View from Seed

DECEMBER 8, 2015

It’s often a good idea for founders to find a way to build something and get some early market validation before raising outside capital. But doing that is sometimes not practical given your personal runway or because the product you want to build requires additional capital very early on. Is there founder/market fit?

Product 120

Product Startup Early Stage Seed Capital 120

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

A few weeks ago, we launched two startup pitch deck templates for raising seed capital — part of NextView’s platform of exclusive startup resources. The “why” is about two things: Explaining the market opportunity. A lot of the reasons why are implied, not stated, simply by you raising capital at all.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Seed Stage Boston Startup 120

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it. This will almost always be the best approach to an investor.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. By 1991, 70% of the Torch funded startups were getting bank financing for expansion and later stages of the new ventures, with local governments acting as guarantors.

Venture Capital 279

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 279

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2014

Once a startup has raised seed capital, plenty of theories and advice exist on how to successfully raise a Series A. Recently, we looked at our own portfolio at NextView Ventures to dig a little deeper on how startups actually raise that next round of financing. They are: 1. Build Audience Momentum. Generate Real Revenue.

Syndication 333

Syndication Syndicate Seed Stage Startup 333

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 13, 2013

Cancer research and treatment may just have gotten a shot up the arm – Singapore-based Clearbridge BioMedics has just announced that it successfully closed a S$9 million Series B financing round led by Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd, the wholly-owned VC arm of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.

Singapore 228

Singapore Intellectual Property United States Cofounder 228

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Gordon says he’s interested in the “reinvention of proven business categories on the new social graph, especially health, travel, dating and friend management, entertainment/media, advertising, commerce, education, finance.&# Identifying and matching themes are key if you’re looking for a way in at Foundry Group.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

As the seed-stage startup fundraise process has received more transparency in recent years, ranging from published advice on how to raise seed capital to increased availability through AngelList, Funders Club, and various accelerator programs, I’ve noticed another trend emerging. Lower-Than-Market Value.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Genuine VC

MARCH 24, 2014

A couple years ago, my partner Lee penned a blog post about the milestone benchmarks for startups raising a Series A round of financing. The four winning strategies for startups to go from Seed to A are: Build Scale/Momentum. For B2B startups especially, revenue is the best signal of product-market fit.

Seed Capital 212

Seed Capital Metrics Cofounder Revenue 212

David Teten

MAY 7, 2019

Briefly, we think there’s a substantial market for a business which helps enterprises to execute initiatives which require coordination across diverse stakeholders, e.g., make a large sale to a critical client, or lobby for a change in regulation. If the answer is yes to any of these, keep reading. Q: Is this civic tech? A nonprofit?

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

among them the Smart L/C and other trade finance solutions, and Smart Air Waybills for the air freight industry. At the same time, we are looking for strategic partners and investors to help us maximize our market presence and adoption. CEO Stefan Kuman answered some questions about his company. What is your competitive advantage?

Slovenia 62

Slovenia Technical Review Startup Seed Capital 62

David Teten

JULY 10, 2019

Briefly, we think there’s a substantial market for a business which helps enterprises to execute initiatives which require coordination across diverse stakeholders, e.g., make a large sale to a critical client, or lobby for a change in regulation. If the answer is yes to any of these, keep reading.

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

I had witnessed a number of early-stage tech startups in LA raise seed capital from the Bay Area and relocate. It was 2009 and it was terribly difficult to get any financing (if you can remember a time like that!) By 2011 the market had started to change dramatically. Market stage is everything.

Early Stage 290

Early Stage Venture Capital Los Angeles Coder 290

Gust

MARCH 11, 2014

According to analysis by my partner Jamie Davidson on typical periods between financings peaks around 9 months so the follow on rates for Series Bs should be accurate up until the 2011 class, which gives these startups more than 2 years to raise their B. Invested Interests content marketing saas Startup Funding startup management'

Seed Stage 169

Seed Stage Seed Capital Startup Green 169

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Contrary to popular opinion I actually believe crowd-funding is best used after seed capital or venture capital. It’s why in this article I advise that people “market today not futures” because you don’t want your playbook in the hands of the competition.

PR 319

PR Venture Capital Hiring Seed Capital 319

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. By 1991, 70% of the Torch funded startups were getting bank financing for expansion and later stages of the new ventures, with local governments acting as guarantors.

Venture Capital 171

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 171

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Procuring venture capital funding or business angels who put up with seed capital or expansion capital can be helpful and exciting. Assembling a competent team of allies in the form of patent lawyers, tax advisers, and market researchers allows the entrepreneur to focus on the business side of the venture.

Vietnam 171

Vietnam Venture Capital Seed Capital Exit Strategy 171

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Together this means that Seed stage companies need to run longer and at a higher expense structure, meaning they need to raise a lot more capital. In that presentation, I said that Seed is not the first round of financing any more and that K9’s investments were mostly “pre-seed”. Impact of Public Markets.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 12, 2011

When we were last with Dick and Jane on Finance Fridays, our fearless entrepreneurs were figuring out how to split up their founders equity and account for an investment from Jane. QuickBooks and other accounting software programs will do this for your finances, but you should also implement tools for tracking other key metrics (e.g.

Balance Sheet 136

Balance Sheet Forecast Cap Table Early Stage 136

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 26, 2012

The latest 2011 Angel Market Analysis , recently released by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire, shows not only that there are more angels around, but that they are investing more money in more companies. If your business is beyond the seed capital stage, there’s still good news for you.

