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.
This is going to be BIG.
MAY 4, 2022
You don’t want to have to go into witness protection just because you couldn’t get your app to go viral.) (Morality aside, I’d say given the inherent riskiness of startups, I’m not sure this would be a great addition to your cap table. Not only that, consider how much more of a factor these kinds of associations are becoming for talent.
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Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 10, 2012
As everyone should know by now, this is the worst possible answer, since it implies that there is no market for your product, or you haven’t bothered to look for competition. This is a variation on the first mover argument, implying a paradigm shift that gives you a tremendous lead. We have the first mover advantage.”
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.
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 29, 2010
As everyone should know by now, this is the worst possible answer, since it implies that there is no market for your product, or you haven’t bothered to look for competition. This is a variation on the first mover argument, implying a paradigm shift that gives you a tremendous lead. We have the first mover advantage.”
The Startup Toolkit
NOVEMBER 4, 2011
Vision for B2C, virality-driven community. Regarding structure, the first deal is a rolling round with committed lead investors. If you over-perform, then you would have raised on better terms in the free market. 5% investor experience (to Deal 1). 90% investor product vision. Deal 2 is marketing-driven.
The Startup Toolkit
NOVEMBER 4, 2011
Vision for B2C, virality-driven community. Regarding structure, the first deal is a rolling round with committed lead investors. If you over-perform, then you would have raised on better terms in the free market. 5% investor experience (to Deal 1). 90% investor product vision. Deal 2 is marketing-driven.
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