Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

One of the least understood parts of the venture capital industry and venture capital firms is how investment decisions actually get made. The truth is that each firm is different and there isn’t one standard but over the years I’ve talked with enough of my peers to get sense of how many firms work.

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venture capital peer-to-peer capital ventures 336

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 5, 2014

About seven years ago, I wrote a post on breaking into venture capital and I continue to point the five or six people a week who ask me how to break into venture. If you need to introduce yourself to a VC firm, you''re probably not getting the job. That''s a benefit to the VC firm.

venture capital 290

venture capital capital ventures peer-to-peer 290

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She hasn’t raised any venture capital. It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. Tracy built her company, Recycled Media , out of necessity. She drove her company to profitability before paying herself a modest salary.

peer-to-peer 363

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs startup entrepreneurship 363

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. Its interesting to think about the career history of the VCs mentioned above. what has this guy done?

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VC peer-to-peer board advice 275

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle , partner at Greycroft Partners , a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Greycroft is an early-stage VC. Closing a VC fund in 2009/10 is a major achievement in and of itself. When the show has been processed it will be available here (estimated 8pm PDT).

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VC peer-to-peer advice ventures 240

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 18, 2022

What sets Staax apart, though, is that it allows for peer-to-peer payments in stock. For better or for worse, Robinhood helped inspire a new generation of investors to enter the stock market. Oftentimes, the barriers to investing are logistical, she explained. Image Credit: Haje Kamps / TechCrunch.

peer-to-peer 90

peer-to-peer disruption investment investing 90

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

” There are a lot of data points that one can observer to get a sense of the venture capital markets – both LP fundings into venture and VC financings of startups. They point to some widely known facts: financings & valuations are up massively over the past 7 years and non-VC money has entered the system.

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VC peer-to-peer financing finance 214

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

I’ve heard a lot of people question whether there is too much money in venture capital chasing too few great deals. Others believe that new business models are emerging that could replace venture capital all together. We’re in a new tech bubble!” some have pronounced. Valuations are out of control” is the mantra of others.

venture capital 292

venture capital capital ventures peer-to-peer 292

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

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” Bowery Capital).

VC 356

VC peer-to-peer board entrepreneurs 356

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 22, 2020

A VC’s default is “no”, so without enough information to be convincing, it’s going to wind up being a pass. To a VC, $50,000 a pre-sale isn’t really that much. One of the most difficult conversations I have with founders is when they haven’t quite given me enough of a story for me to make a proper evaluation.

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pitching VC peer-to-peer founder 322

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 6, 2013

Online lending, specifically peer to peer, is one of those markets. Funds are even being raised to take advantage of these opportunities--but it isn''t exactly easy for an institutional player to go lending out $25 at a time on a peer to peer platform. This is essentially the bet that Box has made relative to Dropbox.

peer-to-peer 264

peer-to-peer investing investment venture capital 264

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.

VC 198

VC peer-to-peer mix-use leadership 198

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

Greycroft is Alan’s venture capital firm that recently raised its second fund ($130 million) with offices in both New York and LA. I’ve been to similar events with First Round Capital and True Ventures. And awesome to get to spend time with Ian Sigalow “comparing notes” (VC speak ).

peer-to-peer 279

peer-to-peer advice VC board 279

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

We try to look at the sources of capital, the valuations, exits and trends. Our last thoughts on the VC funding markets heading into 2016 was published here and I followed up with a little more context on the resetting of the venture industry , some thoughts on how startups are valued and how to think about burn rates at startups.

peer-to-peer 277

peer-to-peer VC advice ventures 277

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Social Proof in Action … Yesterday I wrote about the benefits of using social proof and authority in raising venture capital. We like to use new product and gain benefits before our peers. If you didn’t read that yet it might be worth having a quick skim as a primer. It influenced a generation of tech marketers.

peer-to-peer 294

peer-to-peer advice innovation support 294

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 2, 2015

Their reaction to what I do day in and day out is very telling about how a lot of people, including VCs themselves, think of the job. I say that, but I''m not entirely sure all my peers understand that. The founders I backed aren''t VCs (well, except Dave ) so I don''t know if that is such a great signal.

pitching 339

pitching peer-to-peer venture capital creativity 339

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 11, 2010

The other day, I unlocked the "I'm no racist" badge in the VC game. I'll bet not too many other VCs in my peer group could name five… Go me! All I had to do was to name 5 black tech startup entrepreneurs in New York City when asked by a reporter to do so. Kidding aside, I did feel a totally misplaced sense of pride.

peer-to-peer 271

peer-to-peer VC entrepreneurship education 271

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.

