Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Now that Google’s acquisition of ITA is closed, following lenghty FTC review, it would appear Kayak is poised to proceed with their IPO in the coming months. =. Financial Snapshot: 2010 Revenue: $170 million. Revenue growth: 51% YoY (2010), 1% YoY (2009), 131% YoY (2008).

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. Proposed private equity deal: Eventually, this business will require private equity to provide sufficient funding to develop some of the more robust aspects of the technology that will attract Fortune 500 clients.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Gust

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

We recently started a series of posts on establishing the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue startup companies for purposes of investment by seed and startup investors. Dave Berkus is a founding member of the Tech Coast Angels in Southern California, a lecturer and educator. Add to Pre-money Valuation.

Valuation 79

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Southern California 79

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

You can find this in a number of places, but in a nutshell, I prefer to invest in highly-scalable, technology-based ventures, with a particular focus on platforms, at a very, very early stage (but, oxymoronically, where there is already some type of traction). But the good thing is that this is where you can call in some reinforcements.

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 7, 2012

I’ve been writing up reviews of this season’s Shark Tank pitches from a silicon valley VCs perspective. They won a design award at a trade show, but have no revenue and no orders. Doing the research to form your own view of a company’s prospects is called due diligence. BACK 9 DIPS.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 110

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! Responses ranged from, “hey, they’re in a HUGE market&# to “it is an amazing company and their technology rocks.&# For others it feels like a two-speed economy, where rules apply to hot tech startups that don’t apply elsewhere. and profits!

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Lightspeed Venture Partners

OCTOBER 29, 2012

I’m posting my analysis of the most interesting story of Shark Tank season 4 episode 7 over there, and reviewing the rest of the pitches here. The company sought to raise $125,000 for 25% of the comapny, implying a $375,000 pre money valuation. The entrepreneurs dithered for a moment at the valuation.

Pre-Money Valuation 97

Pre-Money Valuation Offshore Valuation Cofounder 97

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Silicon Valley is still emerging from the tech bubble and massive downturn of late 2000-2002. LinkedIn’s product had only been live for a couple months, we only had tens of thousands of registered users, and wouldn’t start generating revenue for more than a year after this point.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 7, 2010

At today's roundtable we had some interesting companies and a lot of fundraising discussions, and I will review them shortly. Before I do, however, I want to talk about a thumb rule that I'd like to propose to entrepreneurs about raising money. Sub-$2 million pre-money, it is better to bootstrap.

Valuation 119

Valuation Silicon Valley Pre-Money Valuation Bootstrapping 119

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Also, it’s harder to pay a $30 million pre-money value on an unproved company when you see public companies with $100 million in sales trading for less than $20 million. Huge downturns have a real impact on the revenue line of start-ups and therefore the pressure on valuations. I argued for literally a year to slash burn.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

BeyondVC

APRIL 12, 2005

As I think about how to make money in this competitive environment and where to make new investments, I keep coming back to the thought that there is still opportunity very early or very late in a company’s life cycle. Witness the recent Sungard deal and others. If the private investors are willing and able to pay $11.3b

LBO 60

LBO Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Software Review 60

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

3]   However, if they are built bottom up, they demonstrate and make explicit a range of business model assumptions the entrepreneur is using to think about his business and its revenue model. An average of these ranges results in a pre-money valuation of about $4MM. stake in the company. The Consideration of Risk.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

I wassurprised recently when I realized that all the worst problems wefaced in our startup were due not to competitors, but investors.Dealing with competitors was easy by comparison. There never has to be atime when you have no revenues. The contacts and advice can be more important than the money. Whendel.icio.us

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

In 2011, the valuation of pre-revenue, start-up companies is typically in the range of $1.5–$2.5 Working within a network of angel investors also expands the pool of expert resources and helps divide the work of screening companies and investment due diligence. million for pre-revenue companies.

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

million at a $15 million pre-money valuation. We had people hearing through the grapevine that we were about to raise money and new investors started calling us to get in on the deal. We moved into the legal process and final due diligence in January and February of 2000. Yes, this was stupid. I’ve done it.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301