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.

strategy 299

strategy VC energy disruption 299

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.

VC 365

VC board communities pitching 365

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?

VC 324

VC investing investment entrepreneurs 324

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

While most of the money that goes into VC funds comes from institutions that are highly experienced in the asset class, some family offices and high net worth individuals also invest in VC. No current non-accredited founders, please. Could you have led any of these deals? If you’re not sure if you qualify, e-mail me.

VC 267

VC investing investment strategy 267

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 5, 2016

Just don't go picking someone who really doesn't compliment you just because it's some kind of VC rule. I've heard a lot of VCs tell founders they need co-founders--and that they wouldn't look at a business at a very early stage without a co-founder. The same holds true for VC funds.

founder 284

founder board VC construction 284

Entrepreneurs' Organization

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Shivani Gupta, EO Queensland, multi-business founder, author, speaker and coach Profit from profit My big learning from EO Malaysia member Fong Leng Wong is: Profit from profit. My first female mentor was the incredible Janine Allis , founder of Boost Juice. Express your view in a calm and professional way.

founder 262

founder advice entrepreneurship entrepreneurs 262

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.”

VC 309

VC SaaS strategy ventures 309

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. Delaying going out of business gives you way more chances at product / market fit than any other strategy I know of. Your VC is right. You’re full of s**t!

VC 412

VC advice strategy accelerator 412

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

I’m a female founder. I don’t have a technical co-founder. These are all of the things I heard from a founder that I recently backed. So what about all of the above statements—things that founders widely hold to be true barriers to fundraising? Nearly half of the teams I’ve backed have female founders.

advice 446

advice pitching venture capital VC 446

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?

accelerator 368

accelerator mentorship VC incubation 368

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.

VC 223

VC venture capital capital investing 223

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. Smart founders use this extra resource to their advantage.

investing 365

investing investment VC board 365

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. Halliday joins with co-founders Berna Gonzalez who was Tech Lead at Rootstrap and Matt Hammel was Vice President-Sales at Bungalow.

creativity 97

creativity VC entrepreneurship strategy 97

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). I like technical founders so this wasn’t an issue.

founder 309

founder leadership board innovation 309

Revolution

MARCH 8, 2023

population, but in 2022, companies with solely female founders garnered just 2% of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups. The long and short of it: Female founders face systemic barriers to founding, funding, and scaling their businesses. As a leader, I welcome questions on our business, growth metrics, and strategy.”

founder 278

founder leadership strategy support 278

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

I have one failed attempt at a startup under my belt as a founder and I don't have any particularly usable skills that anyone would pay for like selling, designing, building, etc. So much of this is gut feel with a thin later of strategy retrofitted to seem more than random. Why should that stop me, though? Not special?

advice 416

advice startup VC strategy 416

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 8, 2019

Just the immediate priorities seem to take up more than one person’s potential working hours—so it’s no surprise that when it comes to something like social media, many founders have trouble making it a priority. The consequences of failing to position a founder’s profile aren’t always obvious—and it’s usually all about missed opportunities.

media 272

media leadership founder opportunity 272

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. What Rob wrote in his post is right. Rob does it.

board 365

board VC advice pitching 365

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.

venture capital 363

venture capital capital ventures VC 363

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. And as more economies worldwide seek to shift their investment strategies offshore and seek out technology, hubs like Silicon Valley and Shanghai, among others, have reaped the benefits.

VC 165

VC startup venture capital mix-use 165

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.).

VC 399

VC advice financing finance 399

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I spoke at Michael Kim’s excellent annual Cendana VC/LP conference today. You can read it in VCs discussions about hedge fund managers, activist investors or the need to have dual-share voting structures. Today I called it, “our own little VC led, portfolio-by-portfolio company version of RIP Good Times from 7 years ago.”

VC 392

VC capital culture venture capital 392

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

Working with early-stage teams : coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, rolling up sleeves: 9/10. “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs. I have done 6 VC investments – all within the past 20 months. Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. Since then? None have exited.

VC 387

VC venture capital financing finance 387

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

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Their strategy might be to have 25 companies of $3-7 million total invested and thus $10 million might be more risk in one deal than they typically like to have. Neither case is better or worse – they more depend on investor strategy and their outlook on the potential of the company.

VC 336

VC investing investment entrepreneurs 336

Revolution

AUGUST 2, 2022

miles to visit founders, college campuses, co-investors, ecosystem builders, and communities in rising cities. Rise of the Rest Senior Associate, James Barlia , and Senior Director of Strategy, Jamie Rodota , also headed to the Palmetto State to meet with local investors and judge the College of Charleston Founders Club’s pitch competition.

economic growth 344

economic growth innovation communities startup ecosystem 344

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

They now have a strong VC lead from Foundry Group and from experience when you get advice from Foundry it comes with authority, experience, empathy and the right amount of straight talk. Another founder … “When I pitched the idea to Adam, he was super on board,” Mr. Sloyan said. All of my partners at Upfront do.

startup 323

startup advice pitching VC 323

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. I first met Andrew Stalbow , the founder & CEO of Seriously in August of 2013.

media 373

media education VC finance 373

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. Funds like First Round Capital, True Ventures, Foundry Group, HomeBrew, USV and many others are still run by the founders and are still on the mission they started.

culture 339

culture VC communities venture capital 339

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

What is a founder to do? People like Vinod Khosla, Keith Rabois, Brian Singerman, Marc Andreessen and others have all made head-scratching private comments to me that sounded so foreign to what I thought other people were doing in VC that they caused me to challenge and ultimately change some of my own views. Triangulate.

advice 407

advice frameworks startup mix-use 407

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

What is the right organizational strategy for a large UK conglomerate to operate more effectively? What would the right technology strategy for Telecom Italia be in 5 years. In my experience many VC’s fall into this “I’m expected to know all the answers” trap. But much of the work was unknowable.

peer-to-peer 337

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs consulting VC 337

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. It is about how a VC can compete and win a deal that many others want. Talk about the strategy issues facing the company.

VC 261

VC entrepreneurs venture capital strategy 261

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. Think of who you want to partner with one, five, and ten years down the line.

real estate 296

real estate energy innovation VC 296

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. The firms long-term goal is [long-term aspirations].

culture 52

culture strategy venture capital financing 52

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.

VC 418

VC ventures leadership board 418

TechCrunch

MARCH 2, 2021

The Future Africa Fund kicked off in 2015 when Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Nadayar Enegesi , co-founders of US-based and African-focused talent company Andela, wrote checks to African startups as angel investors. Syndicate leads are often experienced angel investors or successful startup founders. The nitty-gritty details.

founder 144

founder financing finance investing 144

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 17, 2014

With one company, a founder and his super inspirational, creative, and established buddy hatch a plan to build a very strong content brand that serves as a platform for a lot of diverse revenue streams--events, ecommerce, advertising. The second startup came to me from a founder of a company that I only found out later wasn''t fulltime.

pitching 348

pitching consulting VC venture capital 348