ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Looking at the major markets in Latin America in 2018, most show increases in VC investment in keeping with the regional average. These markets have brought us to 2020 — outpacing them all — is Colombia. Colombia is an attractive market for technology companies. Market size. Increased connectivity.

Colombia 146

Colombia America Technical Review Startup 146

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

We believe that this fund is the perfect size for us to be the best possible partners to early-stage entrepreneurs today. But it is also large enough to write a $2M check to lead a post-seed round for companies that are starting to scale. This year also marks the 10-year anniversary of the founding of NextView.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

This was the fault of my cofounder since he was in charge of game development, it was the engineers who bailed on me, it was the sales and marketing people who didn’t tell me how bad the games were, it was the VC’s who refused to put any more money in the company, it was Sega’s fault for making a bad gaming platform…. (I

Redemption 330

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 330

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Although we had a busy summer, I was fortunate enough to take a bit of time off as well, and to step back for a moment and reflect on Nextview’s strategy and market position going forward. . The rest have been companies with some early market validation. Lead investors are few. Belief #2: Capital is plentiful.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

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

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

It’s hard to be a great lead investor . VCs take their time precisely for the reason Fred articulates – they play the role of “lead investor.” They will have to help get the next round done. Essentially they will have to work. . … Not everyone is good at this. In fact, very few are.

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Just as with any company, the most important issue is the team; see “ How to Negotiate a Partner Role at a Venture Capital or Private Equity Firm “ . See How Private Equity and Venture Capital Investors Are Eating Their Own Dogfood. . 2) Marketing. See How Private Equity and VC Investors Are Using Social Media.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Just as with any company, the most important issue is the team; see “ How to Negotiate a Partner Role at a Venture Capital or Private Equity Firm “ . See How Private Equity and Venture Capital Investors Are Eating Their Own Dogfood. . 2) Marketing. See How Private Equity and VC Investors Are Using Social Media.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

At this point, the investor and the entrepreneur work together to develop their perfect list of potential partners, and then do targeted outreach to try to bring this investor into the round. These forces result in most early stage rounds being composed of investors that are already hanging around the hoop.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Term Sheet Cofounder 207

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

This was the fault of my cofounder since he was in charge of game development, it was the engineers who bailed on me, it was the sales and marketing people who didn’t tell me how bad the games were, it was the VC’s who refused to put any more money in the company, it was Sega’s fault for making a bad gaming platform…. (I

Redemption 222

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 222

Berkonomics

JANUARY 25, 2024

Board members or lead investors as coaches If you take smart money from a good angel or venture organization, the lead investor usually becomes your board member and has a vested interest in your success. His average percentage of a company was 5% in return for spending a day a week as I recall.

SBA 62

SBA Warrant Stock Options Vesting 62

View from Seed

JUNE 11, 2019

Aside from the early commitments, the next most important thing to focus on is nailing down your lead investor. I’ve found that the lead investor will end up doing 90% of the work for a startup (or will cause 90% of the pain if you get the decision wrong). Often one of the leads in the mix is a larger, multi-stage fund.

Syndicate 202

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Lead Investor 202

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

There is a well-known trope that choosing a VC to partner with is like marriage. It’s a super important, near permanent relationship, especially for a lead investor that is likely to take a board seat for many years. I know many VC’s that are amazing partners to founders in thick and thin. This is true.

Founder 280

Founder Lead Investor Portfolio Reputation 280

YoungUpstarts

MAY 1, 2020

by Ash Rust , founder and managing partner of Sterling Road. Most startups will need a viable product and proof of credibility before they can expect early-stage investors to really bite. But the warning still holds: Don’t focus on lead investors exclusively (even if they’re the ideal outcome). Test the investor market.

Early Stage 165

Early Stage Security Angel Investor Lead Investor 165

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

I notice some founders (from YC in particular) have been trained to say something like: “we are just starting the process, but things are moving faster than we expect and we are already scheduling follow-up conversations and partner meetings.”. Some founders lay out a specific time frame for when they hope to get the round closed.

Term Sheet 364

Term Sheet Burn Rate Founder Partner 364

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

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. We’re backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake Partners, and individual investors like Ron Conway, among others.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

What is their market traction? If you have a “lead&# investor agreed then the price is already set and you don’t have to worry about price. Once you’ve asked it’s pretty tough for investors to want to disregard that advice. So is the market really colluding? How well do you know them?

Entrepreneur 292

Entrepreneur Technical Review Stealth Valuation 292

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 18, 2017

FinTech players are increasingly becoming an important part of the fabric of Africa’s financial services ecosystem and the leading banks on the continent are now more urgently seeking to harness technology innovations, collaborate with FinTech start‐ups, and create a platform to scale much faster – to make digital financial services pay.

