The Startup Lawyer

JANUARY 6, 2011

I’ve known Mike for a few years now and during the conversation I asked if we could turn the chat into a formal interview for this blog. Corporate VCs tend to have their parent company investing in their fund whereas Independent VCs tend to have multiple LPs (like endowments, pension funds, etc) investing in their fund.

Early Stage 58

Early Stage LP Later Stage Balance Sheet 58

The Equity Kicker

JULY 8, 2019

Most investors thought of their job as picking good companies and making sure governance was strong. The GP-LP structure used by most funds is a brake on innovation here too. Because LPs don’t typically have any ownership of the GP they don’t benefit directly when GPs build value into their management companies.

Portfolio 84

Portfolio LP Venture Capital Partner 84

Rob Go

JULY 25, 2011

Establish a board, or a board-like governance structure. The goal of your 2-hour board meeting should be to spend as little time as possible on general updates and non-critical governance issues. ” Remember, we all tell our LP’s that we are immensely helpful to our portfolio companies, so make us follow through on that!

Due Diligence 38

Due Diligence LP Seed Stage Portfolio 38

Version One Ventures

MAY 3, 2023

Version One has made only one investment in the region ( Headout , a fast growing marketplace for travel experiences) and I had written a small LP cheque into an emerging fund manager ( 1947 Rise , run by the awesome Shiva Sangwan ). Sequoia, Accel, Lightspeed, Nexus, Matrix and Elevation came up in conversations all the time.

India 86

India LP Silicon Valley Vertical 86

Austin Startup

JUNE 26, 2019

Even though most of this message was already drafted, we also had a Hail Mary of a final acquisition conversation that closed the following morning. The Whole Enchilada For those of you interested in more than The Skinny, keep reading… Countless conversations have been had with key users, customers, advisors, mentors, family and friends.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup B2C Sweat Equity 54

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Of our early-stage deals we do 33% Seed, 66% A’s) Why recycling is important, but why without exits you might even be forced to stop paying management fees for a while What Will Happen with LPs in this Economic Market? Harry asked me whether I thought LP “defaults” (not funding the VC commitments it made) would go up.

Marketing 263

Marketing Valuation Churn Rate Balance Sheet 263

Start Up Blog

APRIL 29, 2013

The co-commerce era is here and defined by the 3 C’s – Collaboration, Conversations and Creativity. Web access is seen by the government as an ‘economic development investment’, not a political football. The government is using the shift to technology economies as their chance to reinvent.

Uruguay 123

Uruguay Technical Review Vertical Las Vegas 123

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 4, 2021

Just before the IPO, I had a far-reaching conversation with co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong as he approached this major milestone for the company he co-founded back in 2012. What is the role of public and private organizations in governing our shared civic fabric? Here's my conversation with Brian Armstrong.

IPO 113

IPO Cofounder Technical Review Government 113

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2017

Since the change in government is still fresh on people’s minds we asked what VCs thought about the Trump Administration. Below is the full deck with a lot more data and insights and if you missed the recently published LP Survey Results you can find them here.

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Artificial Inteligence LP Valuation 277

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 6, 2016

Jacob will grow up knowing that anything is possible in America if we preserve our democracy and learn to govern together. When I went to add partners at Upfront I called an LP of mine and told him I was trying to recruit a new partner named Kara Nortman. I shot back quickly at my LP “ You’re kidding me, right? Obama asked.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles LP Nevada South Korea 150