Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. First in late-stage tech companies and then it will filter back to Growth and then A and ultimately Seed Rounds. In 2009 we could take a long time to review a deal.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

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. Firms will start to torture founders with endless diligence requests.

Early Stage 374

Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 374

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

The previous post described how China built its science and technology infrastructure. This post is about the how the Chinese government engineered technology clusters. Of all the Chinese government programs, the Torch Program is the one program that kick-started Chinese high-tech innovation and startups. Innovation Clusters.

Programming 287

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 287

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

In my 21 years as an entrepreneur, I would come up for air once a month to religiously read the Harvard Business Review. In the last decade it’s become clear that companies are facing continuous disruption from globalization, technology shifts, rapidly changing consumer tastes, etc. ” Groucho Marx. Go read it. Then go do it.

Technical Review 331

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 331

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Based on the final report for 2012 from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), it may appear that IPOs are back as a viable startup exit strategy. For the full year 2012, venture-backed initial public offerings raised $21.5

Venture Capital 252

Venture Capital IPO Elevator Pitch Initial Public Offering 252

View from Seed

APRIL 6, 2021

You are a native of NYC tech with a strong network. You have 4-6 years of professional experience as a technology operator, founder, or investor in New York. You have unbounded curiosity for emerging trends, a love for experimentation, and you’re always eager to dive into new products and technologies before others do.

Technical Review 317

Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage Cofounder 317

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan.

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 257

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

This post previously appeared in the Harvard Business Review. Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. The Alternative: Venture Studios.

Technical Cofounder 368

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 368

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

There has been much discussion in the past few years of the changing structure of the venture capital industry. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). The overall trends in our industry have breathed a new life into the venture capital industry. 2007 was the watershed year.

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

Growth will slow, partly due to internal limits and partly because the company is starting to bump up against the limits of the markets it serves.” He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 22, 2024

In March 2022 I wrote a description of the Quantum Technology Ecosystem. Just as a reminder, Quantum technologies are used in three very different and distinct markets: Quantum Computing , Quantum Communications and Quantum Sensing and Metrology. Different technical approaches (superconducting, photonics, cold atoms, etc.)

Technical Review 267

Technical Review Illinois Algorithm Software Review 267

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Intellectual Property 341

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 341

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

According to a Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with 90% of new ventures that don't attract investors failing within the first three years. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. Brad’s start in Venture Capital. Brad on blogging. was starting.

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series of posts and I need to file this one under both Raising Venture Capital and Startup Advice. I’m not even talking about your 12-page Powerpoint presentation that you need to raise venture capital or to talk with potential biz dev partners. Each quarter you should review your model.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

VC Cafe

MARCH 16, 2025

Mention that you do “Consumer tech” as a startup founder and you’d be limiting your funding options to one third of the venture capital funds (in Israel that figure is probably closer to 10%). Until now, consumer tech was perceived as a risky binary investment.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review B2C Generative AI IPO 78

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Professional investors and advisors, on the other hand, usually refuse to sign these agreements today due to the risk of litigation and administrative workload, and will walk away. If you are approaching a recognized venture capital group, or even an accredited angel investor, a non-disclosure agreement is counter-productive.

Non-disclosure Agreement 399

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 399

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Dino Vendetti a VC at Bay Partners, moved up to Bend, Oregon on a mission to engineer Bend into a regional technology cluster. Today with every city, state and country trying to build out a technology cluster, following Dino’s progress can provide others with a roadmap of what’s worked and what has not. Tech investing is risky.

Early Stage 295

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 295

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

View from Seed

JULY 6, 2020

You are a native of NYC tech with a strong network. You have 4-6 years of professional experience as a technology operator, founder, or investor in New York. You have unbounded curiosity for emerging trends, a love for experimentation, and you’re always eager to dive into new products and technologies before others do.

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Software Review Hiring Seed Stage 257

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 21, 2013

In the talk I reviewed the basic components of the Lean Startup and described how we teach it. I observed that now that we’ve built software to instrument and monitor the progress of new ventures (using LaunchPad Central ), that we are entering the world of evidence-based entrepreneurship and the Investment Readiness Level.

