2001 advice investing 
This is going to be BIG.
MAY 5, 2023
Sometime in the next few weeks, I’ll complete my next investment. Last August, I passed the point at which I had spent literally half my entire life working in this asset class, having started at the General Motors pension fund doing institutional investments in venture funds and late-stage directs back in February of 2001.
Entrepreneurs' Organization
JULY 6, 2020
Like the downturns in 2008 and 2001, this has been a very trying time for entrepreneurs running startups. At the same time, many investors are being more cautious with making new investments, preferring to focus on their existing portfolio before investing in new companies. Remember that you are not alone.
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Both Sides of the Table
JULY 22, 2010
Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. In an early round of investment where there is not an extremely high price relative to normal valuations this is anything but benign. Those were the dog days of entrepreneurship.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 8, 2010
So my first advice is not to rush in the fund raising process. In fact, they will think better of you because you’re demonstrating that you’re the kind of thorough person that they wanted to invest money into in the first place. Don’t take my advice, take Eric Clapton’s. Not so in venture capital.
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. And so forth.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
This is part of my ongoing series “ Start Up Advice &# but I’d really like to call this post, “VC Advice.&#. We could do more in 2010 with more VC investment; the doubling assumes only ratable increase in marketing spend to achieve profitability. In my first company I had to raise money in April 2001 or die.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 25, 2010
I lived through this again September 2001. If it’s a biz deal you might care about IP protection, revenue share, investment commitments to joint marketing – whatever. This is part of my ongoing series with Startup Advice (although this also applies tightly with Raising Venture Capital ). Anybody who didn’t close was dead.
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