VC Cafe

MARCH 7, 2025

Sesame has introduced hyper-realistic AI voice models, Maya and Miles, under their Conversational Speech Model (CSM). Anthropic has just raised $3.5bn in a round at a post-money valuation of $61.5bn. in funding and a combined valuation of $4.6T. Startup funding -20% YoY to $19.3B in Feb, U.S.

Israel 103

Israel Stealth Taiwan ChatGPT 103

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

During all this time, valuation pitched to the investors was in the $1M – $3M range. When finally, I sat down and started talking, they basically tallied up the hours I spent and gave a choice to get equity at current $3 mil valuation or get full cash for my time or blend of both cash/equity.

CTO 167

CTO CTO Hire Equity Vesting 167

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Very few people turn up with a strong sense of “what we should be doing” or ready to lean into a productive conversation The financials were prepared by the VP of Finance / CFO. The law firm has done its job of preparing the stock option requests, board meeting minutes, 409a valuations. The meeting starts. it’s your own fault.

Stock Options 226

Stock Options Metrics Stock Valuation 226

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

To stay competitive, several of these startups are shifting strategies: MiniMax is focusing on international expansion with its AI conversation app, Talkie , targeting U.S. If completed, this round would value OpenAI at $340 billion, nearly doubling its valuation from October.

China 97

China Artificial Inteligence ChatGPT Generative AI 97

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 18, 2024

Comparing the mCap/TVL ratio across protocols provides insights into their relative valuations. Lower ratios generally imply healthier valuations and may suggest a more stable investment opportunity. The P/S ratio gives insight into whether a protocol’s valuation aligns with its revenue generation.

Metrics 157

Metrics Valuation API Distribution 157

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

Using NextView as an example, since we both seek to lead the seed round and only lead during this round, I’ve seen this trend manifest in one of two ways: In a priced round, the entrepreneur will often share their valuation ask (or a stated floor) for the pre-money valuation of their company much sooner in the process.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

During all this time, valuation pitched to the investors was in the $1M – $3M range. When finally, I sat down and started talking, they basically tallied up the hours I spent and gave a choice to get equity at current $3 mil valuation or get full cash for my time or blend of both cash/equity.

CTO 150

CTO CTO Hire Equity Vesting 150

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Both Sides of the Table , July 22, 2010 An updated Digital Trends presentation - Jeff Hilimire , June 2, 2010 I do what I hate - Jessica Mah , January 7, 2010 Startup Equity Allocation - charliecrystle.com , January 11, 2010 When good investment decisions end up backing more women CEOs: Conversation with Cameron Lester at Azure Capital.

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

At MakeSpace we had to build complex models to tell us how our pricing and conversion compared down to the neighborhood level. Raise too soon and likely take on more dilution, wait and get valuation up (as our metrics continue to rise) but then run to a point where you have a lower cash balance and place more risks on the business.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. thus the rise of “pre seed” investing). If you want to download the full deck it is here. Why Has Seed Investing Declined? And What Does this Mean for the Future?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

If you want to increase conversions and drive more traffic to your business website, teaming up with platforms like Groupon can be an excellent way to achieve them. Optimise Product Pages for Conversions. Lots of companies invest in affiliate marketing strategies and believe their affiliates will drive conversions on their own.

Affiliate 197

Affiliate Marketing Technical Review Software Review 197

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 16, 2024

ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode and Eleven Labs are setting new benchmarks in conversational AI by enhancing voice quality and realism, NotebookLM’s natural voice podcast took the Internet by storm and new open source technologies are making high quality voice cloning easier than ever. Well, that future is now knocking on our door.

Vertical 170

Vertical Generative AI B2C CTO Hire 170

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you. It’s not uncommon for a VC to ask you how much capital you’ve raised and what the post-money valuation was on your last round. is to start with just the data.

Valuation 324

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Shortly after we sold Opsware to Hewlett-Packard, I had a conversation with the legendary venture capitalist Doug Leone of Sequoia Capital. In the post he suggests that they are colluding to keep valuations down, terms intact, and traditional venture capital firms, such as ours, out of their deals. Kanye West.

Technology 191

Technology Product San Francisco CTO Hire 191

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

I had an enjoyable conversation this morning with a young team straight out of college this morning and they were calling to ask advice on how to approach fund raising (angels vs. VCs, how to select a VC, etc.) You don’t really have much to go on to decide who would make a good fit. Reputation of firm? Of partner?

Portfolio 364

Portfolio Chicago Incubator Sales 364

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

There’s an old saying that if I’m talking with you and I start the conversation by saying, “whatever you do, DO NOT think about Elephants &# then you can’t help but thinking about elephants while we’re speaking. This is part of my series on Raising Venture Capital.

Venture Capital 264

Venture Capital Due Diligence Flash Strategic Investors 264

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

Why Acceptance of Failure is Critical to Startup Success was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. Read the responses to this story on Medium.

South Korea 261

South Korea Silicon Valley Los Angeles Japan 261

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

The valuations were too high! An Insider’s Perspective was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. Act III was the “I told you so” comeuppance of anybody who we sure that the electric scooter market would fail.

