Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 2, 2020

She believed so deeply in Curative's new mission and the science behind it that she went out and pitched investors on a company she didn't even work for--and got results. You can listen to our conversation on Apple , Google, or wherever you like to download podcasts. Here's my conversation with Curative.

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Curation Government Los Angeles Partner 60

Genuine VC

JANUARY 15, 2015

Of key importance, which we emphasize with our NextView portfolio companies when they’re out raising their Series A, is to run the conversations in parallel rather than serially. Often for a myriad of often idiosyncratic reasons, an entrepreneur is introduced to an attractive new potential VC partner late in the game.

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Lead Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital Portfolio 100

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

Sharing these pricing expectations early with potential lead investors fundamentally qualifies your conversations, but it also runs the risk of prematurely losing a potential financing partner, or else it can reduce options to maximize your fundraise outcome. Market Value.

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Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

I notice some founders (from YC in particular) have been trained to say something like: “we are just starting the process, but things are moving faster than we expect and we are already scheduling follow-up conversations and partner meetings.”. Some founders lay out a specific time frame for when they hope to get the round closed.

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Term Sheet Burn Rate Founder Partner 364

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

There is a well-known trope that choosing a VC to partner with is like marriage. It’s a super important, near permanent relationship, especially for a lead investor that is likely to take a board seat for many years. I know many VC’s that are amazing partners to founders in thick and thin. This is true.

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Founder Lead Investor Portfolio Reputation 280

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

Kent Bennett from Bessemer Venture Partners spoke to this initial slow down: “ We couldn’t do anything until we understood the new normal. Said one investor, “We may have overdone it on socialization at the expense of productivity.”. This included investors at Bain Capital Ventures, Upfront Ventures, and Bloomberg Beta.

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Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

My partner Rob has previously written some thoughts on how to approach that conversation. What not to include is directly stating valuation expectations.

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Cap Table Seed Stage Valuation Dilution 211

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

At this point, the investor and the entrepreneur work together to develop their perfect list of potential partners, and then do targeted outreach to try to bring this investor into the round. Not everyone will get in, but the founder is most likely to pick from those already around the table vs. opening up new conversations.

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Syndication Syndicate Term Sheet Cofounder 207

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I still think it’s best to take money from Dave when you’re also partnered with a more focused, hands-on seed-stage VC who brings different things to the table – like more ability to write larger checks in a downturn (for one) or solving a deep crisis that involves super hands-on involvement. So I thought, WTF?

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Valuation Deal Flow Lead Investor Cofounder 292

VC Adventure

MAY 21, 2014

A few months ago AngelList announced Syndicates - enabling investors on AngelList to create fund-like groups of investors to invest together in AngelList companies (following a single lead investor). We were the first formal venture fund to do this. And they do look at terms so structuring a fair deal is important.

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Syndication Syndicate Technical Review Due Diligence 93

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). . Some corporate funds now lead rounds. Teten: What makes for a good vs. bad corporate venture investor?

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Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

Before raising capital you need to have a conversation with your existing investors to get a sense on what they’re thinking or at a minimum you better have an intuitive feel for it. Many investors can also be the opposite situation where you’re so successful that everybody wants to invest.

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Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2009

That’s what “information rights&# are for and you can promise the investor to meet 1-on-1 on a quarterly basis. The second scenario is where there are too many investors (egos?) VC partners will often ask to have an associate attend board meetings along with them. in a company.

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Advisory Board Strategic Investors Venture Capital Later Stage 215

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

At its core, this issue points to the lack of understanding about the importance of post-money valuation by both entrepreneurs and investors. This is not uncommon—and it is a problem precisely because the notes are being used improperly.

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Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Genuine VC

JULY 30, 2012

By communicating pricing expectations with potential lead investors, I mean sharing either an “ask” or even stated floor for the pre-money valuation of the company (with a priced preferred round) or explicitly stating a valuation cap (for convertible note round). It’s like opening a job interview by sharing salary requirements.

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Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Syndicate 136

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you’re raising a round where a new lead investor would invest $5 million the VC fund must have no less than $100 million and if you’re looking for them to write $15–20 million as the lead their fund realistically should be at least $400 million. It doesn’t have to be a partner?—?every And How Do You Prioritize?

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Term Sheet Due Diligence Campaign Sales 332

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

While a norm of ‘we don’t invest in directly competitive companies’ is likely the median response if you asked a bunch of investors, in truth there’s always an asterisk. Sometimes this applies only to lead investors, and if they consider the investment ‘active’ (eg on the board, still doing their pro rata, etc).

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Early Stage Cofounder Vertical Portfolio 142

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Spredfast, a leading social media management system provider, today announced it has raised $12 million in Series B funding led by InterWest Partners. Also participating in the round is Austin Ventures, the lead investor of the company’s $3.6 million Series A round.

