YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 12, 2017

When investors believe in the founders, products, or ideas they will provide companies with funding. However, as a condition of financing they may require annual audited financial statements. For many startups this results in a need to raise additional financing through debt or equity arrangements.

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Forecast Early Stage Term Sheet 133

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

100M is a meaningful increase from our $50M third fund, though it’s still quite small in the grand scheme of venture, especially amid the recent wave of late stage financings and SPACs. But it is also large enough to write a $2M check to lead a post-seed round for companies that are starting to scale. We will never take it for granted.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

Sharing these pricing expectations early with potential lead investors fundamentally qualifies your conversations, but it also runs the risk of prematurely losing a potential financing partner, or else it can reduce options to maximize your fundraise outcome. So What Should Founders Do?

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

In previous blog posts I’ve written about the two main approaches to building a seed round syndicate – the subscription method (where an entrepreneur presets a structure with a convertible note or SAFE and recruits investors who subscribe to the round, all without a term-driving lead investor) and a term-driving lead investor approach.

Syndicate 257

Syndicate Syndication Lead Investor Venture Capital 257

ithacaVC

MARCH 9, 2017

Sometimes at the seed stage, the company founder insists that he/she be the only board member and that once more financing is raised that the board composition will be normalized (code word for “adding more members”). We followed in line with the lead investor and went along with the structure.

Seed Stage 58

Seed Stage Software Review Institutional Investors Lead Investor 58

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

One reason for this is that institutional seed funds have gotten bigger, and so the rivalry to lead rounds and buy ownership is more intense. The other is that I think both investors and entrepreneurs are getting much more efficient about reaching one another. The old process of syndication inevitably took several weeks in the past.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Term Sheet Cofounder 207

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

For most founders, fundraising is a struggle. The rest have to work super hard to create access for themselves, build trust and win investors over. I’m a straight white dude who grew up in NYC and worked in finance. That may come with the headwinds of bias working against you—conscious or otherwise.

Cap Table 163

Cap Table Cofounder Private Equity Finance 163

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 10, 2022

I love working with great people and as a venture capitalist, am fortunate the number of founders I’m impressed by far exceeds our investment capacity. Here’s an example of a founder that I’ve known for a while who recently raised a seed round with different firms than ours. The needs of the lead investor for ownership?

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Founder Acquisition Startup 89

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

During the course of a fundraise, founders are likely to encounter a few questions from VC’s that seem awkward or even a bit unfair. These are questions that usually don’t have anything to do with the business itself, but center around the dynamics of the round or maybe the motivations of the founders.

Term Sheet 364

Term Sheet Burn Rate Founder Partner 364

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Like many established finance & media companies, GLG knows that the tech startup sector is a growing part of the economy. I’ve also presented at a range of industry conferences on how institutional investors can use professional networks for research , origination , market research , and value creation.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

An Investor and a Founder Postmortem a Mistake. And while I passed on leading their seed, I did contribute a smaller amount into the financing, along with three subsequent pro rata/super pro rata investments. The ability for an investor to earn the trust of a founder and maintain that over time.

Cofounder 97

Cofounder Lead Investor Founder Restful 97

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

The sudden arrival of the global pandemic has shifted the playbook for founders and venture capitalists. Investors previously prone to onsite visits and amassed airline miles, now grapple with how to form relationships and build confidence without having met teams in person. Zoom calls have taken the place of in-person meetings.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 1, 2021

As part of The Startup Magazine Founder Interview Series , we interviewed Maha and David Harper, wife and husband co-founders of Atlas Group London, a construction-tech startup that has digitized the building of healthcare facilities. Co-Founder & CEO. Co-Founder & COO. David Harper. Maha Harper.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Founder Saudi Arabia Cofounder 110

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

At its core, this issue points to the lack of understanding about the importance of post-money valuation by both entrepreneurs and investors. When it comes time to convert the notes, these entrepreneurs face ‘sticker shock’ about their post-financing ownership.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

Sakti3 Founder Sastry to Step Down From U-M. Co-Founder and CEO, Wetpaint. Founder, DEKA Research and Development Corporation. On its website , the firm says, “We track everything from financing details, investors, board members, and management, to industry segments, business stages and exits.” Subscribe for Free.

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 18, 2017

The opening keynote session will define directions on Aligning the Role of Government Policymakers, Incumbent Banks, FinTech Innovators, Investors, Multilateral Agencies, MNOs and the Private Sector to Create a Dynamic Ecosystem for FinTech in Africa.

Africa 62

Africa Ethiopia Elevator Pitch Technical Review 62

View from Seed

JANUARY 26, 2016

There are a number of factors that have contributed to the rise of pre-seed rounds, but the strongest have been the frothy late-stage financing market, coupled with both the scaling-up of some of the early winners in the institutional seed ecosystem and the scaling-down of some larger funds that retrenched after the financial crisis.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Cofounder Finance 120

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

I am reminded of this problem every time my firm does a financing where a note went before us but more specifically I was reminded by this great post by Brad Feld to talk about the pre-money vs. post-money conversion issue. So you can see why this leads to a lot of tension and misunderstanding. It’s very simple.

Pre-Money Valuation 150

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Post-Money Valuation Dilution 150

Scott Edward Walker

JUNE 9, 2019

Over the past few weeks, two of my clients have received financing term sheets in which the investors requested super pro rata rights. Accordingly, I thought it would be helpful for founders to discuss these rights and to point out the problems they create for startups. Introduction. Pro Rata Rights.

