Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2023

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. Each has met legal securities minimums for net worth and professionalism, to reduce the risk to entrepreneurs. Marty Zwilling

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Accredited Investor Syndicate Syndication 265

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund and mutual fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. Chris Dixon, Partner, A16Z, observes , “ Success in VC is probably 10% about picking, and 90% about sourcing the right deals and having entrepreneurs choose your firm as a partner”.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

thebarefootvc

MAY 8, 2012

As an entrepreneur at heart, I often innately grasp the potential of entrepreneurs and ideas that I meet with. It is the human capital involved, both internally with company teams and externally with advisors, boards and investors, that is going to differentiate which startups survive and become the disruptive businesses of tomorrow.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Syndicate Syndication Bandwidth 78

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 21, 2014

2014 will be a formative year for new business owners and early-stage entrepreneurs. For those would-be entrepreneurs debating the startup leap? More non-professional investors will become angel investors and entrepreneurs will benefit from their domain expertise. by Melissa Thompson, CEO of TalkSession. Don’t fear Goliath.

Entrepreneur 188

Entrepreneur Startup Balance Sheet Non-Compete 188

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. Each has met legal securities minimums for net worth and professionalism, to reduce the risk to entrepreneurs. Marty Zwilling.

Search 317

Search Accredited Investor Angel Investor Venture Capital 317

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. We detail below the major categories of VC: VENTURE CAPITAL TYPOLOGY. FLEXIBLE VC VS. OTHER VENTURE CAPITAL MODELS.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Dividend Equity 78

Genuine VC

JULY 10, 2012

There are essentially two distinct basic strategies for startup entrepreneurs to raise a seed round of capital: Subscription approach – An entrepreneur sets a structure (usually a convertible note) and recruits individual angel investors who subscribe to the round, all without a term-driving lead investor.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Portfolio 207

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

As the venture capital industry has evolved, more and more seed investors are passing on traditionally “seed stage” startups because there isn’t enough traction. We are also seeing more investors try to be a part of syndicated A rounds for companies that are raising $5M or more and are really not what most would consider “seed” stage.

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North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Equity 436

Equity Small Business Administration SBA Syndicate 436

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Entrepreneur 240

Entrepreneur Equity Small Business Administration SBA 240

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 17, 2024

Hey there, budding entrepreneurs! Image Credit: Nick Chong / Unsplash Navigating the Startup Investment Maze Many entrepreneurs like yourself often find themselves a bit daunted by the range of investment options available. Entrepreneurs also encounter the intricacies of terms and valuation. Come out triumphant in the end.

Due Diligence 126

Due Diligence Angel Investor Syndicate Syndication 126

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2010

And the beneath-the-surface rumblings were about how it was screwing up the venture capital business model. VCs needed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars every couple of years, and liked to go into groups and syndications, which meant they wanted deals for a few millions dollars. No, I don’t have data.

Disintermediation 66

Disintermediation Venture Capital Angel Investor Seed Stage 66

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Small Business Administration 283

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 16, 2014

It''s also not the best way to create a helpful syndicate of investors that share the founder''s vision for the company. It''s also a function of meeting the entrepreneur before they''ve really decided what they want to raise, or before they have a deck. Venture Capital & Technology' So what''s taking so long?

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Venture Capital Syndicate Syndication Founder 162

David Teten

JULY 12, 2017

Although EquityZen is primarily an online marketplace for secondary shares in private companies, they also offer syndicated primary investments. This is primarily an advantage for the underlying investor in the company, not the VC leading the syndicate. . Market Insight. Alpha pursues a similar model. Cross-posted on PEHub.

Syndicate 60

Syndicate Syndication Institutional Investors Limited Partner 60

Growthink Blog

OCTOBER 7, 2010

Now that summer is officially over, venture capital activity is picking up. I just reviewed the many companies who recently raised venture capital with an eye towards those that are offering products and services that could benefit other entrepreneurs and business owners. Ixtens ( [link] ) raised $4.6 read more.

Azure 74

Azure Venture Capital Software Review Syndicate 74

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs, and a former angel myself, I still find startups confused about the definition of an angel investor, and how and when to attract one. Typically, individual investments will be less than $100K, but a group of angels may syndicate multiples. Thus they don’t live or fly above the clouds.

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Angel Investor Valuation Syndicate Syndication 322

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

Main Street Venture Fund LLC, an angel fund of about 25 private investors, was formed by Ruffolo Benson LLC in northeast Indiana with the intention of bringing together area entrepreneurs and private investors to create economic value for the region. Tags: angel investor entrepreneur process trophy business. Business wisdom.