VC 374

VC peer-to-peer entrepreneurs investing 374

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

Contrast that with a VC conversation I had. In case you don’t know – as VCs we have have 2 sets of customers: LPs (limited partners) who invest money in our funds and entrepreneurs (who we in turn give money to and help support them in building businesses we hope will be valuable). If they want to invest that’s great.

peer-to-peer 341

peer-to-peer VC entrepreneurs support 341

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

I had witnessed a number of early-stage tech startups in LA raise seed capital from the Bay Area and relocate. Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund).

accelerator 290

accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

We raised this capital in what has increasingly become a difficult market for fund raising so I’d like to share with you some details on how we get it done. I’m a stickler for focus, being efficient with capital and building out operational excellence, so our strategy initially was very constrained. Little old us.

strategy 282

strategy peer-to-peer incumbents real estate 282

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. Every VC firm works differently but when asked about our process I always reply the same way, We’re a “high conviction” shop. .” . — Scott Belsky (@scottbelsky) April 29, 2015. The same is true at startups.

advice 332

advice peer-to-peer startup frameworks 332

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

2021 saw phenomenal returns for our industry and it topped off more than a decade of unprecedented VC growth. Photo by Scott Clark for Upfront Ventures (no, Evan is not standing on a box) Last year marked the 25th anniversary for Upfront Ventures and what a year it was.

ventures 408

ventures startup peer-to-peer venture capital 408

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

The idea is simple enough: several female VC partners at top funds will hold 1-hour meetings with 40 promising female entrepreneurs looking to get advice on their business and pitch in a friendly, non-judgmental, safe environment. 8% of VC partnerships, for example). My partner Kara wrote a great post on the topic that you should read.

founder 256

founder peer-to-peer VC mentorship 256

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

I see many companies these days just race to raise capital. They see capital raising at the success validator. He then brought her to board meetings so nobody could accuse him of not having a business model. I guess this is the ultimate definition of implementing a business model when you’re not clear on strategy! ” True.

strategy 401

strategy startup peer-to-peer advice 401

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 win consulting, board, operating, and investment roles with private equity and venture capital funds (video). How to find a job as a VC scout. How to get a job in venture capital.

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VC venture capital accelerator ventures 128

TechCrunch

MAY 5, 2021

People have been discussing the importance of expanding opportunities for women in venture capital and startup entrepreneurship for decades. The prospect of more women writing checks was viewed as a positive for female founders, a cohort that has struggled to attract more than a fraction of the funds that their male peers manage.

VC 89

VC peer-to-peer venture capital entrepreneurship 89

AsiaTechDaily

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

His passion for filmmaking led to the creation of J Rental Centre, a peer-to-peer rental platform born out of a desire to maximize the utility of accumulated camera equipment. Bookmark ( 0 ) Please login to bookmark Username or Email Address Password Remember Me No account yet?

venture capital 98

venture capital peer-to-peer capital ventures 98

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

” It was meant both as a call to those writing angel checks into other people’s companies that they ought to think about putting that capital toward themselves either by becoming a startup founder or (and this was my real point) by taking an under-market salary in a company where they can learn the right skills to do it in the future.

advice 334

advice peer-to-peer VC board 334

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. Let’s be clear: AngelList doesn’t scare a single VC I know. But it’s not cutting VCs out. It is additive.

VC 292

VC peer-to-peer investing investment 292

David Teten VC

JULY 27, 2021

We have collected a wide range of freebies, contests, accelerators, online communities, and VCs designed for student tech founders. I have been researching this both to support Versatile VC ’s portfolio companies and also as part of research for my new book, To University and Beyond: Launch Your Career in High Gear. 1) Your school.

founder 144

founder mentorship peer-to-peer pitching 144

David Teten VC

JUNE 9, 2021

Would you like to work with private equity and venture capital funds? There are relatively few jobs directly inside private equity and venture capital funds, and those jobs are highly competitive. See How to negotiate a partner role at a VC or private equity firm.) At Versatile VC , we’ve used all these models.

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consulting venture capital board capital 128

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JUNE 1, 2016

Praveen Varshney, a long-time EO Vancouver member and investor in Lyft, Guiides.com, ShareShed and other sharing-economy companies, is capitalizing on this new movement while helping the environment through supporting a culture of access over ownership. What inspired you to invest in peer-to-peer marketplaces?

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peer-to-peer investing investment disruption 130

AsiaTechDaily

AUGUST 31, 2023

Through a joint announcement, the entities unveiled their intention to combine conventional bank credit with venture capital investment, all while ensuring minimal equity dilution for shareholders. He stated that VC funding experienced a substantial decline of 60% in Q3 2022 compared to the previous year’s corresponding period.

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peer-to-peer startup collaboration venture capital 105

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

He gets to return his focus and energy back to what got him so passionate in the first place – product – while now having a seasoned leader and enough capital to fulfill his vision. I know because I marked the occasion with a blog post on how to have a great VC meeting. It’s your baby. So give up the CEO role?

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peer-to-peer energy founder advice 303

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

David Teten is founder of Versatile VC and writes periodically at teten.com and @dteten. Akshat Dixit is a senior at North Carolina State University, an intern at Versatile VC , and a past intern with the HBS Alumni Angels Association and the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Scouts help promote diversity in VC.

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VC peer-to-peer consulting board 93