Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2013

I spent countless hours with VC firms, startups & LPs (the people who invest in VC firms). On my first real day back the first thought I have is that most entrepreneurs don’t manage their VC relationships as well as they could. And it would well be worth your while to broaden your relationships within your VC firm.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital Summary Organization Entrepreneur 309

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

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

MAY 13, 2018

I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. The typical VC process is as follows: They say there are three rules in property: Location, location, location. Of course there’s no exact number of VCs you should meet?—?these Same with VC. these are simply guidelines. To be clear?—?your

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

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. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

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

JULY 25, 2011

tl;dr version: If you’re an entrepreneur or VC or will be working in this industry - buy this. When I first started as a startup CEO in 1999 there were no guides on raising venture capital. 3) VCs are anal about things like voting thresholds, seniority of their stock, protective provisions, etc.

Venture Capital 304

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Guide Blogging 304

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

I recently appeared on Fox Business News covering the topic of raising Venture Capital. If you’re in the market or thinking about VC in the future the following video may be of interest to you – click here to view. If you want to learn more about “Pitching a VC&# make sure to check out the entire series here.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Startup Summary Social Network 210

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back. Back to VCs, Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still the most active. So what can you do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue? Overall, investors put $7.5 That represents a $1.5

Venture Capital 93

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 93

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As noted in Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Pitch Their Ideas To Venture Capitalists , most sophisticated investors place their bets on people rather than opportunities. Financials.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

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

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know.

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 5, 2019

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 -- San Diego FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop. At this San Diego Event, we will be showcasing some of the newest early-stage venture funds and angel groups in the San Diego area! We're doing it again! All of the Investors will get your company description and contact info!

San Diego 100

San Diego Venture Capital Angel Summary 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. I wrote the summary notes in this blog post. I funded them 8 weeks later.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. I'm a huge fan of this innovation. and Half.com. Investing Strategy.

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 284

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

Had a great chat with Jim Armstrong who is a General Partner at Clearstone Venture Partners today on TWiVC. It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. Some summary notes are below.

Clearstone 236

Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

I recently got an email from a friend who had been approached by a well known VC. I’m an investor at [Big Name, Large Fund VC] and recently came across [Your Company]. They are at the tops of their classes and want to get into private equity or venture capital some day.

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Berkonomics

JANUARY 14, 2021

If you seek funds from an organized investment group such as an angel fund, venture capital entity, or even an investment club, the first thing you want to do is to find one person to buy into your vision, become excited by your enthusiasm and be willing to become the internal champion for your fund-raising effort.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review Tech Coast Angels Summary Email 156

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

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

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

VCs strangely never seem to weigh in on other VC funds. As an entrepreneur I never really knew what to make of VC return data. But more importantly, VC returns are notoriously hard to measure at one point in time. Let me offer you an insider’s take. Now from Both Sides of the Table I know a thing or two. Nobody knows.

Venture Capital 264

Venture Capital Invest Funding Competition 264

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 29, 2016

GOAT just announced it raised $5 million in venture capital led by our friends at Matrix Partners. It’s a Chanukkah story where 18 months of venture capital funding ends up lasting more than 4 years and where against all odds the underdog succeeds. On the surface that sounds unremarkable — fundings happen daily.

Venture Capital 199

Venture Capital Summary Writing Funding 199

Berkonomics

JUNE 19, 2014

If you seek funds from an organized investment group such as an angel fund, venture capital entity, or even an investment club, the first thing you want to do is to find one person to buy into your vision, become excited by your enthusiasm and be willing to become the internal champion for your fund-raising effort.

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Tech Coast Angels Summary Email 207

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

I had witnessed a number of early-stage tech startups in LA raise seed capital from the Bay Area and relocate. Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). And Jamie hers.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

He and I once took different sides of an debate about whether “VC signaling&# in early-stage deals is a serious problem or not. So it was fun to turn the cameras on him for 45 minutes for a special “NY edition of This Week in VC&# and hearing his views. I’ve also found him to not be dogmatic either.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2015

Last night I wrote a post about how the fall in the stock market over a 3-day period may affect the venture capital markets. If you’re an entrepreneur or VC who wants somebody else’s view on that you should read it. Let me give you the quick summary of what I said yesterday: Public markets affect venture funding.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Summary 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

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Yesterday I wrote Part 1 of the series on the changes to the software industry over the past decade that has led to changes in the venture capital industry itself. If you don’t want to read that post, the summary is: Open source computing drove computing costs down 90%, which spurred innovation in technology. Funny, that.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2023

I saw a good summary of the most effective ways to source prospective investors in a classic book, “ The Art of Startup Fundraising ,” by Alejandro Cremades, who has been there and done that, both as an entrepreneur and an investor. Ask your business advisors for warm introductions. Talk to thought leaders at relevant industry events.

Statistics 98

Statistics Entrepreneur Funding Social Media 98

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Or, as always, summary notes available below. Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. But, in fact, I would rather have an executive summary than a pitch deck. Brad’s start in Venture Capital. was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&# Getting a meeting with a prominent angel or VC is difficult enough. Some advice on how to do that was covered in this link – Getting Access to a VC. If you haven’t read how to build VC relationships and demonstrate traction make sure to read it.

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

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

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

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

I saw a good summary of the most effective ways to source prospective investors in a classic book, “ The Art of Startup Fundraising ,” by Alejandro Cremades, who has been there and done that, both as an entrepreneur and an investor. Ask your business advisors for warm introductions. Talk to thought leaders at relevant industry events.

Funding 173

Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

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.

Funding 141

Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

socalTECH

DECEMBER 1, 2008

In what looks to be a challenging funding climate for entrepreneurs, we thought it would be interesting to talk to one fund which is still making investments--Saban Ventures (www.saban.com)--a new, digital media focused venture capital fund located in Los Angeles. Richard Yen: Saban Ventures kicked off early this year.

Capital 100

Capital Southern California Media Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2022

But for angel investors and venture capital investors, just remember that investors are not on your team (yet). Lead with your two-page executive summary, be prepared to give a ten-slide investor presentation. The first rule is to separate your advisors from your investors. Fully prepare for the assault.

Slides 126

Slides Outsource Summary Conference 126