The Next Web

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Andrew is the co-founder and CTO of Parse.ly , a technology startup that provides big data insights to the web’s best publishers. He wrote: When startups die, the official cause of death is always either running out of money or a critical founder bailing. Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Andrew Montalenti.

Cofounder 155

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 155

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

The seeds planted by those who came in the 90′s have begun to blossom 15 years later literally into seed capital, blossoming new entrepreneurs and an ecosystem of experienced operators that powered LA 1.0 Many of the early winners sold for north of a half a billion dollars. Success begets success. and are guiding LA 2.0.

Los Angeles 376

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Seattle 376

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

One recipe for failure (business failure and capital raising failure) is building a lopsided team weighted to one function of the business. If you have a technical background and you are focused on product development, consider a co-founder with a sales and marketing background that can focus on selling your world class product.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2014

Editor’s note: Understanding how to divide founder equity at a startup can be tricky, even to the point of reaching emotional riffs between founders. I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder.

Equity 315

Equity Founder Sweat Equity Cofounder 315

YoungUpstarts

JULY 31, 2019

by Anish Sebastian and Juan Pablo Segura, co-founders of Babyscripts. Of course, a certain amount of initial capital without financial performance is absolutely necessary to get a business off the ground, especially in regulated industries. Many would argue that even the most theoretically scalable products in healthcare, i.e

Cofounder 127

Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Cofounder Seed Capital 127

VC Cafe

JULY 5, 2010

A s venture funds struggle to raise money in Israel, seed capital, one of the earliest and riskiest stages of investment, is becoming harder and harder to secure. VC Cafe: There has been a drastic rise in the number of funds offering seed (or super seed) capital in recent months, especially in the valley.

Israel 106

Israel Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage 106

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. So What Should Founders Do?

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Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

Doing Reference Checks on VCs “Try to speak to at least one founder that the investor has worked with in a failed investment. Magic Graph: How Much Seed Capital Should You Raise? The Seed VC Decision Tree “If the market is attractive and there just isn’t great founder/market fit, we will be open minded as well.

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Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Over the past five years, we’ve witnessed an Atomization of the Seed Stage. Early fundraising is no longer a one-and-done fundraise of a single round of Seed capital subsequently followed by a Series A 12–18 months later. A seed extension has ceased to be the equivalent of scarlet letter, and instead has become commonplace.

Seed Stage 136

Seed Stage Post-Money Valuation Valuation Startup 136

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

The fundamental objective and aim of seed investment is to assist a company in launching its operations successfully. Seed capital is a component of the initial investments made in young businesses. Some return value must be offered to the investors for startup seed funding to be considered acceptable.

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Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 147

Genuine VC

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Now Boston’s largest regular tech conference, every few months it draws hundreds of attendees from the entrepreneurial ecosystem – including founders, software engineers, startup executives, and investors. Seed capital is more readily available, including of course through NextView Ventures.

Boston 100

Boston Cofounder Seed Capital Software Engineering 100

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder. But not all co-founders are equal in terms of title, ownership, responsibilities, and so forth. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Cofounder 255

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 255

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. Some of these lessons might be useful because I’m not the founder who created those decks. 5 Surprising Mistakes Found in Seed-Stage Startup Pitch Decks. #1:

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Seed Stage Boston Startup 120

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

The Founders Guide to Surviving Startup Life – crowdspring.co/1eYfYis. Raising Seed Capital – crowdspring.co/MX18CE. don’t return investors’ capital” – crowdspring.co/1dhuwIO. The Most Valuable Lesson I’ve Learned as a CEO | LinkedIn by Jeff Weiner – crowdspring.co/1cNXgxc.

Social Media 95

Social Media Small Business Design Media 95

View from Seed

MAY 14, 2019

A number of blog posts recently have mentioned this, but we seem to be experiencing a rise in repeat founders starting new businesses and raising seed capital. We’re also seeing a wave of folks who were not founders, but were star players among the first 25 folks at a unicorn company also starting new companies.

Founder 256

Founder Agile Cofounder Seed Capital 256

View from Seed

AUGUST 16, 2016

When thinking about how much seed capital to raise, we need a more sophisticated lens than just the old rule of thumb of “18 months of runway.” But before you get that far, there is one additional factor to consider to determine the right amount of seed capital to raise: an honest reflection of your fundraising ability.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Burn Rate Seed Stage Networking 120

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 9, 2019

Sputnik ATX Three rules to avoid getting scammed by advisors As an early stage VC, one of the saddest things I observe from meetings with founders is the toxic and pervasive influence of what I call the start-up industrial complex (the SIC). Founders, we love you and want to see you succeed.

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Vesting Early Stage Seed Capital Equity 72

View from Seed

MAY 5, 2015

During the preceding pitch process, even founders who are highly transparent, honest folks try to put their startup in the best possible light for a new investor, so it’s only natural that a more complete picture of a company’s situation (warts and all) sometimes comes into focus after the round is closed and board meeting scheduled.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Seed Stage Cofounder Founder 120

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

The following is a real (but anonymized) email to us at NextView where a founder debates the timing of his seed raise: I met with someone today who said I should push to close a seed round before I launch the product. However, to push the right type of thinking about the issue, I typically ask founders three questions: 1.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Seed Stage Dilution Networking 120

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

When Johnny Earle, the founder of Johnny Cupcakes, started in 2001, he didn’t make baked goods; he sold t-shirts about baked goods! He turned his startup capital of $6,700 into $1.2 Startups quickly grow into big companies. million after five years. 10 Ways to Build a Startup.

