View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

Everyone knows startups should do scrappy things that “don’t scale” — this show explores what those things actually are. In the 10th edition of Traction, we hear the story of Vin Vacanti , co-founder/CEO of Yipit.com (daily deals aggregator) and YipitData (analyzes web data for institutional investors).

CTO Hire 120

CTO Hire Framework Cofounder Seed Stage 120

David Teten

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

But in practice, these phenomena create a tremendous volume of startups, which investors then have to filter. Most investors rely on their network of colleagues and service providers to source investments. We drew on our work with leading institutional investors and in-depth interviews with over 150 funds.

Private Equity 114

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Equity 114

The Equity Kicker

OCTOBER 14, 2014

———————————– If you ask most VCs what they look for in a startup they will say great team, great product and great market. The post below first appeared as a guest post by me on the Web Summit Blog. Venture Capital'

Early Stage 123

Early Stage Institutional Investors Startup Venture Capital 123

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 25, 2015

One of the first actions you will take with your startup is to organize your company a separate legal entity to protect yourself from personal liability for the company’s debts. In the tech startup context, you’ll typically choose between a Corporation and a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”). Verdict : Corporation.

LLC 100

LLC Technical Review Software Review Limited Liability Company 100

David Teten

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

Like virtually the entire tech industry, I am particularly in favor of Startup Visa , which has the goal of stimulating our domestic startup community through acts to keep our foreign-born entrepreneurs in the United States. Following is a list of some of the policy initiatives I’ve working on, to various extents.

Government 146

Government Technical Review New York Offshore 146

David Teten

MAY 20, 2016

Membership in the Meetup is open exclusively to: Institutional investors in private markets (VC, growth, buyout, distressed, etc.) Prior to joining ffVC, I co-founded an early stage fashion messaging startup, and joined a TechStars NYC 2011 company as first engineering employee.

Private Equity 113

Private Equity Equity Cap Table Venture Capital 113

David Teten

MAY 9, 2012

Women-owned businesses, according to the Forte Foundation represent about 775,000 new startups per year. HBSAANY members include venture capitalists, individual accredited investors, and other institutional investors. According to the U.S. domestic market.

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital Programming Accredited Investor New York 154

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 2, 2021

If you’re thinking about starting a tech startup you already know — there are a lot of things to consider. But what if a tech startup uses the LLC structure? And this is not only due to lack of liability protection, though it is a significant factor attracting investors. Why should a founder entertain this idea?

Technical Review 158

Technical Review LLC IPO Stock 158

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. The alternative is to work with an innovation institute to evaluate your technology, or hire a consultant. The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage.

Incubator 429

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 429

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata investments rights given investors the right to invest in your future fund-raising rounds and maintain their ownership % in your company as your company grows and raises more capital. Fundraising / Negotiations Startup Lessons VC Industry' I have to race to the airport so I can’t edit until later. Excuse the typos.

Technical Review 336

Technical Review Later Stage Early Stage LP 336

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

Thomas Clayton has started and run numerous high-tech startups in Silicon Valley. He is currently CEO of Bubbly , a social media startup backed by Sequoia Capital, SingTel Innov8, and JAFCO. The company is one of the largest VC–backed startups in Southeast Asia, having raised over $60M in funding. Sequoia , Accel , NEA , etc.).

Asia 132

Asia Silicon Valley India Term Sheet 132

Agile VC

OCTOBER 23, 2012

Diversification in that a small investor (by large institutional standards), say a foundation with $25M in assets that wants to commit $1M (4%) of their assets to VC, can get exposure to 10+ individual VC funds through a FoF but might only be able to inveset in 1-2 if they tried to do it directly.

LP 176

LP Accredited Investor Carried Interest Distribution 176

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 6, 2011

VC investors rely heavily on referrals, but what should a non US startup do when looking to raise funding in Silicon Valley? I found a question on Quora that relates to European startups, but found that some of the advice may be very relevant to Israeli startups as well. And what do the investors think?

Silicon Valley 104

Silicon Valley Startup Seed Stage Delaware 104

David Teten

MARCH 28, 2012

In addition, in light of increasing competition in the startup funding space, a methodology for helping portfolio companies consistently is a strong competitive advantage. So how can VCs help their startups? Lowering that failure rate would be highly impactful on venture capitalist returns, if we could figure out how to do it.

Portfolio 144

Portfolio Private Equity Venture Capital Early Stage 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. The alternative is to work with an innovation institute to evaluate your technology, or hire a consultant. The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage.

Incubator 305

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 305

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

As the venture capital industry has evolved, more and more seed investors are passing on traditionally “seed stage” startups because there isn’t enough traction. Of the last 15 investments we’ve made, we’ve been the lead or co-lead investor over 80% of the time. . Belief #1: The best time to invest is early.

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Manage human resources.

