Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

I thought I’d try to look at it from a different lens, that of the entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur you should assume that. Convertible or equity? So what is an entrepreneur to do? My advice: Do not mention the other VC firms, angels, seed funds, etc. I sometimes ask entrepreneurs.

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113

Xconomy

JANUARY 7, 2020

When a group of scientists from Amira Pharmaceuticals wanted to start a new biotech after the company’s 2011 acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb , Celgene provided seed funding. Rob Williamson, a longtime biotech entrepreneur, joined PharmAkea as CEO in 2013 after the company formed its “build-to-buy”-style.

Seed Funding 63

Seed Funding Equity Research Acquisition 63

socalTECH

AUGUST 1, 2012

Is crowdsourcing donations a reasonable alternative to seed funding? Based on the experience so far of POP Charger , the Kickstarter project being run by local entrepreneur Jamie Siminoff, it seems to be. The project passed its goal of $50K last week, only three days after it was posted.

Seed Funding 159

Seed Funding Equity Entrepreneur Funding 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. He is going gangbusters, and is now targeting a $50M second round of funding.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Seed Funding Incubator 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Direct seed funding, for a share of the equity, and introductions to investors. Mentoring and technical assistance from volunteer or paid experts.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. contributes more than $25 billion to fund 70,000 startups every year. Look to grants and strategic partners for seed funding.

Angel 126

Angel Funding Venture Capital Seed Funding 126

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

Even if you work every day in the world of new-venture funding, as I do, the options are confusing, and their meanings seem to change on a regular basis. I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Business accelerator funding.

Funding 104

Funding Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding 104

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Direct seed funding, for a share of the equity, and introductions to investors. Mentoring and technical assistance from volunteer or paid experts.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And there is so much money around being thrown at so many entrepreneurs that many firms don’t even care about board seats, governance rights or heaven forbid doing work with the company because that would eat into the VCs time needed to chase 5 more deals. Seed has become an option factory for many.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

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. Convertible debt is a loan to the company that doesn’t typically get paid back but rather “converts&# into equity when you raise a larger round at a later date.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

So even within the “alternative class&# our LPs are looking at other asset investment choices such as distressed buyout funds, private equity or hedge funds. This means that some funds will disappea r – Returns are not even. The top quartile funds have performed well. VC will shrink. Oh yes it will.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 12, 2010

In the VC & Private Equity world there’s a small number, too, with one of the most respected being PEHub. Dan believed that consumer internet entrepreneurs have a choice now: traditional VC vs. super seed investors. Not as many entrepreneurs are aspiring to do it any more. Minutes 8 – 10. Minutes 23 – 26.

Venture Capital 232

Venture Capital Slides Seed Funding Google 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2016

I find that this type offers the most value to new entrepreneurs or startups in the early idea stage. Here are some of the key parameters that will help you decide where you fit in this spectrum: Your commitment to the entrepreneur lifestyle. Costs, returns in equity and funding access.

Incubator 58

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Equity 58

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Funding 107

Funding Startup Equity Examples 107

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

With Startup Boost, we had dozens of investors, service providers, successful entrepreneurs, and major industry leaders (including Microsoft, Google, Softbank, REME, and TechStars) coalesce around our initiative to help early stage companies get to the next level. And as Ive witnessed countless times, they cant get there any other way.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2018

Most of our mentors are people who have been successful entrepreneurs and investors, who have been there, and understand how to get a company to the next sage. We charge zero, and take no equity, and really there are very small operational costs for us to support startups. We do that by galvanizing the community to help out.

Startup 172

Startup Seed Funding Mentor Ideas 172

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2016

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Direct seed funding, for a share of the equity, and introductions to investors. Mentoring and technical assistance from volunteer or paid experts.

Incubator 106

Incubator Startup Help Resource 106

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. Here are eight key insights that will help you find a productive match: Angels want equity ownership, not causes. Most share expertise as well as money.

Angel 106

Angel Startup Venture Capital Seed Funding 106

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2018

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Direct seed funding, for a share of the equity, and introductions to investors. Mentoring and technical assistance from volunteer or paid experts.

