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. Just ask the people of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Iowa, Princeton, Dallas or countless other cities that don’t have enough venture capital. It’s a goal to help you understand the life of a VC. Ask SuperCell.

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Dream It

AUGUST 29, 2019

At the seed stage, talking about exit strategy always seems a bit premature, even presumptuous. But this topic is always in the back of mind for VCs and other investors, so it’s important to formulate a plan around the topic, even if those exit strategies might change as you grow your startup. Take Google as an example.

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strategy VC energy disruption 299

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 16, 2014

How long does it take from first meeting a VC to getting cash in the bank? The way I choose conferences and events, and my strategy once I''m there, is based more around who I''m going to back two years from now than it is who is raising now. Venture Capital & Technology' That''s an interesting question.

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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. What was the post money on your last round (and how much capital have you raised)? So why does a VC ask you? In the first place they’re looking for “fit” with their firm.

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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

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 10, 2015

The last thing you want as either a founder or even a VC is to have an investor get stuck with you when you're not on the same page about expectations. 6) VCs are along for the ride. It's very difficult to force an exit, to affect strategy, and if you have to replace a team early, things have really hit the fan. Trust me.

venture capital 415

venture capital investing investment ventures 415

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 368

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

You run X amount of capital and Y percentage of that is allocated to venture capital. For the VC that means if you're returning money to your institutional investors, that's about all you need to worry about. Either way, VC funds aren't really built around creating much of an experience for their Limited Partners.

venture capital 284

venture capital capital ventures VC 284

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

If you are a super young, well-connected, Stanford CS or EE, worked at Facebook early, have a bit o’ dosh and have VCs chasing you … you are exempt. I know it’s not as sexy as a faster growth rate and a larger round of capital. If your goal is to be the next Instagram or bust that’s a great strategy.

VC 412

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

Scott and I agree on nearly everything: The VC structure is changing and there appears to be a bifurcation into small & large VCs with an impact on “traditionally sized” VCs. The only point we didn’t seem totally aligned on was what we happening to the “middle of the VC market.”

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VC SaaS strategy ventures 309

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

There was an explosion in number of startups both because it was cheap and there was tons of available capital. Non VC Growth Rounds. In Q3/Q4 2015 the market changed noticeably for VC funds and the market started to realize this by Q1 2016. VC Infighting. Boom in Number of Startups. Explosion in Seed Funds.

venture capital 271

venture capital capital ventures VC 271

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. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

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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. The Early Years.

strategy 282

strategy peer-to-peer incumbents real estate 282

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

They imagine it to look something like this: They think that there are some deals that are automatic yeses and some that are just bad, but there’s a whole lot that are kind of in the middle—deals that can be nudged over to one side or the other based on things like clever fundraising strategy or the presence of bias. This isn’t surprising.

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advice pitching venture capital VC 446

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. Well, the venture capital industry has changed a lot in the past 20 years … and we have too. We have previously raised funds in 1996 ($200 million), 2000 ($400 million) and 2008/9 ($200 million). What’s up with that?

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ventures venture capital advice VC 343

American Entrepreneurship

OCTOBER 17, 2024

With the recent funding of AirOps, marketers have a platform that builds and scales go-to-market strategies using human + AI content workflows that produce best-in-class brand content. The startup’s platform was quickly embraced by marketing agencies and in-house teams. The power of AI is unfolding across industries.

creativity 97

creativity VC entrepreneurship strategy 97

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

When people tell you how and why they raised capital or what drove their app to success, they often attribute success to planning or neat little explainable reasons when they might simply have no clue what happened. Venture capital is kind of like a knuckleball. Even the guy tossing it around has no clue why it winds up where it does.

advice 416

advice startup VC strategy 416

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I spoke at Michael Kim’s excellent annual Cendana VC/LP conference today. One of the points I tried to make is that as venture capital investors as an industry we seem to have a healthy disdain for public market investors. What is your revenue growth rate and what does this imply about your number of months of capital remaining?

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VC capital culture venture capital 392

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

No VC will be so naive as not to see straight through it. When I first became a VC, seed rounds were typically $500k – $1.5 There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.).