Preferred Stock 56

Preferred Stock Term Sheet Dilution Stock 56

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 15, 2016

I had lunch recently with a founder. Whenever a new investor showed up, they wanted – and got – a board seat.” Instead, there is no formal board, or no formalism around the board, so it’s just a free for all between the collection of early investors (angels and pre-seed/seed VCs) and the founders.

Sales 70

Sales Seed Stage Early Stage Finance 70

SiliconHills

JANUARY 31, 2017

ATX Seed Ventures announced it is the lead investor in GoCo’s $2.5 million financing round. Other investors included Guardian Life Insurance and Salesforce Ventures. Its founders, Nir Leibovich, Jason Wang and Michael Gugel […] The post ATX Seed Ventures Invests in GoCo’s $2.5

Houston 48

Houston Lead Investor Finance Software 48

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

This is part of a series of advice for founders who need to raise money from venture capitalists. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. This is where most founders err.

Term Sheet 332

Term Sheet Due Diligence Campaign Sales 332

BeyondVC

SEPTEMBER 13, 2006

Make sure your basic finances are in order and that all customer contracts, employment-related documents, financing paperwork, etc. In other words, the acquirer does not want to have an ex-employee or founder come after them once the transaction is completed. is all stored properly and securely. Good luck with that.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Due Diligence 60

Hunter Walker

APRIL 20, 2018

Like we do at the seed stage, USV almost always plays the role of “ lead investor.” ” And later: “The truth about these situations is a few seed investors will massively over deliver and the rest will massively disappoint.” But it often is not.”

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Lead Investor Portfolio Reputation 48

Hippoland

JANUARY 4, 2017

Lawyers can charge as much as $10k-$30k (in the US) to draft and execute the legal docs for an equity round, and traditionally, founders are responsible for paying for this as well as investors’ legal costs! Usually, an equity round is kicked off by a “lead investor”. Convertible securities are not loans.

Convertible Security 48

Convertible Security Equity Security Silicon Valley 48

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 2, 2010

This prompted me to write a post titled AngelList Boulder and Some Thoughts on Seed Investing where I promised to write up some of my thoughts on how and why VCs could be good seed investors. They are: Fred Wilson: Lead Investors, Dipshit Companies, and Funding Every Entrepreneur. Tags: Seed Financing seed VC.

Angel Investor 152

Angel Investor Cofounder Syndicate Syndication 152

Scott Edward Walker

AUGUST 9, 2013

Each week, we share a favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Mike Hirshland , the founder of Resolute Ventures and a very smart investor. Fundamentally, what the founders need the most is time to build the product.”. I hope you enjoy it.

Seed Stage 53

Seed Stage Entrepreneur Dilution Valuation 53

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

One comment made by Jason was that angels tend to be less sensitive than VCs on valuation and can potentially make it difficult to get a venture financing done at acceptable valuation. While this may certainly be the case with unsophisticated angels (much less of these now) or in cases with no lead investor, Id argue the opposite.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

The Startup Lawyer

JUNE 9, 2010

A startup’s Series A financing shouldn’t be a large liquidity event or salary payday for the startup’s founders. While a startup typically receives millions of dollars in a Series A, if too much of that $$$ flows guaranteed to the founders, various incentives get out of whack. Case Study. Case Study.

Salary 99

Salary Term Sheet Liquidation Preference Liquidity Event 99

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 26, 2021

But every so often another founder also sits on the board. If that’s the case, it’s essential that that founder and the CEO have a very tight relationship and coordinate closely to avoid allowing members of the organization to use that alternate channel to the board to get around the CEO’s decisions. Maybe it’s an economic challenge.

Startup 36

Startup Equity Early Stage Green 36

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

It’s just that he’s a “super seed&# investor in a firm, Founder Collective , that I really respect (and with whom I’ve done two deals and hope to do a third) and I’m a partner in a venture capital firm, GRP Partners. In these cases we proactively offer to lead their next round of financing.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

Agile VC

JANUARY 12, 2012

When a startup doesn’t match the stage where a particular investor focuses, founders may get a response along the lines of “This is interesting to us, but come back once you get from X phase to Y phase” That could be from seed stage to a larger Series A financing need, or to progress from pre-product to post-revenue.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 100

Gust

DECEMBER 27, 2012

The second reason is that investors want to know that YOU believe in your own startup…and the best way for you to demonstrate that is to show that you have personally put your own money where your mouth is. Your goal in all this is to try to find a lead investor. He or she will be your primary champion, and often mentor.

Software Review 164

Software Review Term Sheet Technical Review Angel Investor 164

ithacaVC

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

If you are advising startup founders, I strongly suggest having them read all 4 of the posts to get the lay of the startup valuation land. A founder is about to raise their first round and asking me how to value their company. [1]. The valuation only exists if investors validate it. Map out multiple stages of financing.

Valuation 69

Valuation Startup Down Round Early Stage 69

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 13, 2010

StoredIQ , a leading provider of Intelligent Information Management solutions for eDiscovery, records and compliance management, today announced that it has closed $10 million in new investment financing and expanded its management team in preparation for accelerated growth. CrunchBase Information. S3 Ventures.

Vertical 59

Vertical Early Stage Cofounder Channel 59

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 2, 2010

I’m out of the angel business as all of my investments go through Foundry Group (the VC fund I’m a partner in) but I’m an investor in a number of “super angel funds” as well as a co-founder of TechStars and I continue to regularly make seed investments from Foundry Group alongside of angel investors. So – here’s the advice: 1.

Angel Investor 167

Angel Investor Boston Due Diligence Cofounder 167