View from Seed

MAY 29, 2019

Historically, seed rounds were syndicated among several different firms. Today, we are seeing less syndication of seed rounds and sharper elbows among many of the funds in the market. Instead of broadly syndicated rounds, we are seeing much more competition for fewer slots. Why Is Seed Investing Becoming More Sharp Elbowed?

Syndicate 267

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Cap Table 267

David Teten

JULY 12, 2017

I thought it might be helpful to provide transparency on how we and many of our VC peers think about optimizing the cap table for our companies. . Although EquityZen is primarily an online marketplace for secondary shares in private companies, they also offer syndicated primary investments. Market Insight.

Syndicate 60

Syndicate Syndication Institutional Investors LP 60

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

If you have 50 investors on your cap table – I’m sorry but you really don’t know what the f**k they’re telling people about your company or whom they’re tell it to. If you have 8 well known, high quality angels with impeccable reputations then be as transparent as you like. But let me tell you for free.

Cap Table 150

Cap Table Cofounder Silicon Valley Startup 150

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Coinvestors: Flexible VC terms have not been standardized, which may make the investment harder to syndicate. Coinvestor friction risk: Earlier investors : Earlier investors come in at a riskier stage and through equity, and may be uncomfortable with a later investor getting any compensation before them.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

Startup CEOs Should Test Strength of Cap Table Every ~6 Months To Know Where They Stand. I really liked Jason Lemkin’s “ Do You Have a Weak Investor Syndicate ” blog post from earlier in the summer. Lastly, Jason has a single very practical suggestion on what to do if your cap table is tapped out.

Cap Table 98

Cap Table Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication 98

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

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

645 Ventures released a cap table simulator to help level the playing field. Carta , Captable.io , Certent , EquityEffect , and ShareWorks by Morgan Stanley track private company cap tables. . Capital has built a free online tool for founders to calculate their cost of capital. 9) Accelerate portfolio company value.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

VC Adventure

JANUARY 22, 2014

We structure our investment in companies via an LLC that has all the individual FG Angels syndicate members in it. This simplifies life for the company as they only end up with 1 investor – the FG Angels syndicate LCC – rather than a bunch of individual investors. AngelList handles the syndicate signature.

Syndicate 111

Syndicate Syndication SEC LLC 111

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 3, 2020

If you do 100% true angel investing, where you’re putting money directly into companies, and not other people’s funds or syndicates, you have to ask yourself the question of how likely it is that you’ll see enough good deal flow to find the big winners. Less than that and you need something else to bring to the table.

Portfolio 134

Portfolio Syndicate Syndication Deal Flow 134

Haystack

AUGUST 18, 2019

You lose influence as larger investors come into the cap table and start throwing their weight around. Back in 2017, Fred Wilson noted the strategic importance of the seed stage , writing: Seed is really hard. You lose way more than you win. You wait the longest for liquidity. It is where most people start out.

Seed Stage 108

Seed Stage Cap Table Early Stage Malaysia 108

OnlyOnce

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

I’ve never written before about those other “potential business opportunities” that our team was exploring along with our prior investment syndicate, Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures, Greg Sands from Costanoa Ventures, and Brad Feld from Foundry.

Silicon Valley 62

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cap Table Early Stage 62

Professor VC

JUNE 6, 2016

When AngelList first launched syndicates a few years ago, I was very skeptical of the idea of angels taking carry on my investment. So what changed and why I am now launching a syndicate? In looking at how syndicates have developed, there have been a lot of positives for both angels and entrepreneurs. I got over it.

Syndicate 28

Syndicate Syndication Ratchet Cap Table 28

Hunter Walker

JULY 19, 2017

As Tomio Geron wrote in this week’s WSJ , At Homebrew , we don’t currently use Scouts, but generally welcome any investors into syndicates who can provide value to the founders. That said, I’ve got three questions that I recommend founders ask any angels participating in their rounds. Are you a Scout?

Founder 70

Founder Silicon Valley Cap Table LP 70

Feld Thoughts

JULY 14, 2015

It usually happens in a later round, when the company is in fact worth much less than the liquidation preference overhang and insiders use a pay-to-play and a low valuation to reset the preferences and the cap table. It’s not pretty, but it happens.

Recapitalization 70

Recapitalization Pre-Money Valuation Post-Money Valuation Angel Investor 70

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

EShares is an increasingly popular tool in our portfolio for tracking private company cap tables. We use the vendors of PE/VC investing data I list above to track the interests of potential private equity/VC coinvestors, and selectively introduce our companies as I build out a syndicate. .

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Rob Go

JANUARY 27, 2014

Almost all the founders we back have seed and series A syndicates that look like this. These syndicates have a manageable number of people on the cap table, and each person there is known and is there for a reason. But this is slowly changing. One Company at a Time.

Syndicate 73

Syndicate Syndication Early Stage Cap Table 73

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 20, 2015

Despite being the smallest line on a founder’s cap table, we were often one of the first calls they made when confronted with a problem to solve or opportunity to consider. If you just need the money, stick unknown angels in an AngelList Syndicate so they have more limited information rights. Avoid these folks.

Cap Table 48

Cap Table Warrant Syndicate Syndication 48

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

Some angel investors join together in syndicates. So the totalnumber of new shares issued is 750, and the cap table becomes: shareholder shares percent -VCs 650 33.3angel 200 10.3uncle 50 2.6each founder 250 12.8employee 36* 1.8 Startups valuations aresupposed to rise over time. In Boston thebiggest is the CommonAngels.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

I would propose that we call these types of investors “syndicate investors”—super useful folks who join with others to help rounds get raised on various crowd investing platforms. — Charlie O'Donnell (@ceonyc) February 21, 2019. With new technology should come new terminology.

Syndicate 109

Syndicate Syndication Angel Investor Cap Table 109