This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 14, 2019

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. Had you actually had your fund in the four years prior to today—which deals would you have legitimately been able to do? This is actually easily referenced.

ventures 257

ventures angel investing board advice 257

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 3, 2010

In particular I tried to do most of the “entrepreneur advice on VC” up front so that if you don’t want to watch our views on the deals you don’t have to. Recently raised $7 million from Atlas Ventures out of Boston. Founded in 2009 in Los Angeles by Michelle Crames. He’s also candid, humble and helpful. Total round was $2.5

VC 214

VC founder advice ventures 214

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Next Wednesday we’ll have Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, a New York / LA early-stage venture capital fund. 6mm in Series A: Investors: Union Square Ventures (Brad Burnham) (lead), Ron Conway, Chris Dixon, Caterina Fake, Naval Ravikant, Nirav Tolia, Joshua Schachter, Micah Siegel, Bob Pasker – Read more: VentureBeat.

VC 285

VC financing finance capital 285

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

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.). Whom you take advice from really matters. But my advice to entrepreneurs – stop sweating the silly optics.

VC 399

VC advice finance financing 399

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. As of near the end of September 2009, we’re up 46% since the March 9th nadir (yes, I need to find a way to use one of my SAT words ; – ).

VC 255

VC venture capital networking innovation 255

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!) We formed a partnership with some of our favorite early stage investors and friends including Jim Andelman at Rincon Ventures and Peter Lee at Baroda. Jim raised another venture fund as did I at Upfront Ventures.

accelerator 290

accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. Starting in 2009 I began writing checks consistently, year-in and year-out. How’s that advice holding up? What happened? Let’s deploy faster!

VC 466

VC culture sustainability capital 466

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JUNE 19, 2024

Weren’t entrepreneurs tired of the golden handcuffs of venture capitalists and bankers? To fellow entrepreneurs at any stage of their journey, my advice is clear: If you are committed to bootstrapping your business, be prepared for the long haul. Yet, the belief that Equifund could bridge a vital gap in the market kept me going.

finance 255

finance financing mentorship entrepreneurship 255

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

First, I’d like to quote (paraphrase) Brad Feld speaking at Twiistup in LA in 2009, “I keep hearing people in LA talking with a chip on their shoulders about building a tech business here relative to Silicon Valley. Funding is different – In Silicon Valley you have mega venture capital funds and many of them.

technology 290

technology advice entrepreneurs innovation 290

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

Viewing the article through the lens of a venture capitalist there’s much to agree with under the mantra of “growth!” He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. So I like that bit, too.

startup 390

startup VC venture capital entrepreneurs 390

Dream It

APRIL 3, 2020

In addition to his books, Geoffrey Moore assisted in writing “In a Downturn, Provoke Your Customers” for the Harvard Business Review in 2009. His strategy for selling in 2009 is relevant to any economic downturn. Do you have a track record that proves you’re a credible source of advice on this issue? What keeps them up at night?

pitching 221

pitching strategy advice board 221

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. Understand how venture debt might shorten your projections. * If you have raised venture debt you might have even less time. But this strategy great depends on point 3.

startup 383

startup VC frameworks capital 383

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

But if 2011 & 2012 look more like 2008-2009 than 2010 then one of the most important skills of angel investors will be whether they can get their companies financed (or ramen profitable, but this is harder to sustain over a long period of time). Tags: Startup Advice Tech Market Analysis VC Industry.

angel investing 284

angel investing investment investing VC 284

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. Dan talks about a landmark case in 2009 that involved whether it was legal to strip search a 13-year-old girl.

founder 256

founder peer-to-peer VC mentorship 256

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

When venture capitalists scale back investing activities it can be very swift and leave many companies that are in the process of fund raising hung out to dry. 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.

VC 263

VC board investing investment 263

StartupNation

JANUARY 20, 2022

This is where venture capital comes into play. In fact, VC-based funding has boomed within the last decade, reaching a whopping $753B worth of investments since 2009. What is venture capital and how do you get it? The average venture capital investment ranges between £1-2 million / $1.5-3

venture capital 89

venture capital capital ventures startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

So then when I wanted to go into venture capital, they said, “You can’t do that, you need to be in EIR.” So when I got into venture capital, I thought, “Well, what can I do that’s different?” ” “Okay, well you can be an operating partner or a venture partner.”

startup 337

startup entrepreneurs consulting board 337

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

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.). Whom you take advice from really matters. But my advice to entrepreneurs – stop sweating the silly optics. So back to reality.

VC 136

VC advice finance financing 136

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. Jody self-funded the company and worked from his spare bedroom in February 2009. She did a bunch of research on it and finally found a small number of safe brands. His passion stemmed from what he saw moms doing.

