VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2021

Disclaimer: we have three portfolio companies in the consumer mobile space, still in stealth). First it was Fortnite and Epic, now it’s Facebook and soon other players will team up to reduce the revenue share with app stores. This may also trickle down to Google and Amazon. The Information and VentureBeat have more on this.

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Audio Forecast Social Media 207

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Very few individuals have the skills and energy to build a startup alone. A large portion of your competitive advantage and your potential value to investors is the size of your intellectual property portfolio. Startups that operate in stealth mode until their solution is perfect usually acquire customers and investors very slowly.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock Stealth 120

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

This year was a banner year as boldstart portfolio cos raised over $150mm of follow on capital from some of the top Series A and B investors (highlights below). First check leads in 5 founding teams, all in stealth. Smallstep , Clay , Dark , and Windmill emerged out of stealth. First check to Series A?—?congrats

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Advisory Board Stealth Cloud Virginia 79

VC Cafe

APRIL 26, 2023

It’s a global phenomenon, but to be successful in AI, startup hubs require a density of AI engineers, access to data and compute power and access to capital. But it’s not only the AI startups that are active in the generative AI space. We published the first version of the landscape in February 2023 , which included 40 startups.

Generative AI 78

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence ChatGPT Israel 78

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

This year was a banner year as boldstart portfolio cos raised over $150mm of follow on capital from some of the top Series A and B investors (highlights below). First check leads in 5 founding teams, all in stealth. Smallstep , Clay , Dark , and Windmill emerged out of stealth. Rebel exit to Salesforce.

Advisory Board 78

Advisory Board Stealth Cloud Virginia 78

David Teten

MARCH 12, 2012

We’re filling it with our own team , plus a couple of startups in our portfolio ( Parsely , Phone.com , some in stealth mode). Our portfolio company BetterWorks cites a report by The World Economic Forum: “Employees are eight times more likely to be engaged when wellness is a priority in the workplace.”

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Product Portfolio Venture Capital Vesting 166

BeyondVC

JANUARY 6, 2018

We were first check leads in 8 founding teams including Wallaroo Labs , MState (fka hyperfab ), blockdaemon , and 5 in stealth. We built out our CXO advisory board and further cemented our Fortune 500 relationships to help our portfolio cos scale from founder-market fit to product market fit in an accelerated timeframe ( meet our advisors ).

Cloud 78

Cloud Cofounder Portfolio Advisory Board 78

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 17, 2020

In addition to building transformative companies that we’re lucky to have in the portfolio, Data.World and OJO Labs respectively, they’ve helped with introductions, investment diligence, and broader portfolio support. We also have several stealth startups that sit at the intersection of AI and healthcare.

Austin 84

Austin Silicon Valley Technical Review Texas 84

BeyondVC

JANUARY 6, 2018

We were first check leads in 8 founding teams including Wallaroo Labs , MState (fka hyperfab ), blockdaemon , and 5 in stealth. 6 portfolio companies raised Series A financings including Manifold , Hypr , and 4 unannounced, 1 raised a Series B (unannounced), and Security Scorecard raised a $28mm Series C.

Cloud 60

Cloud Cofounder Portfolio Advisory Board 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

And they should be; the feeding frenzy in the innovation economy is in some cases because startups are eating the lunch of more established companies. Mari is now building a new venture in human-machine interaction within the Samsung accelerator, currently in stealth mode. New York Times’ timeSpace is a good example.

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Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

SVPG

OCTOBER 13, 2011

I held off a little on this because he has been working on a book which has just recently been published, called “ The Lean Startup ” and in this article I’d like to discuss the key concepts in the book and provide that mapping. Portfolio Thinking = Portfolio Grooming. Value Capture = Monetization Strategy.

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Lean Stealth Portfolio Engineer 63

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Investors sitting through Incubator or Accelerator demo days have three metrics to judge fledgling startups – 1) great looking product demos, 2) compelling PowerPoint slides, and 3) a world-class team. A Lean Startup methodology offers entrepreneurs a framework to focus on what’s important: Business Model Discovery.

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Oakland Incubator Lean Metrics 330

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

And seed VCs, especially as new firms were being established, were eager to encourage their portfolio startups to plant that flag in the ground publicly. It seemed like every other TechCrunch post was announcing a startups’s new seed financing round. It’s time to wake up and declare your seed stage startup to the world.

