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.

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Seed Capital Seed Stage Cofounder Founder 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. In sharing them, I hope you can create a deck that’s better informed, more compelling, and more effective at raising capital for your venture.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Seed Stage Boston Startup 120

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

I suspect that the 18-month rule originated because that’s the approximate average time it takes for startups to reach an important value-inflection milestone. Yet the next round of capital is going to be based on what was accomplished, certainly not by how much time elapsed. Startups are hard. Don’t raise as much.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Seed Stage Demand Finance 120

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

If the goal of the startup is that you know you want to go as big as possible from the beginning — “unicorn or bust,” so to speak — then raise as much capital as soon as you are able to successfully do so. Do you have the experience, reputation, and network that make it relatively easy to raise seed capital?

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Seed Stage Dilution Networking 120

View from Seed

JANUARY 5, 2015

As a reminder, you can find all our startup resources here.). Note that this list was created specifically with seed-stage startups in mind. While it may be somewhat useful for later-stage companies, seed is our entire focus here at NextView Ventures and, predictably, on The View From Seed.

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Entrepreneur Seed Stage Venture Capital 120

David Teten

JULY 10, 2019

Do you have a great team at your seed startup, but your product just isn’t working? Would you like to have a salary from day one that you work full-time on your startup? We are a nonpartisan, bipartisan startup of concerned Americans. This work is unpaid, as with any other startup at the pre-seed stage.

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

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. based Angel capital with early stage technology companies in Israel, and do so in a way that substantially mitigates the risk of seed stage investing.

Israel 106

Israel Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage 106

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. Seed stage companies just aren’t announcing their rounds anymore.

Seed Stage 201

Seed Stage Stealth Seed Capital Later Stage 201

View from Seed

DECEMBER 10, 2014

He is currently a second year student at Harvard Business School and will be focused on supporting the early-stage startup community in Boston and its schools. This is his first post to The View From Seed. There’s been a lot of discussion lately about startup fundraising by graduates of various business schools.

Boston 328

Boston Seed Stage San Francisco Startup 328

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. Lower-Than-Market Value.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

*This post is part of our “pitch deck” series where we dissect the seed stage pitch deck and discuss the ideal flow for a pitch. Now it’s time to set the stage with the early traction you have. Seed stage VCs are realistic about how much traction a very raw company might have.

Seed Stage 149

Seed Stage B2B Seed Capital Revenue 149

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. Recently, we looked at our own portfolio at NextView Ventures to dig a little deeper on how startups actually raise that next round of financing. More on these below.). There was no meaningful difference.

Syndication 333

Syndication Syndicate Seed Stage Startup 333

Hippoland

DECEMBER 15, 2015

From my purview at 500 Startups in talking with many seed investors – both angels and VCs – this is what I predict will happen in 2016. Note: these are my opinions and not my employer’s): 1) Raising seed capital from VCs who invest in all stages will become challenging. Image credit: Giphy.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Angel Investor Bootstrapping Startup 48

Gust

MARCH 11, 2014

I’ve divided the companies into cohorts by the year they raised their seed investment. The chart shows the narrow funnel seed stage companies must pass through to raise a series A. First, the number of seed investments in the Crunchbase data has increased by 4x in 4 years.

Seed Stage 169

Seed Stage Seed Capital Startup Green 169

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Almost two years ago, in a private/closed meeting with K9 Ventures’ LPs only, I claimed that: What was being referred to in the press as the “Series A Crunch” was not because fewer Series A deals were being done, but because there were too many Seed deals being done. The risk here is what I refer to as the curse of over-capitalization.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

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. and Path Intelligence.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

Because of both lean startup principles and a thriving community of pay-it-forward individuals, we can all now build a little, learn a little, and then repeat. We want to create the go-to hub for entrepreneurs and startup teams going from zero to one in absolutely anything important. A look at actual startups’ funnels).

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Seed Capital Syndication Syndicate 120

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Today, NextView Ventures is excited to release a pillar project in our Growth Guides series: pitch deck templates for raising seed capital. These help address a common question which we frequently receive from entrepreneurs about how to create startup pitch decks for this crucial financial milestone.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Startup Seed Capital Audience 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2012

When a company is at its earliest seed stage, the terms tend to be the least complex. You can end up becoming very frustrated with the investors, or cause the venture to fail if you run out of seed capital before the angel round can be completed. Not allowing enough time is one of the major mistakes made by entrepreneurs.

Term Sheet 223

Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Due Diligence Angel Investor 223

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

When a company is at its earliest seed stage, the terms tend to be the least complex. You can end up becoming very frustrated with the investors, or cause the venture to fail if you run out of seed capital before the angel round can be completed. Tags: entrepreneur startup angel investment term sheet business.

Term Sheet 227

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

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

Additionally, funds such as Foundry Group and Google Ventures have taken their own approaches – the former creating a separate early stage entity , the latter encouraging their seed stage partners to create standalone personal syndicates. 1) The International Dealflow Syndicate. 2) The Bundled Expertise Syndicate.

Syndication 100

Syndication Syndicate South America Cap Table 100

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

One of the things we frequently discuss with founders is how to interpret and manage their dialogue with VCs when raising capital. We’ve written before on how to research partners , how to pitch the right investor at a given firm, and how to raise seed capital , generally speaking.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Due Diligence Seed Stage Seed Capital 120

Haystack

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

What I do feel deeply, however, is that we all in the early-stage startup ecosystem are likely being a bit too over-protective. For any startup selling an annual license, the deal may not get signed right away. For any investor raising their own funds, you may have to chase down capital calls for each investment.

Seed Stage 76

Seed Stage Seed Capital Equity Europe 76

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

I recently got together with Aaron Shechet and an early stage startup to discuss the direction the company might want to take. We have a number of startups (or pre-startups) that we are helping get launched. Any thoughts on my recent post Startup Metrics ? Any thoughts on my recent post Startup Metrics ?

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Southern California Startup SEO 150

Gust

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

How to finance a new seed-stage startup? ” Ressi in particular seems to be passionate about removing the “debt” component from convertible debt seed financing transactions. Convertible debt? Convertible equity? As of August 2010, Paul Graham famously proclaimed , “Convertible notes have won.

Finance 134

Finance Convertible Security Equity Seed Stage 134

Business Plan Blog

JANUARY 2, 2014

government’s long standing restrictions on fundraising has given life to a new type of financing called crowdfunding that allows Angel and other early stage investors to quickly assemble a group of investors over the internet. While startups are still limited by the types of investors they can take money from (i.e. Startup Funding'

Angel Groups 51

Angel Groups Accredited Investor Angel Investor Due Diligence 51

Rob Go

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

I was surprised to find that it has been more than two years since my post summarizing the state of the seed stage market, and trying to bring a balanced view on the rise of Super Angels and Micro-VC’s. The venture capital market continues to be in transition, and a lot of changes have occurred in the early stages of the market.

Seed Stage 55

Seed Stage Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Early Stage 55

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

Startup funding is largely driven by The Golden Rule: He who has the gold, makes the rules. Let’s face it, the rules for getting a startup funded at the seed stage aren’t very clear. Note: When I say “seed stage startup,” I’m specifically referring to software/app startups that are eitherpre-product or early product.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 100

View from Seed

APRIL 23, 2015

In the startup world, one POTAJ that’s easy and worthwhile to defend is the need to focus on building great products and innovative technology instead of trying to over-sell lousy solutions. Note that many were included in our pitch deck templates for raising seed capital. You can find those here. ). Accidental VC'

Founder 120

Founder Distribution Viral Seed Stage 120