Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The signals are loud and clear : seed and late stage valuations are getting frothy and wacky, and hiring talent in Silicon Valley is the toughest it has been since the dot.com bubble. The reward for doing so was a liquidity event via an Initial Public Offering. Carpe Diem. We’re now in the second Internet bubble.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

Why Startups Offer Stock Options. In tech startups stock options were here almost from the beginning, first offered to the founders in 1957 at Fairchild Semiconductor , the first chip startup in Silicon Valley. It drove the relentless “do whatever it takes” culture of 20 th century Silicon Valley.

Stock Options 333

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 333

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2010

Most retail and commercial banks offer investment services to their customers, but these services have nothing to do with investing in your business. So unless your business is well established, and ready to sell or go public (Initial Public Offering - IPO), you should steer clear of investment banks.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Private Equity Startup Initial Public Offering 120

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 13, 2011

Question We launched our venture about six months ago, and we’ve been using a big Silicon Valley law firm to handle our legal work. Big firms are great for huge, complicated corporate projects – like an initial public offering, a tender offer or a public company merger. Don’t Use a Big Law Firm.

Los Angeles 85

Los Angeles San Francisco New York City Silicon Valley 85

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

20th Century Tech Liquidity = Initial Public Offering. In the 20th century tech companies and their investors made money through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). VCs competing for unicorn investments have given founders control of the board.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

For much of 2014 and 2015, I banged my head against a plane window flying back and forth between Austin and Silicon Valley while trying to raise institutional VC money for Localeur. Are there amazing Silicon Valley VCs out there with whom entrepreneurs should work to partner? but it’s true. Most definitely.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley Technical Review Venture Capital San Francisco 48

Pascal's View

AUGUST 13, 2009

The Wall Street Journal published a combined version of my letter to the editor in response to the Washington vs. Silicon Valley editorial of August 7 with letters from Harry Edelson (another First Boston alumnus from the ’80’s), and Ryan Phillips (whom I do not know). Share and Enjoy:

Venture Capital 28

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Initial Public Offering IPO 28

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2022

The best known ones, like YCombinator , started by Paul Graham in Silicon Valley, and TechStars , located in Boston, provide excellent networking to investors, and on-site technical leadership, which can make your investment less risky. Do your homework before investing.

Liquidity Event 300

Liquidity Event Angel Investor SEC Accredited Investor 300

The Next Web

JANUARY 16, 2014

This was the national news story that greeted me when I first arrived back in my home city of Melbourne for a Christmas visit, after spending the past three of five years overseas working towards building a vibrant startup ecosystem in London with my own community organisation 3beards. Key successes include Grabble , which was sold to Walmart Labs.

Australia 146

Australia San Francisco IPO Cofounder 146

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

And from a financial perspective, any investor would be better off buying stock in Amazon than buying and share of a corner bookshop; if you invested $100 in Amazon’s 1997 initial public offering (IPO), those shares would have been worth about $120,000 in 2018.

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

Pascal's View

MARCH 24, 2010

This morning I gave the keynote speech at the ICAP Ocean Tomo IP auction in San Francisco. legislation that will transform the U.S. patent system and broadly impact intellectual property rights in our country.

Intellectual Property 52

Intellectual Property Global San Francisco Technical Review 52

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

The best known ones, like YCombinator , started by Paul Graham in Silicon Valley, and TechStars , located in Boston, provide excellent networking to investors, and on-site technical leadership, which can make your investment less risky. Do your homework before investing.

Liquidity Event 224

Liquidity Event SEC Entrepreneur Accredited Investor 224

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2017

The best known ones, like YCombinator , led by Paul Graham in Silicon Valley, and TechStars , located in Boston, provide excellent networking to investors, and on-site technical leadership, which can make your investment less risky. Do your homework before investing. There is no “exchange,” so you can’t sell the stock at will.

Liquidity Event 184

Liquidity Event SEC Accredited Investor Angel Investor 184

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

The best known ones, like YCombinator , led by Paul Graham in Silicon Valley, and TechStars , located in Boston, provide excellent networking to investors, and on-site technical leadership, which can make your investment less risky. Do your homework before investing. There is no “exchange,” so you can’t sell the stock at will.

Accredited Investor 219

Accredited Investor Liquidity Event SEC Stock 219

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

The best known ones, like YCombinator , led by Paul Graham in Silicon Valley, and TechStars , located in Boston, provide excellent networking to investors, and on-site technical leadership, which can make your investment less risky. Do your homework before investing. There is no “exchange,” so you can’t sell the stock at will.

Portfolio 228

Portfolio Accredited Investor Liquidity Event SEC 228

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2015

The best known ones, like YCombinator, led by Paul Graham in Silicon Valley, and TechStars , located in Boston, provide excellent networking to investors, and on-site technical leadership, which can make your investment less risky. Do your homework before investing. There is no “exchange,” so you can’t sell the stock at will.

Accredited Investor 120

Accredited Investor Liquidity Event SEC Entrepreneur 120

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 5, 2012

Their task was to draft a set of recommendations for how the nation's "IPO crisis," as some call it, could be resolved - a post-bubble lull in the number of startup companies in all sectors that proceed to the initial public offering stage and go public.

IPO 118

IPO SEC Silicon Valley Startup 118

Pascal's View

MARCH 9, 2010

This is the second in our series of ten frequently asked questions from investors in venture capital partnerships.

Government 31

Government Private Equity Institutional Investors Venture Capital 31