Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

I recently sat down with Matt Coffin , the founder of LowerMyBills, which sold for $400 million but was very nearly a bankruptcy only a few years early, and talked “startups.&#. Matt is one of the most transparent, focused & honest startup guys you’ll meet. Or read the quick, informative summary below the image!

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels. Personally visit another startup funded by this investor. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 310

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

I can’t say it much simpler than this: “What if I took some of the worst, most egregious terms in a standard term sheet and made them the defacto standard in most convertible debt deals? Let me explain it more clearly in equity terms. Some thoughts on raising angel money. That’s right.

Ratchet 354

Ratchet Liquidation Preference Equity Stock 354

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March There was some really great content in June. It shows a lack of interest.

Cofounder 175

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2012

Had he not heard about our commitment it’s not clear whether he would be rushing to submit a term sheet. But for me I care too much about my long-term reputation. One of the best known VCs in Silicon Valley had decided to come in at the last minute and fund the company even though a term sheet was already signed.

Term Sheet 356

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Reputation Partner 356

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

We had many term sheets (it was 1999 and we had a pulse) and we were deciding which one to take. We were trying to optimize around a few criteria: price, size of round, number of syndicate partners and, of course, terms. We ended up agreeing a term sheet for $16.5 6 weeks’ later he didn’t have other term sheets.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Angel Investor 380

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2013

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 242

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Term Sheet 242

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2009

You finally get your first term sheet. They’re giving me 48 hours to sign the term sheet or it expires? Will they really pull the term sheet if I don’t sign? Will they really pull the term sheet if I don’t sign? First, every term sheet has an expiration date in it.

Term Sheet 197

Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital 197

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2012

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 245

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Startup 245

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Bankruptcy 296

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels. Personally visit another startup funded by this investor. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 257

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Every town has firms that focus on startups – find them.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

“My startup business was acquired and I worked for the company that bought us; which was a public company called Ameridata that bought about 40 companies in about three years. Product Management – Brad and Mark discuss the role of Product Managers in Startups. On the Startup Visa Program. Is that when it became big?

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

After you have successfully attracted angels or venture capital with your business case, your million dollar product idea, and you have a signed term sheet, there is still one more hurdle to overcome before investors write the check. This is the dreaded “due diligence” process.

Technical Review 237

Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property Private Equity 237

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

You race back to the office to tell everybody how well it went and you wait for the follow-up call to have a partners’ meeting or talk about term sheets or at least dip into due diligence. The assistant tried to end the meeting twice but was shoooshed away. What do I do now? You’re in control.

Software Review 381

Software Review Churn Rate Due Diligence New York 381

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

Many companies need venture capital funding, including startups. It is a type of financing that investors can provide to startups and small businesses which are believed to have the potential for success in the long term. Understand VC Term Sheets. What is Venture Capital Funding? What is Venture Capital Funding?

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Security 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2009

Ability to Pivot – I don’t like to invest in people that I’ve never met before who come through my office wanting to have a term sheet within 30 days. Yes, there is the mythical company you all heard about that walked into Sequoia and had a term sheet 24 hours later. I’m sure that happens.

Entrepreneur 291

Entrepreneur Term Sheet Early Stage Affiliate 291

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2010

I was raising money for my second company and having been burned by term sheets on my first company I was eager to get myself knowledgeable before signing up to take VC again. I started reading Brad’s “term sheet&# series. had a great evening talking tech and startup.

Social Network 347

Social Network Networking Southern California Term Sheet 347

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

And I know many stories of Benchmark or similar investors writing term sheets after the first meeting. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice startup technology vc venture capital. I know that in a booming market people fund quickly. But I also read stories about people winning the lottery. Neither is the norm.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

If you’re a pure startup and haven’t raised any money – you might change the life of every person you hire. You can also spend time with a newer startup helping them navigate the world of product management, venture capital or team building. His term sheet series helped me at a time when I needed help.

Europe 352

Europe France San Francisco Chicago 352

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

When you finally get a term sheet you get three. When a VC submits a term sheet all of those angels & seed funds who wanted to fund you “once you got a lead” are your new best friends. When you get your term sheet your existing investors suddenly fight over prorata rights.

Term Sheet 232

Term Sheet France Technical Review Restful 232

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

Many term sheets ensued. I had that against the backdrop of several term sheets. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice VC Industry startup technology vc venture capital. year old boy and another one due in 1 months. So by this point I hadn’t had an exit. And then the offer came in to buy my company.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

Because the hundreds of millions that it takes to greenlight a theatrical film could never be absorbed by a startup and because they way we experience media & characters has evolved dramatically over the past 20 years to a point where the starting point for media is often digital, gaming or even graphic novel oriented.

Technical Review 373

Technical Review North America Los Angeles Cofounder 373

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 31, 2020

Venture capital investment is one of the top places startups look out for when seeking funding for their business alongside other popular options like angel investing and crowdfunding. Therefore, startups can expect investors to make significant adjustments based on lessons learned last year, which are rather harsh.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Startup Term Sheet 175

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

But Cafepress’s most memorable moment was when the founders used a “Lessons Learned” VC pitch to raise their second round of funding and got an 8-digit term sheet that same afternoon. The presentation didn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or Customer Development. Here’s how they did it.

Venture Capital 245

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 245

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

When you run a startup you’re always on borrowed time. There is no way to run a startup business without accepting at least a little bit of cognitive dissonance as you persuade yourself that one way or the other you’ll find a way to make it work while suppressing the very real possibility that you may not. Knowing this is valuable.

Burn Rate 238

Burn Rate Term Sheet CTO Hire Fractional CTO 238

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

During the final pre-term sheet due diligence we discovered that the CEO had had a felony arrest for a significant crime that he hadn’t disclosed to us. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. Another CEO presented to us from a company that was growing at a tremendously fast clip.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Due Diligence Entrepreneur Early Stage 284

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2012

I’ve started a series on negotiations in startups. The very first time I ever negotiated a term sheet (and then legal docs for closing the round) I found the experience very frustrating. He marks up the term sheet. Seems like the term sheet will be done in a day or so. Nor did their lawyer.

Term Sheet 301

Term Sheet Ireland Cofounder Finance 301

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Term Sheet 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2010

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 229

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Angel Investor 229

Gust

DECEMBER 27, 2012

The second reason is that investors want to know that YOU believe in your own startup…and the best way for you to demonstrate that is to show that you have personally put your own money where your mouth is. Start by letting absolutely everyone know that you’ve got a great startup looking for early investors. ” 10.

Software Review 164

Software Review Term Sheet Technical Review Angel Investor 164

VC Cafe

AUGUST 11, 2022

And so a large part of the VCs time is focused on the question ‘who should I invest in’ Equally important though, is the question of why should a founder/ startup take your money. If you agree that the top founders are likely to receive multiple term-sheets, then the importance of founder-investor fit increases.

Founder 187

Founder Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital 187

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

Remember a term sheet agreement is not a deal until the check clears. However, there is no set pattern of terms an entrepreneur might be able to anticipate from an angel, either. Your best strategy is to bring your own term sheet to the negotiation as a starting point. The check won’t clear in time to save you.

Term Sheet 227

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

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.”

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 270

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2012

Remember a term sheet agreement is not a deal until the check clears. However, there is no set pattern of terms an entrepreneur might be able to anticipate from either. Your best strategy is to bring your own term sheet to the negotiation as a starting point.

Term Sheet 223

Term Sheet Pre-Money Valuation Due Diligence Angel Investor 223