Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Early stage entrepreneurs will also still likely value experienced advice on company-building from seasoned venture capitalists. We typically advise our portfolio companies to avoid taking on strategic investors at an early stage for this very reason. Shift of value from equity holders to token holders. Fuzzy Governance.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Gust

DECEMBER 1, 2011

New Company Formation – According to the Kauffman Foundation, entrepreneurs start about 700,000 companies per year in the US. We have no measure of the changes in available capital resources from entrepreneurs and their friends and family, but we have no reason to believe they have changed radically over the past few years.

SBIR 120

SBIR Startup New York City Angel Investor 120

Version One Ventures

JANUARY 28, 2013

Seed financing grew from 89 fundings in Q1 2009 to more than 500 in Q3 2012. That means there are a lot more seeded startups out there: an excess demand for a limited supply of Series A financings. I recently had lunch with an entrepreneur who asked what he should do. Do your homework on potential investors.

Burn Rate 140

Burn Rate San Francisco Vesting Finance 140

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). composed of these investors and management. It is most often a win-win for both you and the strategic partner.

Private Equity 106

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 106

Rob Go

DECEMBER 14, 2016

What keeps this bad behavior in check is that VC investors know they are playing a multi-turn game. Any VC that is known to pull a term sheet will get blackballed by entrepreneurs, coinvestors, the media, etc. This tends to be true for the VC business too. It’s really really bad business.

Term Sheet 28

Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence Private Equity 28

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Venture Partners, and strategic investors salesforce.com and SAP. Although Box was launched from a dorm room by two 19 year olds, in 2010 the company hired Dan Levin, an experienced Silicon Valley entrepreneur to strengthen its foundations in order to expand. Strength in experience. Crowded clouds. Probably not.

Europe 114

Europe Entrepreneur United States San Francisco 114

Version One Ventures

MAY 24, 2016

billion in financing in 2015 (with 395 deals). Over the past month, I’ve spent a lot of time in NYC, Toronto, and Ottawa for board meetings, conferences, meetings with our founders, re-connecting with co-investors, and meeting new entrepreneurs. Waterloo has another unicorn with Kik. running around the Bay Area. Great exits.

Silicon Valley 113

Silicon Valley San Francisco Startup DC 113

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2016

This week I’ll be running a series of Five Question interviews with small businesses which were facilitated by BondStreet , a SMB lending platform (we’re investors). These people are true founders and entrepreneurs just like any venture backed company. HW: How have you financed your business to date? How did it all begin?

Caching 73

Caching DC Social Media Cofounder 73

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

For entrepreneurs who want to learn about how to work with investment banks, how to position yourself to be acquired and what the IPO markets look like this is the episode to watch. They have relationships that are hard for entrepreneurs to build. Venture Financing. We also discussed the following deals of the week.

IPO 242

IPO Venture Capital Private Placement Cofounder 242

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

Entrepreneurs with businesses in Asia know that fundraising here can be a daunting task. With this in mind, I would like to use my experience as an entrepreneur, having closed several sizable rounds of investment around Asia over the last six years, to help explain the landscape as it currently stands.

Asia 123

Asia Silicon Valley China India 123

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2016

This week I’ll be running a series of Five Question interviews with small businesses which were facilitated by BondStreet , a SMB lending platform (we’re investors). These people are true founders and entrepreneurs just like any venture backed company. HW: How have you financed your business to date? How did it all begin?

Caching 48

Caching DC Social Media Cofounder 48

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

C eleno Communications, developer of Wi-Fi chips for high-definition multimedia and entertainment home networking applications, has raised $12 million in a financing round. Previous Celeno investors Pitango Venture Capital , Greylock Partners , Miven Venture Partners, and Cisco Systems Inc. Israeli Startups Funding Rounds.

Israel 94

Israel Flash Venture Capital Acquisition 94

VC Adventure

AUGUST 10, 2010

As a result, we are all emotionally involved in the investment (a phrase you’ll see in later posts about this topic) which I believe is both beneficial to the entrepreneur and extremely important to the VC firm. It’s a great example of how we like to work with entrepreneurs – especially those that we have a long history with.

Syndicate 74

Syndicate Syndication Due Diligence SEM 74

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder is able to self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Private Equity 69

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 69

www.mattbartus.com

DECEMBER 9, 2012

I just worked on a financing for a company that received a term sheet from a group of VCs at a $7 million pre-money valuation. They had a strategic investor in the wings that wanted to invest, but the company thought they could get a higher valuation from the strategic. Why else might this be useful? Matt Bartus.

Warrant 40

Warrant Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Term Sheet 40

BeyondVC

OCTOBER 11, 2007

Put yourself in these entrepreneurs’ shoes – you launch a great product or service today, usage is growing, revenue is nil or minimal, and cocktail party chatter and buzz are at its highest. " Similarly, I have graphically represented the choices an entrepreneur has to make in the continuing saga of build or flip.

Net Present Value 60

Net Present Value Strategic Investors Early Stage Revenue 60