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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MAY 5, 2023

To put that timeframe in perspective, here’s a picture of analyst me taken at USV’s first office in 2005, dressed in khakis and a button-down shirt versus a picture of me, a GP at my own firm, over 100 deals later, now on my latest Zoom board call from my couch at home with my junior analyst of about a year and a half.

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JUNE 5, 2015

” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note. So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages? But as Brad discussed – what happens to the prior convertible note in this new world? It’s very simple.

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This is going to be BIG.

JULY 16, 2014

I am there, along with other investors and board members to audit their thinking--to make sure they were considerate about the plans *they* came up with, not me. That does not mean telling them how to run the company, but to help them create a management discipline--a framework for thinking about problems and solutions.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

If you want to understand the software trend that drove the creation of the seed-stage VC phenomenon I wrote about it that linked blog post but in short: cloud computing drove down the cost to create startups enabling a new category of investor. Some quick highlights include: The Role of a Seed Stage VC. Startup Lessons'

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

Matt and many members of his leadership team got the band back together early this year and started a new company called Bolster in partnership with Silicon Valley Bank and the early-stage VC firm High Alpha. A few months later, USV joined that investor group along with our friends at Costanoa.

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

APRIL 22, 2021

Last June, I wrote about board diversity and suggested some things we are doing and that you can do to diversity your board. In the ten months that have passed since I wrote that I am pleased to say that we have seen a noticeable increase in board diversity in our portfolio. It is that important to me and USV. Just do it.

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This is going to be BIG.

MAY 11, 2015

In two-thirds of those investments I'm in enough of a lead position where I'm acting as a board member, officially or otherwise. There are weird parts, like board meetings being an hour a day. The board schedules revolve around you when you're the only one that actually asks for regular meetings. It's an interesting exercise.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

One of the things that founders have the most angst about is whom they should have on their board and at what stage of the business. This is smart because amazing board members can be transformative with important advice and access and can also help attract other great board members (and team members).

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board startup venture capital finance 236

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.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. However, to be a great VC you have to hold two conflicting ideas in your head at the same time. By definition?—?I’m So in a way it’s self selecting.

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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.

investing 365

investing investment VC board 365

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NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures). Operating experience (Helped run parts of CitySearch & UrbanSpoon, tons of product management experience, Board of Hatch Labs which helped spawn Tinder). Upfront Ventures VC Industry'

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VC networking ventures board 408

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 3, 2016

Why do VC's get such a bad rap? That's literally your baby--and 98% of the time, a VC will tell you that your baby is ugly. Forget the fact that a VC's job is more akin to that of a NASCAR passenger, perhaps occasionally pointing out a track hazard or cheering the driver on, but certainly not the main component of success.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

” From the hyperbolic Jason Calacanis weighing in that “The petty VC’s did everything to deride [Naval, the co-founder of AngelList]” as though the industry was collectively s g its pants that AngelList was going to put us out of business. This is the same way VC firms, by the way. Bowery Capital).

VC 356

VC peer-to-peer board entrepreneurs 356

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 24, 2014

Not every potentially good VC previously worked for Fred Wilson and Josh Kopelman. Not every VC used to get pitched by VC funds for a living and has seen hundreds and hundreds of VC pitch decks. So what about a Techstars-like program for new VCs? How can we leverage them to help create the next generation of VCs?

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accelerator mentorship VC incubation 371

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 17, 2016

They might be doing board meetings more frequently, coaching first time founders through layoffs and debating with their partners which companies they should bridge until things thaw out. If you're a founder fundraising this year, that means spending more time getting VCs comfortable with the risks of your company.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

We also spoke about what it takes to be an effective board member. On the one hand I often find that some board members are seemingly reading the board materials on the fly and don’t have a firm grasp of the business fundamentals while on the other hand some board members like to tinker in the running of the business.

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advice board VC investing 327

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

When you set up a board it is often initially a combination of the founders and the early investors. This post sets out how I believe founders (and investors) should think about independent board members having worked with many of them for the past 20 years. The board is where large equity investors get their representation.