Seed Stage 201

Seed Stage Stealth Seed Capital Later Stage 201

Version One Ventures

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

EnPowered closed their initial seed round in February 2020 and have been developing their platform in stealth mode over the past year. EnPowered joins our growing portfolio of energy and climate startups. To learn more, visit www.getenpowered.com or @GetEnPowered.

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Stealth Vertical Portfolio Finance 148

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

Make sure to call the companies in that VCs portfolio that didn’t succeed. I list all of the companies (except one in stealth) on my blog and this includes both VC investments and angel ones. When you finally get back up on your feet again, Everybody wants to be your old long-lost friend. I’m the same. I play open book.

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Term Sheet Venture Capital Stealth Cofounder 298

VC Cafe

MARCH 17, 2023

Use cases for Generative AI in gaming ( click to download ) The landscape of generative AI startups in gaming is rapidly evolving The first market map of generative AI in gaming was published by the A16Z gaming fund in November and the team published an updated version today. The landscape today includes 57 startups.

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Generative AI Stealth IP San Francisco 195

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Last week, one of our most recent portfolio companies, Ten Little , came out of stealth and announced its public launch. . Ten Little was started by Fatma Collins and Julie Rogers , a platform that aims to make finding the perfect fit for your child easy, starting with shoes.

Finder 156

Finder Stealth SMS Portfolio 156

K9 Ventures

JANUARY 26, 2016

“ US Navy Sea Shadow stealth craft ” by US Navy employee – [link]. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Stealth is overrated. Startups should use every opportunity to get their name out. …and I’ve said it to founders on more occasions than I can count: For startups steath is overrated.

Stealth 48

Stealth Silicon Valley Cofounder Portfolio 48

View from Seed

JULY 9, 2015

And given my marketing background (Google, Dailybreak Media, HubSpot), I often get this question directly: When should startups announce seed funding? . So, when should they — or any seed-stage startup — think about drumming up some PR and making noise around funding? You get the idea. Why is that important to remember?

Startup 120

Startup PR Cofounder Stealth 120

Scalable Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

The Future of Startups 2013-2017, beginning of a series. Marc Andreesen gave a great interview about a year agi about “The Future of the Enterprise” and where the next startups will be playing – Hadoop, Big Data, BYOD, etc. Some of these next big startups are in L.A., You mean startups? Exactly right!

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Software Review Startup Venture Capital Stock 22

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 6, 2018

Well, we frequently diligence those deals after the fact – the startups we think we should have seen during their fundraise but for one reason or another – in order to better understand why we didn’t find each other. How are these learnings actionable?

Founder 104

Founder Stealth Portfolio Early Stage 104

View from Seed

MARCH 29, 2018

We wanted to learn more about the nuanced industry market forces before applying the same hands-on investing model we do with tech startups in other verticals. We’re hoping to work with more startups affected by this fundraising crunch. I should make clear that we are not life science investors. 3) Health Data Applications.

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Vertical Stealth Portfolio Seed Capital 120

VC Cafe

APRIL 28, 2021

Creators are also increasingly becoming angel investors in B2C startups, similar to celebrity investments which are also on the rise, leveraging their profile to help their portfolio stand out. We’ve made several investments in the space (some are still in stealth). Finally, a small plug to Remagine Ventures.

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Audio Valuation Stealth B2C 167

VC Cafe

AUGUST 3, 2023

While Israeli startups successes are well known in the B2B space (cybersecurity, enterprise tech, devops…), B2C startups are unsung heroes… The landscape of B2C tech in Israel is blossoming, despite several challenges. Meanwhile in the US, B2C startups raised $100 billion in 2022, 40% of the total funding.

Israel 148

Israel B2C Generative AI Artificial Inteligence 148

The Startup Lawyer

FEBRUARY 4, 2011

Great news — your startup just got accepted to an incubator! But before your startup signs up and cashes that $[XX,000] check, your startup’s co-founders should sit down and evaluate the incubator’s offer. Pre-money valuations startups receive from incubators are typically low…really low.

