Gust

JULY 12, 2012

In all four countries we met passionate entrepreneurs who were eager to discuss their exciting startups, as well as angel investors looking to support them. The following day, I delivered a four hour workshop on capital sources and pitch strategies for fifteen entrepreneurs in the Propel program.

Community 121

Community Estonia Ireland Finland 121

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

The very strongest companies can still likely get out if they really wanted, but may not command the valuations they hoped for in more bullish times. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC. The second tier of companies probably have to wait whether they like it or not. Author howerl. Filed under Uncategorized.

IPO 100

IPO Marketing Silicon Valley Private Equity 100

thebarefootvc

MAY 8, 2012

As an entrepreneur at heart, I often innately grasp the potential of entrepreneurs and ideas that I meet with. These days, I am seeing a large number of first time entrepreneurs with great ideas, which is fantastic to see. There is inherent risk taking when you haven’t done it before, which often leads to true innovation.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Syndication Syndicate Bandwidth 78

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

Take a look at the founding syndicates of each: Masstor Sytems (5/1979). Quantum Corporation (6/1980). What is striking about these syndicates is that nobody had any meaningful capital, which forced syndication and cooperation. Some were Silicon Valley early stage companies, such as Apple, Quantum, and Masstor Systems.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 70

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs, and a former angel myself, I still find startups confused about the definition of an angel investor, and how and when to attract one. Typically, individual investments will be less than $100K, but a group of angels may syndicate multiples. Successful valuations above $5M are rare for startups.

Angel Investor 322

Angel Investor Valuation Syndication Syndicate 322

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

From a company milestones perspective, entrepreneurs who take on venture debt are almost always thinking about raising that next round of capital from other institutions. GM: The model is more about the relationship with the entrepreneurs, the investors, and us as the bank, as opposed to cash flow or fixed assets to lend on.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, But it’s very easy to be flattered into “here’s why we want YOU as an investor” by entrepreneurs and earlier-stage investors alike.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndication Syndicate Early Stage 374

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

Andrew Krowne and I recently co-wrote an article in Tech Crunch , Why SAFE Notes Are Not Safe for Entrepreneurs. This is a fundamental issue that does, indeed, boil down to understanding the post-money valuation of a company. Many entrepreneurs lose track of what they have been cooking up in the cap table.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Gust

OCTOBER 12, 2011

During the summer of 2010, I developed a workshop, A New ACEF Valuation Workshop for Angels and Entrepreneurs. To provide some reference points, I surveyed thirteen angels groups in North American to determine their recent experience in negotiating the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies. Current Average. up slightly.

Angel Groups 125

Angel Groups Valuation Pre-Money Valuation St. Louis 125

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. Yes, via conversion rights at a valuation cap. See Why Are Revenue-Based Investors Investing in Women & Diverse Entrepreneurs? Coinvestors: Flexible VC terms have not been standardized, which may make the investment harder to syndicate. Flexible VC: Compensation-based.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Small investment firms often have interns and entrepreneurs in residence passing through, each of which is a security risk. Chris Dixon, Partner, A16Z, observes , “Success in VC is probably 10% about picking, and 90% about sourcing the right deals and having entrepreneurs choose your firm as a partner”. 2) Market . 7) Negotiate .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Genuine VC

MAY 29, 2014

Yet even today, whether or not to take a (relatively) small check in a seed round syndicate from a multi-hundred million or even billion dollar fund is still a decision which takes quite a bit of consideration and sometimes consternation. So there is an element of (positive) selection bias in the larger VC syndicate cohort companies.

Syndication 166

Syndication Syndicate Seed Stage Valuation 166

View from Seed

AUGUST 20, 2014

It seems like a high-class problem for an entrepreneur to be able to influence round composition, and it is. How should an entrepreneur think about the different types of investors affecting their seed and Series A rounds? But I find that once a company has investor interest, many other folks tend to want to pile on.

Startup 301

Startup Syndication Syndicate Boston 301

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 10, 2022

[Brad Feld] says his “strong belief” that “just doing a clean resetting — at whatever the valuation so that everybody is aligned and dealing with reality — is much, much better for a company.” especially when many existing investors are currently willing to add on additional dollars at the most recent valuation.

