Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The typical VC process is as follows: They say there are three rules in property: Location, location, location. The surest sign a fund-raising process has stalled is when you aren’t getting follow-up meetings or hearing from the VC or hearing from friends that they got a phone call or email asking about you. Same with VC.

VC 332

VC advice entrepreneurs energy 332

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

OCTOBER 15, 2020

I wrote yesterday , about the quarterly numbers for VC investing activity: If this was a student coming home with a report card, it would be straight As. But it is possible that there is and I missed that in my blog yesterday. I have not seen the data to back that up but if it is true, that is also a failing grade for the VC sector.

VC 345

VC innovation founder investment 345

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. I eventually stumbled on to the best source of high-quality deal flow imaginable – blogging. ” I love businesses that don’t lend themselves well to VC Panels at conferences or Demo Days. I attended events. I hustled.

VC 347

VC advice pitching entrepreneurs 347

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 Ours is: upfront.com/inclusion. We strive to invest in companies that are consciously working to create a diverse leadership team?—?

VC 284

VC leadership mentorship entrepreneurs 284

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

My goal in the interview overall was to capture more of the personal side of Fred since so much of his investment thesis and portfolio work already comes out in his blog. We talk a lot about his schooling, his early jobs as a developer and then as a VC and we talk about his decision to spend winters in Los Angeles.

advice 327

advice board VC investment 327

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

VC funding. 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. blog here ). Same as I felt.

ventures 419

ventures VC capital SaaS 419

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

You can watch the video above for a very brief overview of why we rebranded and where we see our place in the VC ecosystem along with what has changed in our industry. Relaunching our brand is part of our larger initiative to build a VC firm of the future. When he starts his blog I’ll let you know. But I miss blogging.

ventures 324

ventures VC strategy advice 324

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. If you have strong VC support now and a lot of cash in the bank you may be willing to accept a higher burn rate (say $300k or $400k per month) than a company with angel money and less cash in the bank. Profitability.

startup 383

startup VC frameworks capital 383

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

Brunson’s short and to-the-point blog post, “ It’s Called Networking, Not Using.” It’s why I wrote the blog post on 50 Coffee Meetings. It’s why I talk about building VC relationships early – Lines, Not Dots. “I’ve never been a VC before. ” Be authentic.

advice 407

advice VC networking entrepreneurs 407

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I only say that because after years as a VC I can always tell when my peer group invested in something because “it seemed like it would make money” versus when they invested out of passion. On reflection of the role that I want to play as a VC it is clearly in the camp of passion. I’m a VC.

peer-to-peer 373

peer-to-peer VC pitching entrepreneurs 373

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

MAY 5, 2021

There has been this narrative about investing in VC funds that you have to get into the top quartile (25%) or possibly the top decile (10%) in order to generate good returns. I have heard that for as long as I have been in VC and probably have written it here a few times. As you can see, investing in VC funds can be very profitable.

VC 279

VC board investment investing 279

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

The major battle for press is a battle for “mindshare” and it’s exactly the reason I blog. I am a VC. Consider this blog post titled, “ Christmas 2012 Shatters More Smart Device and App Download Records.” I hand out money. How differentiated is that?

mix-use 389

mix-use advice VC technology 389

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

The frantic pace of technology cycles, the amount of tech news, the blogs, the conferences, the demo days, the announcements, the fundings, the IPOs. It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. But in today’s fast-paced world my observation is that as VCs we don’t control the ball as much as we should.

peer-to-peer 317

peer-to-peer pitching VC accelerator 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2015

If you’re an investor considering putting dollars in the ground in LA, you can see that there is a tremendous opportunity both because of the growth of our markets and there are fewer VC funds here relative to the opportunity than anywhere else in the country.

VC 307

VC opportunity media innovation 307

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

Conferences, startup blogs, meetups--they're all filled with people telling you how to build your company. Try and figure out exactly what a startup had to show at the moment a VC chose to invest in them. Why ever read another tech blog? They don't look cautiously at the advice given to them by their favorite VC blogger.

advice 416

advice startup VC strategy 416

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Ask your VC to send a critical email to a contact.

board 365

board VC advice pitching 365

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

But VC is like congress. As you can see from the chart their data suggests there are about $25 billion of VC distributions per year in the US. According to FLAG Capital there are 100 active VCs (as defined by making at least $1 million in VC per quarter for 4 consecutive quarters). Their data looks at tech VCs.

VC 374

VC peer-to-peer entrepreneurs investment 374

David Teten VC

MARCH 1, 2022

The easiest way to work with and for VC funds is to become a part-time scout, getting paid for sourcing investments. How to find a job as a VC scout. VC recruiters list and compensation data. How to negotiate a partner role at a VC or private equity firm. Syllabus for how to launch, manage, and invest a VC fund.

