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. Since Revolution launched in 2005, venture capital activity in underrepresented markets has grown significantly.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding Activity 211

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

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

They might not actively “collude&# and say “let’s collectively keep the price down&# but in the resulting discussion pricing information will flow – whether intentional or not. They’re not in search of price fixing or collusion, they’re in search of diligence information about the company.

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

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

TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

Builders VC led the round, which included participation from Celtic, Newfund and Wish co-founder Danny Zhang. Eano, she said, offers competitive and transparent pricing so that homeowners aren’t surprised as a remodeling project goes on. Jim Kim of Builders VC, said he first encountered Wu and Jung while they were at Wish. “We

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Software Review 185

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

This episode of This Week in Venture Capital featured Michael Montgomery, president of Montgomery & Co. You have to be selected to present and it is typically reserved for companies that have already raised early-stage capital and are well into revenue growth. Should you use investment banks to raise venture capital?

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Projecting financials is a natural extension of the homework every entrepreneur needs to do on customer opportunity size, product costs, pricing, competition and customer value. Project your cash burn rate to keep at least 18 months between venture capital or angel investments. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

You will realize much more from the ultimate sale of your business even if at a considerably lower price than if splitting the proceeds with investors. But few businesses grow into the sweet spot of $20 million to $30 million in worth to an ultimate buyer without the injection of outside capital.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing. Maybe the market views this as not worth the price you paid?

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

If you don’t have a destination, don’t waste your money trying to get there, and don’t expect anyone to support you along the way Projecting financials is a natural extension of the homework every entrepreneur needs to do on customer opportunity size, product costs, pricing, competition and customer value.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” Bowery Capital).

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

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. Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 10, 2021

They can also do things like initiate refunds, track deliveries and get price-drop notifications. With this round, the company is again giving 1% of the equity raised back to the planet. True competition is coming to this space, this decade,” he said. Klarna raises $650 million at a $10.6 billion valuation.

Los Angeles 266

Los Angeles Funding CIO Marketing 266

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But the biggest thing to know is this: Companies who are scaling quickly in revenue and with a high gross margin often should invest as much capital in growth as they can manage responsibly because when you find a product / market fit and your company is growing at a very fast scale you want to capture market share before competition sets in.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

You’ve found yourself in a super hot category and – let’s face it – it’s still a very frothy venture capital funding market so you may have loads of VCs chasing you. Maybe you should just close your VC round? Closing a VC round might just be the right move for you. Think about it.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Recently I’ve been debating with a number of young startup companies that are raising money in the next few months, “what is the right about of capital to raise at a startup?&#. It’s a tricky question with no clear answer. There are trade offs.

Startup 319

Startup Venture Capital Capital Competition 319

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. We focus very much on finding employees who are a cultural fit and we share equity when appropriate. Semick: Thanks John, it was fun!

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

This past December I spent a week in Boston to try to get to know some of the local VC’s and entrepreneurs a bit better. One of the meetings I had (organized by my good friend Jeff Yolen ) was with New Atlantic Ventures held the at the CIC, aka the Cambridge Innovation Center (no prizes for guessing where it’s located).

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Incubator Entrepreneur 285

Xconomy

MAY 17, 2019

During his tenure as FDA commissioner, Scott Gottlieb often spoke about generics as a market force that could help tame climbing drug prices. A lawsuit is now claiming that many top generic drug makers routinely conspired to avoid competition. But such tools only work when companies play fair.

Pricing 79

Pricing Competition Tool Marketing 79

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

He listed all of the product releases that were up coming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving. I need to take some VC meetings. But it did take Brad as a public spokesman, consummate networker and successful VC to help create legitimacy to let David’s ideas flourish.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I spoke about how Amazon Web Services deserves far more credit for the last 5 years of innovation than it gets credit for and how I believe they spawned the micro-VC category. I said that I felt that Micro-VCs were the most important change in our industry. All of that might be true, but the 2006 price might still be over-valued.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

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. This includes presentations, ROI calculators, competitive analyses and so forth.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2014

Projecting the financials should be the last step of your business plan preparation, since it assumes you already know the opportunity size, customer buying habits, pricing, costs, and competition. Here are some basic “rules of thumb” that every Angel or venture capital equity investor uses, to help you anticipate their reactions.

