Steve Blank

APRIL 4, 2023

Simultaneously, new startups are forming, and venture capital is already pouring money into the field at an outstanding rate that will only accelerate the impact of this generation of AI. Goldman Sachs economists predict that 300 million jobs could be affected by the latest wave of AI. Welcome to our brave new world.

ChatGPT 424

ChatGPT Artificial Inteligence Intellectual Property API 424

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

That means that many companies are now forgoing the rush to go public (IPO), in favor of major equity investments from specialized venture capital funds, such as Japan’s SoftBank. These tolerate negative cash flows for growth. These have the vision and the resources to fund long-term digital success.

Software Review 355

Software Review Algorithm Global IPO 355

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

As Venture Capital emerged as an industry in the mid 1970’s, investors in venture-funded startups began to give stock options to all their employees. And Mark Suster of Upfront Capital has a great post that summarizes these changes. It’s called Growth capital. On its surface this was a pretty radical idea.

Stock Options 335

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 335

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2021

Success in an incubator means likely access to venture capital, and connections to industry gurus and business opportunities. About 80% of TechStars startup graduates go on to raise venture capital or a significant angel funding round, versus maybe 1% of all startups who seek funding. Follow-on funding and connections.

Incubator 366

Incubator Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital 366

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

Maintaining your team’s passion and freedom to focus first on innovating for customers are only a couple of the reasons for thinking hard before you seek money from crowdfunding, angel investors, venture capital organizations, or attempt to qualify for a public stock offering. Investors will become the toughest boss you ever had.

Bootstrapping 310

Bootstrapping Advisory Board Startup Venture Capital 310

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Venture capital is about backing the leaders of tomorrow who imagine the world as it should be and aren’t constrained by what it is today. As an industry we’re not always as good as we could be about our own “creative destruction” to create the tomorrow of venture capital.

Partner 361

Partner Management Cofounder San Francisco 361

View from Seed

APRIL 6, 2021

You have a deep desire to learn the venture capital business and are ready to hustle to meet the next great founder. You are a self-starter and enjoy approaching work independently without much direction. You act as an “ invited guest.”. You are hungry. You have an authentic passion for startups and a deep respect for entrepreneurship.

Technical Review 317

Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage Cofounder 317

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 22, 2024

Advances in materials science will drive down error rates Regional research consortiums Venture capital investment FOMO and financial engineering We talk a lot about qubits in this post. How many physical qubits do you need? As a reminder a qubit – is short for a quantum bit.

Technical Review 267

Technical Review Illinois Algorithm Software Review 267

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. Here are the key considerations from my perspective: Dealing with known or trusted investors and advisors.

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. I personally think it’s pretty healthy to see so much success in Venture Capital driven by relatively new market entrants. Looking Forward.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital China Technical Review Africa 313

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

Maintaining your team’s passion and freedom to focus first on innovating for customers are only a couple of the reasons for thinking hard before you seek money from crowdfunding, angel investors, venture capital organizations, or attempt to qualify for a public stock offering. Investors will become the toughest boss you ever had.

Cost 267

Cost Bootstrapping Advisory Board Startup 267

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2020

According to National Venture Capital Association statistics , only 16% of venture-backed startups recently used this alternative, due to high liability concerns, demanding shareholders, and high costs. IPO – public company initial public stock offering.

Exit Strategy 376

Exit Strategy Startup Private Equity Equity 376

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

LPs Haven’t Yet Grokked the Long Game While the VC community realized 5ish years ago that short-termism in venture capital didn’t make sense and has capitalized on the scale advantages of letting companies go long, the LP community by and large hasn’t totally grokked this.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital LP Valuation Later Stage 363

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

While I recognize that there continues to be a shortage of venture capital for new entrepreneurs, compared to the demand, don’t succumb to the temptation to take funds from investors that you are not totally comfortable with.

Technical Review 345

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 345

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, crowdfunding still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined.

