View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Previous venture firms’ specific involvement on the cap table should be noted here, though. My partner Rob has previously written some thoughts on how to approach that conversation. develop and launch X product, reach Y number of users, generate $Z amount revenue).

Cap Table 211

Cap Table Seed Stage Valuation Dilution 211

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

PEVCTech is partnering with Blue Future Partners to run the first large-scale survey of VCs’ technology stack. Johann Kratzer of Blue Future Partners , a fund of funds, observed, “The majority of the hundreds of funds we’ve diligenced rely predominantly on their relationships to source deals. Greylock Partners.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

The most serious unintended consequence occurs from “note waterfalls”— converting multiple notes that have multiple valuation caps. Many entrepreneurs lose track of what they have been cooking up in the cap table. They do not recognize that they may have already contractually sold a meaningful portion of equity in their company.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 11, 2019

Ann Miura-Ko is a founding partner at Floodgate , a seed-stage VC firm. There were none in the firm, so I remember asking him if he knew of any general partners who were women in the Boston area. In a place where there are many, many venture capital firms, he couldn't think of a single female general partner.

Founder 68

Founder Lean Venture Capital Cofounder 68

View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

I became certified as a professional coach through the Hudson Institute of Coaching to be a more mindful and effective partner on a founder’s journey. Consistent with how they approach the founders they back, they are trusted, high integrity, humble, no BS, and collaborative partners who prioritize the right things with each other too.

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

David Teten

AUGUST 21, 2019

Or should they look to one of the new wave of Revenue-Based Investors? Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. But should they? Aligned incentives.

Revenue 60

Revenue Liquidation Preference Equity Cofounder 60

Rob Go

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

This tends to make LPs happy and make the lead partner look good among his or her colleagues. Big user bases, but tiny revenues. The userbase is also largely international, as is most of the revenue, another ding on the company’s ability to monetize. Most VC’s like having some leverage on their dollars.

Cap Table 78

Cap Table Valuation Finance Institutional Investors 78

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 21, 2017

Nothing seems to apply--you're not a tech company, you bootstrapped your way to millions in revenues before taking on capital, and you sell mostly through brick and mortar. Technically, that's what we called it, but it didn't seem entirely appropriate given that it had already been up and running for years and had millions in revenue.

Cap Table 92

Cap Table Cofounder Valuation .Net 92

OnlyOnce

MAY 26, 2022

Do you spend a lot of your time dealing with finance-related issues like fundraising, debt, investors, or cap table questions? Do they spend time in-market with customers, partners, or vendors? They see it as strategic and as a partner to other parts of the business. Trust your gut. Other Signs Your CFO Isn’t Scaling.

Cap Table 62

Cap Table Forecast Finance Metrics 62

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began. It’s hard to work out the cap table with your peers when one of them has no real intent in fixing the problem.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Bryce Dot VC

JANUARY 5, 2015

My partner Tim bootstrapped his business to 9 figures in revenue without taking any outside investment. Is it possible to maintain and independent attitude and ethos with an outside investor on your cap table? And revenue better still. . Those are fine expectations and outcomes, but not the only ones.

San Francisco 40

San Francisco Cap Table Non-Compete Distribution 40

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 10, 2017

If you’ve already reached the pinnacle of a highly skilled profession and have derived your credentials from that, you might be best served by partnering with a “company builder”  — the role I have taken in multiple cases and that I will continue energetically in my new partnership at TechSquare Labs in Atlanta.

Georgia 48

Georgia Startup Incubator Harvest 48

blog.simeonov.com

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Most partners, be they lawyers or VCs, tend to tweak the standard with their own language. The only way to remove their equity holding in the cap table is by buying them out or through a recapitalization of the company. It can be deferred, with or without interest, to be paid after a financing or once revenues start coming in.

Founder 44

Founder Vesting Agile Startup 44

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

I’ve talked with a number of software development shops who are eager to get into the business of cofounding companies, i.e., getting product revenue and equity instead of just consulting revenue. Partnering with a source of capital, connections, and expertise for a large equity chunk is often worth it in those scenarios (e.g.,

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

A detailed financial model that shows your anticipated revenue, costs and profits (Income Statement) as well as your balance sheet and cashflow statements. So junior analysis of your company is also often where initial due diligence goes to die unless you can be sure that the investment partner is also willing to engage. No problem.

Cap Table 336

Cap Table Due Diligence Forecast Churn Rate 336

Ben's Blog

APRIL 1, 2011

I remember when I first became CEO, an investor asked me to send him the “cap table.” Revenue at Ning is soaring and team morale is high. My partner Scott Weiss relayed that it’s so common that there is an acronym for it: WFIO which stands for We’re F#%ked, It’s Over (it’s pronounced whiff-ee-yo).

Management 78

Management Cap Table Balance Sheet Bankruptcy 78

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

There never has to be atime when you have no revenues. The fund managers, who are called"general partners," get about 2% of the fund annually as a managementfee, plus about 20% of the funds gains. Not all the people who work at VC firms are partners. Its the partners who decide, and they view things witha colder eye.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

All Unicorn participants — founders, company employees, venture investors and their limited partners (LPs) — are seeing their fortunes put at risk from the very nature of the Unicorn phenomenon itself. A high performing, high-growth SAAS company that may have been worth 10 or more times revenue was suddenly worth 4-7 times revenue.

IPO 40

IPO Term Sheet Silicon Valley Valuation 40

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

My experience with early valuations by founders for friends… I’ve arrived at a significant number of companies that were looking for additional growth capital after a “friends and family” round and had to “clean up” the cap table more than a few times over the years. It is most often a win-win for both you and the strategic partner.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

I’ve arrived at a significant number of companies that were looking for additional growth capital after a “friends and family” round, and had to “clean up” the cap table more than a few times over the years. Strategic partner” investors: If you can find a strategic partner willing to invest in your enterprise, consider it a blessing.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2020

A complete collapse of revenue that simultaneously affects your employees and your customers, your partners, your investors, everyone all at once and all the news is bad. Your customers and your investors like partners? We're going to treat our hosts like partners. We'll treat our hosts like partners. One by one.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Hosting Cofounder Employee 60

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

I’ve arrived at a significant number of companies that were looking for additional growth capital after a “friends and family” round, and had to “clean up” the cap table more than a few times over the years. Taking this kind of money has a number of pitfalls you should be aware of.

Private Equity 69

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 69

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 1, 2017

Two things happened there: I found the perfect person to partner with: Nisha Dua. What we see is that more and more female founders want women on their cap table: A couple of founders have re-opened rounds for us; one even got a major investor to sell us secondary. Are you encouraged by recent discussions?

IPO 91

IPO Cap Table NDA Vietnam 91

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

The complexity of ICHRAs requires careful partner selection. I would say the only area of risk for employers in ICR is choosing the wrong partner. (07:26): Brandy Burch (09:25): Yeah, we consider ourselves software as a service and we consider ourselves the chosen partner of those employers and brokers.

Kansas City 77

Kansas City Employee Kansas Part-Time VPE 77

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

Thirty-four VC firms in OpenVC call themselves “early-stage” Yet, 30% of those don’t actually invest in pre-revenue startups. Revenue-Based Finance and Flexible VC investors invest using “alternative VC” structures, as opposed to conventional preferred equity and convertible notes. The phrase is quite ambiguous.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital B2B 78