Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. The reason is that no VC wants to see the venture debt provider get burned if you become bankrupt.

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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.”

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2012

In driving down the costs of building businesses it’s driving down the age of startup founders and thus they’re starting companies where young people want to live – in urban environments. In San Fran you find more recently established VCs like True Ventures, First Round Capital, Freestyle, Kii Capital and others.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 27, 2012

Talent – in a world where startup founders are rewarded handsomely for taking risks of building their own startup companies and where the press shines a brighter light on them, much of the early-stage company traction will come from startups. I described that here in this post. “ And my fear?

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 17, 2022

Millions — billions — of dollars are flowing toward upstart tech companies of all stripes, and as the de-facto news hub for the startup ecosystem, we are as guilty as anyone of being a little bit on the “cult of capital” side of things. Another truth is that VC isn’t right for all companies.

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 30, 2022

is still the best place in the world for Black startup founders to raise money. It’s quite easy to harp on the dismal funding and often discriminatory treatment that Black founders receive in the U.S. As an ironic result, founders look to the U.S. Despite, well, everything, the U.S. for networking opportunities.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 29, 2023

Afore Ventures launched a common app program back in January; as of eight weeks ago, it has received 1,600 startup applications, or around 200 applications a week. Is it time for a Common App for startup founders? Another tool gaining steam is VC Sheet , built by Ali Rohde of Outset Capital and Shapiro.

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TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

Though some businesses may never be truly sustainable, a venture firm in Seoul argues that emerging climate-tech startups will help big manufacturers do better overall. I spoke with Sopoong chief executive Max Sang-Yeop Han , a serial entrepreneur who joined Sopoong in 2016 and acquired the firm in 2019, to learn about the VC’s plans.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She did her first tech startup after the age of 30. It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. She’s a painter and a self-proclaimed Bohemian.

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 16, 2022

A “warm introduction” is one made by someone the VC knows well, by someone relevant. The VC might know their kids’ school teacher pretty well, for example, but the school teacher may not have a lot of startup or investing experience. You don’t need an intro for that. Mine your LinkedIn connections.

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TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

It needs a couple of successful exits, which in turn drives angel investing as entrepreneurs growing increasingly wealthy look to help new founders building companies reach their own goals. It requires accelerators and incubators and coworking spaces to help nurture early ideas, and it needs VC firms investing across stages.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

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. You’ll have to make the hard judgment call.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” Maybe they were in their 20s in 2002 when being a startup CEO wasn’t really available to most? It will likely IPO in the coming years.

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Revolution

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Since the beginning of modern venture capital investing — a relatively nascent asset class — the industry has been biased toward funding what it knows best: founders with familiar demographics (white, male) in familiar geographies (Silicon Valley).

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I gave him the same advice I give nearly all over-worked, control-freak, do-everything-yourself startup founders: “Your number one priority isn’t any of these things. I need to take some VC meetings. There is no question NY startups get disproportionate press. Him: “I know, I know. Me: “Bullshit.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 14, 2023

To put it mildly, the meteoric collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has been a historic time of confusion for everyone the startup ecosystem touches. There’s going to be an extreme shift in general in the financial industry when it comes to financing startups. I also expect more regulation for the VC and startup world.

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TechCrunch

MAY 20, 2021

One startup that aims to help make the process simpler, cheaper and less stressful by helping people manage the home renovation process has raised $6 million to help it grow even faster. Builders VC led the round, which included participation from Celtic, Newfund and Wish co-founder Danny Zhang.

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TechCrunch

OCTOBER 4, 2022

All right, here are the final five business Brahmins who will help judge the Startup Battlefield pitch competition. Mar Hershenson , co-founder and managing partner at Pear VC. Buy your pass today , and find out why Disrupt is where startup founders go to grow. TechCrunch Disrupt takes place on October 18–20.