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board peer-to-peer VC funders 187

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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VC venture capital capital investing 223

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

NOVEMBER 24, 2021

I remember about fifteen years ago, a well-known VC said to me “you need to sell a company within a few years of the founder leaving. ” I told that VC that my experience has been different on that measure and that I did not agree. Etsy, where I am Chair of the Board and a large shareholder, is a great example of that.

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founder leadership board VC 267

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

DECEMBER 15, 2020

In the most recent Pitchbook 2021 predictions , they project that Silicon Valley will make up less than 20% of all VC deals in 2021. If there is one megachange in VC from the pandemic (there may be many), I think it is the comfort with making investments over video without the founder or the VC traveling to meet each other.

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JULY 21, 2014

It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. Make sure your board challenges you enough about long-term vision & innovation. Run board meetings that force strategic discussions rather than cheering sessions focused on financial metrics.

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incubation board VC innovation 354

Berkonomics

MARCH 28, 2024

All other board functions are secondary. Even venture capitalists who sit on boards where they have significant investments often forget this point. Actually, there are two legal duties of board members. Sometimes, there will be a conflict of interest between the people representing the various shareholder classes on a board.

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board advice education VC 112

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?—?

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VC leadership mentorship entrepreneurs 284

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 13, 2022

In this case, a VC would have every right, having seen lots of products get built and succeed or fail, to want to observe and discuss that process. What’s harder to notice for a founder is all of the things that a founder isn’t being asked to review in detail that a VC has no problem trusting the founder on.

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founder VC board strategy 415

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JULY 16, 2020

I’ve been asked this question a bunch in the last few weeks in response to my post about more diversity on Boards. A Company should have a Board the day it is formed. The Board should contain one Founder (or possibly two) and at least two independent Directors. My answer to this question is simple.

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board founder entrepreneurship 179

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

But VC is like congress. “This essay is dedicated to the great VC’s on my board who I am lucky to work with: Sameer Gandhi from Accel, Jeremy Liew from Lightspeed, and Kirsten Green from Forerunner. As you can see from the chart their data suggests there are about $25 billion of VC distributions per year in the US.

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VC peer-to-peer entrepreneurs investing 374

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Between 2006–2008 I sold both companies that I had started and became a VC. SEEING THINGS FROM THE VC SIDE OF THE TABLE While I was a VC in 2007 & 2008 those were dead years because the market again evaporated due the the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). THE VC VALUATION GOD Valuation obsession wasn’t restricted to startups.

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VC culture sustainability capital 466

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.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. It’s easy to think the role of a VC is to have strong opinions about markets, trends, tech dynamics and so forth. The role of VC is sparring partner.

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venture capital capital ventures VC 363

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

I left the meeting and had to attend a 3-hour board meeting where two founders have been fighting and each want the other one fired. After my board meeting I had to do an interview with a CFO candidate that one of my portfolio companies asked me to speak with.

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pitching board funders entrepreneurs 381

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. So What Impact Did the Drop in Tech Founding Costs Have on VC?

investing 328

investing investment VC venture capital 328

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. as a VC, sometimes your own website becomes an afterthought. That''s also why I''m finally launching a real website at brooklynbridge.vc. When you blog, tweet , Instagram , etc., So there ya go.

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pitching board VC opportunity 413

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

I love the enthusiasm, the boundless energy and the sense of possibility that comes from having an idea that hasn’t yet been beat up in the marketplace of competing ideas, customer contracts, VC skepticism, jaded journalists or fickle consumers who are on the The New, New Thing. And board confidence matters in growing companies.

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JULY 19, 2021

I also think startup boards need to evolve. There should be many more independent directors and many fewer investor directors on startup boards. Investors should be more open to observer seats and founders should have more say in which investors sit on their boards. I think independent control is the most sustainable solution.

board 276

board finance financing sustainability 276

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 25, 2023

Does the VC think that a designer needs to be on the team from day one if you’re going to build a better version of Instagram? Does the VC think that a machine learning engineer needs to be there to build a real version of Tony Stark’s Jarvis? That’s fair. Let’s first talk about the definition of a co-founder.

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founder VC board pitching 367