Startup 268

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 268

View from Seed

JUNE 7, 2016

Today we’re thrilled to re-launch our most popular resource ever: board deck templates for seed-stage startups. Some founders hesitate to spin up a board early, maybe due to the perception that investors would try to control the company, maybe out of a concern of putting too many balls in the air at once.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Founder Seed Capital Institutional Investors 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2022

Actually, according to Paul Graham of Y-Combinator fame, “Raising money is the second hardest part of starting a startup. More startups may fail for that reason, but a close second is the difficulty of raising money. By definition, an angel investor is not an “institutional investor.” Marty Zwilling.

Angel Investor 384

Angel Investor Advisory Board Database Institutional Investors 384

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2013

Aspen is looking for institutional investor and entrepreneur speakers willing to share their investing insights and personal experiences. Monday, January 14 th : The Lower-Risk Startup: How VCs Increase the Odds of Investment Success with Operational Support – 5 PM, NYU Wagner at 295 Lafayette Street (Puck Building ).

Tunisia 114

Tunisia Libya Algeria Mauritania 114

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

Browse through the many hundreds of video answers to startup questions that we’ve filmed from the world’s leading VCs and angels. You really should have spent a heck of a lot of time beforehand in thinking through all of the issues surrounding your startup.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2013

Actually, according to Paul Graham of Y-Combinator fame, “Raising money is the second hardest part of starting a startup. More startups may fail for that reason, but a close second is the difficulty of raising money. By definition, an angel investor is not an “institutional investor.” Marty Zwilling.

Matching 253

Matching Advisory Board Angel Investor Database 253

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Manage human resources.

Startup 255

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2011

Actually, according to Paul Graham , “Raising money is the second hardest part of starting a startup. More startups may fail for that reason, but a close second is the difficulty of raising money. A while back, I outlined “ Most Startups Get No Professional Investor Cash ” for startups, listing angel investors as alternative #6.

Angel Investor 242

Angel Investor Advisory Board Startup Database 242

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2010

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Manage human resources. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 239

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 239

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

I was excited to see that GLG (formerly Gerson Lehrman Group), the industry leader, is now offering a professional network service geared to the needs of the startup community: GLG Share. Like many established finance & media companies, GLG knows that the tech startup sector is a growing part of the economy.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2012

It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined before from a funding perspective. The alternative is to work with an innovation institute to evaluate your technology, or hire a consultant. The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage.

Incubator 237

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 237

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. There is a primary reason that inside investors give companies convertible debt rather than just giving you the money as equity. And it adds up.

Startup 290

Startup Burn Rate Warrant Bankruptcy 290

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2011

It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined before from a funding perspective. The alternative is to work with an innovation institute to evaluate your technology, or hire a consultant. The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage.

Incubator 230

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 230

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2019

Actually, according to Paul Graham of Y-Combinator fame, “Raising money is the second hardest part of starting a startup. More startups may fail for that reason, but a close second is the difficulty of raising money. By definition, an angel investor is not an “institutional investor.” Marty Zwilling.

Advisory Board 247

Advisory Board Angel Investor Database Institutional Investors 247

VC Cafe

JUNE 9, 2010

The proposal will enable investors in startups to receive tax write-offs on investments for high-tech companies who spend at least 70% of their salaries in Israel. Today, most of the LPs for Israeli funds are foreign investors. Tax incentives for investors in early stage Israeli high-tech companies.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Government Israel Technology 88

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 2, 2021

If you’re thinking about starting a tech startup you already know — there are a lot of things to consider. But what if a tech startup uses the LLC structure? And this is not only due to lack of liability protection, though it is a significant factor attracting investors. Why should a founder entertain this idea?

Technical Review 78

Technical Review LLC IPO Stock 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2020

Remember when you were a startup? Even if your business success so far has been based on bootstrapping, it may be time to look to institutional investors to help you with acquisitions and new initiative funding. Create an overt strategy to react to emerging customer trends.

Customer 359

Customer Institutional Investors Channel Acquisition 359

David Teten

MARCH 5, 2021

This would be easy to detect: among their portfolio companies, do startups with female founders outperform those without? First Round Capital found that among its portfolio companies, startups with female founders outperformed those without by 63%.” . If they had missed it, they would have failed to return capital after fees.”.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 78

OnlyOnce

JULY 30, 2020

For many startup CEOs the culmination of their life’s work is an exit of some kind (other than being fired!). Institutional investors can require liquidity too, and while it’s possible to buy out shareholders or create a debt / equity financing, you might think about selling the company instead.

Cap Table 48

Cap Table Institutional Investors Startup Early Stage 48

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. In the interim, there is no market for the shares, and no dividends or interest.

Management 308

Management Cram Down Angel Investor Equity 308

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 5, 2012

That's actually how the startup investing world used to work. Open Angel Forum created a costless way for the best startups to get in front of the best capital. If anyone has any solutions to this, as a former institutional investor myself, I'm all ears--especially if we think that the best fund opportunities are the smaller ones.

LP 97

LP Venture Capital Technical Review Nebraska 97