Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

The Golden Age for Entrepreneurs and VC’s. The two decades from 1979 when pension funds fueled the expansion of venture capital to 2000 when the dot-com bubble burst were the Golden Age for entrepreneurs and venture capital firms. They’ve created virtual IPO’s for founders and employees via late-stage private financing.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 297

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Generally speaking in venture capital financings the legal documents will specify that only “major investors” (a threshold set in the agreement – which can be $500,000 investor or more). Does he blog about venture capital and try to advise entrepreneurs? There is a reason for this. Is this investor on AngelList?

SEC 352

SEC Venture Capital Early Stage Cofounder 352

Eric Friedman

AUGUST 18, 2021

From who we hire to the way we go to market, from how we engage with our limited partners to how we engage with founders, it’s all about being very focused on quality and consistency so as to affect strategies to generate meaningful carry for ourselves and our limited partners. But, it makes no sense to me.

Silicon Valley 88

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Africa 88

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

– Build out low-cost force multipliers such as scouts , Advisors, Entrepreneurs in Residence, Venture Partners, and so on. Another example is Correlation Ventures ($300M+ AUM), a VC firm which co-invests in financings with at least one other new outside VC.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Small investment firms often have interns and entrepreneurs in residence passing through, each of which is a security risk. See Bessemer Venture Partners’ A comprehensive guide to security for startups. Boardex and Relationship Science make it easier to understand and map social networks into potential limited partners.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is not understanding the relationship they have with their investors. We were just about to have a board meeting in another week to talk about raising another round of financing to keep our struggling disaster afloat. At times they confuse VC’s with their friends. Lets Go to Lunch.

San Francisco 331

San Francisco Silicon Valley Limited Partner Venture Capital 331

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Scott Kupor of A16Z responded with a comprehensive overview of valuation methodology in a post that while accurate feels more targeted at sophisticated Limited Partners (LPs) who invest in funds. As an entrepreneur I never really knew what to make of VC return data. Have Marc and Ben attracted great partners? Absolutely.

LP 264

LP Jordan Cofounder Limited Partner 264

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 22, 2019

Most entrepreneurs are aware that securing investments in their companies could be essential to the short-term growth and long-term success of their venture. It can often be confusing to know which investment type might work best for an entrepreneur and business. The question of venture capitalist versus angel investor often arises.

Angel Investor 122

Angel Investor Venture Capital Accredited Investor Equity 122

Babbling VC

OCTOBER 3, 2011

For those of you not in the know, they are one of the largest limited partners ( LP's : investors in venture capital funds) in Europe and are basically in almost all the funds throughout the market. Further, a lot of former entrepreneurs are launching their own funds, such as Atomico or very recently Heiko Hubertz in Germany.

LP 82

LP Europe Germany Venture Capital 82

Babbling VC

JANUARY 7, 2011

I personally believe that one of the major drawbacks to venture capital in Europe is chronic under-financing and people skirt around this issue. Hence, financing rounds have been smaller (roughly a ratio of 5 to 1 when comparing US to EU). Even Dropbox and Etsy have done far larger rounds to finance their growth.

Finance 76

Finance LP Europe Valuation 76

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing. So my view is that VCs and entrepreneurs need to make tougher choices.

Startup 290

Startup Burn Rate Warrant Bankruptcy 290

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. They point to some widely known facts: financings & valuations are up massively over the past 7 years and non-VC money has entered the system.

LP 150

LP Valuation Burn Rate Pre-Money Valuation 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

But the reality is that “global warming” massively blunted the effects of winter and my prognosis for VC fundings of entrepreneurs in 2017–2018 is now very sunny indeed. Actually, winter did come and I have the data that shows it. Unless of course something Trump’s our good weather. or Walmart buying Jet for $3 billion.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Saudi Arabia Kuwait Burn Rate 150

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

Coats says the VC firm spent more than six years and invested millions of dollars to compile a database of key variables from more than 60,000 venture financing deals covering roughly 98 percent of all U.S. venture investments since 1987. Raising the firm’s initial $165 million was a three-year overnight success,” Coats says.

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

The typical wisdom regarding the appropriate financing course for a new company goes as follows: 1. An entrepreneur starts a company in classic " bootstrap " fashion - with a combination of sweat equity and their own financial resources. All live happily ever after. It all sounds wonderful and it is.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

Agile VC

DECEMBER 6, 2012

I was talking with an entrepreneur recently about this phenomenon. As most of you probably know, the vast majority of VC firms make investments out of funds structured as limited partnerships with a 10yr life. VC firms typically raise a new fund every 2-4 years but each of these funds is a discrete pool of capital.

LP 178

LP Balance Sheet Differentiation Limited Partner 178

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. I explore the reasons for this in Why Are Revenue-Based Investors Investing in So Many Women & Diverse Entrepreneurs? . Greater transparency to limited partners.

Revenue 60

Revenue SBIC Cofounder Venture Capital 60

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 19, 2013

We both started out as entrepreneurs and have spent a lot of time participating in, learning about, and teaching how to create and scale startups. ” I’m taking a positive view – assuming that you are doing this – and adding someone you trust and has a philosophy of helping support the entrepreneur.

Early Stage 143

Early Stage Limited Partner Global Finance 143

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Investors get board seats to assure themselves and their limited partners that they are duly informed about their investment. 3) An experienced board brings an extensive network of customers, partners, help in recruiting, follow-on financing, etc. What is the entrepreneur supposed to be doing? The Wrong Metrics.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Investors get board seats to assure themselves and their limited partners that they are duly informed about their investment. 3) An experienced board brings an extensive network of customers, partners, help in recruiting, follow-on financing, etc. What is the entrepreneur supposed to be doing? The Wrong Metrics.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

K9 Ventures

MAY 14, 2011

This is probably the very first group that an entrepreneur who is starting out may approach for some funding for his or her idea. They are still individual investors, they invest on a full-time basis as professionals, but they have funds with Limited Partners. Pooled resources or Limited Partners. Source of Funds.