Angel Investor 208

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Indiana Phoenix 208

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 10, 2022

Sometimes, given your syndicate configuration, you have no choice but to take structure in a new round. So, as an entrepreneur, I encourage you to deal with reality. and a bunch of other things. While my optimistic personality hopes this downturn/adjustment is short-lived, I fear it won’t be.

Down Round 162

Down Round Ratchet Liquidation Preference Participating Preferred 162

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, Oh, the conferences.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

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.

Silicon Valley 62

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cap Table Early Stage 62

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

As the venture capital industry has evolved, more and more seed investors are passing on traditionally “seed stage” startups because there isn’t enough traction. We are also seeing more investors try to be a part of syndicated A rounds for companies that are raising $5M or more and are really not what most would consider “seed” stage.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. Each has met legal securities minimums for net worth and professionalism, to reduce the risk to entrepreneurs.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Accredited Investor Venture Capital Startup 120

Version One Ventures

APRIL 8, 2014

Thus, it should come as no surprise that we are now seeing Venture Capital being disrupted by these forces as well. In his post The Disruption of Venture Capital , Albert Wenger described VC as “the club you had to be invited into.”. Enter Mattermark: where “Big Data Meets Venture Capital”.

Venture Capital 160

Venture Capital Vertical Curation SEC 160

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

Even if you work every day in the world of new-venture funding, as I do, the options are confusing, and their meanings seem to change on a regular basis. I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. A micro venture capital firm.

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Seed Stage Finance Early Stage Startup 120

Haystack

JULY 15, 2018

I understand entrepreneurs would like to know the outcome of a decision at a meeting or soon thereafter — and sometimes that can happen — but sometimes it takes a while for things to take shape. Occasionally here, I’ll make a smaller investment to start and help syndicate. So, now, what happens in the actual meeting?

Founder 60

Founder Syndicate Syndication Deal Flow 60

David Teten

JUNE 12, 2012

Harvard Business School is featuring an article about the Venture Capital Access Program on the website of the U.S. In the article, I discuss why we think that smart early-stage investors should target women and diverse entrepreneurs, and why we think HBS Alumni Angels in particular is well positioned to be very successful.

Private Equity 133

Private Equity Syndicate Syndication Angel Investor 133

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 3, 2014

Will the entrepreneur count that investor among their most helpful? Would the entrepreneur enthusiastically include them in the syndicate of their next venture? If someone bought a company for $50mm after a year, before it became a business with actual revenue, what are you really crediting the entrepreneur with?

Syndicate 124

Syndicate Syndication Venture Capital Valuation 124

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 23, 2014

Sugarcoating isn''t helpful to entrepreneurs. I''ve been helping to syndicate a few opportunities lately and what has really surprised me was how wishy washy the turndowns were. Entrepreneurs are sending me back notes saying "They turned it down, but I''m not sure why." Venture Capital & Technology'

Syndicate 133

Syndicate Syndication Venture Capital Early Stage 133

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

Andrew Krowne and I recently co-wrote an article in Tech Crunch , Why SAFE Notes Are Not Safe for Entrepreneurs. At its core, this issue points to the lack of understanding about the importance of post-money valuation by both entrepreneurs and investors. Many entrepreneurs lose track of what they have been cooking up in the cap table.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Equity 120

Equity Small Business Administration SBA Syndicate 120

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. in the last four years we’ve seen a 250% increase in venture capital funding and have doubled the number of startup development organizations in our community.” they are all chasing talent.

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Texas San Antonio Houston Dallas 90

Gust

FEBRUARY 26, 2014

Further down the scale are the regional events that the organizations put on, which usually combine regional investment syndication with classes and tutorials. Venture Capitalists. The big one for VCs is the annual meeting of the National Venture Capital Association. NVCA Annual Meeting.

Angel Investor 125

Angel Investor Global Angel Groups Europe 125

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. In a world of The Funded, VentureHacks and entrepreneur blogs this kind of informations spreads like wildfire.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 21, 2010

Interestingly enough, I thought more people started taking part in the conversation who weren’t on Hot Potato because they now knew their thoughts were being syndicated to an app where more people were talking about the event. A less product-focused entrepreneur would not have been able to make that call.

Product 68

Product Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Syndicate 68

Agile VC

APRIL 27, 2012

We love meeting entrepreneurs who take this blank canvas approach when thinking about disrupting markets. My partner David recently wrote about how investors tend to bring their own inherent biases (both good and bad) into pitch meetings with entrepreneurs. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC.

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 124