Equity 99

Equity Venture Capital Invest Pricing 99

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

You will realize much more from the ultimate sale of your business even if at a considerably lower price than if splitting the proceeds with investors. Strategic investors validate a business, by their presence creating the very value they pay for with increased price per share purchased. There is a lot to say about retaining control.

Venture Capital 174

Venture Capital Invest Class Entrepreneur 174

InfoChachkie

JULY 11, 2011

Enter venture debt. By combining our equity investment with a tranche of venture debt, the company has avoided a larger equity round, which would have significantly diluted the Founders’ ownership share. Multiple Proposals – Venture debt terms are notoriously non-standard. Do we have a deal?”

Equity 235

Equity Startup Invest Funding 235

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

But I would posit that in order to sustainably build great products in an intensely competitive industry with skills shortages – people management is one of the most critical soft skills organizations need. Equity for the future? I have seen it first-hand in my VC career many, many times.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2017

From my perspective, projecting financial returns is part of the homework every business person needs to do in sizing customer opportunity, product costs, pricing, competition and customer value, before expending their own resources in a highly risky venture. Project unit-volume and price levels.

Pricing 57

Pricing Startup Entrepreneur Invest 57

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2009

It’s just that many companies waste equity on advisory boards, pick the wrong advisers or set up advisory boards with the wrong expectations. These can be competitive threats, customer adoption problems, pricing strategies, senior hires, whatever. People love their advisers and I don’t blame them. Is it just me?

Startup 215

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Capital 215

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).

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2013

Projecting the financials should be the last step of your business plan preparation, since it assumes you already know the opportunity size, customer buying habits, pricing, costs, and competition. Here are some basic “rules of thumb” that every Angel or venture capital equity investor uses, to help you anticipate their reactions.

Startup 97

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Ask your VC to send a critical email to a contact.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2015

If you don’t have a destination, don’t waste your money trying to get there, and don’t expect anyone to support you along the way Projecting financials is a natural extension of the homework every entrepreneur needs to do on customer opportunity size, product costs, pricing, competition and customer value.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Pricing Sales 102

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

You never got around to agreeing exact equity splits but you had many conversations about it. Founded it as a California LLC but your potential VC wants a Delaware C-Corp? Forget to get around to setting up that Employee Stock Option Plan and want to be able to give the early guys their options at a low strike price?

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 13, 2015

Focusing on the key elements that larger brands examine when they consider an acquisition is crucial for obtaining the best price and for establishing a corporate brand that distinguishes itself from its competitors as a valuable asset.

Startup 40

Startup Acquisition Outsource Development Outsource 40

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 13, 2010

Entrepreneurism / Monetization Funding, psychology , vc. . Name Your Price: Influencing Customer's Purchasing Decisions. Understanding the effect of perceived discounts, multiple product levels, price anchoring, and other. Entrepreneurism / Monetization economics, human behaviour, pricing. . Rob Katz, Vail Resorts.

Guide 69

Guide Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur 69

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

Defy teaches them personal finance like how to keep a checking account, the difference between debt and equity, what cashflow is and so forth. Defy Ventures runs business plan competitions and has people like us who attend and give business advice and feedback. She was smart (she started her career in private equity!)

Writing 150

Writing Startup Design Training 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

People want to invest in people they trust – once you’ve made money for someone you can always go back, and even get better pricing. His follow-on rounds & problems: • Hit funding nuclear winter, impossible to get anyone to invest in follow on, • The concept did not connect with VC’s. He told them it was now or never.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304