Africa 62

Africa Ethiopia Elevator Pitch Technical Review 62

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

In December, AngelList , a service that matches early-stage startups with investors, debuted the ability to allow accredited investors to actually invest in startups on the platform with as little as $1,000. AngelList also partnered with SecondMarket to create an investment vehicle for these investments. 2011 Holiday.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

Kent Bennett from Bessemer Venture Partners spoke to this initial slow down: “ We couldn’t do anything until we understood the new normal. We looked to who from our respected community could help us meet founders, partnered closely with co-investors we’d worked with before and with credible angels.”.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

A Crowded Space

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Very shortly after I joined, Greg Gretsch (now my partner at Jackson Square Ventures) co-led oDesk’s Series A along with Venky Ganesan (partner at Menlo Ventures and lead investor in Rev.com). Greg Gretsch was and remains on the board and is my partner at Jackson Square Ventures.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Bangladesh Ukraine Philippines 60

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

You get dilution sensitive and you start optimizing on price of a financing deal, versus finding the right partners or raising enough money to grow. The right lead investor and the right amount of cushion in a raise can help with the best defense against scaling disaster—hiring. Major league baseball players have trainers.

Dilution 104

Dilution Equity Hiring Partner 104

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. Lower-Than-Market Value. Market Value.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 27, 2023

This person conducts regular one-on-one meetings with the chairman and lead investor. This method allows us to delve deep into the intricacies of our operations and the ergonomic industry, leading to well-informed decisions and a competitive edge in the market. Thanks to Kyle Harbour, Tourist Marketing Australia ! #12-

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Australia Lead Investor Management 99

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

She had so much insight to share that we broke the interview into two parts, 1) Corporate Venture Capital and more broadly, 2) How the Fortune 500 Can Buy, Invest and Partner with the Innovation Economy (coming soon). . Teten: The new generation of entrepreneurs is asking more from their investors than just money.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. I think there’s some truth in this. How Do You Know if a VC is Engaged?

Term Sheet 332

Term Sheet Due Diligence Campaign Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. In a market where there is always another great deal to evaluate, why sign up to one where you know there are going to be bruised egos from the get go? The “how much have you raised?”

Valuation 324

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

Genuine VC

JULY 30, 2012

By communicating pricing expectations with potential lead investors, I mean sharing either an “ask” or even stated floor for the pre-money valuation of the company (with a priced preferred round) or explicitly stating a valuation cap (for convertible note round). Above market.

Valuation 136

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Syndicate 136

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 10, 2022

I really enjoy our conversations and am especially glad you’re up for some candor, because it’ll help provide some insight into the state of the startup and funding market. and we also had a great relationship with the partner. I can’t say we have major regrets here though — Susa has been a great partner. Justin Levine: Sure!

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Founder Acquisition Startup 89

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.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Genuine VC

JULY 10, 2012

There are essentially two distinct basic strategies for startup entrepreneurs to raise a seed round of capital: Subscription approach – An entrepreneur sets a structure (usually a convertible note) and recruits individual angel investors who subscribe to the round, all without a term-driving lead investor.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Portfolio 207

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2017

If you take smart money from a good angel or venture organization, the lead investor usually becomes your board member and has a vested interest in your success. The one warning: avoid those looking to become partners, asking for larger portions of equity than, say, 5% when they contribute no cash to the enterprise.

Warrant 97

Warrant Stock Options Vesting Equity 97

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 5, 2011

If you’re in LA and looking for somebody to do project-based marketing jobs – Jacqui’s your lady (not to mention a fellow UCSD alum!). We’re almost always the lead investor and usually the most active, too. Before outlining our aim I’d like to thank Jacqui “Cartoon” Jacobs who led the initiative for us.

Early Stage 260

Early Stage Lead Investor Portfolio Partner 260

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

Many (Union Square Ventures, Foundry Group, True Ventures, GRP Partners, Mike Hirshland at Polaris Ventures) do it the right way – we treat it as a normal investment and we don’t have a “options&# strategy with our investment. and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). Short summary of my posts: 1.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 2, 2020

I think the other thing that sort of made me jump pretty early on the testing is we had been setting up this clinical trial with a partner for probably about six months, with a collaborator who had typically been incredibly responsive and would jump on the phone at a moment's notice. Fred Turner : I did talk to our investors about it.

Curation 60

Curation Government Los Angeles Partner 60

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

I like to invest where I have a personally strong connection with the entrepreneur and/or a strong intuition on the market from prior experience. Lead investors and follow investors can both win equally but in each case you know why you personally are writing the check. I see this all of the time in financial services.

Angel Investor 288

Angel Investor Deal Flow Viral Algorithm 288

Babbling VC

DECEMBER 5, 2010

We overlooked doing extensive market research. More specifically, we did market research in the wrong place. Co-Investors. Technically, co-investors would fall under the "People" heading above but here I'm focussing more on the funds themselves and not specific partners or people at that fund. .

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Europe Portfolio Germany 76