View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

We believe that this fund is the perfect size for us to be the best possible partners to early-stage entrepreneurs today. My partners and I feel lucky to have been able to practice the craft of early-stage investing during these years of tremendous growth and opportunity.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

Hippoland

AUGUST 9, 2016

One question that seed investors love to ask is if you have a lead investor in your seed round. But once you figure out why an investor is asking, tactically speaking, what do you do? Let’s say that you find out that an investor is asking because he/she does not invest without a lead investor in place.

Lead Investor 48

Lead Investor Term Sheet Due Diligence Convertible Security 48

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 1, 2021

David : One of our main challenges, due to lockdown, has been not having those face-to-face meetings (with both customers and investors) – which are so much more effective. Our customer engagement has been solid, as has our engagement with partners. But we’re learning to adapt! This has been a big step forward for us.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Founder Saudi Arabia Cofounder 110

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

My wife was a great partner here. When my co-founders and I got the company scalable and repeatable, we hired an operating executive as the CEO and returned a billion dollars to each of our two lead investors. (I didn’t listen, I didn’t act, I didn’t own my role as CEO, I wasn’t prepared to do what was right or leave.)

Redemption 333

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 333

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 2, 2020

I think the other thing that sort of made me jump pretty early on the testing is we had been setting up this clinical trial with a partner for probably about six months, with a collaborator who had typically been incredibly responsive and would jump on the phone at a moment's notice. Eric Ries : So, what was the investor reaction like?

Curation 60

Curation Government Los Angeles Partner 60

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Kushki recently raised a Series A round from dev labs and Magma Partners at the end of 2018. Though still in early funding stages, Truora left Y-Combinator with regional investors Magma Partners and Kaszek Ventures, and foreign investors Y-Combinator and Accel. Ayenda Rooms.

Colombia 146

Colombia America Technical Review Startup 146

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

In previous blog posts I’ve written about the two main approaches to building a seed round syndicate – the subscription method (where an entrepreneur presets a structure with a convertible note or SAFE and recruits investors who subscribe to the round, all without a term-driving lead investor) and a term-driving lead investor approach.

Syndication 257

Syndication Syndicate Lead Investor Venture Capital 257

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

It’s hard to be a great lead investor . VCs take their time precisely for the reason Fred articulates – they play the role of “lead investor.” They will have to help get the next round done. Essentially they will have to work. . … Not everyone is good at this. In fact, very few are.

Syndication 356

Syndication Syndicate Cofounder Early Stage 356

View from Seed

MAY 29, 2019

But there wasn’t always a clear lead investor that really rolled up her sleeves to work with a company. As each fund focuses more and more on winning a lead or co-lead slot in a syndicate, it will be more and more important to show that they can deliver on the value and responsibility of being a lead investor.

Syndication 267

Syndication Syndicate Cofounder Cap Table 267

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Lead investors are few. Leads that are true force-multipliers are exceedingly rare. Although seed funding has exploded since we started Nextview, we continue to hear the refrain from founders that there are tons of investors that will pile-in on a round that is coming together, but that lead investors are few and far between.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

My wife was a great partner here. When my co-founders and I got the company scalable and repeatable, we hired an operating executive as the CEO and returned a billion dollars to each of our two lead investors. (I didn’t listen, I didn’t act, I didn’t own my role as CEO, I wasn’t prepared to do what was right or leave.)

Redemption 225

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 225

David Teten

DECEMBER 15, 2018

Existing investors have said they’d be glad to invest…if she gets a new lead investor, which 6 months of searching have failed to generate. Consider approaching one of the small number of funds which acquire tech startups, e.g., Constellation Software , Think3; Vista Equity Partners. The CEO comes to us.

Startup 60

Startup Later Stage Technical Review Software Review 60

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

My job as a VC isn’t to beat myself up or any other partner up for the one deal we didn’t do. We felt proud to be the lead investor in Maker Studios at a sub $5 million valuation. . $12m on a $60m for an early-stage business is a not a bet that most LA firms could or would take.

IPO 214

IPO Los Angeles Technical Review Silicon Valley 214

Lightspeed Venture Partners

APRIL 12, 2016

The partners here had made many great investments in consumer companies before then — companies that resulted in successful IPOs like BlueNile and eHealth in the late 90s. For that reason I was thrilled when Aaron Batalion joined as my partner in November. In addition, Jon Steinberg has also joined us, as a Venture Partner.

Technical Cofounder 60

Technical Cofounder Cofounder SCRUM Committed Capital 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Just as with any company, the most important issue is the team; see “ How to Negotiate a Partner Role at a Venture Capital or Private Equity Firm “ . See my summary on how lead investors think about building out their syndicate. . Another critical design consideration is your tech stack. See Where Are the Deals?!:

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Just as with any company, the most important issue is the team; see “ How to Negotiate a Partner Role at a Venture Capital or Private Equity Firm “ . See my summary on how lead investors think about building out their syndicate. . Another critical design consideration is your tech stack. See Where Are the Deals?!:

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

At this point, the investor and the entrepreneur work together to develop their perfect list of potential partners, and then do targeted outreach to try to bring this investor into the round. The average investor is fairly harmless, and even if they aren’t as helpful as one would hope, they rarely create major headaches.

Syndication 207

Syndication Syndicate Term Sheet Cofounder 207

View from Seed

JUNE 11, 2019

Aside from the early commitments, the next most important thing to focus on is nailing down your lead investor. I’ve found that the lead investor will end up doing 90% of the work for a startup (or will cause 90% of the pain if you get the decision wrong). Often one of the leads in the mix is a larger, multi-stage fund.

