YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2020

If you are building a startup, you’ll find no shortage of people who are willing to give you advice, particularly when it comes to raising financing. Here are three pieces of advice that are tossed around Silicon Valley as if they are gospel, but they are really Startup Myths. Unfortunately, much of this advice is wrong.

Finance 205

Finance Silicon Valley Valuation Startup 205

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

As an entrepreneur himself, founding and operating printed circuit board factories in Taiwan, my father was debating between two places to immigrate to and build his next new venture: Los Angeles (“The Valley” aka San Fernando Valley) and Santa Clara (“Silicon Valley”).

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Austin Startup

MARCH 4, 2019

Official SXSW Panels and Speakers SXSW Badge Required Watch Out Silicon Valley: Rising LATAM Tech Scene Watch Out Silicon Valley: Rising LATAM Tech Scene MAR 8, 2019 | 12:30PM?—?1:30PM public, private, debt, equity, market return, concessionary capital, etc. What gives?

Silicon Valley 50

Silicon Valley Technical Review Texas Venture Capital 50

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

This post is about the rise of Chinese venture capital and how it helped build the countries entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Rise of Chinese Venture Capital. By 1991, 70% of the Torch funded startups were getting bank financing for expansion and later stages of the new ventures, with local governments acting as guarantors.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 271

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. The best and most consistent funds in Silicon Valley (e.g.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

After years of trying to persuade Kara Nortman to become a partner at Upfront Ventures I can officially announce now that she’s joined us effective immediately. It is rare to find somebody who matches exactly what I’m looking for in a partner so when you find it you act: Academic rigor (Princeton undergrad, Stanford MBA).

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Partner Las Vegas Los Angeles Baltimore 408

ReadWriteStart

MAY 22, 2023

Europe has also lagged behind the US in venture to finance. Governments may be able to provide support in these areas by removing barriers to growth and spurring venture capital to help Europe’s fledgling Metaverse ecosystem.

Finland 187

Finland Europe Estonia Silicon Valley 187

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

The previous post described the evolution of the Chinese Venture Capital system. I trained the Startup Weekend Next Beijing mentors and instructors, presented to several hundred entrepreneurs, and had a great fireside chat with Zhen Fund founding partner Xu Xiaoping in front of another roomful of entrepreneurs.

Silicon Valley 267

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 267

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had really positive experiences such as working with Greg Gretsch at Sigma Partners where he championed us to a partners’ meeting where we sort of got crucified. We made changes and Greg was a gentleman throughout the process rather than berating us for our performance (it was our first partners’ meeting).

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 22, 2010

The law firm Fenwick & West LLP has released its Third Quarter 2010 Silicon Valley Venture Capital Survey. The survey looks at the valuations and the terms of financing for over 100 technology companies in Silicon Valley that reported raising capital in the third quarter of this year.

Silicon Valley 115

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Valuation Down Round 115

David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Jeff Burkland , an experienced Silicon Valley CFO and CEO of Burkland Associates , says, “When you consider that most startups change so much and so frequently, trying to build a budget for a year and stick to it is useless. Without systems in place to manage distributed spending, finance teams will leave money on the table.”.

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Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And the loosening of federal monetary policies, particularly in the US, has pushed more dollars into the venture ecosystems at every stage of financing. how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? What Has Changed in Financing? The legends of Silicon Valley?—?two Of course we can’t.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Over the same 30 years, Venture Capital firms have honed their skills and strategies to match Wall Streets needs to achieve liquidity for their portfolio companies. One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. What Do VC’s Do?

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

The Equity Kicker

JULY 30, 2013

One of the reasons I moved to Forward was to be in the vanguard of change for early stage company finance. Union Square Ventures partner Albert Wenger wrote a post yesterday about the disruption of venture capital which lists the changes afoot: Information about VCs on the internet.

Venture Capital 144

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Early Stage Angel Investor 144

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 29, 2013

If we look back ten years, the venture world was quite different. And given the fact that the majority of top investors were congregated around Silicon Valley, many entrepreneurs felt compelled to move to the valley to start their business. And what is true for start-ups is also true for venture capital firms.

Silicon Valley 161

Silicon Valley Global Finance New York City 161

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

This post is about the rise of Chinese venture capital and how it helped build the countries entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Rise of Chinese Venture Capital. By 1991, 70% of the Torch funded startups were getting bank financing for expansion and later stages of the new ventures, with local governments acting as guarantors.

Venture Capital 163

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 163

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back. billion to work across 738 financing deals with U.S. Back to VCs, Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still the most active. So what can you do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue?