Preferred Stock 125

Preferred Stock Seed Stage Incubator Early Stage 125

Babbling VC

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

You either sell the business and both parties (entrepreneurs and investors) go their separate ways. This happens both to investors and entrepreneurs as well as colleagues or co-founders. . They will pool money amongst "friends and family" as well as their own capital to finance new deals. It happens to VC's too.

Portfolio 70

Portfolio Limited Partner Early Stage Cofounder 70

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Many of you entrepreneurs know that feeling. million of limited partner commitments--a huge and exciting first step. Two Sigma is a technology and finance company in Soho filled with incredibly bright engineers and developers, so I’m really excited about leveraging that partnership in a number of cool ways.

LP 112

LP New York City New York Chad 112

Professor VC

DECEMBER 8, 2015

I was a Limited Partner in Angel Investors II (Ron Conway's angel fund) that was an investor in Confinity. I originally got to thinking about this when I received a 485 page information statement on a previously announced merger between Clean Power Finance and Kilowatt Financial. At the IPO, Musk held a 14.2%

Merger 28

Merger LP IPO Redemption 28

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 13, 2011

Steve Blank is a retired serial entrepreneur, educator, thought leader and creator of the rigorous "Customer Development" methodology that helps startups optimize their chances for success while reducing risk. Investors get board seats to assure themselves and their limited partners that they are duly informed about their investment.

Silicon Valley 117

Silicon Valley Balance Sheet Metrics Early Stage 117

Austin Startup

MARCH 7, 2021

It’s like a dam has broken and now there is a flood of new entrepreneurs, investors, and big companies moving to Texas. At the same time, early-stage companies are thinking beyond the high prices of Silicon Valley to put down roots and find financing and growth partners. And the entrepreneurs are moving there too.

Texas 90

Texas San Antonio Houston Dallas 90

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

This post highlights some of the reasons why the market is moving again and what entrepreneurs should do about this. But you can’t keep your pocketbook on the sidelines forever and still expect LPs (limited partners or the people who invest their money in VC funds) to pay you 2% management fees every year.

IPO 255

IPO Investment Bankers Venture Capital Marketing 255

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 29, 2009

The first limited partnership that lasted for a while was formed by Davis and Rock in 1961. Arthur Rock, an investment banker at Hayden Stone in New York (who helped broker the financing of Fairchild) moved out to San Francisco in 1961 and partnered with Tommy Davis.

Silicon Valley 125

Silicon Valley SBIC San Francisco RSS 125

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 1, 2018

We refer to B and C rounds as early growth – essentially financings with valuations between $50m and $300m pre-money. We very much look forward to continuing to work with everyone we currently work with, as well as another group of great entrepreneurs and VC fund managers in our Foundry Group Next 2018 Fund.

Syndicate 17

Syndicate Syndication IRR Canada 17

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

My first reaction is incredulity that limited partners would buy into this idea. For firms that dont have access to the most successful entrepreneurs, trying to predict an individual or individual teams success rate based on experience, personal attributes, intellect, etc. Steve Bennet. at 1:42 PM. Email This BlogThis!

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Venture Capital Angel Investor 28

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. And I also now have to raise money myself, but this time from bigger institutions that our industry calls LPs (limited partners). I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. Tell a friend!

Developer 366

Developer Silicon Valley PR Las Vegas 366

Steve Blank

MARCH 22, 2009

Their VC firm, In-Q-Tel , has been in business for 10 years, and like most VC firms they have an annual event where they show off their new portfolio companies to their limited partners and other VC partners. We witness similar behavior in corporate finance.

Silicon Valley 247

Silicon Valley Thailand RSS Venture Capital 247

K9 Ventures

NOVEMBER 30, 2008

The birth of modern-day venture capital (not considering the European monarchs financing explorations and projects as venture capital) can be traced back to American Research and Development, which was started by Georges Doriot. The Entrepreneur perspective. For entrepreneurs the problems occur at multiple levels.

IRR 48

IRR Venture Capital LP Early Stage 48

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

Why the Unicorn Financing Market Just Became Dangerous…For All Involved. All Unicorn participants — founders, company employees, venture investors and their limited partners (LPs) — are seeing their fortunes put at risk from the very nature of the Unicorn phenomenon itself. Entrepreneurs/Founders/CEOs.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Professor VC

JANUARY 20, 2009

The latest statistics from VentureSource show 554 financings in Q4, down from 620 in Q3 and 718 in Q4 2007. Of course, the most important funding statistic to an entrepreneur relates to one specific company, and whether there is sufficient capital available to build and scale his business. Total amount raised fell from $7.5 We drew $1.5

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley San Jose Bootstrapping 28

Seeing Both Sides

JANUARY 27, 2009

But I confess this book did not resonate with me or strike me as relevant for the VC-entrepreneur dance in the same way his previous book, Blink, did (see: VCs Blink ). Further, partnerships as a whole are going to be loathe to admit problems and failures with their investors, the Limited Partners. The reason – loss aversion.

Portfolio 20

Portfolio Valuation Limited Partner Cloud 20

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 30, 2016

I wanted to encourage more of our Limited Partner (LPs, or the people who invest in VC funds) to attend our annual meeting in person. It’s important that we stay current in and debate others on what is actually happening: In late-stage financings, in IPOs, in M&A, in crowd funding, etc. I had a few objectives in mind.

Community 150

Community Los Angeles LP Portfolio 150