VC 128

VC venture capital accelerator ventures 128

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2014

These are things that other VCs think about, but founders who come to pitch don''t think about too much. When you blog, tweet , Instagram , etc., as a VC, sometimes your own website becomes an afterthought. That''s also why I''m finally launching a real website at brooklynbridge.vc.

pitching 413

pitching board VC opportunity 413

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

Monitor had a little internal VC group so he got some experience there. More like a temporary VC just to get some experience and of course we’d pay him. We got a bit of extra help on company analyses and he got to see a VC from the inside. The photo in this blog (like many of mine) came from 500px. And thank you.

collaboration 344

collaboration VC accelerator consulting 344

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

That’s a shame because many of these people missed out on what will be a few great VC vintages. I wrote about this in a blog post last year titled “ It’s Morning in VC ” but I never made the full deck available until now. I saved it mostly for LP discussions that I had over the past year.

venture capital 362

venture capital capital ventures VC 362

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. VC has operated as an “old boys club”, with access to capital often requiring entrance through an elite university engineering department in one of two cities. This month we closed our 4th fund of $200 million.

ventures 343

ventures venture capital advice VC 343

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

” But I pointed out a professor at HBS ( Tom Eisenmann ) who teaches a course where blogs are a part of the classroom reading material. We spoke about the disruption of VC through crowd funding. VC can’t don’t invest in these kinds of companies because they can’t get out (no liquidity event).

education 403

education disruption entrepreneurship venture capital 403

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

APRIL 20, 2020

I wrote a blog post on March 12th called Open For Business and thought I would return to the topic. If you search for “vc open for business” on Twitter , you will see almost universal scorn for the idea that VCs are open for business right now. But I don’t see that across the entire VC landscape.

peer-to-peer 236

peer-to-peer VC financing finance 236

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

I saw Dan Primack assert that the venture capitalist’s customer is their limited partners in this tweet about the Citizen app, the recap, and their VCs: Regular reminder that, ultimately, VC funds works for their limited partners, not for their portfolio companies. The entrepreneur is the customer and the LP is the shareholder.

VC 235

VC venture capital ventures capital 235

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

We are often asked how companies get funded, why VCs make the decisions we make and what we’re looking for in entrepreneurs. I think this is a Seriously great example of how this process works for at least one VC – Upfront Ventures. So I hope that offers you insights into how companies move through the VC system.

media 373

media education VC financing 373

Hunter Walk

FEBRUARY 22, 2025

Ok, back to the VC content marketing. As a result I’ve seen hundreds of VC decks, all certain they will be among the top performers. The idea that it’s nearly fruitless to blindly search for a single small object when it’s located in a vast container.

startup 94

startup VC strategy leadership 94

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

As I wrote then: I don’t think a VC firm should manage to a pacing number. In the last two years, the VC business has been operating at a blistering pace, the fastest I’ve witnessed in my 35 years in the business (including the 99/00 era). But even so, the VC business has turned into a sprint.

VC 235

VC opportunity investment investing 235

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

I have blogged about some of the downside consequences of the changes and the private information I have says the consequences are much worse than is reported in the press since few people publicly talk about. Does he blog about venture capital and try to advise entrepreneurs? Fundraising / Negotiations Startup Lessons VC Industry'

venture capital 352

venture capital VC board financing 352

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I became aware of Sam several years ago as I started noticing his name repeated in the comments section of my blog. But … we had committed to setting up an EIR program where we would fund people to work on their ideas in our offices and also get the dual experience of working inside a VC. Sam in the perfect example.

pitching 372

pitching advice VC entrepreneurs 372

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

“Ok, so this guy can write a blog and source deals but can he make any money?” “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs. I have done 6 VC investments – all within the past 20 months. Any VC 3 years in saying otherwise would either be exaggerating, lucky or an extreme outlier.”

VC 387

VC venture capital financing finance 387

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2015

If a VC tried to do this to you on an early-stage deal they would get such a bad reputation that no other VCs or entrepreneurs would work with them. On VC financings this term is explicit so entrepreneurs understand they’re getting screwed. If you do I will amend this blog post.

entrepreneurs 381

entrepreneurs VC advice financing 381

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Plus, many VC rounds traditionally didn’t guarantee angels prorata rights unless they were “major investors” which often means they wrote large checks in the angel round. A day after I published this Changing Structure of VC article I noticed at least one “Angel Prorata Fund” on AngelList.

VC 336

VC investment investing entrepreneurs 336

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

This blog post is not about debating if "enough" diverse founders get funding--whatever that might mean. So if you're a super early stage with just a prototype, you might not think that a VC fund is the right fit for you--so you wind up at an angel group. VCs don't go later and angels don't go earlier. Venture investing is hard.

advice 419

advice founder pitching VC 419

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

In fact, one could say that the sagging stock price of Facebook and stories about lack of VC funding for consumer startups represents , in one microcosm, the story of Web 2.0: People will be able to find what you do, not just how you write about what you do on a blog.

collaboration 348

collaboration media SaaS VC 348

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

My friend Rob Go wrote the following comment on my last blog post. Fred Wilson said it best in his post about loss ratios in VC. I think the VC industry tends to pressure new entrants to feel like strategy consultants did. VCs don’t need to be perfect. VC Industry' I couldn’t agree more. Avoid the herd.

VC 337

VC consulting strategy entrepreneurs 337

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

In my experience many VC’s fall into this “I’m expected to know all the answers” trap. The more self-assured the VC is and the more impressionable the entrepreneur is the worse the outcome. ” I’ve already blogged about how I work through this process: I triangulate. It is unknowable.

peer-to-peer 337

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs consulting VC 337