Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

No VC will be so naive as not to see straight through it. When I first became a VC, seed rounds were typically $500k – $1.5 There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.).

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

The speaks to the continued confidence in the venture capital markets and as I had predicted some time ago the VC markets right now are a great place to invest – especially relative to other places to put one’s money. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Between 2006–2008 I sold both companies that I had started and became a VC. SEEING THINGS FROM THE VC SIDE OF THE TABLE While I was a VC in 2007 & 2008 those were dead years because the market again evaporated due the the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). THE VC VALUATION GOD Valuation obsession wasn’t restricted to startups.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

This is where VC comes in and why it’s needed in the industry no matter how much populist sentiment exists against the VC industry. got picked up early without raising a lot of VC. That is why I find it curious when angels start shouting that VC’s are dinosaurs, evil, money-grubbing and non-value-add.

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angel investing investment investing VC 284

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

” This is a frequent theme of mine when asked to speak to audience about the VC industry. And this is fueled by the VC culture in Silicon Valley. I was recently talking to a VC about a business I was looking at and I was asking whether he found the business interesting, too. It is VC math, like it or not.

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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. The reason is that no VC wants to see the venture debt provider get burned if you become bankrupt. If Pre-VC be mindful that in tough times capital can take longer to raise. *

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

It was 2009 and it was terribly difficult to get any financing (if you can remember a time like that!) Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). But my prediction?

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This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

In the early spring of 2009, the fundraising nuclear winter of the previous year hadn't yet thawed. Back when I was pitching my previous startup to investors, it had never really dawned on me that they had experienced what I was going through--and that a VC firm was essentially a startup. VCs pitch for money, too.

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ventures pitching VC startup ecosystem 280

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

years ago you’d remember RIP Good Times from Sequoia, which still strikes me as having been prudent advice in late 2008. But they weren’t there in 2009 when you were up late nights shitting yourself whether you really were smart for pursuing this idea. That was back when VCs weren’t so quick to respond to emails.

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advice VC finance financing 391

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

The idea is simple enough: several female VC partners at top funds will hold 1-hour meetings with 40 promising female entrepreneurs looking to get advice on their business and pitch in a friendly, non-judgmental, safe environment. 8% of VC partnerships, for example). Now 33% of Supreme Court Justices are women (vs.

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founder peer-to-peer VC mentorship 256

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

These are all normal things but in this big run since 2009 we’ve all gotten used to nearly 100% follow-on financing rates, valuations only moving up, deals clearly the convertible note caps and low mortality rates. The impact hits VCs in an immediate way that most entrepreneurs don’t realize. Watch the market closely.

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financing finance ventures real estate 344

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2012

I had this ethical dilemma pop up on one of the first deals I even did as a VC. ” I was learning which VCs I wanted to work with, what stage & check size I wanted to commit do and what teams would be a good fit for me. .” The call from a fellow VC to “look harder” made me decide to request a site visit.

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VC finance financing investment 356

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

Because my wife is a superstar she published them all on a blog here along with much other wonderful type-A mom advice. I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. It is additive.

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VC peer-to-peer investing investment 292

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 14, 2019

The Fantasy Cash Flow Model When I was an analyst at the General Motors pension fund, investing in VC funds, I had to build a model of how I thought they would perform. Because I had previously met Jack Dorsey through the Union Square Ventures network, in 2009 I was able to grab coffee with him before he launched Square.

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ventures angel investing board advice 257

Startup Grind

AUGUST 13, 2018

Taskrabbit; Nov 2009 What is one question you ask yourself before investing in a company? What is one piece of advice you’d give every founder? She will translate this to enterprise corporations who seek to empower their organizations to have hard conversations with customers, between employees and with partners. I love teaching.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is where VC comes in and why it’s needed in the industry no matter how much populist sentiment exists agains the industry. got picked up early without raising a lot of VC. That is why I find it curious when angels start shouting that VC’s are dinosaurs, evil, money-grubbing and non-value-add.

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angel investing investment investing VC 152

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Cautionary note: No competent VC is actually fooled when you show up after raising $6M in seed financing and say you’re now raising an A! No VC will be so naive as not to see straight through it. When I first became a VC, seed rounds were typically $500k – $1.5 If you''re newer to VC math here''s a great primer].

VC 136

VC advice finance financing 136

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

I would never as a VC fund a round and then expect somebody else to pay a higher price right after me. I also would never expect another VC to do that to me. Since 2009 I have been counseling people to offer discounts to the first angel investors. For the most part I agree with Fred.

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financing finance pitching VC 294

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

.” I applaud all efforts by people to take on this issue and especially be Adeo who – let’s be honest – was really the first champion of trying to make the VC world more transparent by launching TheFunded, which didn’t exactly endear him to VCs initially. They’ll get priced soon enough by a VC.”