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Lead Investor Social Media Austin Channel 74

VC Adventure

MAY 21, 2014

A few months ago AngelList announced Syndicates – enabling investors on AngelList to create fund-like groups of investors to invest together in AngelList companies (following a single lead investor). We were the first formal venture fund to do this.

Syndication 48

Syndication Syndicate Technical Review Due Diligence 48

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2020

In the first part of our conversation, we talk about the chronology of what has happened to Airbnb, the impacts the pandemic has had on their business and the emergency measures the company was required to take. You can listen to our conversation on Apple podcasts , Google podcasts , or wherever you like to download. I am Eric Ries.

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Silicon Valley Hosting Cofounder Employee 60

Agile VC

JANUARY 12, 2012

Good investors try to be clear in terms of what they look for in terms of progress and milestones of the startups they invest in. Occasionally though, a “not yet” response simply stems from the inevitable staging of conversations that happens in any startup’s fundraising process. Previous Entries.

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Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 100

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 10, 2022

I really enjoy our conversations and am especially glad you’re up for some candor, because it’ll help provide some insight into the state of the startup and funding market. and we also had a great relationship with the partner. I can’t say we have major regrets here though — Susa has been a great partner.

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Cofounder Founder Acquisition Startup 118

Rob Go

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

The idea is to get a small but solid commitment from these people, so that when you have your first conversation with a lead, it doesn’t feel like you are starting from scratch, and there is built in credibility. There are ways to do this without a lead, but I’ll ignore that for now. Some thoughts. Triage appropriately.

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Term Sheet Due Diligence Valuation Seed Stage 73

ReadWriteStart

MAY 9, 2018

The company’s growth is largely thanks to its collaborators – Travelport, its first investor and incubator, lead investor 7 Gate Ventures, and Real Venture. It achieved a conversion rate of up to 4.48%, approximately twice as high as the next leading online travel agency (2.4%).

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Widget France Canada Aggregator 64

Up and Running

JANUARY 25, 2017

As my partner and I traveled across the pond to pitch a tech investor in the UK (our 37th pitch), I remember making a million tiny tweaks to the phrasing and focus of our plan. I could tell my partner was getting nervous. My partner fielded a question about our current user-base in our test platform.

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Venture Capital Cofounder Security Partner 60

OnlyOnce

APRIL 27, 2021

Here are four tough conversations you may have to have along the way, with some suggestions on how to navigate them. All of these conversations need to come with a point of view of why independence and diversity matters to your company, a lot of empathy, and appreciation for the value the person brings to the table.

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Vesting Cofounder Startup Term Sheet 48

Rob Go

JULY 17, 2014

On #2, we have been fortunate to collaborate with a wide group of exceptional entrepreneurs, coinvestors, and limited partners. Prospective LPs evaluating NextView tend to focus their due diligence on conversations with these folks as well as other trusted participants in the startup community that are likely to have a POV on us.

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Seed Stage Early Stage Due Diligence Liquidity Event 69

David Teten

JULY 12, 2017

First, a formal definition: According to Capital Dynamics , “Co-investments are direct investments in a company made alongside and on the same terms as a lead [General Partner]. We see our potential coinvestors in four primary buckets: 1) HOF Capital ’s own limited partners. 2) Investors with very specific value-add.

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Syndication Syndicate Institutional Investors LP 60

The Startup Lawyer

JANUARY 6, 2011

Founder and Partner at AOL Ventures , a few weeks ago. 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. We co-invest with people we know and don’t ask for any egregious terms above and beyond the lead investors terms.

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Early Stage LP Later Stage Balance Sheet 58

Rob Go

AUGUST 9, 2016

Think of it this way, an investor may invest in 1-3 deals a year, and build a portfolio of 7-12 active companies that they are point on at any given time. Entrepreneurs are typically only choosing one lead investor and board member per round. But often, it is not. Here are a couple suggestions on this.

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Term Sheet Due Diligence Lead Investor Portfolio 28

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 26, 2021

The primary goal of this conversation was to explain how and why a great startup board can be a powerful tool to help the CEO make the company successful. The challenge is that it’s very difficult to fire an investor board member, because a venture round’s legal paperwork typically entitles a lead investor to a board seat.

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Startup Equity Early Stage Green 36

Austin Startup

MARCH 4, 2019

Steve Kelly, Lead Investor; Godfrey Nazareth, President & CEO; and Matthew Maltese PhD, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer The Forrest Four-Cast: March 3, 2019 Fifty diverse startups will aim to impress a panel of judges and a live audience with their skills, creativity and innovation at SXSW Pitch Presented by Cyndx.

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Startup Philadelphia Cofounder Distribution 79