Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

*. What is the role of a VC for entrepreneurs? I suppose it can be different for every founder and for different VCs but I’d like to offer you some context on what I think it is and it isn’t. VCs have the safety of not being that person. They are unique to you and not to each other situation that VC has faced.

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SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

I recently got an email from a friend who had been approached by a well known VC. I’m an investor at [Big Name, Large Fund VC] and recently came across [Your Company]. These founders burn through precious time and divulge sensitive information. So how do I work with young VC professionals? They’re flattered.

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VC entrepreneurs advice investing 294

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MAY 19, 2018

the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll ever get I’m about to offer you some fund-raising advice that flies directly in the face of what most conventional wisdom will tell you. So what does a VC do when he or she isn’t ready to say “no” or perhaps might like to talk with you in a year but not now?

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advice VC entrepreneurs investing 336

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FEBRUARY 8, 2010

You’re tied at the hip to your VC. So my first advice is not to rush in the fund raising process. Get to know VCs over a long period of time so that when you’re ready to get engaged you feel you know their character. Good recruiters never stop at the official list and neither do VCs. Don’t stop there.

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OCTOBER 17, 2009

A few years ago it became fashionable for large VC’s to do seed funding. If the large VC doesn’t agree to do your A round then you’re in a bit of trouble. But I’m no longer an entrepreneur – I’m a VC at a $200 million fund called GRP Ventures , the largest active fund in Southern California.

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VC real estate advice venture capital 283

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

How about as a VC? Fred has basically always been a VC, Mike was a reporter, and Jim worked in product marketing and management consulting. Surely--but then I realize how difficult it is to be an early stage VC in NYC. At least then you'd imagine that your advice isn't *that* bad because at least you've got some experience.

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APRIL 13, 2013

I spent countless hours with VC firms, startups & LPs (the people who invest in VC firms). On my first real day back the first thought I have is that most entrepreneurs don’t manage their VC relationships as well as they could. And it would well be worth your while to broaden your relationships within your VC firm.

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DECEMBER 14, 2010

They had received a term sheet from a VC and were wondering whether to work with this firm. You’re tied at the hip to your VC. So my first advice is not to rush in the fund raising process. Get to know VCs over a long period of time so that when you’re ready to get engaged you feel you know their character.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2009

This is part of my blog series “ Pitching a VC.&#. I’ve sat through a lot of VC pitches and having been CEO of an enterprise software firm for many years I’ve also sat through many customer meetings with sales teams. The following are some tips for the debate style VC meeting. Tips in a debate led VC Meeting.

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VC peer-to-peer pitching advice 275

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. So why does a VC ask you?

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MAY 19, 2010

Greycroft is an early-stage VC. Closing a VC fund in 2009/10 is a major achievement in and of itself. In the intro section of the show we talked a lot about why VC funds are becoming smaller again and where Greycroft fits. Tags: Start-up Advice. File sharing? Enterprise collaboration? Yammer, Salesforce Chatter.

VC 240

VC peer-to-peer advice ventures 240

Both Sides of the Table

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. The following was available: “I kept hearing about startups that raised VC funding, but which hadn’t filed Form Ds (nor issued a press release).

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VC finance financing capital 285

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

This is part of a series of advice for founders who need to raise money from venture capitalists. The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Same with VC. If in high school you got a 3.6

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JUNE 13, 2018

One of the hardest things to know when you’re new to fund raising is what you’re supposed to send to an investor, when and will they keep your information confidential. As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. This is part of a series on how to improve your fund raising game. The key is WHAT you send.

VC 261

VC pitching advice entrepreneurs 261

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

In order to understand how to “get to yes” with a VC you first need to understand how VC partnerships make decisions and then you can understand how to increase your odds of closing a deal. VC Partnerships Start by understanding how many partners are at the firm you are approaching. Reciprocity is equally destructive.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. VC firm policy or fund analysis. Helping be the VC “presence” at key events. inside insight into VC decision-making. Industry reviews.

investment 365

investment investing VC board 365

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JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. But take prompts from the VC.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

And for some strange reason entrepreneurs didn’t share this information. I just want to figure out what a fair valuation is.&# I figured all the VC’s talked so we should. But this example above is all entrepreneur math, not the VC’s. The VC assumes you’ll have an option pool. That’s normal.

founder 405

founder VC venture capital entrepreneurs 405

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

This past December I spent a week in Boston to try to get to know some of the local VC’s and entrepreneurs a bit better. VCs constantly share cross fund information and are therefore always getting dialed into what is going on in the industry. Entrepreneurs need to share more information with each other.

peer-to-peer 285

peer-to-peer incubation startup advice 285

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

When this first ran on TechCrunch I got the greatest comment in the world that I had to repeat here, “VC’s are like martinis: the first is good, the second one great, and the third is a headache.&# I understand the appeal of having many VC firms on your cap table. In my second company I had only 1 investor. I love that.

