Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Upfront Ventures was created 20 years ago as one of the original VC funds in Los Angeles. Back then only 15% of our dollars were invested locally whereas today 50% of our dollars are invested in LA. Candidly all three were on our short list of VCs that we secretly wanted to poach (seriously, they were!)

Dollar Shave Club 321

Dollar Shave Club Cornerstone OnDemand Riot Games Venture Capital 321

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note. Pre-money ($8m) + investment ($2m) = Post-money ($10m) and the investors now own 20% of your company $2m / $10m. So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages?

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

We all know that funding markets have changed for startups. The trends are well understood: more angels, more seed funds, more crowdsourcing and so forth. We led an investment round in a company a while ago in which we wrote a seven-figure check and have taken a board seat. Has written a book on venture capital.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. In case VC’s haven’t figured this out yet, shit rolls downhill. My blog linked to Brad Feld’s blog because I was so grateful for his series on term sheets and he was one of the biggest reasons that as a VC I felt compelled to blog. And covered we did.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

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

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Today is amongst the proudest days I’ve had at Upfront Ventures — getting the chance to announce that Kevin Zhang has been promoted to Partner. years at Upfront has been both a pleasure and also has taught me a lot about venture capital. Watching him develop over the past 4.5 Kevin joined Upfront in 2012 as an Associate.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Course 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

On Funding?—?Shots Shots on Goal Being great as a startup technology investor of course requires a lot of things to come together: You need to have strong insights into where technology markets are heading and where value in the future will be created and sustained You need be perfect with your market timing.

Funding 294

Funding Startup Writing Invest 294

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2013

The number of startups getting seed funding in 2012 jumped by 65% over the previous year to a total of 1749, according to a recent report by CB Insights. Seed investments” are early stage financings (typically less than $1.5 million) made by either Angels or venture capitalists, or both. This is nothing new.

Startup 99

Startup Invest Venture Capital Seed Funding 99

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

There were a lot of requests for us to turn our mentorship program into a physical accelerator with a fund, office space and full-time staff. Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Jim raised another venture fund as did I at Upfront Ventures.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

otherwise I prefer to invest less and risk less). We want money to make some acquisitions (investors would prefer to fund M&A if they know specific deals – not to encourage bad behavior. Plus, most early-stage M&A fails so this isn’t likely a good use of capital for a young company).

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I can’t help feel a bit of rear-view mirror analysis in all of “VC model is broken” bears in our industry. This has led to the creation of incubators, accelerators and seed funds. The Funding Problem.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

We are in phase three of the influencer economy,” Bain Capital Ventures senior principal Jamison Hill, who led the firm’s investment in the influencer shoutout marketplace Cameo , tells TechCrunch. 2020 will be a watershed year for investment in businesses around the creator economy,” Neil Robertson tells TechCrunch.

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

Of course, every alternative has advantages and disadvantages, so any given one may not be available or attractive to you. For example, professional investors put great priority on your previous experience in building a business, and they expect to own a portion of the business equity and control for the funds they do provide.

Startup 106

Startup Capital Equity Funding 106

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

In that article I talked about how PR drives: recruiting, employee retention, biz dev deals, funding and even M&A and that often “attribution” to your PR activities is unknown. But of course it’s hard to advise people that they should do PR without a guide to how to do it on the cheap or how to do it at all.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

Of course, every alternative has advantages and disadvantages, so any given one may not be available or attractive to you. For example, professional investors put great priority on your previous experience in building a business, and they expect to own a portion of the business equity and control for the funds they do provide.

Funding 174

Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Not an investment philosophy “ I understand the sentiment of this post and it’s how I view AngelList (like email), but I feel like it loses a nuance about AngelList. Still, as a VC I value proprietary dealflow & long term relationships. That’s less interesting for me as a VC. I worry about that.&#.

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. Of course your friend’s company raised $50 million and offers it’s employees free kombucha and desk massages. The best investors do less.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2012

I was here to see one of our LPs (limited partners are the people who invest money in VC funds) called Fort Washington. They’ve been a long-term investor in our fund – GRP Partners – and it was important to me to spend time with them in their home market and meet the people with whom they deal locally. ” OF COURSE!

Press 364

Press Course Startup Email 364

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

Rise of Seed. Prior to then the concept of “seed funds” barely existed and as I’ve argued before the seed fund phenomenon was largely driven by: Open source + horizontal computing + Amazon AWS. In other words, it isn’t that VCs suddenly got smart, it’s that the costs of starting a company went down dramatically.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Funding Seed Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. I know you’re not a tech guy and haven’t done anything other than an HTML course you once took, but if you’re inspirational and a leader you’ll find somebody to moonlight for free to get your prototype built. They know that the money they invest may be lost.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

Of course you could start your own company. Of course I’m not suggesting people shouldn’t start a company. For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.”

