Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Scalable startups require risk capital to fund their search for a business model, and they attract investment from equally crazy financial investors – venture capitalists. When they find it, their focus on scale requires even more venture capital to fuel rapid expansion. They hire the best and the brightest.

Government 335

Government Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 335

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

According to a Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with 90% of new ventures that don't attract investors failing within the first three years. In reality, the financing valley of death tests the commitment, determination, and problem solving ability of every entrepreneur.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. In reality, the financing valley of death tests the commitment, determination, and problem solving ability of every entrepreneur.

Intellectual Property 341

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 341

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 17, 2020

Michael Majeed is quick to note the vast numbers of new startups that launch each year on the Canadian landscape, and he’s keenly interested in helping young business owners make the most of their opportunities, especially when it comes to their finances. Financial intelligence is important to anyone starting a company.

Finance 217

Finance Forecast Balance Sheet Angel Investor 217

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 7, 2011

Venture Capital: FVCA , NextIt Ventures , Primus Ventures , Open Ocean Capital , Connor VC , and Inventure. 9-to-5 Venture Capital. Ironically one of the things that’s holding back the Finnish cluster is Tekes , the government organization for financing research, development and innovation in Finland.

Finland 329

Finland Venture Capital Government Russia 329

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

500 Hats , January 10, 2010 Developing new startup ideas - Chris Dixon , March 14, 2010 Batch Processing Millions and Millions of Images - Code as Craft , July 9, 2010 jQuery Plugin: Give Your Characters a NobleCount - The Product Guy , March 23, 2010 How do the sample Series Seed financing documents differ from typical Series A financing documents?

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Venture capital: it’s the jet fuel behind many of the most explosive startups turning them into household names. However, as the business landscape evolves at a breakneck pace, so too does the strategy of these financial titans, starting a whole new set of venture capital trends.

Venture Capital 143

Venture Capital Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage 143

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. why the hell has seed financing declined so much in the past 3 years?? This begs the question … Why Has Seed Investing Stagnated?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). 5 years ago. Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10.

Los Angeles 387

Los Angeles Intellectual Property LP Venture Capital 387

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Every potential early-stage Venture Capitalist should take a year and do it before he or she makes partner. Venture capital as a profession is less than half a century old. Early-stage Venture Capital firms grow their partnerships in different ways, some hire: partners from other firms. Here’s why. ——-.

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 334

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

According to a Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with a majority of new ventures that don''t attract investors failing within the first three years. In reality, the financing valley of death tests the commitment, determination, and problem solving ability of every entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. Of these companies that become well financed we only need 15–25% of THOSE to pan out to return 2–3x the fund. This translates to about 12–15 investments.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

View from Seed

APRIL 14, 2020

This led to a number of repercussions that most VC’s have lamented during this time, including higher prices, larger rounds, shoddy due diligence, and many companies raising large sums of venture capital that probably aren’t suited to VC funding.

Early Stage 374

Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 374

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a nonprofit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, crowdfunding still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined. Interest on debt model.

Accredited Investor 352

Accredited Investor Startup SEC Equity 352

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened?

Valuation 466

Valuation San Francisco Ratchet Liquidation Preference 466

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Others may not have the experience you want and they fill up a seat that makes retaining founder control more difficult if you ultimately raise large rounds of venture capital in the future. What happens at the A-round of venture capital? It is ultimately a negotiation but I don’t think founders should fear having boards.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Most healthy businesses need business financing at some point. Startups have to deal with starting costs and ongoing businesses have to finance growth and working capital. Financing options depend on what kind of business you have. Don’t waste your time looking for the wrong kind of financing. Venture capital.

SBA 161

SBA Venture Capital Angel Investor Technical Review 161

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The bad news is that the valley’s depth before real revenue, considering the high costs of marketing, manufacturing, and sales, can still add up to $500K, on up to $1 million or more, before you will be attractive to angel investors or venture capital. It’s the time when you create tremendous value out of nothing.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2020

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, it still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined. Interest on debt model.

Accredited Investor 324

Accredited Investor Entrepreneur SEC Equity 324

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

The new hot topic for entrepreneurs the last couple of years is crowd funding, which is anticipated to at least supplement, if not replace, the slow and mysterious process of current Angel and venture capital investors. A good example site, and one of the earliest in this category, is IndieGoGo. Debt-based crowd funding.

