Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. LPs Still Believe Strongly in Venture Capital as a Diverse Source of Returns.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Most of the venture capital firms covered in TechCrunch and other tech publications compete for a spot on the cap table of the hottest Bay Area, New York or Los Angeles companies of the moment. Today, Washington, DC-based Revolution is announcing its latest fund. Revolution Ventures managing partner David Golden.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding Activity 211

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

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. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. So why does a VC ask you?

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued? How our VC Firms Like Ours Organizing to Meet the Challenges?

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

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?

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

One of the least understood parts of the venture capital industry and venture capital firms is how investment decisions actually get made. You’d be surprised how many firms are “dictator VCs” – even those that don’t formally acknowledge it internally. ” Some firms are collegiate.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Startup Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series about Raising Venture Capital. A few years ago it became fashionable for large VC’s to do seed funding. If the large VC doesn’t agree to do your A round then you’re in a bit of trouble. If a VC term sheet comes in they begin their due diligence process.

Seed Funding 283

Seed Funding Venture Capital Funding Software Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2022

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according to a classic Crunchbase article. The large investment amounts preferred by VCs are no longer needed to launch winners.

Guide 136

Guide Venture Capital Funding Class 136

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

This is the final part of a 3-part series on the major changes in the structure of the software & the venture capital industries. The result was a massive increase in startups & a whole group of new funding sources: both angels & “micro VCs&#. But … Downsizing Venture Capital.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Capital Cloud Computing Marketing 289

socalTECH

JANUARY 15, 2014

San Diego-based Qualcomm Ventures , the venture investment arm of Qualcomm, has kicked off its annual venture competition, the QPrize , dangling seven $100,000 regional prizes and a $150,000 grand prize. Qualcomm said the deadline for the startup competition this year is April 18th. READ MORE>>.

Competition 183

Competition Startup San Diego Venture Capital 183

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

If you’ve read any of my ongoing series on fund raising from venture capitalist (episode 1?— ?controlling controlling your psychology ) you no doubt have heard me say that raising capital is a sales & marketing process. VC Partnerships Start by understanding how many partners are at the firm you are approaching.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

In case you hadn’t noticed, the key elements of a competitive advantage for your business have changed as businesses move online, and your domain is instantly global. As a business advisor, I have to recommend even to established companies that they review and revamp their competitive strategy now, even if it appears to be working today.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Custom 142

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We had a special edition of This Week in Venture Capital this week shooting out of the Next New Networks offices in New York. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital. Topics we discussed in the first 45 minutes of the video include: What is VC like in NY? The Spark Capital website (it’s one of my favorites).

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

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.

Capital 138

Capital Marketing Ideas Venture Capital 138

InfoChachkie

MAY 22, 2012

The steps outlined below represent an ideal approach to raising capital from sophisticated investors. You might be at Step 2 with one VC and Step 3 with another. VCs collude all the time, it is only fair that entrepreneurs compare notes every now and again as well.”. Even the most jaded VC cannot resist authentic flattery.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Capital Research Custom 236

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds. How important is this issue for your business?

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 15, 2012

One the most frequent questions asked of me by entrepreneurs is, "How can I become a Venture Capitalist?" The inquiry is common because being a VC is (to an entrepreneur, at least) a sexy job. I define a "VC" as, "a professional investor who deploys third-party funds into relatively early-stage companies."

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest RSS 242

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. I believe these VC funds have suffered some amount of reputation fall out.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Invest 265

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according the Crunchbase. Individual angel investors and crowdfunding have been adding to the momentum, some say exceeding VCs in total amount invested.

Funding 125

Funding Venture Capital Startup Class 125

Xconomy

JULY 19, 2019

—San Diego’s AON Devices was among 10 startups selected to compete at a recent pitch competition hosted by the corporate venture capital arm of Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM ). Let’s catch up with the latest tech news in San Diego.

San Diego 88

San Diego Artificial Inteligence Venture Capital Funding 88

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 26, 2020

“Kobe was loved in Los Angeles,” wrote Mark Suster , managing partner of the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Upfront Ventures , in a private message to TechCrunch. billion investment vehicle that was launched in partnership with the private equity fund, Permira, according to a report in USA Today.

Venture Capital 359

Venture Capital Los Angeles Legalzoom Calabasas 359

socalTECH

APRIL 27, 2012

Six companies started by students at the University of Southern California's Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at USC Marshall have been awarded a total of $50,000 in seed funding, after competing in the center's New Venture Seed Competition held this week.

Seed Funding 244

Seed Funding USC Competition Funding 244

socalTECH

APRIL 3, 2015

San Diego-based Qualcomm said Thursday that it is doubling the size of its QPrize annual investment funding competition, and will now award $250,000 in convertible note financing to regional winners, with an additional $250,000 to grand prize winners. This will be the fifth year of the competition. READ MORE>>.

Competition 100

Competition San Diego Venture Capital Invest 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

We started this week’s show with a Q&A session where I answered viewer questions about fund raising and the VC industry. Heck, stick around and watch me discuss the seed funding debate that is going on right now and what is happening in the VC industry overall. If you watch the video I go into greater detail.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

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 Identify the right people in the right venture firms.

Venture Capital 101

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 101

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-).

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

socalTECH

DECEMBER 23, 2019

Today, we share the thoughts of Kelly Perdew , the founder and Managing Director of Moonshots Capital (www.moonshotscapital.com). We have invested in 13 companies out of our Fund 1 so far and are more bullish than ever on the amazing entrepreneurs we are meeting and the companies we are helping them build. Since 2010, $6.3B

Capital 100

Capital Technical Review Truecar Venture Capital 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

San Diego-based Qualcomm said Tuesday that it is launching its second annual venture investment competition, the Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition. According to the firm, this year's competition will provide up to $750,000 in seed funding to entrepreneurs working on mobile ventures. READ MORE>>.

Competition 154

Competition Seed Funding Venture Capital San Diego 154

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

It’s why raising a round of capital often feels like a hollow victory because it almost feels like a temporary reprieve from the Grim Reaper and in a way every new round just sets the bar higher to clear for the next round of financing or the hope of reaching profitability. Fund raising is hard for everybody.

Funding 238

Funding Venture Capital Startup Course 238

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

Fund raising. But it’s critical for your business, for you as a leader and people who excel at fund raising have an extreme advantage over those who do not. As a VC I also have to fund raise every three years and these posts 100% apply to VCs raising money, too. Below is the outline Upfront.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2010

While the amounts were down, the number of startups that took slices of the pie went up by 9 percent (780 total), perhaps signaling that investors are trying to be more economical with their funds. Despite the third-quarter funding drop, though, funding for the full year still looks to be higher than it was in 2009.

Venture Capital 90

Venture Capital Capital Startup Summary 90

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

In the VC insider baseball world a discussion has gone on about “VC platforms” over the past 5 or so years. While firms define platforms differently, let’s just say they are the services that a VC offers outside of investment capital and partner time on boards or providing intros.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Platform Startup Resource 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 24, 2015

I recently interviewed Matt Mazzeo of Lowercase Capital. By now most of you know that Chris Sacca invested in what is now thought to be one of the best performing VC funds of all time having invested an $8.4 million fund in: Uber, Instagram, Docker and Twitter, amongst others.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Funding RSS Technical Review 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and I’ve become fond of saying “if I had a dollar for every person who told me just how much they loooooved Kara Nortman, I’d have a 10x fund.” So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. I’m only 52!

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311