South America 250

South America Global New York City Software Review 250

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. LPs See The Over-Valuations and Don’t Like It. All isn’t completely rosy in the LP views of the venture industry.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital LP Silicon Valley Marketing 150

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 31, 2022

But even in the seed market the bar could get higher: I wouldn’t be surprised to see valuations drop and for VCs to have rising expectations about the level of traction they expect to see before funding. Two weeks ago in San Francisco, a conversation with tech lawyers from the US and Europe was a confirmation of what I read in the news.

Founder 173

Founder Technical Review Down Round Liquidation Preference 173

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2018

How do you find the balance between not too small to prove itself but not too big to have an off-putting valuation? Minimizing losses in the year before you begin shopping around for buyers will increase profit and help you get that higher valuation. Fact is, you just don’t know whether your business is ready to sell.

Valuation 145

Valuation Technical Review Exit Strategy Metrics 145

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

They will typically ask a question about your business and the conversation begins! If something highly confidential is undergoing patent protection, you won’t be expected to disclose the patentable aspects until much further into the conversation. Be realistic about your valuation. You can do this anywhere. Know your numbers.

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2011

“Maybe,&# says Naval, “Certainly valuations are creepy up quickly in all stages of deals. And the economics / conversion rates were mind boggling. .&# And we’re here with Dan Martell , who like any great startup founder is wearing his company t-shirt for Flowtown. Check out their app “the History of Jazz.&#

Technical Cofounder 294

Technical Cofounder Austin Hosting Cofounder 294

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. Executives run the day-to-day so often the board is more involved as a sparring partner at key intervals. The administrative work we actually do at board meetings?

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

We felt proud to be the lead investor in Maker Studios at a sub $5 million valuation. was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. And we feel great about the many companies in LA that have now reached serious revenue growth.

IPO 214

IPO Los Angeles Technical Review Silicon Valley 214

VC Adventure

JUNE 14, 2022

But it certainly highlights the need for a deeper level of conversation between venture investors and their portfolio CEOs about where and how they can truly be helpful. I suspect some of this relates to expectation setting and how VC investors “pitch” themselves to prospective portfolio companies.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Due Diligence Portfolio Venture Capital 150

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Every ask implicitly suggests a valuation range. Conversely, a series A with a $6M ask suggests a lower valuation. Because every ask suggests a valuation, make sure it is market appropriate. Conversely, a smaller fund that writes $5M checks will have a hard time figuring out how they are going to lead a $25M round.

Valuation 418

Valuation Founder Conversion Demand 418

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 21, 2012

This is a very useful valuation tool from AngelList (browse startup valuations) - [link]. The One Conversational Tool That Will Make You Better At Absolutely Everything - [link]. Will 2013 be the year of conversion optimisation? The danger of starting at the top – [link]. Quora – [link].

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Design Media 100

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2017

Nothing drives me more bonkers than board members who want to hold dissertations on 409a valuations, product feature minutiae or spend 30 minutes on how many people they know that they can introduce you to. This should all be handled outside the board meeting. There is no way they’re as productive when it’s just voice.

Early Stage 212

Early Stage Technical Review Email Valuation 212

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

This term is currently applied to recent startups who profess a current valuation which exceeds $1 billion. Frothy startup valuations. How many of the terms defined above have you personally used in a conversation or explained in the context of your startup? Prime examples include Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat.

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

“And if you have a valuation cap; a higher cap is always better than a lower cap.” The primary terms for these types of transactions are the valuation cap and the conversion discount. ” The Cost of Financing. Debt also has a due date and interest rate to negotiate.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

VC Cafe

JANUARY 27, 2021

In an effort to reduce miscommunications, this platform helps start a conversation by dropping a comment on anything seen on-screen, and sharing a private link to start a conversation – in the context of what is seen. Then there’s Bubbles , a chrome extension focusing on screen grab collaborations. “

Vertical 148

Vertical Video Technical Review Europe 148

Gust

JULY 12, 2012

On Wednesday, April 18th, I gave a keynote speech on US Startup Valuation Trends for the 1st Irish Angel Meetup. Topics of conversation included how to identify fundable companies, trends in funding, business plans, and pitching to investors.

Community 121

Community Estonia Ireland Finland 121

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 29, 2023

Essential Metrics for Comprehensive Customer Journey Analysis Conversion Rates Conversion Rates are fundamental metrics in evaluating the effectiveness of each touchpoint within the customer journey. By optimizing engagement levels, you not only improve the customer experience but also increase the likelihood of successful conversions.

Metrics 158

Metrics Customer Harvest Acquisition 158

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

That’s because obtaining a pre-money valuation for a concept level technology company in excess of $1 million is difficult, particularly for a startup founder without a proven track record. By contrast, obtaining a pre-money valuation of $5 million for a business with a new viable product and even very minimal sales is somewhat reasonable.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 15, 2018

My company focuses on optimization for the high-end and luxury market, and over the years, we’ve learned there are 5 critical factors that will make or break the conversion rate of a high-end ecommerce store. We’ve done a lot of research to understand the needs of high-end customers, and how luxury ecommerce stores can increase conversion.

eCommerce 125

eCommerce Conversion Sales Los Angeles 125

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