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VC advice financing finance 399

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

It’s that time of year, time to look back and reflect on the most significant storylines in the tech, startup, and VC world. 6/ Venture Capital In Expansion Phase. During this time, there’s financial leverage used in the transaction to help buffer the firm’s cost of capital (e.g.

VC 165

VC startup venture capital mix-use 165

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

He had been working as a strategy consultant post b-school at Monitor and worked closely with a good family friend of mine who recommended I meet him. He wanted to work in venture capital and I was new to the industry and in no position to hire anybody. Monitor had a little internal VC group so he got some experience there.

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collaboration VC accelerator consulting 344

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs.

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VC venture capital ventures financing 387

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. Nearly four months ago we rebranded at Upfront Ventures.

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ventures VC strategy advice 324

Revolution

MAY 11, 2023

Our findings confirmed a significant shift away from the traditional tech hubs of the Bay Area, New York City, and Boston, with the proportion of seed- and early-stage VC dollars funneling into the Bay Area falling below 30% for the first time in more than a decade. marking its highest level since 2017.

real estate 296

real estate energy innovation VC 296

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

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

I’m often asked about the differences between being at a VC and being an entrepreneur and whether I prefer one or the other. The biggest difference I cite is that Venture Capital often feels like an “individual sport” while startups are a “team sport.” It was more hedge fund than venture capital.

culture 339

culture VC communities venture capital 339

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata investments rights given investors the right to invest in your future fund-raising rounds and maintain their ownership % in your company as your company grows and raises more capital. Neither case is better or worse – they more depend on investor strategy and their outlook on the potential of the company.

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VC investing investment entrepreneurs 336

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

David Teten VC

FEBRUARY 17, 2025

At Coolwater Capital , the Y Combinator for VC funds, we assess this as part of our diligence process. However, forming your new fund also typically requires making important decisions about firm strategy, culture, how you make decisions, budget, data ownership, and other issues.

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culture strategy venture capital financing 52

Hunter Walk

MAY 22, 2024

Darwin moves at half-speed in venture capital, allowing mediocrity and outdated ‘best practices’ to persist, much to the detriment of founders and LPs. 2021-2023 Start investing in amazing new VC firms, often anchoring the raise as one of their largest funders. What’s one possible solution? Get out there and win.

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VC capital funders strategy 90

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

MARCH 28, 2022

So I saw this tweet by Semil Shah yesterday: A friend who works in an industry far from tech startups & VC asked what would be the single article I’d share to read on each topic. So I am reposting it below: The venture capital business is highly competitive. It is about how a VC can compete and win a deal that many others want.

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VC entrepreneurs venture capital strategy 261

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

Cincinnati, like many startup communities in the US over the past 5 years, has revitalized important regions in its urban core, created accelerators, built co-working facilities, pooled together angel capital, attracted VCs, involved educational institutions and solicited the help of important corporations in a more cohesive ecosystem.

startup 390

startup communities venture capital angel capital 390

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. As money poured into our industry, it encouraged many VCs to write $20–30 million checks at increasingly higher and higher valuations where it is unlikely that they had substantively more proof of company traction or success.

ventures 408

ventures startup peer-to-peer venture capital 408

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 not, somebody else will.

peer-to-peer 341

peer-to-peer VC entrepreneurs support 341

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Today I’m handing her the largest A-round check I’ve ever written as a VC as we lead her $10 million A-Round at uBeam. I said simply, “That’s the most ambitious project I’ve seen since I became a VC.” Through many meetings discussing strategy, approach, recruiting, financing, etc.

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VC ventures leadership board 418

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

If you’re not taking this zone-out down time I’ll bet you’re not having enough strategic reflection on your job, your company, your strategy. Frankly, I think venture capital is that way, too. How does the world in Los Angeles intersect differently with venture capital? I don’t want to be on autopilot.

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creativity venture capital entrepreneurs board 400

AsiaTechDaily

DECEMBER 27, 2022

Register TradeDog Group, the parent company of TD VC that is based in Dubai in the UAE, has announced the launch of their $100M Web3 “special situation” fund that will be allocated in projects with good products and businesses with struggling token markets. Bookmark ( 0 ) Please login to bookmark. Username or Email Address. Remember Me.

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VC strategy venture capital board 97