Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

I like the work just published by Bob Rice in “ The Alternative Answer ,” which does a great job of summarizing the investment universe, starting with the “conventional” stocks, bonds, and real estate, but moving on through more esoteric alternatives, including hedge funds, private equity, real assets, managed futures, and finally venture funding.

Angel Investor 269

Angel Investor Cram Down Intellectual Property Venture Capital 269

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They chose the name First Round Capital because they thought capital would be deployed most efficiently at smaller seed stage rounds considering the cost to build an internet business had come down drastically. He also says it is important to be able to participate in follow on rounds so as not to get “crammed down”.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

In times when venture capital is hard to get, investors extract high costs for failure (down-rounds, cram downs , new management teams, shut down the company.) Sales people cost money, and when they’re not bringing in revenue, their wandering in the woods is time consuming, cash-draining and demoralizing.

Lean 263

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 263

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

million and only manage to get $750,000. Often that is a good incentive because it keeps VCs from screwing people over since a bad reputation or bad working relationships could cost you deals in the future. ” What does that mean? It’s far better to be raising $1.5 ” Damaging psychology.

Down Round 302

Down Round Cram Down Valuation Reputation 302

Haystack

JANUARY 12, 2020

Much has been written about the fact that traditional seed stage funds have grown in size and dollars under management. As valuations have gone up early, the cost of ownership has also risen, and in an early-stage fund where the loss ratio is likely to be much higher, high ownership has been increasingly important to these funds.

Seed Stage 106

Seed Stage Cram Down Early Stage Cofounder 106

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

Technical progress and market traction are much slower and cost a lot more than anticipated. Management has the wrong pedigree, is geographically undesirable, competes in the wrong industry, and/or has a business model that lacks "scalability credibility" with the venture community. . There are a lot of dark, hard days.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Howard Marks is a serial entrepreneur and Managing Director of LA tech accelerator StartEngine. Some metrics that I like to look for are: Lifetime value of a customer, average revenue per buyer, cost of a paying customer, registration rates, etc. Before StartEngine, Howard co-founded Activision and founded Acclaim Games. .

Metrics 136

Metrics Cofounder Cram Down Liquidity Event 136