Down Round 162

Down Round Ratchet Liquidation Preference Participating Preferred 162

Cracking the Code

DECEMBER 9, 2006

Done deal: after a quick syndication with the kitchen team (their job was at stake, so they were easy to convince.), Detailed SaaS Spreadsheet (Valuation and CAC benchmark). SaaS 13 Index Valuation. Favorite VC and Entrepreneur blogs. This spoon saved the in-house restaurant and Lira 70m (I never said it was USD!)

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Europe Venture Capital 48

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 17, 2024

Hey there, budding entrepreneurs! Image Credit: Nick Chong / Unsplash Navigating the Startup Investment Maze Many entrepreneurs like yourself often find themselves a bit daunted by the range of investment options available. Entrepreneurs also encounter the intricacies of terms and valuation.

Due Diligence 130

Due Diligence Angel Investor Syndication Syndicate 130

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

Many firms do it in a way that can be more detrimental to entrepreneurs. We’ll probably end up paying more than we’d want to because we want to take the investment off the market and the entrepreneur will likely feel they should get a higher price if they shopped it broadly on the open market.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 3, 2014

At what valuation? Will the entrepreneur count that investor among their most helpful? Would the entrepreneur enthusiastically include them in the syndicate of their next venture? How long ago? Are they making real revenue? Are the exit prospects for the company any good? Did they lead it?

Syndication 145

Syndication Syndicate Venture Capital Valuation 145

Genuine VC

JULY 30, 2012

In theory, there are three levels of pricing for an entrepreneur to potentially signal to a prospective investor: Lower than “market.” This approach is almost never a good idea. By definition, all entrepreneurs should think that their endeavor is truly exceptional. Above market.

Valuation 136

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Syndication 136

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Chris Dixon, Partner, A16Z, observes , “ Success in VC is probably 10% about picking, and 90% about sourcing the right deals and having entrepreneurs choose your firm as a partner”. Signal is a fundraising tool for founders run by NFX Guild, which identifies the most relevant VCs for you. . 3) Originate investments.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Genuine VC

NOVEMBER 12, 2012

It’s really interesting, but perhaps only applicable to a more limited set of entrepreneurs. In contrast, valuation always has room to move up. Terms precedent is one solid reason (among others like founder-investor alignment) that entrepreneurs should have bias towards priced equity round vs. convertible notes in seed financings.

Finance 128

Finance Mezzanine Valuation Seed Stage 128

Rob Go

MAY 20, 2014

The end result though is that the dynamics around series A rounds has started to seem pretty murky for entrepreneurs. Below are some broad guidelines on the major topics around series A’s that I hear entrepreneurs thinking about. Waiting 6 months longer to raise may improve valuation in the short term.

Valuation 76

Valuation Dilution Post-Money Valuation Syndication 76

View from Seed

JUNE 10, 2020

As we’ve shared, we intentionally wanted to flip the traditional Accelerator model on its head and offer a unique offering for entrepreneurs at the earliest of stages. The dynamics for participation in the next round’s fundraise syndicate is complex, and many accelerators (and VCs) obfuscate their intentions for self-serving interests.

Cofounder 177

Cofounder Syndication Syndicate Alabama 177

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 10, 2010

In this case neither Niel (nor I) had any interest in creating a traditional syndicate to fund the company. It’s a great example of how we like to work with entrepreneurs – especially those that we have a long history with. We did a second financing by ourselves at an increased valuation – this was the “Series B&#.

Syndication 120

Syndication Syndicate Angel Financing Finance 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

I know many super experienced entrepreneurs who don’t understand the basics of how fund size and age can affect them so I thought it was worth establishing a baseline. In a world of The Funded, VentureHacks and entrepreneur blogs this kind of informations spreads like wildfire. Let me explain: 1. And they don’t.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Term Sheet Early Stage Silicon Valley 265

David Teten

JULY 12, 2017

Although EquityZen is primarily an online marketplace for secondary shares in private companies, they also offer syndicated primary investments. Hence, if Sequoia is the lead and the valuation is reasonable, it’s near 100% chance. Market Insight. Alpha pursues a similar model.