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TechCrunch

MAY 10, 2021

It is clear that Black, women, Latinx and LGBTQ+ startup founders face an uphill battle when it comes to getting a share of the VC investment pie in Silicon Valley. It’s working with another Indy based VC firm, Allos Ventures , and Paul Ehlinger from Allos will be a venture partner at Sixty8.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

At night I had a group dinner where I met 6 new entrepreneurs and hung out with some old friends from law firms, banks and other VC funds. I then had to review a nefarious IP lawsuit filed against another company and help the CEO figure out whether we should just pay it or join forces with the other companies named and fight it.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 19, 2022

Essentially, VC is a high-stakes extreme sport in which top players can accumulate startling amounts of wealth and power. But where does all that money actually come from, and how do VCs actually make money? But where does all that money actually come from, and how do VCs actually make money? Walter Thompson. yourprotagonist.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 12, 2021

The unprecedented liquidity that has entered the venture market in the past year has spurred several trends that require VCs to adapt to a more competitive environment where startup founders have far more leverage than they did in the past.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 21, 2022

500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions. 2021 was a year like no other when it came to venture investment, and this year is poised to tread a similar path, writes 500 Global’s CEO and co-founder, Christine Tsai. 500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions. Financial technology concept.

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TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

But one of the most common mistakes many early-stage startup founders make is calculating a TAM that’s not necessarily accurate or obtainable. Understanding TAM is essential for startup success — especially in a down market when VC dollars are harder to come by. Buy an early-bird founder ticket now and save $200.

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This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Startup founders always need help. The NYC startup community will benefit tremendously in the decades to come not only from Cornell Tech which came out of the Mike Bloomberg mayoral administration, but also universal Pre-K from the deBlasio tenure. Qualified people need to be willing to help—and not just help their friends.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

I try to take time out of my week to occasionally meet with startup founders – even those that haven’t been introduced. He has a startup. Can you please intro me to XYZ VC? I know it’s different as a VC than as a startup company providing a product or service. This guy was a hustler.

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Jason Malki

JULY 12, 2024

I had the pleasure of interviewing Rachel and Jordan, who are currently Venture Partners for GoAhead Ventures and Scouts for various VC funds. They are also startup consultants, helping startups scale and become more investable. Most notably, they were the Co-Founders of Qutie LGBTQ+ Social App.

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TechCrunch

JULY 15, 2021

Startup founders often turn to pitch decks when fundraising as a visual representation of their story — from the origins to total addressable market to those juicy metrics. And so, it’s just up to the founders to really just tell the story to us. Don’t send VC a cold deck ever again: Start sending video pitches.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

” Your VC friends have been egging you on. The don’t understand VC liquidation preferences or multiple return expectations. And trust me when I tell you that 90%+ of the people can’t wake up every day with the uncertainties and insecurities that startup founders face. ” “True.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Most early-stage entrepreneurs who have worked with me (either as an angel or as a seed VC) know that I don’t rely at all on the social proof of other investors. Importantly any VC investor will understand the “first close&# mentality since nearly all VC funds are raised this way from our investors.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

I’m supposed to believe that my best innovation can only come from scores of startup founders who just made millions and have now become CVOs at my company? I’m a VC. If I don’t commit to millions of dollars of acquisitions I will … die? Chief Vesting Officers)? The Aqui-hire Business.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 9, 2022

So often, when he stopped recording, a number of founders would talk to Latka about the possibility of taking on debt. It opened up a new world for Latka, who said he “quickly realized that debt was the secret to keeping control of your SaaS business, getting capital quickly and avoiding the VC dilution.”.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

I wrote a blog post about being hands on where I argued that startup founders need to be hands-on or in my words, “you can’t run a burger chain if you’ve never flipped burgers.&#. I once had a startup team pitch me for an investment where the President of the company led the first call with me on his own.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

One of the great joys of doing the web series This Week in VC every week is that I get to spend time with great people debating the issues of our day including how our industry is evolving as well as insights into how companies got started, got their initial traction and dealt with adversities. Oh, yeah. And there you have it. Not a chance.

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 31, 2021

For example, Khosla Ventures participated in Rocket Lab’s Series A round, which Beck said opened the door to another big VC, Bessemer, to invest, in a Series B. DCVC led the Series C, but by the time Rocket Lab got around to its Series D, Bessemer was paving the way to Greenspring, which is a limited partner (LP) of Bessemer.

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Dream It

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Most VC investors see hundreds, if not thousands, of startup decks and pitches each year. In this article, we’ll outline Managing Partner Steve Barsh’s top 5 things investors wish startup founders knew when reaching out, sending a deck, or pitching a VC. What’s Your Problem? direct, online, B2C, B2B).

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Founders Coop

JANUARY 11, 2023

Aviel and I are both self-taught VCs: the parts of the job we learned as founders and operators of our own companies covered just a fraction of what it means to be effective money managers, fundraisers, board members and trusted partners within the tight-knit community of professional investors. The implications of this are many.

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