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 Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

I was on This Week in Venture Capital (TWiVC) again this week with Jason Calacanis. You can watch this week’s TWiVC episode by clicking on the link and my summary notes are below. {if I found this investment strange since normally VC’s hate to bet on gaming companies. In my mind, not a typical VC investment.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Capital Google Platform 271

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). per year.

Venture Capital 241

Venture Capital Technical Review Southern California Company 241

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. I just want to figure out what a fair valuation is.&# I figured all the VC’s talked so we should. But this example above is all entrepreneur math, not the VC’s. million.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 18, 2015

There is a lot of uncertainty about the state of the private, high-growth technology markets and the venture capital markets that underpin them. Perhaps I would call it “Mourning in VC” as in mourning for the days of rational behavior. Followed by a drastic drop in prices as a selloff occurs” A surge in prices.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Platform Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

My partnership was pretty bearish and scratched our heads a bit at price tags. I spent my days meeting companies, figuring out what areas of the market interested me and trying to get a sense for how VCs thought about fair valuations. tl;dr summary. VCs were very active in this period. M&A returned. We did not.

Marketing 305

Marketing Venture Capital Funding Technical Review 305

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

But VC is like congress. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.” As you can see from the chart their data suggests there are about $25 billion of VC distributions per year in the US. Their data looks at tech VCs.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. This is not just the perspective of a VC although I can’t say I have zero VC bias. This is not just the perspective of a VC although I can’t say I have zero VC bias. Executive Summary. Fund raising is bloody hard. Why buy me?

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. What is the True Sentiment of VCs? It pains me to see the typical (and predictable) responses on Twitter, “VCs want prices to drop!”

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

cash & unallocated stock options) Should we raise capital, from whom, how much and at what price? kind of like a board for a VC firm). Whenever I’ve faced my toughest moments or biggest decisions as a VC firm, having trust with my LPs and vice versa goes a long way. The founders of a company are fighting.

Startup 269

Startup Venture Capital Layoffs Resource 269

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

If ten percent of these numbers, multiplied by your average product price, will get you the revenue you need to scale your business, you will get the love you need from angel and venture capital investors.

Statistics 120

Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

I’ve written about the topic of convertible debt at length before specifically about how angels & entrepreneurs should think about pricing. Convertible debt is an investment that “converts&# into equity in the future usually at a discount to your next funding round price and sometimes has a “cap&# (maximum price).

Equity 319

Equity Pricing Venture Capital Entrepreneur 319

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. With this model, a startup pre-sells their product early, at a cheaper price, in exchange for a pledge.

Funding 141

Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There has been much discussion about VCs doing seed funding in the past year. I’ve written about it myself (Is VC Seed Funding Dead?) and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). Short summary of my posts: 1. There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2.

Seed Funding 298

Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off. Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. ” Harsh, but reality.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

And yes, VC’s, too. We had the final terms of our agreement fairly well boxed in within a range of about 5-7% on price and within 30 days on move-in date. I obviously preferred the lowest price and I wanted the latest move-in date. She told me, “start with the price you want but the move in date he wants.&#.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2020

If ten percent of these numbers, multiplied by your average product price, will get you the revenue you need to scale your business, you will get the love you need from angel and venture capital investors.

Marketing 157

Marketing Statistics Research Report 157

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

People like Vinod Khosla, Keith Rabois, Brian Singerman, Marc Andreessen and others have all made head-scratching private comments to me that sounded so foreign to what I thought other people were doing in VC that they caused me to challenge and ultimately change some of my own views. You’ll have to make the hard judgment call.

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

I like the summary of the competitive reality in a new book, “ Rethinking Competitive Advantage: New Rules for the Digital Age ,” by Ram Charan, who relates a wealth of current experience from global clients: Customers expect a personalized experience. Features, availability, and brand are just the price of entry.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Custom 142

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. Why Shouldn’t Most Services Businesses Raise VC? It may be the right answer for you.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2019

It’s encouraging to know that there are still great VC firms like KV that are looking to make these short of big bets on shaping the future. You can have a 2-hour debate on important topics including pricing, product features, key hires, whatever and then still go away from the board meeting and have your executive team make decisions.