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Incubator Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Advisory Board 105

Haystack

JANUARY 14, 2019

When I moved back to the Bay Area in early 2011, the technology and startup sector didn’t feel as big or expansive as it does today. In that time, Twitter was just getting its sea legs, the Quora private beta was one of the hottest tickets in town, and TechCrunch was the de facto powerhouse in tech/startup media attention.

Cap Table 123

Cap Table Private Equity Stealth Portfolio 123

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 29, 2016

When you have local Fortune 1000 IT execs who are looking to buy innovative technology combined with NYC enterprise startups and west coast VCs and founders building a presence here, you get an amazing recipe for a killer 2017. Enterprise companies get more comfortable purchasing from startups. and we expect this trend to continue.

Stealth 78

Stealth Canada Azure Architecture 78

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 9, 2024

But there’s a catch – the rise of agentic AI will likely lead to increased startup formation and venture capital activity, creating a more complex and competitive market. Companies such as Israeli startup Weavy.ai , which caters to professional designers. The returns will likely be more concentrated.

Cofounder 109

Cofounder Open Source Venture Capital Stealth 109

BeyondVC

JANUARY 5, 2022

With COVID raging at the beginning and end of the year, it is all the more amazing what our portfolio companies have accomplished the last twelve months. And our portfolio continued to grow: ? Day one lead/co-lead in 14 founding teams: (most still in stealth) representing ??, ??, ??, ??, ??, ??, ?? 2021 Recap Sending ?

Stealth 78

Stealth Cofounder SQL Open Source 78

BeyondVC

JANUARY 5, 2022

With COVID raging at the beginning and end of the year, it is all the more amazing what our portfolio companies have accomplished the last twelve months. 2021 Recap. Sending and from the boldstart team at the end of a challenging 2021. 1/ We started @boldstartvc in 2010 w/ $1m. Day one to follow on funding: Over $1.7B

Stealth 78

Stealth Cofounder SQL Open Source 78

BeyondVC

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

We kicked it off Sunday night with a boldstart founders and execs dinner where we talked about what’s next in cybersecurity with some of our portfolio companies like security scorecard , bigid , snyk , stealth co and many friends from the industry representing strategic partners and IT buyers. Which leads me to my next point.

Security 78

Security Artificial Inteligence Stealth SEC 78

BeyondVC

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

While this sounds simple, there is a ton of work that goes into helping our portfolio companies get to a successful Series A. This includes thinking through what milestones the startups will need to hit to make them attractive for an A round and ensuring there is real plan with enough cash (typically 18 mos) and runway to get there.

Seed Stage 110

Seed Stage Agile Viral API 110

Agile VC

JULY 15, 2015

This company will remain in stealth mode for at least a little while and it isn’t my place to divulge their plans, but we’re very excited about the founding team, market opportunity, and syndicate we will be part of. So the answer to “Do you guys invest in hardware startups?” ” is indeed yes.

Internet 100

Internet Cofounder Stealth Seed Stage 100

Agile VC

JULY 15, 2015

This company will remain in stealth mode for at least a little while and it isn’t my place to divulge their plans, but we’re very excited about the founding team, market opportunity, and syndicate we will be part of. So the answer to “Do you guys invest in hardware startups?” ” is indeed yes.

Internet 100

Internet Cofounder Stealth Seed Stage 100

BeyondVC

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

We kicked it off Sunday night with a boldstart founders and execs dinner where we talked about what’s next in cybersecurity with some of our portfolio companies like security scorecard , bigid , snyk , stealth co and many friends from the industry representing strategic partners and IT buyers. Which leads me to my next point.

Security 74

Security Artificial Inteligence Stealth SEC 74

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 4, 2024

Readers of VC Cafe will know that I’m a big fan of startup landscape s. On a high level: The Israeli AI startup ecosystem is booming, with over 2,150 active AI companies, representing ~30% of the local tech sector. Startups leveraging AI attracted over 60% of all capital raised in 2023. billion in venture funding.

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Israel Vertical Artificial Inteligence Generative AI 97

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 29, 2016

Before diving into the standard year-end predictions on the enterprise, I thought I would share some data on our firm and our founding teams from 2016: we welcomed 9 new enterprise founding teams to the portfolio including Workrails (started by venture partner Jeff Leventhal), BigID , Hypr , Init.ai , and 5 stealth companies.

Stealth 60

Stealth Canada Azure Architecture 60