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. So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages? ” That is a problem for the founder and the VC. And the VC isn’t happy because he or she owns 17.4%

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

I have been through many months with them but because of lack of funds, I spent lot of time doing non-technical work for first 4-5 months, spending time with them on putting pitches for investors, cash flows, budgets, writing business plans, product prototype setups etc. Likely this greatly affects cash vs. equity.

CTO 167

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 167

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

I have been through many months with them but because of lack of funds, I spent lot of time doing non-technical work for first 4-5 months, spending time with them on putting pitches for investors, cash flows, budgets, writing business plans, product prototype setups etc. Likely this greatly affects cash vs. equity.

CTO 150

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

I would argue that the shut-down of September 2009 was equally severe yet there are signs that this “VC Ice Age” has begun to thaw. But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary. Why did the VC markets freeze so quickly? Short answer – yes.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Funding Invest 263

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

Treat the transaction as you would expect to be treated by an angel investor or VC. That means writing down and signing the terms of the agreement, after making sure everyone understands them. Loans are a safer option than equity. If you are not sure on this matter, then don’t take their money. Be professional about it.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Equity Venture Capital 123

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. When should a VC invest? Start writing down predictions about people, companies, and markets. Between TechCrunch today and my former roles in venture capital, I’ve had the opportunity to practice timing a lot.

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

We’ve also seen a substantial inflow of venture capital from all over the world.”. As BCG writes in its report: The good news for SoCal and any region with tech ambitions is that the Bay Area has in some ways been too successful. In fact, as is well-reported, the luster of Silicon Valley is fading.

Southern California 224

Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 224

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Sometimes these will ask for 5%-15% of your equity for their support services. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective.

Startup 122

Startup Funding Organization Incubator 122

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Or if you’re a VC raising from LPs you have to list all of your deals, your investment value, your carrying value, your multiples, your IRRs, TVPIs, DPIs, etc along with net cashflows plus your previous LPAs. So what does a VC do when he or she isn’t ready to say “no” or perhaps might like to talk with you in a year but not now?

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

From the Venture Trenches

MARCH 27, 2013

Yet despite his ability to raise over $1 billion of private equity and to build an organization that is worth $5 billion as of this writing, Mason was shown the door. It can give you a foundation from which to launch, but usually requires subsequent rounds of capital from larger investment sources.

Venture Capital 45

Venture Capital Capital Anthem Startup 45

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

I’m sitting at my computer now at 9.00pm writing this – which is an hour earlier than I normally write (there are about 8 women at my kitchen table having a book club (aka excuse to drink wine & gossip so I’m locked in another room writing. I would argue that all of the above topics for us VCs are noise.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

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. It starts as a debt instrument (e.g.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

We spent a lot of time talking about what type of company we wanted to create, how many employees we’d eventually have, whether we would take funding, our lifestyle, and a dozen other things that had nothing to do with writing software. We focus very much on finding employees who are a cultural fit and we share equity when appropriate.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

I’ve been writing quite a bit about crypto lately, and this week I dug into a particularly interesting facet of the industry called DAOs. ” my colleague Aisha notes. Crypto startups are making it easier to build crypto clubs. “ Crypto investment starts 2022 with a roar.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

” Stay lean and only raise a big round if you DO find product / market fit and which point you want to loosen the belt quickly and raise the capital to do so. .” ” Stay lean and only raise a big round if you DO find product / market fit and which point you want to loosen the belt quickly and raise the capital to do so.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

Chris Dixon is one of my favorite people in tech and writes one of the few blogs I read religiously. He and I once took different sides of an debate about whether “VC signaling&# in early-stage deals is a serious problem or not. If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

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. And just like any other business, you need capital to grow faster, services to make you more money, tools to manage it all.”. “And focused fund.

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Sometimes these will ask for 5%-15% of your equity for their support services. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Treat the transaction as you would expect to be treated by an Angel investor or VC. That means writing down and signing the terms of the agreement, after making sure everyone understands them. Loans are a safer option than equity. If you are not sure on this matter, then don’t take their money. Be professional about it.

Startup 97

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 97

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

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. These trends have put pressure on traditional VCs. So VCs spent a couple of years experimenting with earlier-stage investing, which is OK. Funny, that.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2018

Treat the transaction as you would expect to be treated by an angel investor or VC. That means writing down and signing the terms of the agreement, after making sure everyone understands them. Loans are a safer option than equity. If you are not sure on this matter, then don’t take their money. Be professional about it.

Funding 59

Funding Startup Equity Entrepreneur 59

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2014

Treat the transaction as you would expect to be treated by an Angel investor or VC. That means writing down and signing the terms of the agreement, after making sure everyone understands them. Loans are a safer option than equity. If you are not sure on this matter, then don’t take their money. Be professional about it.

Funding 101

Funding Startup Equity Entrepreneur 101

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. He is very pleasant when he calls and writes.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital Blogging 365

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

” It was meant both as a call to those writing angel checks into other people’s companies that they ought to think about putting that capital toward themselves either by becoming a startup founder or (and this was my real point) by taking an under-market salary in a company where they can learn the right skills to do it in the future.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

…” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. 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.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Let’s take a few minutes to examine the kind of equity financing available to small or early stage businesses. In most cases, these applicants for equity funding must be rooted in technology to apply to this limited discussion. This class of investor typically writes checks from $50,000 to $250,000. Venture farms.

Equity 156

Equity Technical Review Class Organization 156

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2013

Treat the transaction as you would expect to be treated by an Angel investor or VC. That means writing down and signing the terms of the agreement, after making sure everyone understands them. Loans are easier than equity. If you are not sure on this matter, then don’t take their money. Be professional about it.

Startup 92

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 92

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

“If big companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon are prevented from acquiring startups, that actually reduces competition,” Sirinivasan writes. The reason is that if there is less M&A due to legal uncertainty, there is a reduced incentive for angels & VCs to fund those startups in the first place.

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Startup Chief Technology Officer Social Media 144

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Sometimes these will ask for 5%-15% of your equity for their support services. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined some time ago from a funding perspective.

Funding 94

Funding Startup Organization Incubator 94

InfoChachkie

JUNE 27, 2011

My response was brief and straightforward, which is common of popular Quora answers (as discussed in How To Write An Effective Quora Answer ). Although my answer was off-the-cuff, the question caused me to consider the issue of raising entrepreneurial children in greater depth, which led me to write this series.

Entrepreneur 270

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Resource 270

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Convertible or equity? I asked every VC not to call Salesforce. How did VCs respond? My advice: Do not mention the other VC firms, angels, seed funds, etc. But I do the same thing with entrepreneurs and I do it publicly on This Week in VC. Did people say they want to keep VCs out of deal? At what valuation?

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Now, you’re handling payroll and doing writing as well. You may even discover that you enjoy writing more than crunching numbers. Piaw Na, who spent over six years at Google, writes on Quora that she recommends fresh grads to join a startup instead of big companies. This allows employees to become more versatile and productive.

Startup 102

Startup Social Media Writing Google 102

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When to get a lawyer - If you plan to be a venture or angel backed technology company (what I mostly write about) the best time to start meeting and getting to know lawyers is long before you ever start your company. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Many people start companies arse backwards.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Sometimes these will ask for 5%-15% of your equity for their support services. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined some time ago from a funding perspective.

Organization 93

Organization Startup Incubator Resource 93

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

through Grants.gov , an online directory of more than 1,000 federal grant programs that don’t look for equity or payback. Government grants start as small a few thousand dollars, but can provide a million dollars or more in capital to new ventures. Another alternative is to find an inexpensive class on grant writing.

Funding 90

Funding Technical Review Startup Research 90