View from Seed

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

At seed-stage startups, especially companies with well-networked founders and investors, finding applicants who can do a job on paper is not overly difficult. If it’s a seed-stage hire, you should already know the person. Samuel Clemens , Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, InsightSquared. In The End….

Founder 120

Founder Seed Stage Cofounder Boston 120

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

Instead of funding, you pay the investors a structured royalty, which is a portion of the sales. These usually play a role in the very early stage of your business, primarily pre-revenue. Accelerators and incubators support the startups with a small amount of funding, mentorship, networking opportunities, resources, and workspaces. ?

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

David Teten

JULY 10, 2019

Looking 4 entrepreneurial product mgr/biz-dev killer 4 a network-based service. Do you have a great team at your seed startup, but your product just isn’t working? We want to use our proprietary technology and network to tap the relevant players to take the relevant steps forward; and identify, document, and disseminate best practices.

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2012

Apple and Facebook are both platforms , in the sense that their software and user networks are utilized by countless software developers to build their own businesses. Facebook’s direct platform revenue accounted for about 15% of the company’s overall sales whereas Apple’s was less than 1%. June 5, 2012.

Java 170

Java Flash Software Azure 170

Version One Ventures

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

At this stage, you should be hiring smart, hungry generalists, rather than specialists. Specialists are great when you have a playbook, but very few start-ups have a playbook at the seed stage. There’s no point in investing in sales & marketing at this stage. Should you outsource? Be frugal, but not too frugal.

Seed Stage 163

Seed Stage Portfolio Metrics Hiring 163

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

I have a very public seed stage investment policy and awe.sm Yet with major advances in our product infrastructure we still hadn’t proven we could scale sales. To watching Fred lead our sales, marketing and implementation efforts and driving the recruiting & financing of the company. I saw it first hand.

Technical Review 303

Technical Review Cofounder Analytics Founder 303

View from Seed

JUNE 11, 2019

I believe it’s more important to optimize on the right lead investor vs. the highest valuations at the seed stage (within reason). The strongest investors usually aren’t cheap, but typically don’t do things outside of the normal bounds for a company at the seed stage. So too few is not great.

Syndicate 202

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Lead Investor 202

View from Seed

DECEMBER 17, 2015

How do you position yourself as the latter if you’re a seed-stage startup founder? That makes developers feel like equals — a developer is there to support the rest of the company by developing the product, and their teammates are there to support that developer by doing great design, marketing, and sales.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Engineer Software Review Founder 120

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

In 2019, we’ll be doubling down on this effort as we are hiring a GM for our CXO Advisory Board & Network ( job description here ). Along these lines, we are starting to hear serverless more and more from the Fortune 500 and see this trend reflected in the sales pipeline at iopipe which has gone from mostly startups to larger companies.

Stealth 79

Stealth Advisory Board Cloud Virginia 79

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Etc… At the pre-seed stage, a big way to stand out is if you have a V3 statement (as opposed to a V1 statement). The reason I like deer-hunting businesses is that from my own experiences, I can see a clear path to bring in sales profitably. You charge a high enough (i.e.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Business Model B2B Email 48

Hippoland

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Etc… At the pre-seed stage, a big way to stand out is if you have a V3 statement (as opposed to a V1 statement). The reason I like deer-hunting businesses is that from my own experiences, I can see a clear path to bring in sales profitably. You charge a high enough (i.e.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Business Model B2B Email 48

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

*This post is part of our “pitch deck” series where we dissect the seed stage pitch deck and discuss the ideal flow for a pitch. The best companies become more and more dominant as they grow, driven by things like network effects, data advantages, brand, culture, or other increasing returns to scale.

Seed Stage 192

Seed Stage Metrics PR Leadership 192

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

USV invests in companies that increase “ access to knowledge, capital, and well-being by leveraging networks, platforms, and protocols ”. For example, Point Nine Capital focuses on B2B SaaS and marketplaces at the seed stage, across many industries. Real sees 80% of all seed deals in Canada. .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

View from Seed

JULY 17, 2019

The quality, network, or experience of your local investors is likely fairly different from those in other markets. The main benefits of this strategy is mainly around closing sales. The third tactic is to expand one’s network of influence. But, all things are not equal for many reasons.

San Francisco 243

San Francisco Cofounder B2B Seed Stage 243

Agile VC

OCTOBER 27, 2011

Now that end users spend as much of their personal time with software (in the form of social networks, tablet/smartphone apps, streaming media, etc) as they do with business software they’ve become much more discriminating buyers. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010. Read More ».

Software 100

Software B2B Silicon Valley Acquisition 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

A fund size of $100 million – $200 million is likely to either be an A round investor or “stage agnostic&#. A round investor implies they are the “first institutional money in the deal.&# GRP Partners is stage agnostic. Why does vintage matter to you? We also took one of our large portfolio companies, Ulta, public.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Early Stage Software Review 269

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 4, 2017

Here’s some common ways you can provide value to startups you invest in: Leverage Your Network. This also means you are likely to have a network of other successful people around you. The longer you have been in the startup game, the larger your network is likely to be, within the tech ecosystem itself. What could be improved?

Pre-Money Valuation 187

Pre-Money Valuation Seed Stage IP Deal Flow 187

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Celeno Communications , an Israel-based provider of semiconductors for multimedia WiFi home networking applications, this morning announced that it has secured a $12 million funding round, which included a strategic investment by international cable operator Liberty Global. venturebeat ]. Calcalist Hebrew ]. Other venture capital links.

Technical Review 79

Technical Review Matching Venture Capital 79

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Celeno Communications , an Israel-based provider of semiconductors for multimedia WiFi home networking applications, this morning announced that it has secured a $12 million funding round, which included a strategic investment by international cable operator Liberty Global. venturebeat ]. Calcalist Hebrew ]. Other venture capital links.