Startup 234

Startup Slides Venture Capital Course 234

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. They might be as hard as raising VC. They are calling cards.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2017

of all Statistics are Made Up ” My summary is an example I use often: when I consumed reports from Goldman Sachs about the future predictions of mobile phone penetration for a report I was working on for a client I would call the analyst to ask how she calculated her data because I wanted to be sure of my conclusions.

Venture Capital 182

Venture Capital Statistics Writing Report 182

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2013

In part two I talked about how to ensure that your professional services practice doesn’t take over your software company although I’m on record that there is nothing wrong with a services company as long as you’re not VC backed. I would personally attend the summary sessions to hear directly what their major requests were.

Custom 297

Custom Customer Pricing Startup 297

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 22, 2011

If that bond isn’t there or if it feels like I’m in a bidding process for the highest price, I might as well be Wells Fargo. If you’re a startup and you haven’t read my summary of Clay Christensen’s seminal work please do. Often it turns out that the market is greatly expanded by having a lower price point new entrant.

Startup 386

Startup Pricing Marketing Product 386

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. In Summary. And that leads me to today’s post.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2015

. “the ecommerce company gained fauxmentum by raising artificially high amounts of venture capital and spent lavishly on customer acquisition despite long payback periods and questionable LTV” __. We live in heady times. But as with any sales advice, revenue diversity matters.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Custom Customer 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

If ten percent of these numbers, multiplied by your average product price, will get you the revenue you need to scale your business, you will get the love you need from angel and venture capital investors.

Research 87

Research Marketing Statistics Report 87

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Here is a summary of the key terms to expect on the term sheet, or the contract between the founder and investor: Consideration given for the money invested. For later investments, the price is equity, with a percentage of the owner stock to be assigned to the investor. Venture capital investors normally insist on this option.

Demand 105

Demand Startup Equity Invest 105

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. As an early-stage VC I love this phase. presented pricing challenges when compared to a whole new set of offline competitors we didn’t know well. We built a strong brand in the city and acquired a ton of organic traffic.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Custom Customer 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

All of that are in this week’s episode of This Week in VC. Summary notes, as always, provide below. He said it was better than the Yellow Pages because he would provide pricing transparency. To say he has had an impact on the web would be an understatement. It was a pleasure to write them myself. Overture (Goto.com).

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

InfoChachkie

JUNE 27, 2011

In particular, Marcia Brown’s 1947 retelling of the classic French folktale Stone Soup is a veritable playbook for how to start a venture. Plot Summary. Your child will also learn the value of a tangible representation of a venture. As you accomplish each milestone, send the VC a brief email update.

Entrepreneur 270

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Resource 270

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Or read the quick, informative summary below the image! What better than to have capital from somebody who has actually done it in the trenches? Matt’s commitment to re-investing in tech startups is reminiscent to this great Fred Wilson post of “recycling capital. &#. Here’s a summary of our interview.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Custom Customer 304

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2014

If 10 percent of these numbers, multiplied by your average product price, will get you the revenue you need to scale your business, you will get the love you need from angel and venture capital investors.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Statistics Research 97

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

There’s plenty of capital out there, but there’s also a lot of competition for startup funding. According to Shayne, only 1 out of 1000 business plans might get VC funding. His best advice: take capital where you can get it. VCs (invest other people’s money by raising funds from institutional sources). Crowdfunding.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40

InfoChachkie

JUNE 23, 2011

What follows is a summary which paraphrases Jason’s responses. You guys did a lot of self-funding before you approached the venture capital community. Value Prop Twitter Style : DataPop simplifies the lives of marketers and gives them the tools they need to build ads that people love to click on. It was a typical storyline.

Yahoo 210

Yahoo Startup Advertising Summary 210

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2016

If ten percent of these numbers, multiplied by your average product price, will get you the revenue you need to scale your business, you will get the love you need from Angel and venture capital investors.

Marketing 59

Marketing Startup Statistics Research 59