Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

If you are approaching a recognized venture capital group, or even an accredited angel investor, a non-disclosure agreement is counter-productive. Discussions with potential strategic partners. Most often, the best potential partners are already in a business complementary to yours. Build trust first.

Non-disclosure Agreement 399

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 399

View from Seed

MARCH 4, 2020

The biggest rise, unsurprisingly, was China, which enjoyed a huge surge in venture capital dollars over the past decade and enjoyed its fair share of blockbuster exits. At a firm level, I think that getting multiple partners on the list is a great milestone as well. The number of firms with multiple midas list partners was 16.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital China Technical Review Africa 313

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

VC Partnerships Start by understanding how many partners are at the firm you are approaching. It’s pretty easy since nearly every VC lists its partners on the website. Some firms are trickier since they artificially call everybody “partner” but they’re not all “investment partners.” How many partners are there?

Technical Review 314

Technical Review Due Diligence Partner Term Sheet 314

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Since NewTV won’t be making the content, they will be licensing from and partnering with traditional entertainment producers. NewTV will depend on partners like telcos to distribute the content. After the crash, venture capital was scarce to non-existent. Will consumers want to watch short-form mobile entertainment?

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Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

View from Seed

JULY 6, 2020

You have a deep desire to learn the venture capital business and are ready to hustle to meet the next great founder. . However, you will serve as a co-pilot on deals with all four partners, across the geographies we cover. . You are a self-starter and enjoy approaching work independently without much direction. .

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Software Review Hiring Seed Stage 257

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Reverse due diligence on the investor is a comparable process whereby the entrepreneur seeks to validate the track record, operating style, and motivation of every potential partner. Know your partner well before you get married. Marty Zwilling

Technical Review 345

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 345

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Reverse due diligence on the investor is a comparable process whereby the entrepreneur seeks to validate the track record, operating style, and motivation of every potential partner. Know your partner well before you get married. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 310

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

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

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. Business Models and Sectors.

Early Stage 374

Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 374

VC Cafe

APRIL 26, 2021

In March 2021, Israeli venture capital fund Benson Oak introduced a “passionware” as a new category of software tools and platforms? The latest edition from March 2021, comes from Glilot Capital Partners in collaboration with IVC. Source: Glilot Capital Partners and IVC Cyberscape ( Download ). Retail Tech.

Israel 215

Israel Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Startup 215

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2022

In that environment, you need to look broadly and work effectively on all the available sources of capital, including friends and family, angel investors, and strategic partners. If you need venture capital, maybe you need to spend more time in Silicon Valley or Boston. Intelligence and insight: book and street smarts.

Silicon Valley 325

Silicon Valley Angel Investor Technical Review Boston 325

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

just having a sparring partner with a vested interest in your success can be useful. 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?

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Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

If you are approaching a recognized venture capital group, or even an accredited angel investor, a non-disclosure agreement is counter-productive. Discussions with potential strategic partners. Most often, the best potential partners are already in a business complementary to yours. Build trust first.

Non-disclosure Agreement 254

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 254

VC Cafe

AUGUST 11, 2022

A bond between a founder and investor is a commitment for a long term relationship – that’s why it is important to have the right partners on your side. When I first met Eze from Remagine Ventures, it was clear that he shares our company’s vision, understands the market, and cares about our journey as founders.

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Founder Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital 187

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2022

We have all seen examples of new ventures that fail , despite large infusions of venture capital, and high-potential new technologies. Good entrepreneurs can make a success from almost any business idea, through a following of partners and customers.

Leadership 285

Leadership Reputation Venture Capital Global 285

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

On the other side of the spectrum, the idea of finding a unicorn has attracted many investors toward the much riskier venture capital and emerging technologies. Real estate has long been considered a sound investment, and has become even more popular in recent years as historical data has shown the market’s relatively low volatility.

Private Equity 161

Private Equity Equity Technical Review Software Review 161

View from Seed

JANUARY 11, 2021

Noting our own experience, we questioned whether the fast proliferation of virtual interaction introduced by the COVID-19 crisis had changed investor decision-making more broadly across the venture capital industry. Following initial decision paralysis, many venture capitalists have returned to pace.

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Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

After years of trying to persuade Kara Nortman to become a partner at Upfront Ventures I can officially announce now that she’s joined us effective immediately. It is rare to find somebody who matches exactly what I’m looking for in a partner so when you find it you act: Academic rigor (Princeton undergrad, Stanford MBA).

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Partner Las Vegas Los Angeles Baltimore 408

View from Seed

DECEMBER 4, 2019

The trends described above in VC performance have an upstream effect on Limited Partners which is somewhat counter-intuitive. For example, a $10B endowment might be looking to have 10% ($1B) allocated to venture capital at any one time. Most LPs are trying to manage some targeted asset allocation.

