Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

You get to have interesting conversations with founders and review business plans and then see how these businesses evolve over the years. A firm like ours has almost 100 different investments across all the various partners so we get to see some businesses very intimately. Some even grow "bad" revenue just to show growth.

Founder 242

Founder Dilution Software Review Later Stage 242

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

In his classic book, “ The Leadership Capital Index ,” Dave Ulrich, a best-selling author, business consultant, and business school professor, provides some real insights and metrics on what makes up the elements of goodwill in the minds of top valuation experts. I have paraphrased his key points here as follows: Leader personal impact.

Technical Review 323

Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? He nails the current key startup parameters, including the following: Crafting a lean business plan as your road map.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I recently spoke at the Founder Showcase at the request of Adeo Ressi. I said that at the Founder Showcase, too. In addition to FOMO it is partly driven by massive increase in valuations for earlier-stage companies who raised money at bit seed prices but who still have product risk. This post originally ran on TechCrunch.

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Each co-founder should get equity for value, based on these key variables: Lived a key role in a previous startup.

Equity 238

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 238

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 31, 2022

It’s a tough time for a lot of startup founders right now. This is not meant to be a negative post, but rather a temperature check of today’s market environment and the levers founders can pull on to survive this period. What is a founder to do? Startups, Don’t Pin Your Hopes on VC Dry Powder ( Source ).

Founder 173

Founder Technical Review Down Round Liquidation Preference 173

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

They should heed the age old advice that raising slightly more money while you can is always better than trying to optimize future valuations. Should VC’s really be impacted by public market valuations when the money that they’re investing today should be for returns in 7-10 years? Short answer – yes.

Burn Rate 263

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Private Equity 263

The Next Web

DECEMBER 30, 2012

These are with no doubt worthwhile goals, but I’d like to pose an important challenge for founders: Make learning and development your key resolution in 2013. Coursera is a social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free.

Artificial Inteligence 156

Artificial Inteligence Founder Private Equity Ruby 156

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

These periods of time can leave a founder very vulnerable in the future. Assuming normal valuations at fund raising rounds you’ll be down to 6-12% after you’ve created a stock-option pool and raised capital. That’s the difference between a founder and a non-founder. Founder vesting.

Founder Vesting 365

Founder Vesting Intellectual Property Stock Options IP 365

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2011

The email continued, &# The problem I’m working on is that many founders are either making uninformed decisions or inefficiently learning the new skills they need. The solution I’m exploring is a just in time learning methodology that accelerates founders’ learning curve by aggregating relevant content, peers and mentors.&#.

Technical Cofounder 335

Technical Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 335

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”? Everyone moved to earlier stage – part of the decline in late stage investing is the ‘baggage’ of companies that previously raised money at inflated valuations that they would struggle to justify in today’s market.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

The next default of waiting until later is equally bad, since partners who bow out early will still expect an equal share of that first billion you make later. Investors may not be called cofounders, but they always get equity, commensurate with their share of the total costs anticipated, or share of the current valuation.

Technical Cofounder 247

Technical Cofounder Equity Distribution Cofounder 247

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Many questioned whether it could survive under the fail whale, inevitable competition from Facebook, founder fighting, fights with 3rd-party developers let alone become a revolutionary business that could make money. I know – I was there when the first people debating funding it at less than a $5m valuation. Far from it.

Technical Review 362

Technical Review America United States Partner 362

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

In fact, their affiliate partners dissuaded them from doing so. billion valuation. They only recently raised $30 million at around a $300 million valuation and THAT raised eyebrows. On the founder’s side it’s about taking money off of the table and / or having strategic reserves for big acquisitions.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Affiliate Valuation San Francisco 271

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? He nails the current key startup parameters, including the following: Crafting a lean business plan as your road map.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Mike is a no BS guy, has all the attributes I look for in a founder and says things like, openly shares knowledge and opines without a filter including this one, “whoever invented uncapped convertible debt should be spanked!&# The Union Square Ventures partners started whispering in his ear that “it’s all about social now”.

Semantic 302

Semantic Acquisition Valuation Angel Investor 302

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

It’s higher risk, but higher return, to pick the big winners early, before angels have set unreasonable valuations and restrictive terms. Being “lifecycle investment partners” has a downside. Tags: entrepreneur startup investor super angels founder. Technology costs are plummeting, meaning you can do more with less.

Technical Review 215

Technical Review Early Stage Venture Capital Startup 215

View from Seed

MAY 2, 2019

There may be some twists and turns along the way, like a bridge or seed extension, but I think something like this is plan A for most founders. Unless a founder has angels interested who are not really price sensitive, a founder might find themselves selling a pretty big chunk of their company for not that much money.

Early Stage 214

Early Stage Dilution Valuation .Net 214

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

You might like to think that a bunch of savvy venture capitalists saw a market niche for raising smaller funds or perhaps there was a generational shift where disgruntled junior partners spun out of bigger firms to start their own gigs. Well, both of those things happened but they were lagging indicators.

