This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

What I wish for every single entrepreneur out there is to be so majorly disappointed in their lives. Unlike venture capital funds, they don't make money directly off the multiples of their return. It is a major disappointment for the San Francisco-based company." Can we just all let that sink in for a second? A "major disappointment".

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

I thought about things I never had to as an entrepreneur: check size, ownership percentage, deal stage, portfolio construction and risk. Come 2009 we felt really bullish about the future for startups because the froth was gone and so, too, were wantrapreneurs. I have a young entrepreneur friend who IMs me a lot. tl;dr summary.

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MAY 15, 2010

It’s always fun chatting with Jason because he’s knowledgeable about the market, quick on topics and pushes me to talk more about VC / entrepreneur issues. We’re staring to get the hang of how to divide the show up into talking about deals but also talking about issues for entrepreneurs during funding.

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DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. Will our strategy change now that we have 40% more capital? . Why do they invest in venture capital?

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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. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? They were a way to gather cheap capital.

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This is going to be BIG.

MAY 9, 2012

With the ascension of Kent Goldman and Phin Barnes to Partner, Christine Herron leaving to join Intel Capital and me starting Brooklyn Bridge Ventures , there are no longer any people at the Principal level. When I first sat down with Josh back in September of 2009 to talk about joining First Round.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

This is something I think entrepreneurs don’t totally understand and it’s worthwhile they do. 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.). Why the latter?

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DECEMBER 14, 2014

I had witnessed a number of early-stage tech startups in LA raise seed capital from the Bay Area and relocate. It was 2009 and it was terribly difficult to get any financing (if you can remember a time like that!) And Jim & I went on to raise several more venture capital funds in our day jobs. So we went for it.

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This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 3, 2012

Apparently, venture capital is a cruddy asset class where you can't get returns over the long term. That might make sense, if venture capital was an asset class. Saying that venture capital is an asset class is like saying that Italians are a race. Venture capital works largely the same way. Survival of the fittest.

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real estate venture capital creativity entrepreneurship 287

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. Unemployment continues to rise – Unemployment as of September 2009 is 9.7% Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice VC Industry startup technology vc venture capital.

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VC startup advice innovation 269

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

Well, they did ask David Chao of Doll Capital, who said that the " frothy bubble is over ". The other entrepreneur quoted in the story is from a guy pitching a Pinterest clone. The last closed market we had was from about September 2008 until June 2009--10 months.

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This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 21, 2012

It took almost two years for the company to raise their first outside capital from RTP and Greycroft--and honestly, my bad for not staying close to the company. It was even earlier when I talked to Jason at Shopkeep--December of 2009 by my records. It would be over two years until he took his first round of capital earlier in 2012.

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JUNE 3, 2010

This was really a fun week at TWiVC because we decided to have an entrepreneur come and talk about raising capital rather than having a VC come on. It’s always such a pleasure for me to spend time with Farb because he has all of the enthusiasm and energy you love to see in entrepreneurs. He’s also candid, humble and helpful.

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AUGUST 20, 2015

We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor over funding until we get huge payouts and ring the bell for more funding until we attract every non-VC on the planet to invest in startups until it crashes and we start the cycle all over again none the wiser. ” I believe firmly in capital efficiency in the early days.

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NOVEMBER 14, 2010

They have marked-up paper gains propped up by an over excited venture capital market that has validated their investments. Bad times often require more capital but ironically this is when capital is dried up. But I’ll judge the angel class of 2009/2010 on a 7-10 year time horizon. This requires novel thinking.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.” But VC is like congress.

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JULY 23, 2014

There has been much discussion in the past few years of the changing structure of the venture capital industry. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). 15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

There are real changes in the venture capital industry and it would have been fun to talk about them. These days that’s not the case and it’s a great outcome for entrepreneurs and for innovation. A: Only because it’s a nicer branding for entrepreneurs. Answer: Not much. It’s a shame. That’s all.

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SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

This is the third article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). I should say that I agree that naive optimism in entrepreneurs can produce higher beta (upside or flops) and that’s good from an investment standpoint if you’re looking for big returns.

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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. This post highlights some of the reasons why the market is moving again and what entrepreneurs should do about this. Seems an obvious fit.