New Hampshire 120

New Hampshire Early Stage Seed Capital Angel Investor 120

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

The typical wisdom regarding the appropriate financing course for a new company goes as follows: 1. This venture capital financing - usually between $3 and $10 million - is the first of a number of rounds of outside investment over a period of three to five years. There are a lot of dark, hard days.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

US-based seed VCs rarely invest outside of the country (500 Startups is one exception) leaving a potential gap in the market for folks with international expertise. Instead a series of AngelList Syndicates could serve as complements or substitutions for local in-market dollars overseas. 2) The Bundled Expertise Syndicate.

Syndicate 104

Syndicate Syndication South America Cap Table 104

The Startup Magazine

MAY 7, 2024

Benefits of Free Crowdfunding Sites With the advent of online crowdfunding platforms, the world has seen a significant shift in how startups and nonprofits raise capital. You no longer need to rely solely on traditional sources of finance like banks and venture capitalists.

Campaign 148

Campaign Seed Capital Social Network Global 148

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Instead I will make a few observations about how an investor might think about the impact of ICOs / token launches on the venture capital industry, in particular, and some of the downstream ramifications that need to wrestled with. Need for growth capital. Shift of value from equity holders to token holders. Fuzzy Governance.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Instead I will make a few observations about how an investor might think about the impact of ICOs / token launches on the venture capital industry, in particular, and some of the downstream ramifications that need to wrestled with. Need for growth capital. Shift of value from equity holders to token holders. Fuzzy Governance.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

Seed Funding 3. Mezzanine Financing Most companies that raise equity capital and are eventually acquired or go public receive multiple rounds of financing first. No right or wrong answer here, but if this is your vision then it's important to consider when negotiating deal terms on earlier stage financing rounds.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Steve Blank

APRIL 28, 2016

Before co-founding Biota Technology , he was an investor and entrepreneur-in-residence at Seed Capital , a investing in science-based innovation. Switching from venture capital to startup founder required a different mindset, Ajay said: All day in a VC firm, you’re saying ‘no’. Steven : Nope, hubris.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Cofounder Seed Capital Texas 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 28, 2016

Before co-founding Biota Technology , he was an investor and entrepreneur-in-residence at Seed Capital , a investing in science-based innovation. Switching from venture capital to startup founder required a different mindset, Ajay said: All day in a VC firm, you’re saying ‘no’. Steven : Nope, hubris.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Cofounder Seed Capital Texas 120

Business Plan Blog

DECEMBER 10, 2013

When raising pre-seed capital from friends, family, and founders (FFF) you’ll want to consider the milestones that Angel investors care about and be sure to raise enough capital to reach those milestones. Below are the milestones that you will need to achieve in order to attract seed investment from Angels: Business Plan.

Angel Investor 55

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Seed Capital Advisory Board 55

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

According to a study by CB Insights (2017), a software that gathers essential data from investors, companies and industries, more than 70% of startups do not exceed the first stage of venture capital investment. These results were obtained after the following rounds of financing of more than 1000 technology companies in the United States.

Venture Capital 77

Venture Capital Cofounder Finance United States 77

Haystack

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

Typically in M&A, all-cash offers are more common when the acquirer dwarfs the target in terms of market cap; otherwise, M&A usually involves stock in the mix, which leads us to believe Cylance wouldn’t have accepted anything but cash — which makes sense given the company was reportedly booking $130M/year with 3,500 customers.

Acquisition 62

Acquisition Artificial Inteligence Balance Sheet Cofounder 62

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

Survival or Establishment Stage: Once initial seed capital is drying up and no profit has yet been earned, the challenge for a social enterprise will be to expand the customer base and increase the market penetration while preserving capital. At this point in financing, debt capital is likely to be preferred.

Subordinated Debt 45

Subordinated Debt Seed Capital Equity Finance 45

Rob Go

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

I was surprised to find that it has been more than two years since my post summarizing the state of the seed stage market, and trying to bring a balanced view on the rise of Super Angels and Micro-VC’s. The venture capital market continues to be in transition, and a lot of changes have occurred in the early stages of the market.

Seed Stage 55

Seed Stage Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Early Stage 55

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Tweet View Comments Sarah Lacy Feb 19, 2010 Pepperdine has a new study out that attempts to shed some light on the clubby, shadowy world of private finance. Researchers polled experts in lending, mezzanine capital, private equity, venture capital and private businesses themselves. Might be kinda large market.,

Venture Capital 62

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

Written By Dan Martell on February 2nd, 2012 | Category: Hiring LeanStartup Marketing Metrics Startup Life | 6 Comments. Take the market and break it down into smaller chunks. If you’re looking for a designer, engineer, or biz marketing guy – go to meetups / conferences that those people would go to. Other sources of capital.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

I’ve seen the Valley grow from Sunnyvale to Santa Clara to today where it stretches from San Jose to South of Market in San Francisco. But in the 20 th century, dominated by hardware, software, and life sciences, technology swings inside an existing market happened slowly — taking years, not months.

Restful 249

Restful Silicon Valley San Jose Puerto Rico 249

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 25, 2021

But I think the, I just quickly adapted and I realized it wasn't just about writing software, things like customer service, marketing growth, those ideas were. We had to raise some seed capital. So, the surprise was how un-intimidating it was for a newcomer. ER : How would you contrast the difference?

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Turkey Los Angeles California 60