Video 288

Video Oakland Lean Venture Capital 288

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. You need to have passionate tech entrepreneurs who want to build businesses locally. The ingredients are all here.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2017

Are you looking to raise venture capital ? Business planning and raising venture capital go hand-in-hand. A business plan is required for attracting venture capital. These tips draw on Growthink’s decades of experience consulting to start-ups in the business planning and capital raising process.

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Business Plan Technical Review Private Placement 129

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Every potential early-stage Venture Capitalist should take a year and do it before he or she makes partner. Venture capital as a profession is less than half a century old. Market/technology acuity (patterns of success, domain expertise). venture/operating partners to get them into new industries. Here’s why.

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 334

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

——— I’m getting ready to go overseas to teach , and I’ve spent the last week reviewing several countries’ ambitious attempts to kick-start entrepreneurship. In Silicon Valley the equivalent is the journeyman coder or web designer who loves the technology, and takes coding and U/I jobs because it’s a passion.

Government 335

Government Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 335

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

Usually after a Monday partner meeting you get a pretty strong: Yes, term sheet coming No, sorry we’re passing Maybe, we need to do more due diligence / analysis / work I always counsel founders that “good news comes early” so if you haven’t heard by Tuesday at noon chances are it wasn’t likely a clean “yes.”

Technical Review 314

Technical Review Due Diligence Partner Term Sheet 314

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2021

Of course, we can’t eliminate the value of affordable office and meeting space, administrative support services and advanced communications technology to struggling entrepreneurs. Success in an incubator means likely access to venture capital, and connections to industry gurus and business opportunities. Facilities support.

Incubator 366

Incubator Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital 366

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

He comes from a background in venture capital from inside and outside the Valley, as well as entrepreneurship work with startup efforts around the world. I second his list of top innovation challenges and strategies to capitalize on untapped global startup opportunities: Create new markets rather than disrupt existing ones.

Global 345

Global Silicon Valley Marketing Indonesia 345

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

According to a Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with a majority of new ventures that don''t attract investors failing within the first three years. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Venture capital: it’s the jet fuel behind many of the most explosive startups turning them into household names. However, as the business landscape evolves at a breakneck pace, so too does the strategy of these financial titans, starting a whole new set of venture capital trends.

Venture Capital 148

Venture Capital Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage 148

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. It goes without saying that the shortening in time also was due to performance.

Las Vegas 396

Las Vegas St. Louis Southern California San Diego 396

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture.

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

In my 21 years as an entrepreneur, I would come up for air once a month to religiously read the Harvard Business Review. In the last decade it’s become clear that companies are facing continuous disruption from globalization, technology shifts, rapidly changing consumer tastes, etc. ” Groucho Marx. Go read it. Then go do it.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 223

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

Who else can provide context if your portfolio isn’t growing as quickly as your peer group, if they believe you paid too high a price on a deal, if they question your due diligence in a given situation or whatever critique they might offer? You need to embrace that there are good actors out there and bad actors.

Software Review 341

Software Review Customer Technical Review LP 341

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2010

If this isn’t you, we’d probably still have a look if you did something truly exception – probably at startup or tech firm. The chosen candidate will probably have worked for a very reputable firm that is either in technology, consulting, investment banking, media or a startup. Assisting on company due diligence.

Los Angeles 290

Los Angeles Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital 290

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2020

He comes from a background in venture capital from inside and outside the Valley, as well as entrepreneurship work with startup efforts around the world. I second his list of top innovation challenges and strategies to capitalize on untapped global startup opportunities: Create new markets rather than disrupt existing ones.

Silicon Valley 312

Silicon Valley Indonesia Venture Capital Global 312

VC Cafe

JANUARY 22, 2021

A few months ago, VC Cafe launched a series on startup engagement and outreach programs of large tech companies. Amazon Corporate Development – Notable acquisitions include Whole Foods ($13.7B), smart doorbell system Ring ($1.2B, 2018) and autonomous mobility technology Zoox ($1.2bn). AI startups in the Alexa Fund portfolio.

Technical Review 174

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Incubator 174