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Cofounder Montana Startup Seed Capital 100

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

Think of your seed capital as a way to empower you to reach that important milestone in order to raise the next round immediately after … not leave you just shy of the interim prize. This constant state of fundraising can be draining on a founder/CEO and detrimental to the company. Don’t raise as much.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Seed Stage Demand Finance 120

View from Seed

JANUARY 5, 2015

Admittedly, our industry tends to celebrate these financings a bit too much — it’s gasoline for the car and not the destination, after all — but it’s still a difficult, sometimes lengthy process for which founders deserve some recognition. Laying the groundwork for a good relationship with your new investors.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Entrepreneur Seed Stage Venture Capital 120

Rob Go

MAY 14, 2012

I also tend to be attracted to founders who do are also contrarian. Sure, there is more availability of seed capital in the past, although if you watch carefully, you will notice that most of the elite seed funds have slowed down their pace considerably over the last 12 months. So, those are my quick perspectives.

Technical Review 74

Technical Review Seed Capital Early Stage PR 74

View from Seed

MARCH 26, 2015

In the last year or so, the debate over the definitions of seed versus pre-seed capital (sometimes called genesis rounds) has exploded. Much digital ink has been spilled about what dollar amount constitutes a pre-seed and how that might affect a startup’s ability to go raise a “normal” seed round from institutional investors.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Institutional Investors Venture Capital Partner 120

Agile VC

DECEMBER 4, 2014

I like to say that “there are only co-founders” — it’s extraordinarily rare for a successful business to have just a sole founder. But not all co-founders are equal in terms of title, ownership, responsibilities, and so forth. Sometimes co-founders put off the equity split question for some time.

Cofounder 173

Cofounder Equity Founder Sweat Equity 173

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

For the first-time entrepreneur or founder looking for seed stage funding, this circle can be especially difficult to penetrate. Mashable Mashable reached out to angels, seed stage investors and VC firm partners and asked them to share their wisdom with the rest of us.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

Provide early seed capital, and be the ones to make those introductions. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Instead, focus on getting them ready for that stage.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Lean 113

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. Of the NextView-backed founders have have tried to raise this round, over 70% have done so (compared to a mean success rate in the industry of around 27%, according to some sources ).

Syndicate 333

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Startup 333

Up and Running

JUNE 5, 2017

With few other options, FedEx founder Fred Smith flew to Las Vegas and sat down at a blackjack table. He left significantly richer and with enough capital to keep his fledgling company going. I am definitely not recommending you raise seed capital this way—but you wouldn’t be the only person to have done it.).

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Las Vegas Forecast Technical Review Seed Capital 99

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

I am continually surprised at founders who spend ten minutes throwing up a barebones profile and are dismayed that money doesn’t start flowing in. While VCs are the toughest nut to crack, there are many other (often better) sources of seed capital that may be available to you.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

View from Seed

DECEMBER 10, 2014

This is his first post to The View From Seed. Chief among them was an initial study done by EverTrue founder and CEO — and Harvard Business School grad — Brent Grinna. And done well, local seed capital can be the catalyst for the new Harvard engineering campus in Allston.

Boston 328

Boston Seed Stage San Francisco Startup 328

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

If you’re a scalable startup, you want to spend small amounts of money (seed capital) as you run experiments testing your hypotheses. Here’s a simple test: If you’re the founder of a startup, go to a whiteboard and diagram how a VC fund works. Why small amounts? No startup ever spends less then it raises. What is an IRR?

Venture Capital 335

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 335

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 8, 2010

Founders: Well-rounded founder teams >1 person, demonstrated understanding of entrepreneurship, relevant technical and business knowledge. -Customers: SMB through Fortune 500 (no consumer apps). Location: Come from anywhere, willing to locate to Dallas for the program.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Dallas Seed Capital Angel Investor 40

The Startup Lawyer

MARCH 8, 2010

Founders: Well-rounded founder teams >1 person, demonstrated understanding of entrepreneurship, relevant technical and business knowledge. -Customers: SMB through Fortune 500 (no consumer apps). Location: Come from anywhere, willing to locate to Dallas for the program.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Dallas Seed Capital Angel Investor 40

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 13, 2013

Other investors in this financing round include SPRING Seeds Capital , Clearbridge BSA and Lu Yoh Chie of Biosensors International , and existing shareholder BioVeda.

Singapore 228

Singapore Intellectual Property United States Cofounder 228

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

The first capital a young company receives usually takes the form of common stock, the same class of shares the founders hold. These “IV drip” financings may reduce risk for investors, but put more pressure on founders. Venture capitalists and later round investors like the preferred convertible shares. Anti-dilution protection.

Term Sheet 227

Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Due Diligence Post-Money Valuation 227