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startup VC entrepreneurs financing 354

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

There has been little movement in the amount of VC dollars going to women-founded companies since 2012. Though by no means does this mean that women aren’t doing incredible work in the field and it’s only right that women founders receive their fair share of VC investment. Venture capital is far from a level playing field.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

If you want to be the marketing person or you want to be perceived as a businessperson or a VC or technical person or whatever you want to be perceived, people will always define you. A lot of the VCs I talked to – I was living in NorCal, a lot of the VCs were saying, “Yeah, come on in, EIR.” Startup Advice'

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 7, 2009

I’m sure I’ll spark the ire of some VC’s for saying so, but there is certainly such a thing as black-out days in venture capital. It is also very hard to raise VC from July 15 – September 7th. (you The VC process is almost universal in how it works across firms. Many VC partners take 2-3 (4?)

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VC venture capital advice capital 304

StartupNation

JANUARY 20, 2022

Defined as a type of private equity investor funding given to startups that have growth potential , VC can play a huge part in business growth success and can facilitate a number of startup-based costs. In fact, VC-based funding has boomed within the last decade, reaching a whopping $753B worth of investments since 2009.

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venture capital capital ventures startup 89

TechCrunch

MARCH 28, 2023

The Tory Burch Foundation, which was launched in 2009 by fashion designer Tory Burch, has a long history of supporting women entrepreneurs. It’s best known for its fellowship program that provides education grants, networking opportunities and business advice to women entrepreneurs.

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capital founder education startup ecosystem 94

Founders Coop

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Just two years later, in 2009, we worked out a deal to create the Techstars Seattle program, with our first program running in 2010. What did we owe our sponsors, and did that put us in conflict with our commitments to give founders the best possible advice, and to never waste their time?

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startup ecosystem accelerator communities support 189

TechCrunch

JULY 27, 2021

in 2004 before falling sharply due to the economic recession of 2007-2009. Sequoia Capital led the round and was joined by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation venture investment arm Arrive, Will Smith’s Dreamers VC and existing investor Signia Venture Partners. “Our The rate reached its peak of 69.2% The rate reached 63.7%

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real estate VC health advice 98

Hunter Walk

AUGUST 26, 2022

And then take your experience and turn it into a piece of thought leadership career advice to share with people reading this. Box had just 50 employees and was hitting an inflection point when I joined in 2009, so there was far more work to do than people to do it. Put yourself in interesting situations.

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VC advice energy capital 96

Y Combinator

APRIL 24, 2024

Last week we shared some awesome news: David Lieb, the creator of Bump (part of the summer 2009 batch!) How’d you come to join YC back in Summer of 2009? We’re consuming our own advice. If you could go back to the early days of Bump and tell 2009 David anything, what would it be? Largely by accident.

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founder startup advice VC 112

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

A great recent example of this was a successful group of entrepreneurs who had created a company that will do $10-12 million in revenue at their system integration business (read: services business) in 2011 after having done $5 million or so in 2010 and $2-3 million in 2009. They wanted advice. That’s the right answer for VCs.

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VC advice finance financing 332

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

Having street smarts with no inspirational ability to build teams can yield a great small business but will be difficult to scale into a large VC-backed business. So we as VCs search for entrepreneurs/founders who have the whole package or as much of it as possible. In the book they profile how VC worked in the early days (60s / 70s).

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2010

Next post: two “4-Hour Workweek&# like hacks I started in 2009 to try and take back control of my life that are saving me hours. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice startup technology vc. It’s just not realistic. I believe you can choose not to over work, but 4 hours?

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WSJ - The Accelerators

JULY 2, 2015

One of the best graphic depictions of the cone of venture funding was done by CB Insights, which tracked a cohort of the 160 American tech startups that closed on seed funding in 2009. Only 4% of the 160 startups from the class of 2009 completed a 6 th funding round by April 2014. The graphic follows those startups until April 2014.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. Quick caveats: having fewer investors (3-5) is better than many investors (10-15) and PLEASE make sure you hire a great lawyer who has experience in doing start-ups to avoid pitfalls that will make VC harder down the line. They have advice to share. They exist in every town.

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advice VC pitching angel investing 291

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. source: Harris Interactive IM Shopping Poll (August 2009)). The first investment I ever made as a VC was in a company now called Invoca. Much more data in the full post. THE ANNOYING THING.

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SaaS VC real estate board 339

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

Come 2009 we felt really bullish about the future for startups because the froth was gone and so, too, were wantrapreneurs. The people left standing had a compelling vision to build companies and we backed many in 2009. When this period was fresh, in Sept 2009, I wrote a very detailed assessment of what I thought had just happened.

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VC disruption entrepreneurs venture capital 305

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. So I agreed to offer my current thinking on the economy and what it portends for the VC industry & fund raising for entrepreneurs. raise money now to weather any storms).

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StartupNation

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Michigan is now the state with the highest growth in VC investment. Software can be licensed to corporations to benefit employees and uses behavioral science to understand the reasoning behind financial decisions people make and to help democratize financial advice for the masses. Next year is looking even better. Apply now to Rivet.

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