Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 17, 2020

As she recalls, "once we as a team and ecosystem of stakeholders got our plan together--and a big part of that was our incredible school partners, who said, 'We are going to feed as many kids and families as we can,'-- within a week, we were building at light speed what would be the next iteration of Revolution Foods and our feeding system."

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Security Founder Entrepreneur 60

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Of the last 15 investments we’ve made, we’ve been the lead or co-lead investor over 80% of the time. .

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

We had many term sheets (it was 1999 and we had a pulse) and we were deciding which one to take. We were trying to optimize around a few criteria: price, size of round, number of syndicate partners and, of course, terms. We ended up agreeing a term sheet for $16.5 I was resolute. You never know.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

For early stage VC ‘s, Syndication is the process of sharing investments with other potential co-investors. The classic scenario is when a VC has a signed term sheet to lead a round, but has left room open for another meaningful investor. When I started in venture, syndicating deals was fairly common.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Term Sheet Cofounder 207

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

What is it, and how should founders think about it? note: We’d like to be extra clear that founders should not take on venture debt if they don’t have 100% visibility into repaying the loan, as banks that need to recoup their loan my force the company or you as the guarantor into liquidation or bankruptcy.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 12, 2014

You charge your limited partners this, but you have to pay it back before you start taking a cut of the profits. I hear that partners can make $300,000 on up to a million dollars at a big fund, and that''s before their cut of the upside. I send out my own term sheets and review docs myself--especially since I''m in sydicated rounds.

Investment Bankers 167

Investment Bankers Term Sheet Venture Capital Technical Review 167

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Often if it’s a bigger firm (say 4 partners or more) and it’s a super small investment for their fund size (let’s say $250-500k when they normally invest $5-7 million) they will just require 1 or 2 partners to decide. What happens next feels like a black box to outsiders. ” Some firms are collegiate.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Detroit Early Stage Partner 150

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 5, 2014

Managing short-term tactical outcomes with longer term relationship cultivation. Meeting new founders while collaborating, recruiting, analyzing, doing whatever it takes, to help our current founders build strong companies. Doing what excites me and gives energy. 1) Evaluate New Opportunities.

Software Review 105

Software Review Balance Sheet Cofounder Technical Review 105

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

As I discussed last week in the Greymatter podcast with my friend and Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh , I believe that a knowledge of philosophy is actually a great asset for entrepreneurs. Greylock Partners · Reid Hoffman | Philosopher Versus MBA. Like many first time founders, I ran over that landmine.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

As I discussed last week in the Greymatter podcast with my friend and Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh , I believe that a knowledge of philosophy is actually a great asset for entrepreneurs. Greylock Partners · Reid Hoffman | Philosopher Versus MBA. Like many first time founders, I ran over that landmine.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Austin Startup

JULY 22, 2021

Any software, hardware, or CPG startup in Texas with a female founder or co-founder can apply to participate. Female Founders! One will walk away with a $100,000 cash investment and a fast-track into Capital Factory. Who Can Apply? Apply now to be one of five teams selected to pitch. million Series A round.

San Antonio 107

San Antonio Dallas Houston Founder 107

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

But in business, you want a lot of partners. To learn more about this space, I suggest join an online community I co-founded, PEVCTech. . In the private equity universe, most Partners have primary training as deal-makers, not as managers. See Bessemer Venture Partners’ A comprehensive guide to security for startups.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Of the last 15 investments we’ve made, we’ve been the lead or co-lead investor over 80% of the time. .

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

Eric Friedman

AUGUST 18, 2021

Dan is the co-founder of Standard Treasury, a Y Combinator backed company. He is also co-founder and Managing Partner of Deciens Capital, an early stage investment fund. I hope you take this as a term of endearment. Fred Ehrsam , his co-founder, is also incredible. On Sushi and VC.

Silicon Valley 88

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Africa 88

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

They’re trying to get exposure and diversification at the same time, while potentially seeing co-investment deal flow. A lot of VC fund pitches—and I know this because I used to vet VCs for a living as an institutional limited partner at a pension fund—sound the same. No current non-accredited founders, please.

Accredited Investor 106

Accredited Investor Term Sheet Deal Flow .Net 106

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2019

Scott Kupor is the managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he’s responsible for all operational aspects of running the firm. The reality today is that capital is more available than ever and entrepreneurs have become more sophisticated, so founders are looking for more than just cash from their venture backers.

Lean 108

Lean Venture Capital Conversion IPO 108

Haystack

FEBRUARY 9, 2019

At the beginning of 2018, we almost invested in a startup with two strong founders. To make a long and private story short, on the morning I was about to call the founders to let them know I was in, they decided to amicably part ways. A few months passed, and we ended up investing in the company with one of the original founders.

Artificial Inteligence 107

Artificial Inteligence Algorithm Term Sheet Cofounder 107

Agile VC

JANUARY 22, 2014

I thought I’d share a little of what makes us enthusiastic to partner with Ben, Derek, and their team to help them as they build their business. This was before we started NextView and at the time Ben was still building Zeo, the prior company he co-founded. I first met Ben about 5-6 years ago.

Term Sheet 173

Term Sheet Cofounder Mobile Cloud 173

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 28, 2016

In addition to fixing some lingering errors, lousy grammar, and poor word choices, we founder a few more places to insert Oxford commas so Amy and Ryan would be happy. There are two new forewords – one from Fred Wilson at USV (the VC perspective) and one from James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit (the entrepreneur perspective).

