Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2017

It’s hard to remember that in 2012 it was still hard for LA VCs to persuade investors into funds that LA was a viable market for great venture capital funds or convince many VCs that LA was a market worth investing dollars into startups. But this post is about the broader context of LA. link] The Snap IPO Happened. What Next LA?

IPO 191

IPO Los Angeles South Korea Armenia 191

thebarefootvc

JULY 3, 2017

Over the past month, Silicon Valley has been at the forefront of many conversations outside of the technology world. Some LPs – who were not investors in those funds – positively described these VCs to me as “plugged in” millennials who partied with founders they thought would be the next Mark Zuckerberg.

LP 65

LP Technical Review Silicon Valley Limited Partner 65

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2015

An example might be a business development conversation, a first customer meeting, the first candidate in a recruiting process, the first time you talk with a journalist at TechCrunch or the first meeting to consider your business strategy. I worked with a successful portfolio company recently that had to make some big moves in the market.

LP 150

LP Warrant Portfolio Framework 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

In 2019 market conditions often are such that founders retain control of the board through the A-round, usually in a 2–1 (common to investor) ratio but sometimes it’s 3–2 (common to investor). Further, if you don’t trust that VC to serve on your board then why would you take money from them in the first place?

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 5, 2014

Stage 1 : Either Satya or I are meeting the founders, usually solo, giving them an overview of Homebrew and learning about their startup through direct conversations, using the product (whatever stage it’s at) and doing some background on their industry (if it’s an area new to us). Satya and I use a simple three stage system.

Software Review 128

Software Review Balance Sheet Cofounder Technical Review 128

David Teten

JANUARY 23, 2021

Yohei Nakajima, Founder of Untapped.vc , said, “Before pitching LPs and building my firm, I talked with over 50 people I knew to get feedback.” . Set up the basic marketing toolkit: deck, website, accurate online databases, and social media accounts. . The less widely marketed your fund is, the more valuable it is perceived to be.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review 78

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 ). billion people, India itself represents a massive market.

India 86

India LP Silicon Valley Vertical 86

Eric Friedman

DECEMBER 27, 2021

With the advent of programs like CartaX and what I call streaming venture funds , the liquidity in private markets is going to get the foundation to grow significantly in 2021. 5/ the US power grid becomes a focus point for conversation from a major disruption due to an attack. . 8/ A proper accelerator is setup for GPs.

Balance Sheet 97

Balance Sheet Stock Private Equity Option Pool 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

The Valley has obsessed with a quick up-and-to-right momentum story because we were thought to live in “winner take most” markets. But markets have changed and I think investors, founders and experienced executives who want to join later-stage startups can all benefit from playing the long game. It literally drove FOMO.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital LP Valuation Later Stage 363

Hunter Walker

APRIL 21, 2025

Infrastructure Around Secondary Opaque, shady Several large market makers, investor and company counsel have seen this before There are now standard and trusted processes that reduce risk for all parties around these sorts of transactions. Everyone largely underwriting to the same outcome goals. So DPI matters sooner.

Venture Capital 121

Venture Capital Cap Table San Francisco Early Stage 121

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

In liquid markets, most of the calories expended on technology and analytics are focused on trade selection, or “ origination ”. I use another live Google doc to maintain my database of companies I’m marketing to other VCs. 2) Market . Many tools designed for B2B marketing in general are also relevant to investors.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

After building NextView for almost 10 years now, I’ve been having more conversations recently with first time managers looking for some tactical advice. At first glance, you’d think that all LPs pretty much want to buy the same thing. Every fund pitching an LP is pitching this as a baseline. Are they a principal or an agent?

LP 309

LP Customer Early Stage Portfolio 309

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

this requires a strong knowledge of market data, employee performance, company performance relative to market and available resources?—?cash We do lunch where everybody has a casual conversation followed by 6 hours of content and discussion. kind of like a board for a VC firm). Follow the whole series.

LP 269

LP Startup Burn Rate Stock Options 269

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

A few years later they announced $150 million in a funding round at $1 billion+ valuation and are ramping up jobs to secure their market-leading position. I went to see several LP funds in Boston. At least twice I had conversations that went like this, “Yes. You could say the team would have gone North anyways.

Community 369

Community Silicon Valley Chicago Boston 369

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

The value ascribed by subsequent investors (in a secondary); buyers (acquisition); or the public markets (IPO). Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. On average, founders own just 43% of equity by Series B , declining thereafter. Volatile, uncapped. Short track record.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Austin Startup

AUGUST 10, 2017

We offer investors venture economics with public market liquidity. As entrepreneurs, Tushar and I immediately knew that when product-market fit hits you in the head, you jump on it. We monitor the market and adjust our holdings as new information emerges and market conditions change. And thus Multicoin Capital was born.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Austin 48

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

Yes, VC / Startup Funding is up Massively If you look at how much VC firms have raised from Limited Partners (LPs) over the past 2 decades you’ll see that we’ve returned to a level that we haven’t seen since 1999. Companies are raising billions of dollars in the private markets and the valuations are enormous PRIOR to the IPO.

Venture Capital 292

Venture Capital IPO Mezzanine Early Stage 292

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was asked again in an LP meeting later in the week and then again at a founder breakfast gathering we hosted yesterday. I spend hours thinking about the products, competitors, market opportunities, recruiting and financing of these businesses. I answered in the same way I always do so I thought I’d just write it publicly.