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. The functions of an early-stage board are pretty obvious and well understood: Providing introductions to customers, biz dev partners, recruits, the press, other investors, etc. In the Early Days.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

The previous post described the evolution of the Chinese Venture Capital system. I trained the Startup Weekend Next Beijing mentors and instructors, presented to several hundred entrepreneurs, and had a great fireside chat with Zhen Fund founding partner Xu Xiaoping in front of another roomful of entrepreneurs.

Silicon Valley 159

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 159

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 9, 2010

Jacqueline and her partner Cortney are designing and manufacturing the line out of China and selling in the U.S. Jacqueline asked an important question: how do you mitigate your working capital challenges in an e-commerce company at the very early stages without raising financing? Well, there are multiple nuances to the answer.

Silicon Valley 117

Silicon Valley Malaysia India China 117

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2009

I was out and about in Silicon Valley doing what I would now call Customer Discovery trying to understand how marketing departments in large corporations worked. I remember presenting our ideas for Marketing Automation to one VP of Marketing in a large Silicon Valley company. Are These Your Slides? He said, “Look again.”

Silicon Valley 225

Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Startup 225

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. Bessemer Venture Partners Expands BVP VII Fund. New Capital Earmarked for Global High-Growth Investments LARCHMONT, N.Y., 2009 Bessemer Venture Partners. Labels: Portfolio , Venture Capital.

Software Review 48

Software Review Partner United States Venture Capital 48

Steve Blank

JULY 25, 2011

Scientists and engineers as founders and startup CEOs is one of the least celebrated contributions of Silicon Valley. ESL, the first company I worked for in Silicon Valley , was founded by a PhD in Math and six other scientists and engineers. Why It’s “Silicon” Valley. It might be its most important.

Engineer 305

Engineer Silicon Valley United States Venture Capital 305

Pascal's View

SEPTEMBER 5, 2010

My contributions to this undergraduate textbook, Venture Capital: Theory & Practice , are the result of two important collaborations. Venture Capital started in China in 1985, when the first government-sponsored venture capital firm was established. Venture Capital is a popular buzzword in China.

Venture Capital 44

Venture Capital China Technical Review Due Diligence 44

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. So if you’re casually reading and don’t really care about angel financing – abort now!

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

TL:DR : This post aims to recap significant changes in the venture capital industry over the past ten years, and then make some [biased] predictions as to major forces at play in the next five years. However, all three shifts are related and can be summed up simply as: Geeks are Taking Over Venture Capital.

Silicon Valley 74

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

In that presentation, I said that Seed is not the first round of financing any more and that K9’s investments were mostly “pre-seed”. The Venture Capital industry as a whole does a terrible job of giving things the right name and so we end up keeping the same name, but changing the meaning out from under it.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Silicon Valley, New York). The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Rather than invent a new form of corporate governance, venture investors adopted the traditional board meeting structure from large corporations. Here’s how. Because We’ve Always Done It This Way.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

VC Adventure

MARCH 19, 2023

Like many of you, I’ve been reflecting on the implosion of Silicon Valley Bank quite a bit this past week, now that the initial panic has faded into a dulled sense of disbelief. Simply put, smaller banks do a better job lending money to a wider set of small businesses than the more programmatically run larger banks.

Venture Capital 87

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Community Portfolio 87

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. This is another big week for us at Bolster. We needed another senior leader to join our team.

Silicon Valley 62

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cap Table Early Stage 62

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Silicon Valley, New York). The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Rather than invent a new form of corporate governance, venture investors adopted the traditional board meeting structure from large corporations. Here’s how. Because We’ve Always Done It This Way.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

There’s a line of thinking in Silicon Valley that you should build product businesses rather than services businesses. This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. You’re a small fish.

Silicon Valley 332

Silicon Valley IP Dividend Finance 332

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

I got a job at a bank, and I worked in their corporate finance group. We had a finance group for all of the bank branches based in San Diego, and I wrote programs to download stuff from the mainframe so we could do analysis three days faster than they could send us the data. Comp sci in the 80s was terrible.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder San Diego Startup 337

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She hasn’t raised any venture capital. She found non-traditional financing. Without this money she wouldn’t have been able to finance operations. Tracy isn’t your quintessential Silicon Valley startup story.

Silicon Valley 363

Silicon Valley Cofounder Entrepreneur Startup 363

David Teten

JANUARY 28, 2019

My former Partner John Frankel of ff Venture Capital observes that 20 years ago, the defining movie of the generation was “Wall Street”. Everyone wanted to work in finance. A few funds focus specifically on Yalies in different ways, e.g., Bulldog Innovation Group , Blue Ivy Ventures , Elm Street Ventures , Dorm Room Fund.

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Affiliate Connecticut Programming Community 60