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MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). 5 years ago. Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. None have exited.

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AUGUST 24, 2015

I’m not saying I’m not investing – just that I’m generally aware that the market does drive venture capital fundings and I’m very interested to see how September plays out. The impact hits VCs in an immediate way that most entrepreneurs don’t realize. At least later stage investors.

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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

From 2005 to 2009, I was fortunate enough to be part of a small group of New York City innovation community leaders that sowed some of the seeds of the thriving tech hub we have today. At the time, though, we didn't know what we know now. There's a ton of enthusiasm out there, but now it's time to get to work.

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communities innovation real estate creativity 253

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 12, 2011

Ironically enough, the second nudge she gave my career also had to do with AOL--ten years later when in 2009, she introduced me to Jon Brod who was forming AOL Ventures. Does that make it a viable strategy for every new entrepreneur? Venture capital isn't a game or club any more than any other industry is. Not in the slightest.

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data analysis venture capital communities entrepreneurs 285

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. Many of you entrepreneurs know that feeling. I've been extremely fortunate to work at two of the best venture capital firms in the country--Union Square Ventures and First Round Capital.

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Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

Paul Martino, General Partner at Bullpen Capital. During our recent Dreamit Kickoff week, Bullpen Capital Founder and General Partner Paul Martino ( @ahpah ) spoke with our Spring 2020 cohort about the state of the VC ecosystem in the current economic crisis. Will a financial crisis affect how venture funds deploy capital?

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ventures startup capital board 334

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 7, 2012

That's what will attract the best entrepreneurs here--an opportunity to push limits and explore the future of innovation. It can't and won't be market scale or, in the near term, investment capital. I don't think the Valley really took New York seriously until Foursquare rose up in 2009.

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

There are many times when being overly capitalized before you’re ready is a negative. Plus, most early-stage M&A fails so this isn’t likely a good use of capital for a young company). Availability of Capital. ” Whatever answers they have manufactured the only thing I hear is, “Because we can.”

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startup VC frameworks capital 383

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 15, 2012

He spotted Facebook in 2004 and Spotify in 2009. Seems to me that New York could use a guy who goes around broadening the visions of New York entrepreneurs. Parker made a huge dent in the web as co-founder of Napster, then built Plaxo up to 20 million users. or would he have been convinced to take a financing round?

startup 278

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FEBRUARY 14, 2016

I’d like to explain as best I can my opinion on what is going on because most of what I hear from entrepreneurs is not only wrong but is reminiscent of what I heard in 1997-2000. ” “This will be great for VCs and bad for entrepreneurs.” What is the True Sentiment of VCs? ” “Sure, prices are dropping.

startup 285

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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.

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technology advice entrepreneurs innovation 290

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SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

As more consumers were skipping commercials the idea of authentically integrating brands into media seemed obvious to me and ended up informing a lot of my investments in 2009 and 2010. At every entrepreneur event I through between 2008-2012 I invite Hamet because he was a great mentor for entrepreneurs. I stayed close.

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JUNE 5, 2015

This was until about 2009 because most the investments in companies came from one, maybe two, sources. What I’ve found over the years is that this forces way more clarity on the entrepreneurs at fund raising time. Pre-money ($8m) + investment ($2m) = Post-money ($10m) and the investors now own 20% of your company $2m / $10m.

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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. Despite my cynicism of MBA’s , this class was very valuable to me.

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JUNE 18, 2010

What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures). industry investors rather than VCs) a good idea for entrepreneurs.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 28, 2023

The Tory Burch Foundation announced Tuesday the launch of its Funding Finder tool, an interactive guide that breaks down capital options and resources for women-owned businesses. The Tory Burch Foundation, which was launched in 2009 by fashion designer Tory Burch, has a long history of supporting women entrepreneurs.

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A Smart Bear

JANUARY 4, 2018

Of course a nice chunk is primary capital, i.e. for the company balance sheet, to invest in growth initiatives, security and quality, and advancing our existing strategic priorities through acceleration and de-risking. It’s the heroin-hit that hooks the entrepreneur. (The The next sale isn’t quite as sweet.).

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