Accredited Investor 352

Accredited Investor Startup SEC Equity 352

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

The venture capital system promises both founder and investor that they can be successful while getting what they want. The post Venture Capital: A System Built On Trust appeared first on Young Upstarts. It does this by making money the medium: Investors have money, founders need money.

Venture Capital 278

Venture Capital Founder Silicon Valley Startup 278

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2021

No real investor or venture capital firm asks for money from the company they are intending to invest in. Here someone who is not a registered financial broker contacts you on the Internet, tells you about all the people they know with money, then turns around to ask for a “retainer” or fee to cover their time and efforts.

Technical Review 371

Technical Review Due Diligence Non-disclosure Agreement Term Sheet 371

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.

Technical Review 416

Technical Review Pre-Money Valuation San Francisco Valuation 416

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a nonprofit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process. This could work to get you legal or accounting services, but won’t get you cash to pay employee salaries.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

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

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.

Venture Capital 350

Venture Capital Cofounder Early Stage Seed Stage 350

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The bad news is that the valley’s depth before real revenue, considering the high costs of marketing, manufacturing, and sales, can still add up to $500K, on up to $1 million or more, before you will be attractive to angel investors or venture capital. It’s the time when you create tremendous value out of nothing.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2020

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, it still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined.

Accredited Investor 324

Accredited Investor Entrepreneur SEC Equity 324

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.

Early Stage 374

Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 374

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

While I recognize that there continues to be a shortage of venture capital for new entrepreneurs, compared to the demand, don’t succumb to the temptation to take funds from investors that you are not totally comfortable with.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 310

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2022

If you need venture capital, maybe you need to spend more time in Silicon Valley or Boston. Fortunately, you can develop this skill. Location and luck: right place at the right time. I’m a proponent of the old adage that you make your own luck in business.

Silicon Valley 325

Silicon Valley Angel Investor Technical Review Boston 325

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

Artificial intelligence continues to be a bright spot in the world of venture capital. In Q3 of 2024, AI-related startups landed $19 billion USD, which equates to 28% of total venture dollars.

Artificial Inteligence 99

Artificial Inteligence Engineer Software Software Engineering 99

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

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. I have found that no amount of personal or investor money will create or substitute for self-leadership and business leadership.

Leadership 285

Leadership Reputation Venture Capital Global 285

Hunter Walker

OCTOBER 14, 2024

HW: Sanzo was founded, and thrived, through a time where traditional venture capital firms got excited about – and then became more disillusioned – with DTC brands. What was it like seeing some folks raise tens of millions of dollars, and where has your financing mostly come from?

New York City 102

New York City Hockey Stick Distribution Angel Investor 102

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 31, 2023

Raising venture capital? Fundraising has been significantly harder last year is that venture capitalists have become more risk-averse. The post How To Secure Venture Capital Funding Even If You’re A New Entrepreneur appeared first on Young Upstarts.

Venture Capital 245

Venture Capital Security Entrepreneur Startup 245

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. Here are the key considerations from my perspective: Dealing with known or trusted investors and advisors.

Non-disclosure Agreement 254

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 254

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

According to National Venture Capital Association statistics , only 16% of venture-backed startups recently used this alternative, due to high liability concerns, demanding shareholders, and high costs. IPO – public company initial public stock offering.

Exit Strategy 264

Exit Strategy Private Equity Equity Technical Review 264

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Israel continues to be a relatively liquid market Another strong indicator for the strength of the Israeli startup ecosystem has been exits/ liquidity, especially given the shortage of exits in the venture capital industry. For example, In the last 30 days Salesforce acquired three Israeli startups for a combined $2.6

Israel 183

Israel Technical Review Startup Generative AI 183

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

Aspect Pre-Seed Round Seed Round Stage of Financing Earliest stage, before seed round Follows the pre-seed round, before Series A Purpose and Use of Funds Validating the business idea, conducting market research, developing a prototype or MVP Scaling the validated idea, further product development, initial marketing Typical Investors Founders, friends (..)

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186