Incubator 87

Incubator Startup Resource Seed Funding 87

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing. If no financing happened then this “note&# may not be converted and thus would be senior to the equity of the company in the case of a bankruptcy or asset sale. So my view is that VCs and entrepreneurs need to make tougher choices.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. If you know, VCs end up writing sizable checks into their own funds, which is important in better aligning interests. Helpful to Entrepreneurs – The most obvious. Both are right.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2011

Recently I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. This should be a wake-up call for traditional entrepreneurs and investors alike.

Startup 92

Startup Funding Seed Funding Incubator 92

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

The startup has already secured a seed investment from Maveron and CRV, TechCrunch has learned, and will receive another $150,000 in exchange for 7% equity upon entering YC next year. million in funding to date, including a recent $3.6 million Series A led by Puma Private Equity, a U.K.-focused focused fund.

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Direct seed funding, for a share of the equity, and introductions to investors. accelerator business entrepreneur incubator startup' Marty Zwilling.

Incubator 98

Incubator Startup Help Resource 98

socalTECH

JUNE 23, 2021

Alex Nocifera: We're lucky in that we have LA's best seed funds. The one thing the investors I mentioned all the way through-is they have put a lot of trust into me as an entrepreneur, and they trusted me. We weren't working with main street and small businesses, but public and private equity backed companies.

Marketing 113

Marketing Los Angeles Zag Startup 113

socalTECH

JULY 1, 2013

The incubator-- Greenwings Biomedical (www.greenwingsbiomedical.com), is led by Richard Koffler , a serial entrepreneur and angel investor in Los Angeles. We''ll give away some equity in exchange for the license, to the researcher, the founding team and engineers and scientists who are going to get this moving from the lab to the market.

Incubator 217

Incubator Startup USC Tech Coast Angels 217

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. In the old days there usually weren’t convertible notes on early-stage deals and there weren’t party rounds with 20 angels or 6 seed funds. No problem.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

$15 million first checks but we also have three growth funds. The advantage is that in many of our best deals we now have $50+ million invested so we can really support entrepreneurs as their businesses scale. Accel led the B, Morgan Stanley the C and now HIG the D. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Xconomy

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

Think “innovation” and you might picture some scrappy entrepreneurs toiling away in a kitchen or garage, hoping the landlord doesn’t notice what they’re up to. For the life sciences industry, one of the largest landlords, and closest observers, is Alexandria Real Estate Equities. So it ranges.

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Startup San Diego Class 40

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2021

More and more entrepreneurs are hearing about the successful graduates and investors queued behind a few well-known startup incubators, including Y Combinator, TechStars, and the Founder Institute. Initial funding. The reality is far different. All the rest of us might be the real beneficiaries, with a lot more to learn.

Incubator 146

Incubator Technical Review Entrepreneur Mentor 146

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

In a world where the economy only heads in one direction (read: 2009-2014) most investors & entrepreneurs forget to pay attention to gross burn. So money spent should add equity value or create IP that eventually will. Best to make sure you’re aligned closely with your investor on this topic.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

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.” Of course I’m not suggesting people shouldn’t start a company. If you can and if you want to – you should. He still has the dream.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2014

More and more entrepreneurs are hearing about the successful graduates and investors queued behind a few well-known startup incubators, including Y Combinator, TechStars, and the Founder Institute. Initial funding. The reality is far different. All the rest of us might be the real beneficiaries, with a lot more to learn.

Incubator 103

Incubator Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor 103

Berkonomics

APRIL 24, 2014

Often I see executive summaries from entrepreneurs who have never managed any form of business, or even managed employees in their past life, and who don’t know the first thing about business formation and managing for growth. I used to tell them to find a partner with knowledge in business creation and management.

Coach 250

Coach Seed Funding Summary Incubator 250

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2013

More and more entrepreneurs are hearing about the successful graduates and investors queued behind a few well-known startup incubators, including Y Combinator, TechStars, and the Founder Institute. Initial funding. The reality is far different. All the rest of us might be the real beneficiaries, with a lot more to learn.

Incubator 115

Incubator Help Startup Technical Review 115