Syndication 60

Syndication Syndicate Institutional Investors LP 60

Professor VC

JANUARY 17, 2008

I think the title of this post is a TV show, but fitting as there has been much debate in the venture community as to the whether angel investors are good or bad for entrepreneurs and VCs. One of my comments was that we would likely see more institutionalization of angel groups and syndication of deals among groups.

Pre-Money Valuation 28

Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Angel Groups Valuation 28

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 10, 2014

The deals tend to fall into two categories – easy and immediate, which multiple bidders generating an rapidly escalating valuation or a long slow slog through lots of “almost there but we are passing because of some arbitrary reason.” We are happy to support whatever process an entrepreneur wants to go through.

Later Stage 142

Later Stage Syndication Syndicate Portfolio 142

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

was part of a Dow Jones VentureWire webinar last week titled Negotiating An Angel Deal: What Angels, Entrepreneurs & VCs Need to Know. One comment made by Jason was that angels tend to be less sensitive than VCs on valuation and can potentially make it difficult to get a venture financing done at acceptable valuation.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Agile VC

MAY 21, 2012

There’s also a meaningful cohort of newly public companies that now have valuations of $1B+ who could seriously contemplate an acquisition of $100M+ for stock or cash… Yelp, Zillow, Tripadvisor, Jive Software, Splunk, and others. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC. Pingback: this. Pingback: [link].

Acquisition 162

Acquisition Silicon Valley B2B Seed Stage 162

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 14, 2017

Basically started as somebody of how do we take photos of cars and the pricing and descriptions of the cars, and put it all in one place, but then syndicate it. Partly what I’m getting is a lot of people want to sell their business, but it’s actually very difficult for somebody to even valuate it. Matt Watson: Yeah.

Kansas City 50

Kansas City CTO Hire Las Vegas Software Developers 50

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

*. If you are a 20-something tech entrepreneur you could be forgiven for thinking that seed-stage investors, Angellist Syndicates and widely available angel money always existed. It is, of course, a very recent phenomenon. I was out to raise my first seed money in my second startup of $500,000.

Seed Stage 150

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndication Syndicate 150

Agile VC

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

Startups in NextView’s portfolio frequently receive inbound interest from other VC investors who are intrigued about what they’re doing, and I often talk with other early-stage entrepreneurs how to approach similar situations. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC. Author howerl. Read More ».

Early Stage 100

Early Stage Syndication Syndicate Silicon Valley 100

Tim Keane

APRIL 12, 2006

Ten questions the entrepreneur should ask the (prospective) investor. If they’re making it as part of a group that the entrepreneur likes, fine. If they are “solo,” though, the entrepreneur will want to know a lot about their attitudes and expectations, especially when things go wrong. valuation than the previous round.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Valuation Sweat Equity Common Stock 60

David Teten

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

Each new investor tends to raise valuations and lower returns for all the other competitive investors. This is the psychology that drives VCs to load up a company with more capital, rationalizing that $5m at a $20m pre-money valuation is little different than $10m at a $40m pre-money valuation. Photo credit: JD Hancock.

Management 114

Management Pre-Money Valuation Venture Capital New Hampshire 114

Agile VC

JANUARY 27, 2012

Multi-billion dollar valuations for late stage startups like Dropbox, et al. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC Syndicate 10 July 2012, 5:13 pm What A VC Orders for Breakfast Says 27 June 2012, 10:16 am To Leave or Not to Leave as Your Startup Grows 12 June 2012, 12:21 pm.

Hockey Stick 113

Hockey Stick Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndication 113

View from Seed

JANUARY 26, 2016

This means that it has rewarded Series A and B investors for chasing momentum and made it less important for these investors to focus on valuation or sound, early unit economics. And all of that is a lot to absorb and understand, let alone react to as an entrepreneur who’s full-time job is not to fundraise.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Early Stage Cofounder Finance 120