Remove Competition Remove Demand Remove Metrics Remove Writing
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Who Should be on Your Startup Board?

Both Sides of the Table

seed and they are writing $1.25m of it you can expect them to require a board seat) The competitive landscape (If you have several sources of capital you can likely politely decline the board request or can grant them a seat but ask for it to be “common appointed” and those revokable if you need in the future). But it’s quite rare.

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Why Startups Should Raise Money at the Top End of Normal

Both Sides of the Table

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. As an early stage investor you’re often planning around 10x your investment at the time your write your first check so in this case you’d be going into your investment expecting an exit of $800 – $1.2

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The Loneliness of Success that Nobody Talks About

Both Sides of the Table

They suffered in trying to live up to public perceptions and the demands to continue their successes. Every $10 million financing only puts more pressure on the founders to figure out how to hit the metrics to get to the next milestone and every company that raises $25 million puts a ton of pressure on their 10 competitors who haven’t.

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Should Startups Focus on Profitability or Not?

Both Sides of the Table

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Fast early growth in a market is often eroded when competition gets fierce and prices are forced down due to competition.

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How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

Both Sides of the Table

The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. The metrics were good but we wondered how much better they would be when we expanded our product. Competition. Market Size. What are the customer’s alternatives? You need a wedge.

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This Week in VC with Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital

Both Sides of the Table

We both felt that the critical reasoning skills and writing skills were critical to our career development. Company grew by more than “400% each year” for past few years [assume growth metric = revenues]. Metrics: 2.5mm members, 1,000 brands, 2,500 sale events to-date. Mo’s other degree was English, mine was Political Science.

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Raising $$ on AngelList? Working w/ McClure? Ask Jody Sherman

Both Sides of the Table

I still think it’s best to take money from Dave when you’re also partnered with a more focused, hands-on seed-stage VC who brings different things to the table – like more ability to write larger checks in a downturn (for one) or solving a deep crisis that involves super hands-on involvement. I argue the opposite.

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