Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

Every year I try to answer the question of “what has changed in the Venture Capital industry” and this year my colleague Chang Xu and I took a deep dive through the data and called many of our peers for confirmation. If you want the whole deck you can find it on SlideShare but I’ve written up a short summary with commentary below.

Venture Capital 292

Venture Capital IPO Mezzanine Early Stage 292

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Across both the startups I’ve personally been involved in (PayPal and LinkedIn) and the startups in which I’ve been an investor, I’ve seen a broad range of co-founder equity splits. You can then work with your law firm to formally draw up founder common stock paperwork either then or subsequently.

Cofounder 173

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 173

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

Raising seed capital is a tricky business. I get approached often by tech startups looking for their first outside funding. Most are making major mistakes in their approach when seeking capital. This article is based on my experiences and the typical mistakes I see every week in startup land. Capital = Growth.

Technical Cofounder 20

Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20

Gust

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

The most successful serial entrepreneurs in the world may found three or four, perhaps even eight or ten venture-backed startups over the course of their careers. For more on working with startup lawyers, see Mark Suster’s classic post, How To Work With Lawyers At A Startup.). Knowledge is power.

Finance 178

Finance Term Sheet Preferred Stock Bridge Financing 178

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. Like the U.S.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 271

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

The first capital a young company receives usually takes the form of common stock, the same class of shares the founders hold. This clause attempts to protect the conversion price of stock of angel investors, prior to additional financing, from being reduced to a price equal to the price per share paid in a later “down” round.

Term Sheet 227

Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Due Diligence Post-Money Valuation 227

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2012

The first capital a young company receives usually takes the form of common stock, the same class of shares the founders hold. This clause attempts to protect the conversion price of stock of Angel investors, prior to additional financing, from being reduced to a price equal to the price per share paid in a later “down” round.

Term Sheet 223

Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Due Diligence Post-Money Valuation 223

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 2, 2012

The fact that a great deal of the content produced by tech news sites concerns startup companies might make an observer from another planet think America is a veritable nursery for brilliant business ideas. You read that right: Not a lot of people are that interested in startups. Credit: Prof. Make Way for the On-Ramp.

IPO 121

IPO Startup Florida Seed Capital 121

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. Like the U.S.

Venture Capital 163

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 163

Gust

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

How to finance a new seed-stage startup? ” Ressi in particular seems to be passionate about removing the “debt” component from convertible debt seed financing transactions. Convertible debt? Convertible equity? As of August 2010, Paul Graham famously proclaimed , “Convertible notes have won.

Finance 134

Finance Convertible Security Equity Seed Stage 134

Haystack

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

Typically in M&A, all-cash offers are more common when the acquirer dwarfs the target in terms of market cap; otherwise, M&A usually involves stock in the mix, which leads us to believe Cylance wouldn’t have accepted anything but cash — which makes sense given the company was reportedly booking $130M/year with 3,500 customers.

Acquisition 62

Acquisition Artificial Inteligence Balance Sheet Cofounder 62

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

It’s the company that evokes fear into more startups and venture capitalists looking to fund eCommerce businesses than any other potential competitor. The first is that it could carry limited inventory in stock because it had limited physical shelf space. And could we then compete?” ” type questions.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review Cofounder CTO Hire 380

Gust

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Last week , we gave some attention to the “why” behind convertible note financing for early stage startups. Going back to Part I , recall that although a convertible note is technically a loan made to the startup, in practice these loans are rarely expected to be repaid. These deal terms are simple but significant.

Finance 79

Finance Preferred Stock Term Sheet Early Stage 79

VC Cafe

APRIL 23, 2012

But the choice to make quality services available for free is part of the reason why startup funding is so crucial. The use of venture capital for developing educational technologies is increasing rapidly. Venture capital can make an immediate impact on an online schooling company’s bottom line.

Venture Capital 96

Venture Capital Michigan Seed Capital Programming 96

Scott Edward Walker

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

A sophisticated angel investor understands how the startup game is played and the role that he plays. If you’re an entrepreneur looking for seed capital, but don’t know any sophisticated angel investors, you need to hustle and build relationships in order to get “warm” introductions. What about issuing shares of common stock?

Preferred Stock 45

Preferred Stock Angel Investor Entrepreneur Common Stock 45

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

Nevertheless, this is when you get the startup money to kickstart your business with the bare essentials needed to begin making and fulfilling your first sales. With seed funding, you hope to grow your business and, at the very least, gain proof of concept.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Austin Startup

APRIL 23, 2010

Stock prices change, people tweet about a company, new job openings are posted, people “fan&# or like Facebook pages, people update their LinkedIn profiles, and Jigsaw information gets updated, just to name a few examples. The company was founded with seed capital from Austin Ventures. CrunchBase Information. Workstreamer.

Intellectual Property 79

Intellectual Property Austin Early Stage Agile 79

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

189 Answers To The Top Startup Questions On Your Mind. 189 Answers To The Top Startup Questions On Your Mind. Written By Dan Martell on February 2nd, 2012 | Category: Hiring LeanStartup Marketing Metrics Startup Life | 6 Comments. I love startups. Here’s my high-level approach for startups. No, I have many ideas.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Growthink Blog

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

For approximately a year’s worth of “work” which the movie fairly or unfairly portrays as mostly involving a lot of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Parker now owns Facebook stock worth over $1 billion. So take a little care. And spin the wheel. Looking for Opportunities Now?

Seed Capital 67

Seed Capital .Net Social Network Stock 67