Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. It goes something like this … VC: “How much money are you raising?” Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” A VC is looking for reasonableness.

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This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

I'm often the last one to leave an event, held back by the most persistant of entrepreneurs trying to squeeze as much advice as they can out of me. Often times, the advice is terrible or impractical. Try and figure out exactly what a startup had to show at the moment a VC chose to invest in them. Why should that stop me, though?

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

As a VC with scores of startups in our portfolio we have ringside seats to many, many fund raising processes plus I had to raise money across about 5 different rounds of capital as an entrepreneur so I’ve developed some thought on the process that I hope can be helpful to some of you before you start. Just send me your dog damn deck 7.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

There is a second set of career discussions I have even more frequently than my “angel yourself” advice but this type is almost never discussed publicly in blogs, which tend to emphasize only billion-dollar opportunities, 20-something technical founders and Silicon Valley elitism. Being a CEO begets the network to be a CEO.

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David Teten VC

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Versatile VC is hosting a one-hour interactive webinar on Thursday, September 28, at noon EST. We’ll discuss Versatile VC ‘s strategy, how we see the market, and some of the opportunities we think are exciting. We have the flexibility to invest using both traditional and alternative VC structures.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 3, 2015

It spoke to me because it so resonates with my nearly daily advice to entrepreneurs and VCs alike. I went as far as to call it the best Tweet of 2015 so far because it encapsulated my advice so succinctly. All advice you receive is too generic to help you – you need to decide for yourself in your exact situation.

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Both Sides of the Table

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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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2015

So here’s advice I give people all the time when they’re raising money. Or they’ll remind me of my common advice to take “ 50 coffee meetings.” ” The report also notes that 75% of mega financings are led by non-VCs. Show me your unicorn. Honestly, just searching the term yield many results.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 6, 2023

Serial entrepreneur and seasoned investor Vinod Khosla has some strong, contrarian advice for the venture capital industry: don’t sit on your founders’ boards. Khosla has a history of criticizing some of the mainstream wisdom by VCs. The advice comes at a reflective time for the industry. Vinod Khosla’s advice for top VCs?

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

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. It’s not uncommon for a VC to ask you how much capital you’ve raised and what the post-money valuation was on your last round. So why does a VC ask you?

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting.

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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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This is going to be BIG.

JULY 23, 2018

I've seen this so many times over: A founder pitches a VC, or several of them, and then they come back from that process with all sorts of new strategy goals or worries that they need to be doing something differently. Any advice they have for you is going to be a bit broken. If it was, you'd run it very differently.

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Jason Malki

MARCH 9, 2023

Then, I stumbled upon PE/VC after chatting with a good college buddy of mine. What is your advice for someone trying to break into tech investing? VC is a patient capital asset class — you won’t know how good of an investor you are until several years down the road. I would break it down into 3 steps. This was very insightful.

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TechCrunch

OCTOBER 26, 2021

This year, VCs have flowed $14.7 Healthcare spending accounts for almost 18% of U.S. GDP, so it’s no surprise that digital health is attracting record levels of investment. billion to health tech startups, compared to $14.6 billion in all of 2020.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

If you’re an entrepreneur who would like to see this clause in more startups please ask your VC to include it in future term sheets and link to it from their home page. “We I have seen in your 5 years with us countless hours dedicated to mentorship and advice to younger founders of color and showing them a roadmap for success.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. What Did I Learn From the First VC Check I Ever Wrote?

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StartupNation

MAY 5, 2021

These 11 entrepreneurs share the number one piece of advice their closest mentor ever gave them: Time is the most valuable thing you have. I vividly remember his best advice: He asked about my goals, and I replied, “To earn $250,000 in commissions.” Tim Draper , legendary VC, founder of Draper Associates and DFJ.

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Startup Grind

AUGUST 15, 2018

He has worked with several startups, invested in companies like Mayvenn, Gimlet Media, Blavity, Airspace Technologies, Codeverse, and many others Pitch your startup for a chance to meet with Cross Culture VC Q&A: What is your / your fund's mission? What is one piece of advice you’d give every founder? BUILD and EXECUTE!

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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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Entrepreneur's Handbook

JUNE 21, 2022

You’ll receive the best practical startup advice straight to your inbox every week. In this week’s edition, we discuss: Approaching the funding raising process from a VCs point of view The future of cryptocurrency in 2022 Is your side hustle profitable or a waste of time? That way, you can anticipate questions that a VC might ask.

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TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

However, while many startups exist in cities like Turin, Bologna, Naples and Rome, Milan is generally seen as a bigger ecosystem because of its mercantile culture and a significant share of VC funds. The good news: VC funding in Italy has grown. It has an estimated 67 VC funds, with 18 of them started since 2015. More than 50%?

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This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2018

This will be the post where I dangerously attempt to walk the minefield of a white male VC opining on the topic. Besides, how effective of a filter is it that someone can get coffee with a non-VC and convince them that you'd want to see the deal? That pitch has never excited any VC in the history of VC funding.

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Haystack

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

As lines of code continue to proliferate through the world, as the rate of startup formation increases to seize those opportunities, and as the VC industry expands to support those new teams and opportunities, there is no shortage of people to visit for advice — not to mention all the resources online.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

In the VC insider baseball world a discussion has gone on about “VC platforms” over the past 5 or so years. While firms define platforms differently, let’s just say they are the services that a VC offers outside of investment capital and partner time on boards or providing intros.

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TechCrunch

MAY 28, 2022

The firm is not always right in its prognostications — maybe why it stuck to internal musings instead of a Medium post this time — but it does do a service in providing a snapshot of how one of the most weathered, and successful, VC firms of all time thinks about a looming downturn. TechCrunch+ is having a Memorial Day sale.

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Founder Bounty

DECEMBER 19, 2022

Having been in touch with top tier VC's for pre seed and seed these are the best ones. Its aim is to invest $20k into each of its accepted companies at an early-stage and then provide six months of hands-on support, advice and mentorship as they build their product or service.

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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

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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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 16, 2021

I’ve sat at both sides of the table as a founder and a VC, and I understand how difficult it is to get them on the same page. I’ve participated in a number of accelerators, including Disney and Techstars, and these programs gave me a noticeable advantage when I stepped into VC.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Beware of VC Seagulls, who shit on you and then fly away (or worse yet leave you with Red Herrings). This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. I like to say to first-time entrepreneurs, picking a VC is more permanent than marriage.

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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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TechCrunch

MAY 6, 2022

We start with a historical run of stories beginning last December, threading through the start of the year until we reach the latest data from the VC ecosystem. Steve Blank explains the rationale behind why a founder would agree to a cram down — and advice on what they could do instead. Sound good? Let’s go.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. If you don’t live in a major VC zone, I have some tips for how to make it easier to raise Venture Capital. ” Most VCs view it as their responsibility to mentor, debate, cajole and generally assist with investments they make.

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Entrepreneur's Handbook

AUGUST 2, 2021

Photo Credit: Fortune Adding to the lack of female representation in the industry, research also shows that only 8% of the investment professionals at the top 25 VC firms are women. As Lindquist adds, “We all have unique networks, personal relationships, market knowledge, and talents, which contribute to the fabric of a VC ecosystem.”

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I told my friend that I felt that in 2014 too many new VCs feel the pressure to chase deals, to be a part of syndicates with other brand names and to pounce on top of every startup whose numbers are trending up quickly. I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal.

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