proliferating – As a result there has been an explosion in the number of amazing early-stage investors such as Softtech VC , Floodgate , Felicis Ventures , K9 Ventures , OATV , Lowercase Capital , Founder Collective , and many, many more. That’s OK.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

But 1) many of the best companies were created by rookie founders and 2) there are legitimate reasons why an experienced founder who could raise a large series A might choose a right-sized seed for better alignment, optionality, and early support. Today, multiple rounds are often raised, due to the atomization of the seed space.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

tldr: instead of choosing between in-person or remote, your seed stage company (or team) should be more hybrid, tied to the type/phase of project going on. With in-person being used during periods of intense team ideation, collaboration or debate. While remote is best for execution sprints and concentrated individual problem solving.

Early Stage 146

Early Stage Seed Stage Startup Software 146

View from Seed

JANUARY 28, 2015

In the last six months, we’ve been asked and answered several key questions about seed-stage startups and raising seed capital. All we do is seed — we focus on it, we want to be the best seed partner, and we obsess over helping startups through that first, formative 18-24 month period.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Seed Capital IPO Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

At seed-stage startups, especially companies with well-networked founders and investors, finding applicants who can do a job on paper is not overly difficult. To help you more effectively build your early teams, we asked a group of founders to share their favorite interview questions when they build new startup teams.

Founder 120

Founder Seed Stage Cofounder Boston 120

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

We remain confident in the long-term trend that software enables and the value accrued to disruptive startups; we also recognized that in a strong market it is important to ring the cash register and this doesn’t come without a concentrated effort to do so. Thank you to everybody in the community who has supported us all these years.

San Francisco 408

San Francisco Early Stage Venture Capital Los Angeles 408

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. All the experienced finance people I know talk regularly about cycles.

Early Stage 105

Early Stage Seed Stage Valuation Finance 105

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

When convertible debt first started being introduced as a “faster, cheaper way to get startups funded” they didn’t have pricing built into them. ” And some seed stage investors told me, “I prefer not to fight over price now. You rarely find full ratchets in early-stage deals any more.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 6, 2020

The term “early-stage” covers a lot of territory in venture investing, from incubating a brand-new idea, to investing in a Series A. At the seed stage, we have backed very non-obvious, non-pedigreed entrepreneurs, in spaces that weren’t obvious, who ended up being amazing. We can also help evaluate the market.

Technical Review 69

Technical Review Seed Stage Software Review Early Stage 69

View from Seed

APRIL 16, 2015

An easy way to think about it is that value over time doesn’t go up and to the right in a straight line like this: Instead, it’s more of a stair step like this: So, what are the value inflection points that create the stair steps, and how does one think about it at the earliest stages? These might include: Bring on a technical co-founder.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Cofounder Early Stage Startup 120

Gust

JULY 8, 2012

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups. Early-stage startup. Super Angels.

Early Stage 177

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 177

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

We also now have a dedicated page for exploring our platform of resources focused on helping startups gain traction, found here. We take board seats and want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with founders at the seed stage to try to make the biggest possible impact. – We are seed investors. Who Are We?

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Startup Portfolio Institutional Investors 120

Austin Startup

MAY 8, 2018

Background reading: Founder Compensation: Cash, Equity, Liquidity Fatal Errors in Early Startup Hiring Early Hires: Options or Stock Given how deeply involved we are with early-stage startups hiring their first key employees, I figured it would be helpful to outline a few key principles to help entrepreneurs navigate the topic.

Employee 48

Employee Seed Stage Startup Equity 48

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. Mostly by early stage investors talking about getting smaller exits. They might want you to start lean.

Early Stage 360

Early Stage Startup Venture Capital Seed Stage 360

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

If you are a 20-something tech entrepreneur you could be forgiven for thinking that seed-stage investors, Angellist Syndicates and widely available angel money always existed. I was out to raise my first seed money in my second startup of $500,000. Some quick highlights include: The Role of a Seed Stage VC.

Seed Stage 150

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. At these stages, it’s all about you, and your ability to communicate and execute effectively.

Due Diligence 308

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 308

View from Seed

APRIL 2, 2015

.” So it’s no wonder that one aspect of an early-stage startup’s existence can be perpetually up for debate: their graphic design. But startups need to make tradeoffs, so the question is really, Does polished design matter, or should we focus on other things for now? appeared first on The View From Seed.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Design Startup Early Stage 120