Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

In the old days there weren’t many fights about whether angels would take their prorata rights in financing rounds. People all across the value chain have taken notice including Limited Partners who are the people who invest in VC funds in the first place. Thus begins the dance.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Asked to respond to the topic, “What collusion happens with AngelList, if any&# I wrote the following: “Um, let’s not be naive here and not think that a “form of collusion&# doesn’t happen on virtually any financing round. How well financed is the competition? Investors talk to each other. I think so.

Entrepreneur 292

Entrepreneur Technical Review Stealth Valuation 292

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. Further reading: The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Finance: A New Typology. Vocabulary for the New Risk Capital Landscape.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

David Teten

MARCH 14, 2018

Another example is Correlation Ventures ($300M+ AUM), a VC firm which co-invests in financings with at least one other new outside VC. Some of the VC fund’s own limited partners will typically invest in a SPV, plus the platform’s members can contribute additional capital. .

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Cofounder 60

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). How party rounds can burn you if it takes time to find your groove. There is a reason for this.

SEC 352

SEC Venture Capital Early Stage Cofounder 352

David Cohen

SEPTEMBER 13, 2019

Further, I thought it would also be appreciated by her more sophisticated high net worth investors, because many of them will have personal financing reporting prepared quarterly by a family office or personal accountant or tax planner. So, like any other engineering minded person would do, I decided to gather some data.

Management 90

Management Limited Partner .Net Finance 90

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Here are some observations I have from this exposure: If a company moves from strength-to-strength with predictable outcomes, easy financings, low staff turn-over, limited competitive threats then the composition of the board probably doesn’t matter as much. I practice what I preach. kind of like a board for a VC firm).

LP 269

LP Startup Burn Rate Stock Options 269

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

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. Because VCs tend to “mark to market” for private investments so you would often value a company based on the last financing.

LP 264

LP Jordan Cofounder Limited Partner 264

David Teten

JANUARY 11, 2020

They’re taking a $1m check from me, or giving $5m to me as a limited partner. Other coinvestors: Limited partners, other VCs who are coinvestors, private equity funds which are potential growth-stage investors, etc. But for B2B sales, meeting people in person is often mandatory. This is hosted by NFX.

Social Media 60

Social Media Technical Review Media Private Equity 60

Berkonomics

JUNE 15, 2017

The last money has the first say – in valuation and in sometimes forcing draconian terms that require prior investors to contribute a proportional new investment to retain a semblance of their original rights and avoid dilution or worse yet, involuntary conversion to a lower class of stock.

Liquidity Event 97

Liquidity Event Initial Public Offering Dividend Valuation 97

Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

VC’s invested their limited partners’ “risk capital” in a portfolio of startups in exchange for illiquid stock. Some of the old-line venture firms have changed their strategy, but some are still locked into last decade’s model while the partners are living off of their management fees and go through cargo cult like rituals.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 297

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

While the M&A story has been widely reported perhaps far fewer people know that Limited Partners (LPs), the people who fund VC firms, have finally been able to restock their coffers in the past 4 years with significantly more money coming to them in distributions than capital calls to fund VC firm investments.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Saudi Arabia Kuwait Burn Rate 150

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. It starts as a debt instrument (e.g.

Startup 290

Startup Burn Rate Warrant Bankruptcy 290

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 22, 2019

Venture capitalists act as limited partners, providing help to build successful companies in a market they have deemed has potential. Small business loans and crowdfunding will also finance a start-up business. Investor Involvement. Many entrepreneurs fund their ventures through their own savings.

Angel Investor 123

Angel Investor Venture Capital Accredited Investor Equity 123

The Equity Kicker

FEBRUARY 28, 2014

I’ve just re-read the a 2012 report by the Kauffman Foundation about the contractual relationship between venture capital funds (often called GPs, short for General Partner) and their investors (often called LPs, short for Limited Partners). Both of these seem very reasonable to me.

Venture Capital 108

Venture Capital Limited Partner Portfolio Partner 108

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. Exits will feed future intermingling amongst the entrepreneurs and the funds financing them.

LP 82

LP Europe Germany Venture Capital 82

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

The typical wisdom regarding the appropriate financing course for a new company goes as follows: 1. This venture capital financing - usually between $3 and $10 million - is the first of a number of rounds of outside investment over a period of three to five years. My suggestions for the investors seeking emerging companies to back?