Technical Review 79

Technical Review Matching Venture Capital 79

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Celeno Communications , an Israel-based provider of semiconductors for multimedia WiFi home networking applications, this morning announced that it has secured a $12 million funding round, which included a strategic investment by international cable operator Liberty Global. venturebeat ]. Calcalist Hebrew ]. Other venture capital links.

Technical Review 79

Technical Review Matching Venture Capital 79

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Celeno Communications , an Israel-based provider of semiconductors for multimedia WiFi home networking applications, this morning announced that it has secured a $12 million funding round, which included a strategic investment by international cable operator Liberty Global. venturebeat ]. Calcalist Hebrew ]. Other venture capital links.

Technical Review 79

Technical Review Venture Capital Matching 79

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

I'm a mentor and investor in CapitalFactory , a seed-stage startup mentorship program in Austin, TX. Even if you're not looking to raise money, it's a great experience and personal networking event. We like to say we're the #3 most popular seed-stage group after Y-Combinator and TechStars.

Seed Stage 211

Seed Stage Startup PR Programming 211

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

They can also help you develop your product and sales channels. They may also provide a mentorship network. Pre-Seed Investments. Investing in a startup at the pre-seed stage is a great way to get in early on to the next big thing. Seed funding is usually used to support product development, sales, and marketing.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2011

In the case of this bubble, it was social networks, consumer and mobile applications, and the cloud. Meanwhile, the bubble for “seed stage&# startups began when Ron Conway’s Silicon Valley Angels and DST guaranteed every startup out of a YCombinator $150,000. million in 2010 sales). million in 2010 sales).

Silicon Valley 330

Silicon Valley Stealth Valuation Mississippi 330

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

For the first-time entrepreneur or founder looking for seed stage funding, this circle can be especially difficult to penetrate. Mashable Mashable reached out to angels, seed stage investors and VC firm partners and asked them to share their wisdom with the rest of us. and Path Intelligence.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Seed-stage compatible: Like traditional equity VC investors, Flexible VCs accomodate early-stage investment risk within their portfolios better than a traditional RBI funder. Typically stable, high margins; repeatable sales model; clear path to profitability; and high growth potential. Typical business model.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

pandodaily.com

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

The numbers I’ve heard from most everyone is that only about 20 percent of companies that have gotten a seed round in the last year will be able to raise a Series A. I recently went to a networking event for one of the seed funds that invested in PandoDaily, and I’ve never seen such worry on the faces of the entrepreneurs.

Technical Review 93

Technical Review Silicon Valley Incubator Syria 93

David Teten

DECEMBER 12, 2017

645 Ventures , a New York City based VC firm, is one of the pioneers of a data-driven investment model to the seed stage. While the historic capital-raising process is driven by face-to-face networking and salesmanship, some GPs actively participate in LP/GP communities to find and build relationships with potential LPs.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Venture Capital 60

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

This is just the next phase of AngelList’s evolution into a one-stop shop for seed-stage companies and their backers. Life360, A Family Networking App With More. with a $3 sale. EA's Internal Memo On The Layoffs. Parse Is Facebook's Answer To Android. Blink, A New App For Ephemeral Text And Photo.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

However, two people I’ve met over the last couple of days are adamant that my network is strong enough to go a little earlier. They also said it’s best to raise a seed (if you can) just before the launch so that you aren’t as dependent on the immediate results/traction and you can sell the vision a bit more.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Seed Stage Dilution Networking 120

View from Seed

JANUARY 8, 2015

So the question needs to be asked: Should seed-stage startups even blog in the first place? Think of it this way: Even in the seed stage, before most companies find product-market fit, they understand the problems they’re trying to solve. It’s simply about solving problems. Interesting, right?

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Startup Audience Leadership 120

YoungUpstarts

JULY 29, 2013

We will open our network of successful entrepreneurs and investors to offer invaluable experiences to you. Hero mentors” have exited their businesses through a trade sale or IPO, sometimes multiple times; they offer inspiration to your team and coaching on strategy and tactics. Do we have a REPEATABLE SALES process whose LTV > CAC?

Asia 207

Asia Singapore Cofounder Incubator 207

BeyondVC

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

BOLDstart helps founders at the seed stage accelerate their growth from idea/ alpha phase to product market fit and successful Series A round. helps founders at the seed stage accelerate their growth from idea/ alpha phase to product market fit and successful Series A round”. As they say, the rest is history.

Seed Stage 110

Seed Stage Agile Viral API 110

Agile VC

JANUARY 21, 2015

Note: This post also published at NextView’s blog for seed stage companies The View From Seed. Our industry is so enmeshed in TechCrunch headlines, the Twitterverse, and offline chatter at networking events that it’s easy to believe that everyone else is killing it.

Cofounder 188

Cofounder Seed Stage Employee PR 188

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

China has essentially closed its internal search, media and social network software market to foreign companies who wouldn’t play with the government rules on the Great Firewall. The table below from web2asia.com shows the number of users of online social networks as of 2009. VC’s pulled back and only invested $3.7 Lessons Learned.

Silicon Valley 271

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 271

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 6, 2014

Once our sales reached a sustainable level, I brought on apparel pro Nathan Kohrs to round out the Argoz management team, which allowed me to step aside to serve as chairman. Traditional VCs used to just write checks for new ideas, but then ran away from seed-stage risk after the last tech bubble burst.

San Francisco 154

San Francisco Business Model Silicon Valley Coder 154

Seeing Both Sides

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

We selected this benchmark because it reflects the phase in which companies have proven product viability, achieved initial product/market fit, and are now expanding sales and growing more complex operations. In the old model of Israeli startups, many Israeli executive teams would hire a vice president of sales in the U.S.

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Review United States 20