VC 292

VC peer-to-peer investing investment 292

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

But if 2011 & 2012 look more like 2008-2009 than 2010 or 2005-2007 then one of the most important skills of angel investors will be whether they can get their companies financed (or ramen profitable, but this is harder to sustain over a long period of time). Tags: Startup Advice Tech Market Analysis VC Industry.

angel investing 152

angel investing investment investing VC 152

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?

startup ecosystem 189

startup ecosystem accelerator communities support 189

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. billion in venture capital allocated to U.S.

capital 94

capital founder education startup ecosystem 94

Startup Grind

AUGUST 13, 2018

Prior to co-founding Floodgate , she worked at Charles River Ventures and McKinsey and Company. Given the success of her investments she was on the 2017 Midas List of top 100 venture capitalists. Taskrabbit; Nov 2009 What is one question you ask yourself before investing in a company? What struck you about them?

VC 111

VC entrepreneurship pitching strategy 111

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Year-in, year-out, the gender gap in venture capital investment continues to be a problem women founders face. Venture capital is far from a level playing field. of the funding raised since 2009, while Latinx female founders saw only 0.4% More posts by this contributor. of total investment dollars. Get funded, as a woman.

VC 123

VC startup leadership communities 123

Revolution

DECEMBER 13, 2023

Great advice, but hard to do the “correct” thing when consumed by either of those emotions. Not coincidentally, these are often the times that people feel more fearful and risk-averse. Warren Buffett said, “Be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy”. The highest score ever was 97.6

real estate 130

real estate frameworks investing investment 130

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%

real estate 98

real estate VC health advice 98

Revolution

DECEMBER 13, 2023

Great advice, but hard to do the “correct” thing when consumed by either of those emotions. Not coincidentally, these are often the times that people feel more fearful and risk-averse. Warren Buffett said, “Be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy”. The highest score ever was 97.6

real estate 130

real estate frameworks investing investment 130

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.

founder 112

founder startup advice VC 112

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

As evidence of that, the firm led Credit Karma’s Series A in 2009; led Remitly’s Series A in 2014 and participated in Nubank’s Series A in 2014. Over the years, QED has backed unicorns that went on to exit either via the public markets or by acquisition, including SoFi, Credit Karma, Red Ventures and, more recently, Flywire.

investing 91

investing investment capital advice 91

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 8, 2021

” The software development agency has worked on more than 350 digital products since its founding in 2009, for startups of all sizes. Testimonial: “Fifth Star Funds (our fund) is a venture philanthropy fund focused on closing the funding gap for Black founders, at the family and friends round. Which is an advantage.”

consulting 94

consulting startup education B2B marketing 94

abovethecrowd.com

JUNE 17, 2014

In July of 2009, the UK instituted a new network known as Faster Payment Service with same day settlement to replace their equivalent of ACH. Many blame Dodd-Frank and the consolidation post 2009 for the loss of free checking. I can ping Madagascar from my desktop in California in 368ms, but it takes 72 hours for a U.S.

disruption 83

disruption finance financing incumbents 83

WSJ - The Accelerators

JULY 2, 2015

ED ZIMMERMAN : The funnel for venture funding isn’t cylindrical — it’s shape follows a more Darwinian conical path, as many seed stage companies march into the cone’s wide entrance and far fewer make it to the cone’s narrow end. Only 4% of the 160 startups from the class of 2009 completed a 6 th funding round by April 2014.

ventures 28

ventures incumbents venture capital financing 28

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 7, 2009

This is part of my series on Raising Venture Capital. 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 very difficult to raising venture capital between November 15 – January 7th.

VC 304

VC venture capital advice capital 304

Hunter Walk

AUGUST 26, 2022

From Box to Glossier, and Comms to Venture Capital, Ashley Mayer Is Carving a Pretty Unique Path. And then take your experience and turn it into a piece of thought leadership career advice to share with people reading this. What She’s Learned, And What You Can Learn From Her. We had overlapping circles and then became friends.

VC 96

VC advice energy capital 96

TechCrunch

AUGUST 10, 2021

Last week, Kickstarter announced that people have backed more than 200,000 projects with $6 billion in pledges since the company launched in 2009. We frequently run articles with advice for founders who are working on pitch decks. Kickstarter’s CEO on the future of crowdfunding. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin.

pitching 96

pitching disruption mix-use leadership 96

Tomasz Tunguz

OCTOBER 12, 2014

In 2009 and 2010, the company recognized more revenue from services than subscription. Behind this advice is some sage advice, however. WorkDay financed this huge investment by coupling long-term, near-million-dollar agreements and nearly $200M in venture capital. Services revenue isn’t a money-maker.

SaaS 44

SaaS advice venture capital investing 44

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. They wanted advice. I gave them advice I don’t think they were expecting from a VC, “Don’t raise venture capital for this business.

VC 332

VC advice finance financing 332