Early Stage 254

Early Stage Non-Compete LP Later Stage 254

Hunter Walker

MARCH 24, 2025

I collect data points in conversation and start building my own theory of the topic, which I then write up and share with the world in the form of my quarterly essays. I like simulating other peoples perspectives in my mind and putting them in conversation with each other as a way of identifying blind spots in my own thinking.

LP 78

LP San Francisco Silicon Valley Framework 78

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

And we felt terrible not being able to let every LP in but we were forced to make some hard compromises yet we opened up our fund to Sapphire even though they were a first time LP. We have many LPs who come from industry and this is truly a value-add in a LP/VC relationship 3. Read the responses to this story on Medium.

LP 150

LP Entrepreneur United States Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Because VCs tend to “mark to market” for private investments so you would often value a company based on the last financing. What’s an LP to do in deciding which funds to invest in? was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Jordan 264

Jordan LP Cofounder Limited Partner 264

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 10, 2014

Venture funding goes ballistic: VCJ : Some people are starting to call the top of the current cycle, at least in the context of flows of LP funds into VC firms. We had our LP Annual Meeting yesterday and I had a vibrant conversation with a few of our LPs about this topic at lunch.

LP 129

LP Denver Colorado Government 129

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

Most of this discussion is about ‘playing offense’ — working towards being a good steward of LP capital and the risk/reward associated with VC. And finally, a more robust (but still somewhat opaque) secondary market emerged for transacting equity among parties. As we’re recently reminded, markets go down, not just up.

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital Cap Table LP Equity 154

Haystack

JUNE 1, 2018

” Depending on your point of view, it is the perfect trigger for a conversation about the state of the Bay Area’s investment market. A well-networked LP recently remarked to me they’ve estimated over 150+ of the 500+ known seed funds are currently “in market” right now.

LP 116

LP Global Social Media Portfolio 116

firstround.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

” Constructively critical conversations keep us in the mindset of self-improvement. An in-person conversation using the same words might go quite differently. Everyday online and offline, CEOs, CTOs, sales leaders, marketers and engineers connect with each other inside of our Community at Firs. First Round Capital.

CTO Hire 52

CTO Hire Engineer Software Review Part-Time VPE 52

View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

I made over a dozen angel investments and a few investments in VC funds as an LP, expanding my focus to new geographies, sectors, and stages. These reflections, conversations, side projects, and time with my newly expanded family gave me clarity.

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 8, 2023

Obvious caveats to my POV here, most specifically: exposure is limited to largely the US/SiliconValley ecosystem, driven by our own portfolio, my friends and co-investors, the funds I’m a LP in, and our institutional LP relationships. Soft Acquisition Market. And that’s what’s happening here.

Portfolio 118

Portfolio Cap Table LP Valuation 118

Hunter Walker

MAY 7, 2015

Last week Homebrew held its second annual LP meeting, coinciding with our second anniversary as a fund. Comparing Notes About Market Trends: Although Homebrew is still young we’ve definitely seen some changes in the seed stage ecosystem since we started in early 2013.

LP 48

LP Advisory Board Harvest Seed Stage 48

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

The funding environment for tech startups is an ever shifting ground as we go through predictable shifts that go hand-in-hand with the slowing of the overall market. This works in a booming market or in a company that never hits any headwinds. The market eventually slowed down. Explosion in Seed Funds. Non VC Growth Rounds.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Burn Rate LP 150

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 12, 2011

I’m sure there are a lot of product people that would like to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. The market is clamoring for a company like this and we’re super psyched to be a part of it. I know Theresia back from when I was at the GM pension fund and we were an LP. That’s CrunchTrainer and that will be out soon.

LP 108

LP New York Sales Web 108

Version One Ventures

JANUARY 31, 2024

— Boris Wertz (@bwertz) January 11, 2024 While I was aware of many emerging GPs raising right now, I didn’t realize just how many were in the market. The first is the fund that you would ideally raise if LP capital was not a constraining factor. Or an LP wants to anchor the fund, but asks for a large piece of the carry.

LP 72

LP Differentiation Deal Flow India 72

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 20, 2019

That first real job was as the first employee of Petcom, a company started by a husband and wife team that grew to about 20 people before the oil and gas market for software evaporated in 1985. In these conversations, the question of how I shifted from “operator” to “investor” inevitably comes up.

LP 115

LP Angel Investor Cofounder Leadership 115

www.quora.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

This is a far cry from a sustainable business, product-market fit, and a long ways from profitability in most cases. The average GS employee spends more each year on watches a year than you make working at market rate for a salary. They are not even investing with their own money, but with their LP's money. This answer.

Equity 40

Equity Employee Founder Cofounder 40

Hunter Walker

APRIL 28, 2017

For VCs, annual LP meetings are combination Board Meeting + Community Event. We spent an afternoon with our investors, providing updates on fund performance, market dynamics and future plans. Several founders gave 10-12 minute updates on their companies, and then, a dinner with our LPs, Homebrew founders and fund advisors.

LP 82

LP Portfolio Founder Community 82

Bryce Dot VC

DECEMBER 4, 2012

That post sparked a series of conversations, both online and off, about what makes a pitch great and how to best use the time a founder secures with a potential investor. Despite its simplicity, the deck proved to be extremely effective for framing the conversation with both new and existing investors. We have a deep loyalty to them.

LP 60

LP Advisory Board Institutional Investors Security 60

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

I’m going to assume that your funding conversations here were a bit different than your last startup. It looked more like a market map than a competitive landscape slide. And it created a digital billboard at the highest value location in a retail store (POS) which we used to market directly to the businesses customers.

Chicago 111

Chicago Venture Capital Miami Employee 111

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). But markets value high growth over short-term profitability. Where are we today?

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398