Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

I know that sounds trite but that is exactly how my firm talks about things in partner meetings. It becomes a large part of the conversation in our partners’ meeting afterward. So consider integrity on my personal list of attributes required to raise money from a reputable, early-stage VC.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Due Diligence Entrepreneur Early Stage 284

View from Seed

MAY 17, 2019

There are two distinct chapters to venture fundraising – the first is entrepreneurs pitching their startup to multiple firms to generate interest and ultimately secure a term sheet; then, the period after a term sheet has been signed progressing to close.

Term Sheet 149

Term Sheet Reputation Security Conversion 149

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 21, 2023

It’s this part: “I’m getting inbound from investors…” Nearly all of the inbound VC interest happening out there is from non-partner investors (i.e. A check-writing partner reaches out to you. There’s a term sheet. was a term sheet. professionals who can’t write a check) and they’re doing it systematically.

Cap Table 78

Cap Table Term Sheet Database Option Pool 78

View from Seed

MAY 12, 2015

Start with the firms of whatever city you’re in that have a history of investing in the stage and sector of your startup, then augment with additional firms outside your home geography which may have a strong particular fit with your company. Most firms have anywhere from a couple to up to a dozen or more partners listed on their websites.

Partner 120

Partner Term Sheet Reputation Deal Flow 120

View from Seed

MARCH 12, 2015

Here at NextView, we (like all good VCs) encourage founders to ask questions they may have of us, but it’s just the nature of the interaction: We spend the majority of the time talking about the founders’ startup, not the VC firm. Talk to Your Startup Friends. So how can entrepreneurs do research on us VCs?

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Cofounder SEC Portfolio 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

VC’s keep different titles but the most common that I’ve come across that are investment professionals are (in ascending order of seniority): analyst, associate, principal and partner. In a VC firm the people with authority are clearly partners, although some firms have principals that also have authority.

Partner 308

Partner Term Sheet Sales Portfolio 308

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

And they should be; the feeding frenzy in the innovation economy is in some cases because startups are eating the lunch of more established companies. Access to the corporate investor’s ecosystem can open up great opportunities from technology validation to customer and partner development.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

First, if the VC does 15-20 of these under one partner then it is certain he can’t spend any time with these investments. I believe these VC funds have suffered some amount of reputation fall out. We used the Y Combinator open source term sheet. Great reputation. And then there is GRP Partners.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2010

Seed investors trip over themselves to get a look at the latest YCombinator deals and the entreprenuers in the hottest companies are in the drivers seat on terms. Unfortunately, that’s really not the case for most startups. The investor water cooler occasionally falls victim to reputation racketeering. It’s a bit like dating.

Equity 104

Equity Term Sheet Seed Stage Angel Investor 104

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Startups in NextView’s portfolio frequently receive inbound interest from other VC investors who are intrigued about what they’re doing, and I often talk with other early-stage entrepreneurs how to approach similar situations. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC.

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Syndicate Syndication Silicon Valley 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 29, 2010

Company B had already lined up a significant funding round ($20 million) from some of the most elite VCs on Sand Hill Road but hadn’t signed the term sheet. She asked if she could fly the next day to meet with me and my partners. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice.

Entrepreneur 296

Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Term Sheet France 296

Genuine VC

MARCH 25, 2010

I had coffee with an entrepreneur friend the other day who is in the early stages of putting a company together, and he recounted how his informal conversations with a venture capitalist had quickly escalated into a full partner pitch in just a few weeks. Fair enough.

Early Stage 123

Early Stage Venture Capital Term Sheet Conversion 123

Genuine VC

MARCH 25, 2010

I had coffee with an entrepreneur friend the other day who is in the early stages of putting a company together, and he recounted how his informal conversations with a venture capitalist had quickly escalated into a full partner pitch in just a few weeks. Fair enough.

Early Stage 121

Early Stage Venture Capital Term Sheet Conversion 121

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Want to start a startup? A typical startup goes throughseveral rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take justenough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the nextgear. Few startups get it quite right. 1 ] A startups life will be more complicated, legally, if any of theinvestors arent accredited.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Rob Go

JULY 17, 2014

As former operators and product-oriented entrepreneurs, Dave, Lee, and I tend to think of our firm as a startup company and our approach to investing as our product. 2) Is your reputation in the market such that great people will want to work with you? 1) How is the portfolio performing? Does our strategy still resonate?

Seed Stage 69

Seed Stage Early Stage Due Diligence Liquidity Event 69

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

× At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. In a single year, the classic general partner in a venture firm is exposed to around 5,000 pitches; decides to look more closely at 600 to 800 of them; and ends up doing between 0 and 2 deals. Reid Hoffman. we had no revenue.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 23, 2015

Although the way we spend our days are different than the teams we’ve backed, Homebrew started in Jan 2013 with the goal of feeling like a startup, just one which writes checks instead of code. 3 is the most important – all goodness as an investor at our stage starts with a great reputation among founders.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Term Sheet Metrics .Net 48

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2018

Another thing that skews the process is the lack of accessibility of many partner-level VCs, especially to diverse communities. You're a partner at a firm, you're married, have kids, etc., I offered a term sheet to lead a $1.6mm financing. Look, I get it. Overly simplistic? I can't echo that sentiment enough.

Founder 100

Founder Conversion Naming Term Sheet 100

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

In February of last year, Fortune magazine writers Erin Griffith and Dan Primack declared 2015 “ The Age of the Unicorns ” noting — “Fortune counts more than 80 startups that have been valued at $1 billion or more by venture capitalists.” Next came Rolfe Winkler’s deep dive “ Highly Valued Startup Zenefits Runs Into Turbulence. ”

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Venture Chronicles

JULY 16, 2010

The second scenario is the pulled term sheet. This is definitely on the upswing and reflects the issues that funds are having with their limited partner investors. After the term sheet is executed the investment fund will go into a deeper level of due diligence with the company, a process that is equivalent to an anal probe.

Due Diligence 28

Due Diligence Term Sheet Limited Partner LP 28

Cracking the Code

MARCH 28, 2022

In fact the term sheet was signed the day before the world went into lockdown! The reason I mention this is that our fundraising strategy involves first and foremost choosing partners who are human beings that we’d like to join us on our journey. What made you take the leap twice? And how did you find Ziv and Ilan?

B2B 62

B2B Cofounder Small Business 62

Scott Edward Walker

OCTOBER 19, 2021

2) Putting aside the potential legal liability, lying to investors makes no sense from a business perspective: not only do you risk alienating investors, but also you risk destroying your reputation (which is likely your most valuable asset). Founders must understand this as well in connection with hiring, fundraising and partnering.

Due Diligence 59

Due Diligence Term Sheet Reputation Founder 59

mashable.com

JUNE 11, 2013

16 Common Mistakes Young Startups Make. Are you working on a startup? In fact, recent research shows that 75% of startups fail (based on a study of 2,000 startups that received VC funding from 2004 to 2010). Some startups are destined for failure. Whats This? By Lauren Drell 2013-06-10 14:46:07 UTC.

Cofounder 111

Cofounder Technical Review Startup Software Review 111

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). Venture Capital Cafe > Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). VC & Startup Resources. Seed Startups. VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Hundreds of startups featured since 2005, will yours be next? About VC Cafe.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53