View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

Magic Graph: How Much Seed Capital Should You Raise? “At some point, an entrepreneur begins to exhaust her network, and her network’s network, and the incremental hours devoted to fundraising will begin to yield less capital raised than the previous.” ” (Lee Hower). ” (David Beisel). ” (Rob Go).

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

David Teten

JULY 10, 2019

pre-launch, BIG equity, big peeps involved–ANY TIPS?? Do you have a great team at your seed startup, but your product just isn’t working? We agree on an equity split, vesting, and initial compensation structure. And how do you split the equity? This work is unpaid, as with any other startup at the pre-seed stage.

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

David Teten

MAY 7, 2019

We agree on an equity split, vesting, and initial compensation structure. We agree that upon raising capital, each team member will earn $X, perhaps with an automatic bump to $Y upon achieving agreed-upon milestones. And how do you split the equity? Here’s How to Do Your Due Diligence First. This work is unpaid. Sounds great!

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

Feld Thoughts

JULY 29, 2011

Finance Friday’s gets off the ground with today’s post by introducing you to an imaginary startup, the entrepreneurs that we’ll being following throughout the series, and their first challenges: splitting up the founders’ equity and addressing the case where one of the founders provides the initial seed capital for the business.

Equity 137

Equity Finance Pre-Money Valuation Denver 137

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

When seeking equity investments, the source of capital is, for the most part, tied to the stage of capital being raised. You see, equity capital is raised in stages or rounds. Pre-Seed Funding 2. Seed Funding 3. The five main stages include the following: 1. Series C, D, etc.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Instead I will make a few observations about how an investor might think about the impact of ICOs / token launches on the venture capital industry, in particular, and some of the downstream ramifications that need to wrestled with. Need for growth capital. Shift of value from equity holders to token holders.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Instead I will make a few observations about how an investor might think about the impact of ICOs / token launches on the venture capital industry, in particular, and some of the downstream ramifications that need to wrestled with. Need for growth capital. Shift of value from equity holders to token holders.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Business Plan Blog

DECEMBER 12, 2013

It is a high net-worth individual who invests his or her own money directly into promising startup businesses in return for mostly equity share of the company. Download our free Raising Capital from Angel Investors eBook. This guide will walk you through the process of obtaining seed capital for your startup.

Angel Groups 40

Angel Groups Angel Investor Software Review Accredited Investor 40

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 15, 2013

Provide some sort of seed capital to their founders. Take a small amount of equity (usually ~6%) and overall have terms that are favorable to entrepreneurs. Not every accelerator is/could be/would be a member in GAN, nor is it designed that way. Take no less than 5 and no more than 12 companies at a time.

Global 179

Global Networking United States Seed Money 179

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Raising Seed Capital. Most startup founders do not have enough capital to launch their companies and need to raise money at some point. Among the most common methods of funding used by startups when raising seed capital is “Convertible Debt Financing.” 2) Giving equity in the company. Startup Funding'

Finance 93

Finance Accredited Investor Angel Investor Seed Capital 93

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2021

Generally, it also allows potential consumers to get a share of the business — whether through equity or an actual tangible item or product itself — to bolster confidence in the brand. Instead, they usually ask for a stake in your business, either through equity or convertible debt. Small Business Grants.

Security 92

Security Finance Angel Investor Incubator 92

Gust

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

Another use of convertible note bridge financing is to make a quick injection of seed capital into a new startup when the investor and entrepreneur already know and trust each other; it’s better than a handshake, but far quicker and easier to complete than a real Series A round.

Finance 178

Finance Term Sheet Preferred Stock Bridge Financing 178

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

Raising seed capital is a tricky business. Most are making major mistakes in their approach when seeking capital. To me, this is the best time to raise your seed. You’re less vulnerable, pay less equity for your funding, and you have some very specific things to talk about. Option Two: Post-Launch?—?Raise

Technical Cofounder 20

Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20

The Startup Lawyer

OCTOBER 9, 2010

But this morning I read a Dallas Business Journal article that I found amusing: A new accelerator is planning to invest $200,000 and provide up to 45,000 square feet of office space to about 10 mobile app startups in exchange for 15-20% equity in each startup. (a) a) That’s $20,000 per startup for a 15%-20% equity stake.

Dallas 91

Dallas Seed Capital Incubator Post-Money Valuation 91

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 12, 2016

Most businesses – online or offline, need seed capital to get established and without access to these funds, launching a business can seem like an improbable dream. In the early stages of business, sweat equity can often be a good substitute for cash. What stops a majority from moving ahead to the execution stage is funding.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder Sweat Equity Startup Seed Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2012

Define equity type. The first capital a young company receives usually takes the form of common stock, the same class of shares the founders hold. You can end up becoming very frustrated with the investors, or cause the venture to fail if you run out of seed capital before the angel round can be completed.

Term Sheet 223

Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Due Diligence Post-Money Valuation 223

Haystack

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

Most of the rounds I participate in today are priced equity rounds. The equity round process bakes this in, and helps every participant to know what they’re raising or holding at any given point, dissuading the company from taking on additional capital without some burden.

Seed Stage 76

Seed Stage Seed Capital Equity Europe 76

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. Fast forward a decade, today the Private Equity and Venture Capital business is booming in China with over 1000 firms actively investing.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 271

Gust

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

How to finance a new seed-stage startup? Convertible equity? ” Ressi in particular seems to be passionate about removing the “debt” component from convertible debt seed financing transactions. .” Convertible debt? As of August 2010, Paul Graham famously proclaimed , “Convertible notes have won.

Finance 134

Finance Convertible Security Equity Seed Stage 134

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

Define equity type. The first capital a young company receives usually takes the form of common stock, the same class of shares the founders hold. You can end up becoming very frustrated with the investors, or cause the venture to fail if you run out of seed capital before the angel round can be completed.

