YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

This past summer, the Lightspeed Summer Fellowships program invited selected guests to provide aspiring entrepreneurs a perspective into all aspects of starting a new company. The program provides entrepreneurs the resources and mentoring they need to build their companies and develop their skills. ” The Cost of Financing.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

But for the last decade “innovation” in Chinese software meant something different than it did in Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs in Beijing were knowledgeable about Silicon Valley, entrepreneurship and the state of software and tools available for two reasons. Of course “copy” is too strong a word.

China 219

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 219

Austin Startup

MARCH 4, 2019

It’s stocked with free food, drinks and wifi but the real reason you want to be there is because we’ve curated all of the top entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators at SXSW and invited them to stop by. Wednesday, March 13 Every day 10:00am-5:00pm. it could be your next investor or a big customer or the next president of the U.S.

Silicon Valley 50

Silicon Valley Technical Review Texas Venture Capital 50

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

This structure offers some of the benefits of traditional equity VC, without some of the negatives of equity VC. I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. We don’t have any equity or control over the business….”. “As Bigfoot Capital. Decathlon Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

So even within the “alternative class&# our LPs are looking at other asset investment choices such as distressed buyout funds, private equity or hedge funds. The best and most consistent funds in Silicon Valley (e.g. Many firms didn’t even return LPs their original money let along a profit. VC will shrink.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. The hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play.

Early Stage 253

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 253

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 9, 2010

During this week's roundtable we had a group of entrepreneurs from the Pune Open Coffee Club gather at the offices of Persistent Systems to participate in the roundtable together. First, there are two primary aspects that have to be managed: inventory financing and customer acquisition costs. Suresh is a 1M/1M premium member.

Silicon Valley 117

Silicon Valley Malaysia India China 117

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

When you accept outside money, particularly a private equity (PE) investment, however, that changes. In this article, I’ll provide some personal stories of how investors have navigated the balance between raising private equity capital and not losing control of their startup. You make all the decisions, when you want, how you want.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 10, 2018

Thus, as with many other expensive aspects of starting a business, many entrepreneurs like you are turning to software. Already, a Silicon Valley startup called Atrium has developed an app that hopes to automate nearly every task that forces startups to hire lawyers, which might include acquiring funding, merging, and being sued.

Software Review 70

Software Review Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Software 70

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. This question gets to the heart of what bank financing is and isn''t supposed to accomplish. Bankers do not contribute equity.

Silicon Valley 187

Silicon Valley Equity Entrepreneur Finance 187

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

Before I do, however, I want to talk about a thumb rule that I'd like to propose to entrepreneurs about raising money. Bottom line, early stage equity is very, very expensive. As a thumb rule, try to get enough validation so that you can get to at least a $2 million pre-money valuation before raising equity capital.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2021

For many fledgling entrepreneurs, trying to start up their own business can be an admittedly exhausting and arduous task. Were you to ask any entrepreneur what their most pressing concern was regarding their product or idea, they would most likely unhesitantly reply “money” — or, rather, the complete lack thereof. Crowdfunding.

Security 92

Security Finance Angel Investor Incubator 92

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How to Hire for Sweat Equity…. We have a myriad of connections to local Venture Capital firms, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and many other important individuals. And now I’m trying to get my own team, and have them work for equity. Silicon Valley Bank seems interesting. Skip to primary content.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And the loosening of federal monetary policies, particularly in the US, has pushed more dollars into the venture ecosystems at every stage of financing. What Has Changed in Financing? The legends of Silicon Valley?—?two And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. Of course we can’t.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. There’s lots of lore, emotion, and misconceptions of what VC’s do or don’t do for entrepreneurs. 3) invest in and take equity stakes in exchange for capital. What Do VC’s Do?

Silicon Valley 235

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 235

Pascal's View

OCTOBER 11, 2013

I first visited the Museum of American Finance a couple of years ago, and it is not only a great space,it is a useful resource for visitors interested in a wide range of current exhibits on current capital markets topics, as well as documents and artifacts related to capital markets, money and banking.

New York 31

New York Technical Review Angel Investor Finance 31

Gust

JULY 8, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. The hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play.

Early Stage 177

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 177

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

During this week's roundtable we discussed an area that deserves a serious look from entrepreneurs: Rural BPO. Today, I invited entrepreneurs to come up with ideas, apply the 1M/1M methodology to it, and come discuss with me at these roundtables. Whether it is credit or equity, funding is very, very tight. Kir Devries.

Cloud 115

Cloud Silicon Valley Incubator Finance 115

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

C-Corp largely because (i) VCs have historically favored C-Corps for nuanced tax and other reasons, and (ii) virtually all of the standardized legal infrastructure around startup finance and equity compensation assumes a C-Corp. Profitability is now a serious consideration among tech entrepreneurs. However, times are changing.

Delaware 48

Delaware LLC Startup Silicon Valley 48

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” We did the early round of financing and the founding team walked when the market turned and when the situation got tough. He still has the dream.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

They aren’t exclusive to Silicon Valley types. Advice For The Young At Heart business financing financing Kristen Gramigna private equity' Further, the report’s data shows that investors in the Great Lakes region are highly active, now tied with investors in California for the most deals invested.