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

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

Scott Edward Walker

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

Moreover, because most financial buyers are set-up as funds (which have their own limited partner investors) that typically expire in 10 years, the return on their investment must happen relatively quickly. This is one of the unusual structures with a financial buyer.

Private Equity 59

Private Equity New York City Equity Deal Structure 59

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. From a VC’s point of view there are two reasons for board meetings.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

David Teten

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

From the point of view of a limited partner, the great challenge is scaling the business. Our finance team acts as an outsourced CFO. They’re also inflation-hedged. As a result, various analyses have shown annualized median returns for the industry of 18-37% , 27% , and 30%.

Early Stage 148

Early Stage Private Equity Portfolio Aggregator 148

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. From a VC’s point of view there are two reasons for board meetings.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

K9 Ventures

MAY 14, 2011

They are still individual investors, they invest on a full-time basis as professionals, but they have funds with Limited Partners. The limited partners may themselves run the gamut from individuals, family offices, venture capital funds to institutional LPs. Pooled resources or Limited Partners.

Preferred Stock 125

Preferred Stock Seed Stage Incubator Early Stage 125

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 25, 2015

Our deeply held beliefs are fundamental to our values, although we are comfortable challenging them regularly to make sure they are deeply held, and make modifications on occasion when we learn new things but only after a lot of thought and discussion, among ourselves and with several of our very close limited partners.

Syndicate 70

Syndicate Syndication Limited Partner Finance 70

ithacaVC

JULY 10, 2013

Here is the good news: if you read my prior posts and Fred’s post, I think you are about 99% of the way there in solving any mystery behind startup valuations for early stage financing rounds (i.e., Series Seed or Series A).

Valuation 49

Valuation Startup Limited Partner Early Stage 49

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 19, 2013

Often, entrepreneurs don’t build a board until they are forced to by their VCs when they raise their first financing round. And they have a fiduciary responsibility to their own limited partners. At the end of the day, your board is not your friend.

Early Stage 143

Early Stage Limited Partner Global Finance 143

ithacaVC

FEBRUARY 23, 2012

Luckily, I am not in charge of the internal finance function at our fund. Some VC firms use the art of Level 3 inputs to mark up their valuations, which has a tendency to make limited partners happy. It is the time of year when VC firms do year end valuations for their portfolio company holdings.

Valuation 49

Valuation Institutional Investors Marketing Down Round 49

Babbling VC

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

They will pool money amongst "friends and family" as well as their own capital to finance new deals. My partners offered a great opportunity to continue my career in venture on the private side of things. They have decided to continue looking at new investments after the current fund is invested.

Portfolio 70

Portfolio Limited Partner Early Stage Cofounder 70

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

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

Berkonomics

JANUARY 27, 2010

The last money has the first say – in valuation and in sometimes forcing draconian terms that require prior investors to contribute a proportional new investment to retain a semblance of their original rights and avoid dilution or worse yet, involuntary conversion to a lower class of stock.

Liquidity Event 67

Liquidity Event Initial Public Offering Dividend Valuation 67

Austin Startup

JULY 23, 2010

The company announced that is just completed $13M in financing from existing investors SMH Private Equity Group, ABS Ventures, Austin Ventures, and Trellis Partners. These are some things to think about when pricing products dynamically, but I’m sure Zilliant’s products are not just focused on realtime web.

Balance Sheet 67

Balance Sheet Private Equity LP IPO 67

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

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. So eventually the money has to start flowing.

IPO 255

IPO Investment Bankers Venture Capital Marketing 255

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 13, 2011

Investors get board seats to assure themselves and their limited partners that they are duly informed about their investment. An experienced board brings an extensive network of customers, partners, help in recruiting, follow-on financing, etc. From a VCs point of view there are two reasons for board meetings.

Silicon Valley 117

Silicon Valley Balance Sheet Metrics Early Stage 117

Venture Chronicles

JULY 5, 2010

In today’s online WSJ there was an article about nanotech investor Harris & Harris expanding in debt financing and equity investments in public companies as a result of the lack of liquidity options for private venture backed startups.

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Marketing Limited Partner IPO 40

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

A more efficient approach to fundraising than haphazard networking is to mine the data exhaust from the limited partner universe to identify those LPs most likely to find your fund attractive, and focus all your energy on them. Cobalt for General Partners helps GPs to optimize their fundraising strategy.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78