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

Using NextView as an example, since we both seek to lead the seed round and only lead during this round, I’ve seen this trend manifest in one of two ways: In a priced round, the entrepreneur will often share their valuation ask (or a stated floor) for the pre-money valuation of their company much sooner in the process.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. The discussion with Howard Morgan starts off by acknowledging Josh Kopelman as a co-founder of First Round Capital. I'm a huge fan of this innovation.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2013

It’s higher risk, but higher return, to pick the big winners early, before Angels have set unreasonable valuations and restrictive terms. Being “lifecycle investment partners” has a downside. VCs are finding that they don’t need the “large” funds of $100M to $500M to support a portfolio, if they focus on early-stage startups.

Angel Investor 231

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Early Stage Silicon Valley 231

View from Seed

APRIL 5, 2016

Founders’ stories can be truly heroic, but inspiring stories don’t start and end with them. Likewise, true grit is defined by so much more than company growth and valuations. The post True Grit: It’s Not Just Founders We Should Celebrate appeared first on NextView Ventures. How to Land the Perfect Startup Job.

Founder 120

Founder Web Development Web Community 120

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

George Deeb is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based Red Rocket Ventures , a startup consulting and financial advisory firm based in Chicago. If people are funding the business, they should get a premium because at the end of the day, cash funding founders are acting no different than a seed stage investor. Whose idea was it?

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Equity Founder Seed Stage 136

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

My partner Steven Dietz is an auto enthusiast and more than just an admirer of amazing cars he has worked around the auto industry for 20 years and backed a couple of billion-dollar startups in the category. His blog is even called SaaStr (a bit too close to Suster if you ask me ;-)).

Video 373

Video Valuation Differentiation Distribution 373

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Despite the war, in the last nine months Sequoia , Greylock and Accel all opened offices in Israel, and Founders Fund appointed a partner to cover Israeli deals. With attractive valuations and immense growth potential, the Israeli tech ecosystem remains resilient—no matter the circumstances.

Israel 183

Israel Technical Review Startup Generative AI 183

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Of partner? Nothing blows up great opportunities faster than founders who are constantly fighting. I’ve watched VCs help with valuation support (spreadsheets, comps) on next round financing, participate in M&A meetings, interview senior job candidates – even help terminate tricky senior hires. Reputation of firm?

Portfolio 364

Portfolio Chicago Incubator Sales 364

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

” If you invested at $8m pre-money and put $2m in (thus you own 20% of a company at a $10m post-money valuation) and if you put another $2m into a round at a $40m valuation raising $10m ($50m post) you end up with half your money at $8m pre and half at $40m pre thus your average price goes up dramatically.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

They want founders who have been there and done that before, in the same business domain. Investment firms specialize by business sectors, and each partner within the firm has a specialty. To make this work, you will need an initial valuation of at least $5M. Line up a winning team. Timing is critical.

Venture Capital 252

Venture Capital IPO Elevator Pitch Initial Public Offering 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2012

Yet, I find that startup founders often fixate on one or two sources, often to the detriment of their business. Use this approach before you have a real valuation, a real product, or any real customers. Partner with distributor or beneficiary. Just don’t quit your day job before your new company is producing revenue.

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 257

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

The founders felt that having a legitimate site for content would discourage Silicon Valley VC’s from funding entrepreneurs to create the next big TV killer. I might talk openly about how Hulu is my partner, while simultaneously launching an iPad player before hulu does (as ABC did) – even when I’m a shareholder.

Video 292

Video Technical Review Advertising Distribution 292

View from Seed

OCTOBER 31, 2018

The main value propositions are: user experience and value – home sellers can manage the entirety of their selling activities through its app and cloud-based platform, from valuation to showing scheduling to negotiation and closing, while paying a $5,000 flat fee vs. the industry tradition of 3% commission.

Atlanta 159

Atlanta Cofounder Software Review Technical Review 159

The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

We see this all the time at Forward Partners where we invest right from the idea stage and most of the companies get a first version of their product live for less than £30k (that generally includes founder salaries and time spent doing customer research). Forward Partners and Crowdcube are both attacking elements of these problems.

Early Stage 119

Early Stage Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review 119

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

I read commentary or Twitter or blogs and realize that there are also strongly held convictions that there are these evil VCs who do terrible things to mostly altruistic founders. Executives run the day-to-day so often the board is more involved as a sparring partner at key intervals. That’s true.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2011

Want meet one of his key investors, USV partner Albert Wenger ? I turned around and there was StockTwits founder (and my favorite Tweeter) Howard Lindzon. “Maybe,&# says Naval, “Certainly valuations are creepy up quickly in all stages of deals. Wendy Tan White, the founder of Moonfruit. He was there, too.

Technical Cofounder 294

Technical Cofounder Austin Hosting Cofounder 294

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2011

Yet, I find that startup founders often fixate on one or two sources, often to the detriment of their business. Use this approach before you have a real valuation, a real product, or any real customers. Partner with distributor or beneficiary. Just don’t quit your day job before your new company is producing revenue.

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 233

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

In a new book, “ The Leadership Capital Index ,” Dave Ulrich, a best-selling author, business consultant, and business school professor, provides some real insights and metrics on what makes up the elements of goodwill in the minds of top valuation experts. For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company.

Leadership 120

Leadership Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation 120