Silicon Valley 171

Silicon Valley Private Equity Seattle California 171

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 28, 2012

To find out how real startup founders dealt with the accelerator issue, we asked eight successful entrepreneurs from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) to share their experiences – and their advice for other founders considering a startup accelerator. – Andrew Schrage , Money Crashers Personal Finance.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Chile Startup Due Diligence 60

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

The first milestone in a new startup’s financing is called ‘Seed Capital’ which refers to the initial investment raised by the founders from their friends and family, or commonly referred to as FFF (Friends, Family and Founders), who mostly use their personal assets. Convertible Debt Financing. Raising Seed Capital.

Finance 93

Finance Accredited Investor Angel Investor Seed Capital 93

Hippoland

JANUARY 4, 2017

Equity Traditionally, investors have invested in companies to receive equity, or shares in a company. The concept of equity rounds (also called priced rounds) is very straightforward. And as you raise money at later stages, you will most likely be raising equity rounds. The results are binary.

Convertible Security 48

Convertible Security Equity Security Silicon Valley 48

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. This question gets to the heart of what bank financing is and isn't supposed to accomplish. Bankers do not contribute equity.

Silicon Valley 201

Silicon Valley Early Stage Startup Equity 201

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

This partnership speaks to a core philosophy of the program where we encourage entrepreneurs to get as much customer validation as possible before raising too much money, use other people's channels if you can get to them, don't burn too much cash, and all that good fiscal conservative stuff. LetsGiftIt. million in revenue.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

Or, as my friend Marc Andreessen might say, Software Eats the Private Equity World. note: apologies in advance for the west coast bias; i’m in silicon valley). Rise of Y Combinator, 1st Branded Entrepreneur Guild. Ok, let’s dive in and discuss in more detail. Mega VC, Micro VC. and no, we didn’t.

Silicon Valley 74

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

There’s a line of thinking in Silicon Valley that you should build product businesses rather than services businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. It is advice I give entrepreneurs often as I have written here on why most businesses should never raise VC.

Silicon Valley 332

Silicon Valley IP Dividend Finance 332

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. Although it certainly doesn’t feel that way when you’re an entrepreneur trying to raise money for your own company. The question most entrepreneurs keep asking themselves is why isn’t that capital chasing me?

Venture Capital 117

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 117

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. Although it certainly doesn’t feel that way when you’re an entrepreneur trying to raise money for your own company. The question most entrepreneurs keep asking themselves is why isn’t that capital chasing me?

Venture Capital 105

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage 105

Gust

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Last week , we gave some attention to the “why” behind convertible note financing for early stage startups. As with so many subjects in law and finance, mastering the jargon is half the battle. This may seem like a no-brainer now that you understand the basic structure of a convertible debt financing.

Finance 79

Finance Preferred Stock Term Sheet Early Stage 79

OnlyOnce

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

On the heels of the announcement we made last month about our Series B financing , we are now announcing the launch of a new program called Bolster Prime and a new venture capital fund called Bolster Ventures. Any entrepreneur would be lucky to have one of these mentors in their corner. This is another big week for us at Bolster.

Silicon Valley 62

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cap Table Early Stage 62

Gust

DECEMBER 13, 2011

Here are the trends in venture capital financings from 2006 through 2010 – the number of seed stage deals funded and total investment by region in millions of dollars. . Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley. Note that I merged the two Southern California regions (LA/Orange County and San Diego) into one. All Seed-VC.

Seed Stage 162

Seed Stage Southern California San Diego Silicon Valley 162

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 22, 2020

Many of the most successful companies in Silicon Valley were formed in the depths of the Great Recession: Slack, Uber, WhatsApp, Venmo and Square all launched in 2009. That trend is exacerbated in a recession as day traders and hedge fund activists rush in to buy up equities from a market in free fall. That isn’t a coincidence.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Equity Stock Finance 60

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 30, 2014

The class provides Life Science/Health Care entrepreneurs with real world, hands-on learning on how to rapidly : define clinical utility before spending millions of dollars. identify financing vehicles before you need them. identify financing vehicles before you need them. Incubators are designed for teams with an idea.

San Diego 265

San Diego North Carolina Chicago Lean 265

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

So, I’d like to start by sharing the story of a female entrepreneur who did experience VC funding success—but still also felt the impact of the biases held by the industry. While private equity has a history in the U.S. Silicon valley tends to have a bias towards a certain startup founder stereotype (i.e. A rare success.

Venture Capital 82

Venture Capital Lean Cofounder Technical Review 82

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 17, 2012

On arrival, a government program called Start-Up Chile handed him $40,000, no equity required. The government wants to bring in foreign entrepreneurs to interact with the business community," Davis says. In Silicon Valley, if you fail quickly and cheaply, people think that's awesome because you learned a lot.".

Chile 158

Chile Silicon Valley San Francisco Cofounder 158