Term Sheet 227

Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Due Diligence Post-Money Valuation 227

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

– Flowchart: Seed VC Decision Tree (how one seed investor gets to yes or no). – Checklist: Critical to-do’s immediately after raising seed capital. – Questions to ask when dividing founder equity. – Why raise seed vs jump to Series A? A look at actual startups’ funnels).

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Seed Capital Syndicate Syndication 120

Haystack

AUGUST 18, 2019

.” 2/ Lateral Competition – The number of “seed” funds has also grown during this boon. More and more seed capital has flooded into the market, making the situation for funding seed rounds ~$2M-ish total size more competitive. Samir Kaji from First Republic has been writing on this for years.

Seed Stage 108

Seed Stage Cap Table Early Stage Malaysia 108

Austin Startup

APRIL 28, 2019

I put that in quotations, because, as I’ll expound, there is a start-up industrial complex that is designed to fleece novice founders from their seed capital with predatory fees, terms, etc. Some accelerators take equity in exchange for providing services like desk space, credit on cloud services, or “free” consulting.

Incubator 50

Incubator Equity Programming Cloud 50

Gust

OCTOBER 17, 2011

Define equity type. The first capital a young company receives usually takes the form of common stock, the same class of shares the founders hold. You can end up becoming very frustrated with the investors, or cause the venture to fail if you run out of seed capital before the angel round can be completed.

Term Sheet 158

Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Due Diligence Post-Money Valuation 158

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. Fast forward a decade, today the Private Equity and Venture Capital business is booming in China with over 1000 firms actively investing.

Venture Capital 163

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 163

Business Plan Blog

DECEMBER 10, 2013

The most important principle of startup fundraising that every entrepreneur needs to know is: raise enough capital to achieve a set of milestones that will allow the company to attract the next round of investment. Founding Team, Key Hires, Advisory Board. You can also bring these skillsets to the organization via a board of advisors.

Angel Investor 55

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Seed Capital Advisory Board 55

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 12, 2011

When we were last with Dick and Jane on Finance Fridays, our fearless entrepreneurs were figuring out how to split up their founders equity and account for an investment from Jane. While they’ve been hard at work on their product, they’ve also incorporated the company, now named SayAhh (thanks Mac!) as a C-Corp in Delaware.

Balance Sheet 136

Balance Sheet Forecast Cap Table Early Stage 136

Haystack

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

4/ The Big Winners: Cylance raised around ~$280M in financing, with large equity stakeholders being Khosla Ventures, Fairhaven, and Blackstone. 1/ A Pre-Seed Reminder: According to Crunchbase, PlanGrid was founded and went through Y Combinator in 2012. The company only raised a bit over $1M as seed capital.

Acquisition 62

Acquisition Artificial Inteligence Balance Sheet Cofounder 62

Gust

OCTOBER 5, 2011

In case it isn’t clear by now, angel investors aren’t in the business of making risky early stage investments in order to earn 6% interest on their money, or even 10%— the upside is all in conversion to equity—so the interest rate isn’t a major point of negotiation. These deal terms are simple but significant.

Finance 79

Finance Preferred Stock Term Sheet Early Stage 79

Business Plan Blog

JANUARY 2, 2014

wealthy, verified investors), the lifting of the ban on general solicitation has allowed investors to publicly advertise that they are raising capital, be it on their blog, Twitter, Facebook, or crowdfunding site such as AngelList. Download our free Raising Capital from Angel Investors eBook. Want To Learn More?

Angel Groups 51

Angel Groups Accredited Investor Angel Investor Due Diligence 51

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

Survival or Establishment Stage: Once initial seed capital is drying up and no profit has yet been earned, the challenge for a social enterprise will be to expand the customer base and increase the market penetration while preserving capital.

Subordinated Debt 45

Subordinated Debt Seed Capital Equity Finance 45

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

If you cannot afford to hire the individuals with key expertise you may need to bring them on as co-founders with an equity stake or hire a part-time, interim individual or company. While all of these milestones are vital to the success of raising seed capital, market validation is towards the top of the list. Market Validation.

Intellectual Property 55

Intellectual Property Advisory Board Startup Seed Capital 55

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

An entrepreneur starts a company in classic " bootstrap " fashion - with a combination of sweat equity and their own financial resources. The typical wisdom regarding the appropriate financing course for a new company goes as follows: 1.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

But when the finally convert the debt to equity the round gets filed with the SEC and thus journalists often pick up on it. We discussed in the video why they don’t price this money but give it as convertible debt) they don’t make announcements to the market. They also avoid Reg D.

Stealth 285

Stealth SEC Advertising Accredited Investor 285

Steve Blank

JULY 20, 2015

Today he is the founder of M34 Capital , a seed capital fund that focuses on early-stage projects being spun out of academic and corporate research labs. government accelerator that takes no equity. Listen to my entire interview with Errol: If you can’t hear the clip, click here. If you can’t hear the clip, click here.

Government 120

Government Channel Southern California Lean 120

Software By Rob

JANUARY 8, 2019

And in exchange for this $6k-$18k and mentorship, YC asked for 7% equity. We are happy to speak with you at any revenue level, but somewhere in the $150k-range is when founders may start to look for seed capital. YC has always run batches of companies. 3: We Provide World-Class Mentorship.

Early Stage 46

Early Stage Valuation Seed Capital Revenue 46

Campus Entrepreneurship

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

Lack of seed capital (home equity lines of credit, friends/family) is a major problem. (Is Newly opened companies created a seasonally adjusted total of 2.6 The article highlights some bootstrapping entrepreneurs who are, by necessity, taking longer to grow their new ventures.

Bootstrapping 31

Bootstrapping Seed Capital Global Lean 31