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JULY 7, 2015

They now have a strong VC lead from Foundry Group and from experience when you get advice from Foundry it comes with authority, experience, empathy and the right amount of straight talk. I know because I have been the beneficiary of their advice for years and have appreciated it. Information Leaks are a Real Problem.

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startup advice pitching VC 323

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MAY 27, 2013

By spending more time educating your board on your business you get more valuable advice from them. Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. So naturally we’re pushing for him to drop critical information when their paths cross organically. Rob does it.

board 365

board VC advice pitching 365

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JUNE 27, 2013

If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. We think transparency and easy access to information benefit our entire ecosystem. Startup Advice' We have previously raised funds in 1996 ($200 million), 2000 ($400 million) and 2008/9 ($200 million).

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ventures venture capital advice VC 343

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MARCH 14, 2013

Will I have information that other journalists don’t have (otherwise known as a “scoop”)? The idea is that you put out information with data and a point-of-view and that becomes the story rather than you. I am a VC. That chart has information on it. I hand out money. How differentiated is that?

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mix-use advice VC technology 389

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. You are constantly faced with decisions and there is always incomplete information. You are constantly faced with decisions and there is always incomplete information. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Startup Advice. This paralyzes most people. I left the board.

entrepreneurs 414

entrepreneurs board advice consulting 414

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

He pinged me that he was thinking about joining a startup based in LA with the CEO in NYC and would I be willing to meet him and give him advice on this process. They collected each other’s information and Sam immediately built a relationship with Jody. So I had a sense that I knew who he was. Not for me.

pitching 372

pitching advice VC entrepreneurs 372

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

I’m not anti VC. But there are a lot of things that become norms in the VC industry that always drove me crazy from entrepreneur’s side of the table. One of them is when VCs say, “I’d like to ‘noodle’ on that for a while.&#. I’d love it if VCs gave more honest and direct feedback.

entrepreneurs 297

entrepreneurs VC advice strategy 297

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DECEMBER 17, 2009

I don’t think most VC’s do. But in most situations a VC will want to be able to judge how you perform over time. It’s what prompted my post on how to build relationships with VCs. The best entrepreneurs get market feedback regularly and change their approach based on the latest information.

entrepreneurs 291

entrepreneurs advice VC innovation 291

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

This applies to both founders and to VC’s that work with them. Dipping: As a decision maker you rely on information being passed to you by the people who report to you. You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on.

startup 308

startup board advice VC 308

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. You’ve found a VC partner or principal who has invited you to the Monday partners’ meeting. This happens often is sales meetings or VC meetings.

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advice VC pitching venture capital 318

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

We use this try to draw some context that informs our funding decisions. We also are dependent on money, advice and support of many of our friends & colleagues in the venture industry who co-invest with us in nearly every deal we do. VC survey data 2016 from Mark Suster. Of course we fund companies in good markets and bad.

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peer-to-peer VC advice ventures 277

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2014

But you have to admit that we live in a skewed system in which the elite educated population gains disproportionally from our change from an industrial to an information economy. We need to make sure our young kids have public schooling that trains them for the information economy. Tech Market Analysis VC Industry'

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education real estate economic growth VC 417

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. In this particular case I wasn’t convinced it was a good idea from the limited information I had. VC meetings going well.

entrepreneurs 384

entrepreneurs startup VC real estate 384

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MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? I was meeting regularly with entrepreneurs and offering (for better or for worse) advice on how to run a startup and how to raise venture capital from my experience in doing so at two companies. By definition, you read blogs.

startup 373

startup advice communities VC 373

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FEBRUARY 3, 2011

As many of you know I run a weekly webcast called This Week in VC that’s getting between 25-35,000 weekly views across ThisWeekIn.com, YouTube & mostly iTunes. The bigger aha was using the information from the social graph to drive marketing. Why did you raise VC from Polaris & how have they been to work with?

mix-use 303

mix-use VC advice creativity 303

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

Because my role as a VC requires me to take and endless stream of meetings I long ago decided I need to learn as much as I can from the meetings I attend so I often just ask tons of questions and assimilate knowledge. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence.

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VC communities investing investment 360

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

I knew him well before he became a VC. I knew his as he considered becoming a VC and we talked a lot about how it was going for me in my early years. He has strong opinions that are well informed. My pal Dave has very loyal friends in the VC world who would go to bat for him any time. I’m one of them.

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VC data analysis incubation health 309