Syndication 202

Syndication Syndicate Seed Stage Lead Investor 202

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

There is a well-known trope that choosing a VC to partner with is like marriage. It’s a super important, near permanent relationship, especially for a lead investor that is likely to take a board seat for many years. I know many VC’s that are amazing partners to founders in thick and thin. This is true.

Founder 280

Founder Lead Investor Portfolio Reputation 280

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

The first came from the CEO of iScraper telling me that they would not be able to complete the deal – their investor, Apax Partners, had decided not to proceed despite verbal assurances that they would. At BuildOnline we had brought one new investor to the deal – a Swiss/New York investor called ETF Group.

Germany 298

Germany Entrepreneur Merger Los Angeles 298

YoungUpstarts

MAY 1, 2020

by Ash Rust , founder and managing partner of Sterling Road. Most startups will need a viable product and proof of credibility before they can expect early-stage investors to really bite. But the warning still holds: Don’t focus on lead investors exclusively (even if they’re the ideal outcome).

Early Stage 165

Early Stage Security Angel Investor Lead Investor 165

Berkonomics

JANUARY 25, 2024

Board members or lead investors as coaches If you take smart money from a good angel or venture organization, the lead investor usually becomes your board member and has a vested interest in your success.

SBA 62

SBA Warrant Stock Options Vesting 62

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

I actually think a strong lead with some well-placed and experienced angels is the right mix. All of my partners at Upfront do. And from Nancy Hua … “Too many angels can also hurt a start-up and be taken as an indication that a company is not strong enough to attract any one “lead” investor, said Ms.

Cap Table 150

Cap Table Cofounder Silicon Valley Startup 150

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

I notice some founders (from YC in particular) have been trained to say something like: “we are just starting the process, but things are moving faster than we expect and we are already scheduling follow-up conversations and partner meetings.”. Some founders lay out a specific time frame for when they hope to get the round closed.

Term Sheet 364

Term Sheet Burn Rate Founder Partner 364

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

My partner Rob has previously written some thoughts on how to approach that conversation. What not to include is directly stating valuation expectations.

Cap Table 211

Cap Table Seed Stage Valuation Dilution 211

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 17, 2023

I’m going to make the case that early stage venture *firms* who want to lead seed/A Rounds can be generalists (in the sense they have a set of GPs who cover a broad set of areas collectively), but that as a VC you, now more than ever, need some degree of focus.

Early Stage 88

Early Stage Lead Investor Matching Software 88

techcrunch.com

APRIL 26, 2013

In December, AngelList , a service that matches early-stage startups with investors, debuted the ability to allow accredited investors to actually invest in startups on the platform with as little as $1,000. AngelList also partnered with SecondMarket to create an investment vehicle for these investments. 2011 Holiday.

SEC 61

SEC Accredited Investor San Diego New York City 61

David Teten

JANUARY 10, 2012

With a unique vision for starting and successfully managing innovative companies, he is the Managing Partner of Social Leverage, a holding company that invests in early stage web businesses. Lindzon has more than 20 years experience in the financial community acting in both an entrepreneurial and investing capacity.

Technical Review 128

Technical Review Technology North Carolina Switzerland 128

A Crowded Space

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Very shortly after I joined, Greg Gretsch (now my partner at Jackson Square Ventures) co-led oDesk’s Series A along with Venky Ganesan (partner at Menlo Ventures and lead investor in Rev.com). Greg Gretsch was and remains on the board and is my partner at Jackson Square Ventures.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Bangladesh Ukraine Philippines 60

View from Seed

JANUARY 7, 2020

About a year ago, my partner David Beisel talked about how seed fundraising is no longer a local game , and that the best entrepreneurs seek out the best investors for them outside of their home market. That being said, it’s much easier to put a seed round together when you have a local lead who can help catalyze the round.

New York 207

New York Boston Marketing Aggregator 207

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

While a norm of ‘we don’t invest in directly competitive companies’ is likely the median response if you asked a bunch of investors, in truth there’s always an asterisk. Sometimes this applies only to lead investors, and if they consider the investment ‘active’ (eg on the board, still doing their pro rata, etc).

Early Stage 117

Early Stage Cofounder Vertical Portfolio 117

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Today our clients include major corporations, consulting and law firms, and nonprofits, in addition to investors, and we connect them to experts in every field, from everywhere around the world. We’re backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake Partners, and individual investors like Ron Conway, among others.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

(And although this is written for angel investors, I think entrepreneurs can only benefit by increasing their knowledge around these investors and hope you’ll continue reading if that’s you. And if you just want to learn about different types of angels and what motivates each, my partner David has written about that before here.).

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

(And although this is written for angel investors, I think entrepreneurs can only benefit by increasing their knowledge around these investors and hope you’ll continue reading if that’s you. And if you just want to learn about different types of angels and what motivates each, my partner David has written about that before here.).

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 120

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

In a CTO Salary and Equity trends report by Safire Partners, it finds non-founder equity compensation to settle out below 2 percent. You might assume the lead investor wants a 20 percent stake and 15 percent option pool each time there’s a Series ‘Blah’ every 12 to 18 months, but this is admittedly too simple.

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

Kent Bennett from Bessemer Venture Partners spoke to this initial slow down: “ We couldn’t do anything until we understood the new normal. We looked to who from our respected community could help us meet founders, partnered closely with co-investors we’d worked with before and with credible angels.”.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

You get dilution sensitive and you start optimizing on price of a financing deal, versus finding the right partners or raising enough money to grow. The right lead investor and the right amount of cushion in a raise can help with the best defense against scaling disaster—hiring. Major league baseball players have trainers.

Dilution 104

Dilution Equity Hiring Partner 104