Term Sheet 70

Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital Equity 70

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 27, 2017

Founders don't start companies so they can spend half their time asking people for money and VCs don't love the dance either. It's fine if you want to learn about blockchain or you never do pre-product and maybe the founder will oblige your curiosity at some point, but right now, they need cash, so don't waste their time if chances are 0%.

Due Diligence 143

Due Diligence Term Sheet Cofounder Founder 143

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet (by WSGR – disclaimer, I represent the Founders Institute and was involved in drafting this document). This post assumes that you have a basic understanding of Series A financing terms. Co-sale rights. Dividend preference. Voting agreement.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

I was recently speaking with some founders about their fund raising process. They had received a term sheet from a VC and were wondering whether to work with this firm. As in real life – those that rush into marriage often find out what their partner is really like after the fact. When the world was ending?

Term Sheet 298

Term Sheet Venture Capital Stealth Cofounder 298

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2011

Meet with one person from the firm – partner or associate. If you can meet a partner up front it’s always best but sometimes it’s not possible. Potentially several other qualifying meetings before you get to meet the other partners if the person you have met is not yet convince / wants to do more work.

Non-disclosure Agreement 340

Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Cofounder Term Sheet 340

View from Seed

MARCH 12, 2015

In a typical first meeting between a VC and team of co-founders, the investor typically ends up asking more questions than the founders. And of course, many individual VCs blog or have social media presences, so you can get a sense of what a particular partner is interested in or what themes they’ve concentrated on.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Cofounder SEC Portfolio 120

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

She had so much insight to share that we broke the interview into two parts, 1) Corporate Venture Capital and more broadly, 2) How the Fortune 500 Can Buy, Invest and Partner with the Innovation Economy (coming soon). . Previously she was Co-Founder and CEO of SNAZZ, a cloud-based event management platform.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 7, 2017

You know, the one where you advise the company “plan to take 2-3 months to get one or more term sheets and then another month to close.” My partner Satya summarized part of our reaction in this tweet: while there is more money than ever in VC there is also more risk aversion and less independent conviction.

Term Sheet 71

Term Sheet Cofounder Lean Portfolio 71

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

To give visibility to these companies to: Sources of funding (angels / VCs), business development partners, mentors who have themselves built successful companies, the press and potential employees to hire. He previously co-founded Charlie , a Los Angeles based media company and interactive agency. This education will continue.

Los Angeles 287

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Incubator Startup 287

OnlyOnce

APRIL 27, 2021

The conversation with your co-founder about only one founder/executive on the board. Expect to hear things like “Aren’t we partners in this business?” You already have 100% of the mindshare and ambassadorship your co-founder has to offer. and “How come my vote doesn’t count?”

Vesting 48

Vesting Cofounder Startup Term Sheet 48

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

As in real life – those that rush into marriage often find out what their partner is really like after the fact. But what about once you have a term sheet? How do you then reference check your VC to be sure that you’ve chosen a good firm and partner? When the world was ending? After Sept 11th? After Sept 08?

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Term Sheet Cofounder Partner 288

Hippoland

AUGUST 9, 2016

or “We want to co-lead if you find another co-lead!” However, once you get a term sheet from a potential lead investor, you have a lot of leverage. You can use this as a forcing function to see if some other firm that typically leads would also be interesting in giving you a term sheet.

Lead Investor 48

Lead Investor Term Sheet Due Diligence Convertible Security 48

Cracking the Code

MARCH 28, 2022

The first time I met Matan, Melio's co-founder and CEO, he told me that his mission was simple: he wanted to “help small business stay in business” by making B2B payments fast, simple and flexible. In fact the term sheet was signed the day before the world went into lockdown! And how did you find Ziv and Ilan?

B2B 62

B2B Cofounder Israel Small Business 62

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

So many had names of partners (Kleiner Perkins) or local favorite identifiers like trees (Sequoia). I know that I call them often to co-invest. True Ventures – When I was raising capital for my second company back in 2006 I had talked to many brand-name VCs and had several term sheets. Think about venture capital.

Community 304

Community Los Angeles Startup Silicon Valley 304

Feld Thoughts

JANUARY 9, 2017

Jud Valeski, the co-founder of Gnip, wrote a great one a few days ago. The first to play by the rules of your partner. While in the midst of the start of our initial term sheet negotiations with GNIP, my team was moved under a new executive. We kept working on the term sheet and he motivated me to go to bat again.

Term Sheet 70

Term Sheet Cofounder Revenue Partner 70

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

I first met the founder of Pose, Dustin Rosen , when he was a junior person with an LA-based venture capital firm called The Mail Room Fund. I asked him to present to my partners. Within 48 hours of meeting him we had a term sheet agreeing to fund $1.6 My first two calls were to True Ventures & Founder Collective.

Term Sheet 303

Term Sheet Mobile Cofounder Early Stage 303

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. What will that partner tell their partners?

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Viral Revenue Networking 111

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 27, 2011

The post “ What I learned from raising venture capital ” by Gabriel Weinberg , the founder of DuckDuckGo is one of them. Choosing your VC essentially as choosing a co-founder. They will be there long term, have significant equity and help making strategic decisions. Get the right partner at the firm.

Venture Capital 109

Venture Capital Term Sheet Angel Investor Due Diligence 109