Intellectual Property 247

Intellectual Property SEC Venture Capital Equity 247

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs. In finance they call it “terminal value” but the truth is the price is as arbitrary at your A round as it is at your seed round. I really just want to champion Finance 101 to entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Liquidation Preference Valuation Term Sheet 417

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a nonprofit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process.

Equity 235

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 235

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

The motivations are the same – profit – driven by entrepreneurs and venture finance. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital' They are the signs of a leadership frightened not by external enemies but by their own people.

China 328

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 328

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The bad news is that the valley’s depth before real revenue, considering the high costs of marketing, manufacturing, and sales, can still add up to $500K, on up to $1 million or more, before you will be attractive to angel investors or venture capital. It’s the time when you create tremendous value out of nothing.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

He wanted to work in venture capital and I was new to the industry and in no position to hire anybody. He turned to Mike Jones at Science who was newly set up as an accelerator of sorts or a venture studio. I’ll leave the year out. We got along and shared stories about the startup market.

San Diego 344

San Diego Technical Review Seed Capital Sacramento 344

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

A 20th century VC was likely to have an MBA or finance background. This allows founder(s) to sell part of their stock (~10 to 33%) in a future round of financing. Filed under: Venture Capital. 4. Founder-friendly VCs. This means the company doesn’t get money from new investors, but instead it goes to the founder.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

It also is a great way to finance your business without facing dilution before you actually raise venture capital and when the valuation you might get from angels is less than you’d want. By year 2 I’d like to see PS at 50% maximum, which is still high.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software IP Technical Review 321

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. I would gladly work with you on a $50 million late-stage, complex financing. It was a fun period for me because everything was new and I was curious. What kind of deals should I be doing? What stage? What price? With which other investors?

Early Stage 361

Early Stage Deal Flow Investment Bankers Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

David is also the CEO of Gust , which is an online platform for startup financing used by over 50,000 accredited angel investors, 1000 angel groups and venture capital funds, and 250,000 entrepreneurs. I just finished a new book, “ Angel Investing ,” by a friend and one of the most active angel investors in New York, David S.

Angel Investor 278

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor IRR 278

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

While the answers are somewhat semantic, the pre-seed funding round is making a comeback in 2024 startup financing. What’s the difference between an angel round and pre-seed round and why do I believe we’ll see more pre-seed rounds taking place in 2024? Pre-seed tends to be about developing an MVP and generating early traction.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” lack of traction, lack of downstream financing availability. founder fighting. existential threats (Apple announced they are competing directly with you). strategic direction.

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

Most VCs lead one round of financing in your company and are looking for other VCs to lead subsequent rounds. Will these milestones be enough that a VC would pay a higher price in the next round of financing? This part of a series to help you raise venture capital ?—?the Summary Raising money is a daunting process.

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

This “overnight success” was first financed in 2004. LPs Haven’t Yet Grokked the Long Game While the VC community realized 5ish years ago that short-termism in venture capital didn’t make sense and has capitalized on the scale advantages of letting companies go long, the LP community by and large hasn’t totally grokked this.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital LP Valuation Later Stage 363

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

As seed has become the mainstream path to early-stage financing, the definition of seed has changed, and if one is to be a credible first institutional seed investor, he or she would need a fund big enough to be competitive and write $1-2M initial checks. This is because the market actually has changed. That year, they invested in Segment.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2015

This raises an interesting question: is the credibility of female entrepreneurs in the eyes of New York VC’s something about the venture firms, or is it about the industries they are funding? One can make the case that New York venture capital industry is rooted in the 21 st century not the 20 th.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley New York City New York Venture Capital 120

VC Cafe

AUGUST 11, 2022

A couple of weeks ago I was did a fireside chat with Alon Grinshpoon, founder and CEO of Echo3D , a CDN and CMS for 3D content in the cloud and a Remagine Ventures portfolio company, as part of an entrepreneurial finance MBA class in Tel Aviv University. As the venture capital industry evolves, so do the models for supporting founders.

Founder 187

Founder Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital 187