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

Of course, every alternative has advantages and disadvantages, so any given one may not be available or attractive to you. For example, professional investors put great priority on your previous experience in building a business, and they expect to own a portion of the business equity and control for the funds they do provide.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Funding 96

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

Photo by Scott Clark for Upfront Ventures (no, Evan is not standing on a box) Last year marked the 25th anniversary for Upfront Ventures and what a year it was. 2021 saw phenomenal returns for our industry and it topped off more than a decade of unprecedented VC growth. The answer is: not much.

Startup 408

Startup Venture Capital Writing Invest 408

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Of course, every alternative has advantages and disadvantages, so any given one may not be available or attractive to you. For example, professional investors put great priority on your previous experience in building a business, and they expect to own a portion of the business equity and control for the funds they do provide.

Funding 107

Funding Startup Equity Examples 107

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 31, 2015

VCs are looking to make investments that pay off big. That means you need to develop credible financial projections that demonstrate the viability and future potential of your target market and clearly spell out how investing in your business will achieve their return targets. Of course you want to show large numbers.

Seed Funding 40

Seed Funding Course Metrics Invest 40

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Of course, every alternative has advantages and disadvantages, so any given one may not be available or attractive to you. For example, professional investors put great priority on your previous experience in building a business, and they expect to own a portion of the business equity and control for the funds they do provide.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

The frantic pace of technology cycles, the amount of tech news, the blogs, the conferences, the demo days, the announcements, the fundings, the IPOs. It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. And when I’m asked – as I invariably am every time – “What are you looking to invest in?”

Startup 317

Startup Technical Review Venture Capital Email 317

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Most venture capitalists who have been in this business for a long time foresaw this correction and have been talking about it privately for the better part of the last year or two. What is the True Sentiment of VCs? Brad was openly writing about this and it felt like he was giving the VC playbook away for free! What hogwash.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2021

Initial funding. Many incubators do provide seed funding for entrepreneurs selected, usually in small amounts like $10,000 to $20,000, and usually taking 5% to 15% of your equity in return. Every successful incubator has strong leadership and staff with business and investment credentials. Peer support.

Incubator 146

Incubator Technical Review Entrepreneur Mentor 146

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 23, 2015

Crosscut Ventures has just announced their 3rd fund and clocking in at $75 million , which will be focused heavily on Los Angeles – FTW. Rick was a partner there having previously been a Managing Director and founding member of Sun America’s venture capital practice and having been graduated from Harvard Law School.

News 150

News Funding Venture Capital Dollar Shave Club 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2014

Initial funding. Many incubators do provide seed funding for entrepreneurs selected, usually in small amounts like $10,000 to $20,000, and usually taking 5% to 15% of your equity in return. Every successful incubator has strong leadership and staff with business and investment credentials. Peer support.

Incubator 103

Incubator Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2013

Initial funding. Many incubators do provide seed funding for entrepreneurs selected, usually in small amounts like $10,000 to $20,000, and usually taking 5% to 15% of your equity in return. Every successful incubator has strong leadership and staff with business and investment credentials. Peer support.

Incubator 115

Incubator Help Startup Technical Review 115

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

Seth is one of the most decent human beings in the venture industry so the rant was off base. But even if a VC is nasty a rant email back isn’t the right way to channel your frustration. You raised your seed funds. You build a team, ship your product, more tech press, more funding.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

► August (1) Invest in Transparency & Active Communication ► July (1) The Fear of Success ► May (2) Optimized for Speed = 30% Waste Happy 1st Birthday Rubicon Project! ► August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? Venture Capital Funding 7. ► October (1) New Video!

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40

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. I spoke last week at the annual Cendana VC/LP conference. Are LPs to blame?

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Platform Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Part 1: Inside the mind of an angel investor and how it differs from professional seed investors and VC. At Sony, he didn’t feel like he could “steer the ship” and get his ideas heard so he left and started GUBA, GUBA had no seed funding. The team, of course, is just as important as the product or idea.

Angel 302

Angel Startup Ideas .Net 302

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2017

Every year Upfront Ventures surveys Limited Partners (LPs) who are the main source of capital that invests in VC funds and thus the main source of capital that goes to startups to get an early-warning sense of the year ahead, leaving aside any Black Swans. Will they have enough capital?” Will it last?

Startup 286

Startup Venture Capital Seed Funding Capital 286