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LP IRR Distribution Portfolio 256

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. For example, In the last 30 days Salesforce acquired three Israeli startups for a combined $2.6

Israel 184

Israel Technical Review Startup Generative AI 184

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 31, 2022

Mature startups with proven business models and the potential to reach the public markets within a few years will be the safest place to park any new venture capital that comes into the ecosystem. Venture-Capital Firms Buy Up Public Tech Stocks as Startup Market Stalls (Source: WSJ ). CVCs have participated in 25.6%

Founder 174

Founder Technical Review Down Round Liquidation Preference 174

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

In summary, the return of the pre-seed round in 2024 highlights a strategic shift in the startup ecosystem towards earlier engagement with investors, a milestone-driven approach to company building, and the advantages of partnering with specialist funds.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

I’ve heard a lot of people question whether there is too much money in venture capital chasing too few great deals. Others believe that new business models are emerging that could replace venture capital all together. We’re in a new tech bubble!” some have pronounced. Follow the money.

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Venture Capital IPO Mezzanine Early Stage 292

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2021

For us, I honestly believe that we are investing in more or less the same types of companies today that we were investing in 10 years ago, but the dynamics of these rounds mean that we are able to be the best partners with a fund closer to $100M vs. our initial fund of $20M. That year, they invested in Segment. Then Doordash.

Dilution 399

Dilution Later Stage Portfolio Technical Review 399

VC Adventure

JUNE 14, 2022

Companies looking to raise money turn to venture capital for a variety of reasons. Top among them is generally access to capital, but often on the list is the hope that raising capital from experienced (and well-networked) investors will have other positive impacts on their business.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Due Diligence Portfolio Venture Capital 150

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 24, 2021

Today’s book recommendation, for anyone interested in venture capital, is The Business of Venture Capital: The Art of Raising a Fund, Structuring Investments, Portfolio Management, and Exits by Mahendra Ramsinghani. He was investing in Detroit and eager to write a book about the art and science of venture capital.

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Venture Capital Detroit Michigan Framework 175

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

Case in point, below are recent examples of European emerging managers who are standing out (from an upcoming report by Dealroom ) For newish VC funds, being in “emerging manager mode” means operating differently from established venture capital firms. They often provide hands-on operational assistance beyond just capital.

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Management Technical Review Venture Capital Generative AI 104

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Over time, this revenue reduces the dependency on outside venture capital sources. It provides the freedom to partner with entrepreneurs and reduce the costs of agency work in exchange for equity in their startup. This outside work provides a valuable source of revenue able to be used to fund operations.

Incubator 188

Incubator Startup Software Development Software Developers 188

VC Cafe

JANUARY 12, 2022

As investors in gaming, entertainment tech and consumer, this is a topic my partner Kevin Baxpehler and I have been actively researching and investing in at Remagine Ventures for the past few years. . As a venture capital fund, our success is driven by backing companies with large financial outcomes.

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Technical Review Israel Non-Compete IP 217

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

At NextView Ventures we have written many pieces about venture capital — how to raise it, build your business, engage with investors, iterate your product, navigate expanding industries, etc. 7 Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in VC Pitches and How to Fix Them “Different partners in a VC firm are different.

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2020

Along with my partner Stuart Lander, who runs operations at Upfront and is a former lawyer, we have scoured through, debated and helped scores of companies make this determination. The NVCA (National Venture Capital Association) Guidelines are below. I am not claiming to be the world expert on this.

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Programming Affiliate SBA Government 279

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

AI is getting tremendous attention and significant venture capital, but AI tools frequently underwhelm in the trenches. Early in my legal practice a senior partner once told me “We created a set of documents in the Garden of Eden and have just been modifying them ever since.”

Technical Review 246

Technical Review Connecticut Algorithm Warrant 246

ReadWriteStart

JULY 5, 2023

Neko Health is well positioned to achieve its goals, as the board of directors recently welcomed notable investors such as Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of Skype, and Klaus Hommels, founder of the venture capital firm Lakestar.

Sweden 126

Sweden Artificial Inteligence Cofounder Technical Review 126

VC Cafe

DECEMBER 6, 2024

Despite the war, Israels technology industry presented record figures for mergers and acquisitions according to a new report from Vintage Investment Partners. What’s next for the early stage venture capital ecosystem? We must # BRINGTHEMHOME NOW. M&A deals set a new peak this year of $10.5 billion in 2021.

Israel 78

Israel Technical Review Early Stage Venture Capital 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2021

Don’t look for formal venture capital levels of funding, but certainly early-stage Kaufmann grants, incubators, and entrepreneurship incentives are available from endowments and state funds. Collaborative efforts with local companies, like Siemens Venture Capital, are available for certain technology and focus areas.

Arizona 432

Arizona Phoenix Intellectual Property Incubator 432