A Smart Bear

JANUARY 4, 2018

This week we closed $250M in financing from Silver Lake , the premier technology private equity firm. 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.

investment 175

investment investing leadership culture 175

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

This “overnight success” was first financed in 2004. Imagine if, say, Autodesk had purchased it in 2009 for $100 million? Of the first four investments I made as a VC in 2009, two have exited and two (Invoca & GumGum) still are independent and likely to produce $billion++ outcomes . Maker Studios?—?sold

venture capital 363

venture capital capital ventures VC 363

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began. pre-money valuation you certainly would want to exercise your right to continue investing if you had prorata rights. and the bigger funds can’t get in directly.

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VC venture capital peer-to-peer ventures 398

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. At the time I pointed out: “If I had realized exits almost certainly it would be because I invested in a company that failed. I’ve now been involved with many other successful foll0w-on financings.

VC 387

VC venture capital ventures financing 387

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Clearly a startup should consult its lawyer before filing or not filing.But the attorneys I relied on to write this piece told me that they’ve done lots of Section 4(2) deals in the past, and would recommend it to clients who had relatively simple financing agreements (not tranched-out, not too many investors, etc.) Short answer: no.

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VC finance financing capital 285

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

Spark Capital is relatively new to VC (founded in 2005) yet has become one of the hottest new VCs having invested in Twitter, Tumblr, AdMeld, Boxee, KickApps and many more companies. Mo & I both have double majors with one being finance / econ. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital. Content, of course, is the same!].

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VC capital venture capital networking 217

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

And while over the past few years we have been laser-focused on cash returns, we are equally planting seeds for our next 10–15 years of returns by actively investing in today’s market. We are excited to share the news that we have raised $650 million across three vehicles to allow us to continue making investments for many years ahead.

ventures 408

ventures startup peer-to-peer venture capital 408

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

David's firm most recently participated in the $77 million second round financing of SoFi, a one year old startup focusing on student loans. I suppose, more specifically, the bubble ended in the last two weeks of September--right after this financing. The other entrepreneur quoted in the story is from a guy pitching a Pinterest clone.

ventures 301

ventures venture capital disruption pitching 301

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

I am reminded of this problem every time my firm does a financing where a note went before us but more specifically I was reminded by this great post by Brad Feld to talk about the pre-money vs. post-money conversion issue. Pre-money ($8m) + investment ($2m) = Post-money ($10m) and the investors now own 20% of your company $2m / $10m.

VC 364

VC financing finance board 364

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!) And since we all knew that Sam’s dealflow and judgment were sound we empowered him to make early-stage, accelerator-like investments in early-stage entrepreneurs under the Upfront brand. We had a specific goal in mind.

accelerator 290

accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

The VC industry has different segments in it that have different fund sizes, different investment amounts and different risk / return expectations. If you’re an angel you invest your own money and you have nobody to answer to except your spouse. If you invest it in startups you’re a VC professional money manager.

disruption 308

disruption VC entrepreneurs financing 308

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

This happens slowly because while public markets trade daily and prices then adjust instantly, private markets don’t get reset until follow-on financing rounds happen which can take 6–24 months. Across more than 10 years we have kept the size of our Seed investments between $2–3.5 In 2009 we could take a long time to review a deal.

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VC strategy investing investment 416

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

LPs (the people who invest in VC funds) want to know what “hot” deals you’re in. It encourages a bit too much FOMO (fear of missing out) and over-valuation in companies and a desire to do huge financing rounds to be perceived as the “knock-out winner.” I love it in the companies in which I invest.

startup 390

startup VC venture capital entrepreneurs 390

Gust

DECEMBER 13, 2011

Here are the trends in venture capital financings from 2006 through 2010 – the number of seed stage deals funded and total investment by region in millions of dollars. . VCs in NYC invested, on average, only $2.4 US Angel Investment – All Regions. Investment. All Seed-VC. Silicon Valley. New England.

entrepreneurs 162

entrepreneurs angel investing VC venture capital 162

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 15, 2012

He spotted Facebook in 2004 and Spotify in 2009. or would he have been convinced to take a financing round? I'm not surprised, because New Yorkers have more of a trading/investment mentality--thinking that it's better to take a sure $100 million than go for a home run with a lot more capital.

startup 278

startup finance financing venture capital 278

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. But there are many zombie VC’s with no more investments left in their portfolios so it’s hard to know which trend has more impact.

VC 255

VC venture capital networking innovation 255

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on my background. 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.

angel investing 152

angel investing investment investing VC 152

American Entrepreneurship

JULY 15, 2024

“Metropolis has developed a new growth buyout model, demonstrating how innovation and technology can evolve legacy industries for the 21st century,” said Tony Minella, Co-Founder and President of E ldridge Industries , an existing investor in Metropolis that led the recent financing transaction. The financing included $1.05

finance 105

finance financing real estate strategy 105

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. The funding was anchored by a major commitment from Two Sigma Ventures, the private venture investment affiliate of Two Sigma Investments. It would be months before Foursquare's first round touched off a NYC venture frenzy.

ventures 280

ventures pitching VC startup ecosystem 280

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018

Personal finance is a thing that no one likes to talk about. When I joined First Round Capital in October of 2009, I limped in with about $31,000 in credit card debt and no immediate savings. That’s when things really went off the rails and my debt started to pile up.

finance 274

finance financing pitching founder 274

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2012

It mapped pretty well to my dream team for an A round investment. But it was early 2009 and not many companies were getting new financings at all so I thought they should take the deal. But it was early 2009 and not many companies were getting new financings at all so I thought they should take the deal.

VC 356

VC finance financing investment 356

Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

Martino founded Bullpen in 2010 with a focus on post-seed, pre-Series A startups, and he led the fund’s investments in companies like FanDuel, Namely, Ipsy, SpotHero, Classy, and Airmap. This geographic distinction is now less about actual geography and more about mentality and style of investing of these types of firms.

ventures 334

ventures startup capital board 334

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. Why did the VC markets freeze so quickly?

VC 263

VC board investing investment 263

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Was Paul Graham right in his “high resolution” financing post? But that’s hardly fair compensation when your former cube mate gave you $25,000 of money she didn’t really have to invest in you, took tons of risks with her money, and now has to pay a VC price for that money a year after she invested it.

startup 354

startup VC entrepreneurs financing 354

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

We write about $40 million of first-checks into new deals / year and about $40 million of follow-on investments. “Safe” investments have no yield so they have allocated more money to private markets including the tech markets chasing returns. As you can see below, investments have skyrocketed – up 300% since 2009.

startup 285

startup VC entrepreneurs investing 285

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

When I described to people why I initially invested my calls went something like this, “He’s taken kicks to the face for nearly 2 years and is still standing. Jody self-funded the company and worked from his spare bedroom in February 2009. It soon became difficult to manage the many new investment leads.

VC 292

VC peer-to-peer investing investment 292

Innovation 2 Enterprise

NOVEMBER 29, 2020

i2E made a concept investment through the OCAST Technology Business Finance Program (which iThryv repaid) early in the company’s life, and then in June of 2009, we invested again from the Oklahoma Seed Capital Fund (OSCF). With COVID, the entire transaction was conducted virtually and flawlessly.) And so we are grateful.

venture capital 117

venture capital capital health ventures 117

Angel Capital Association

MAY 20, 2024

For Immediate Release Columbus, OH (May 20, 2024) – Recognizing the most ingenious and innovative companies recently financed by members of the Angel Capital Association, the prestigious Luis Villalobos Award was given on May 13, 2024, to two outstanding portfolio companies. Receiving the award were Ready.

angel investing 52

angel investing finance financing innovation 52

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. From the beginning, we were deeply committed to Techstars’ “give first” ethos and mentorship-driven approach to startup investing. Bottom line, Techstars needed cash.

startup ecosystem 189

startup ecosystem accelerator communities support 189

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. It was simply too complicated to remain fully invested and properly allocated all the time.

disruption 83

disruption finance financing incumbents 83

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

A month later, the startup closed a $500,000 pre-seed investment from early-stage investors like Lateral Capital , Ventures Platform , Golden Palm Investments and Rally Cap. How fintech and serial founders drove African pre-seed investing to new heights in 2020.

startup 108

startup finance financing accelerator 108

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 12, 2018

Billion acquisition, Quentis Therapeutics picking up $48 million in financing, and Paige.ai I first met Matt Brimer in the Ace Hotel lobby back in 2009 when he was interviewing companies to join his new co-working space called "Superconductor", which obviously became General Assembly. raising $25 Million--all to fight cancer.

SaaS 167

SaaS pitching financing finance 167

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! 5 million was always the classic definition of an A-round between the late nineties (crazy financings aside) and say 2007. Invested Interests cap table venture capital' Reblogged via [link].

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VC advice finance financing 136

StartupNation

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

Business financing is often an essential component to any successful business. Whether it’s financing new ways to help reach your current business goals, or accessing extra working capital when you’re in a bind, Rapid Finance can help. Real results. Marita’s Cantina. For years, Marita’s Cantina had its ups and downs.

finance 77

finance financing funders capital 77

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 3, 2021

Blackrock, GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Birla MF are among the investors who financed the anchor round, Paytm said in a filing with a local exchange. With Wednesday’s investment, Paytm has now secured nearly half of the $2.45 billion capital it is looking to raise from the IPO.

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board startup ecosystem investing investment 99

AsiaTechDaily

DECEMBER 4, 2023

MoveinSync’s Strategic Funding Round This financing round is intended not only for growth but also to provide an opportunity for some of its early investors to partially exit. They aim to secure between $50 to $60 million. Among the interested investors is Bessemer Venture Partners.

innovation 98

innovation transportation incubation consulting 98

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Year-in, year-out, the gender gap in venture capital investment continues to be a problem women founders face. In fintech, the problem is especially prominent: Women-founded fintechs have raised a meager 1% of total fintech investment in the last 10 years. of the funding raised since 2009, while Latinx female founders saw only 0.4%

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VC startup leadership communities 123