Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on the skills I’ve developed in my career. To some extent Keith Rabois agreed with me about domain knowledge and argued that most of his investments are in the consumer Internet space as a result. Always have been.

angel investing 284

angel investing investing investment VC 284

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

They have advice to share. They know that the money they invest may be lost. Make sure these people understand the nature of early-stage angel investing. When I write an angel round check I always tell me wife, “let’s assume that money is lost.&# So goes angel investing. Ask them for advice.

advice 291

advice VC pitching angel investing 291

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

There are too many pulls & tugs at our elbows for time, for coffee meetings, for advice or speaking engagements or cocktail parties or dinners. My general advice is to do less. I offer the same advice for many of my friends who are newer VCs. I still plan to keep more normal pace of investment which is 1-2 deals per year.

advice 398

advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 14, 2019

The Fantasy Cash Flow Model When I was an analyst at the General Motors pension fund, investing in VC funds, I had to build a model of how I thought they would perform. It started out with initial investment size, pricing, and outcome behavior for each deal and then it made a prediction around the distribution of outcomes.

ventures 281

ventures angel investing board advice 281

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. Our last fund we raised was in 2012 and we began investing it in April of 2012.

ventures 396

ventures VC venture capital real estate 396

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on my background. I should say that I agree that naive optimism in entrepreneurs can produce higher beta (upside or flops) and that’s good from an investment standpoint if you’re looking for big returns.

angel investing 152

angel investing investing investment VC 152

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. Unemployment continues to rise – Unemployment as of September 2009 is 9.7% This has a tangible impact on the valuation of start-ups and the pace of investment.

VC 269

VC startup advice innovation 269

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. Closing a VC fund in 2009/10 is a major achievement in and of itself. Total raised: $83mm; Series B round (July 2009 for $43mm) valued company at $400mm. Greycroft is an early-stage VC.

VC 240

VC peer-to-peer advice collaboration 240

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 3, 2010

This was really a fun week at TWiVC because we decided to have an entrepreneur come and talk about raising capital rather than having a VC come on. In particular I tried to do most of the “entrepreneur advice on VC” up front so that if you don’t want to watch our views on the deals you don’t have to. Farb talks about how he did that.

VC 214

VC founder advice ventures 214

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. It was 2009 and it was terribly difficult to get any financing (if you can remember a time like that!) And Jim & I went on to raise several more venture capital funds in our day jobs. We decided on the latter.

accelerator 290

accelerator mentorship peer-to-peer VC 290

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Year-in, year-out, the gender gap in venture capital investment continues to be a problem women founders face. In fintech, the problem is especially prominent: Women-founded fintechs have raised a meager 1% of total fintech investment in the last 10 years. Venture capital is far from a level playing field.

VC 123

VC startup leadership communities 123

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

So why invest in that period of uncertainty unless it’s early-stage and thus valuation matters less. If the next 30 days stays calm then investment will pick up. So, too, investments. It will also mean a certain amount of triage and also some mortality rates amongst investments. So plan your start date accordingly.

financing 344

financing finance ventures real estate 344

Angel Capital Association

OCTOBER 17, 2023

Back to top The History of the ACA's Public Policy Efforts The Angel Capital Association was a nascent organization in 2009-2010 when Congress developed the bipartisan Dodd-Frank Act in response to the fallout of the great recession.

entrepreneurial ecosystem 52

entrepreneurial ecosystem leadership entrepreneurship angel capital 52

TechCrunch

JULY 27, 2021

in 2004 before falling sharply due to the economic recession of 2007-2009. Sequoia Capital led the round and was joined by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation venture investment arm Arrive, Will Smith’s Dreamers VC and existing investor Signia Venture Partners. The rate reached its peak of 69.2% The rate reached 63.7%

real estate 98

real estate health VC advice 98

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

In the early spring of 2009, the fundraising nuclear winter of the previous year hadn't yet thawed. The funding was anchored by a major commitment from Two Sigma Ventures, the private venture investment affiliate of Two Sigma Investments. That product isn't money--it's their time, attention, sound advice and network.

ventures 280

ventures pitching VC startup ecosystem 280

TechCrunch

APRIL 6, 2022

He didn’t raise any capital for Chaotic Moon. He launched his latest venture, Strangeworks in 2018 and raised $4 million in seed stage capital. In addition, he created Ecliptic Capital, a $100 million evergreen investment fund that could grow to $150 million by the end of the year. “But Image source: Errich Petersen.

transportation 93

transportation entrepreneurship capital entrepreneurs 93

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

By 2008 I had gotten more serious about championing companies through our investment process. And just when I thought I had the deal that was worthy of bringing to investment committee the world changed. Let’s review all of our existing investments. Eventually you have to invest. It was September 2008. We did not.

VC 305

VC disruption entrepreneurs venture capital 305

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Next Wednesday we’ll have Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, a New York / LA early-stage venture capital fund. We spoke about the changes to an “accredited investor&# proposed by Chris Dodd – This would be bad for angel investing. Swipely – Blippy competitor founded by TellMe founder, Angus Davis, in Fall 2009.

VC 285

VC financing finance advice 285

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. But there are many zombie VC’s with no more investments left in their portfolios so it’s hard to know which trend has more impact.

VC 255

VC venture capital networking innovation 255

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

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.). Whom you take advice from really matters. But my advice to entrepreneurs – stop sweating the silly optics. So back to reality.

VC 136

VC advice financing finance 136

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

There are many times when being overly capitalized before you’re ready is a negative. otherwise I prefer to invest less and risk less). Plus, most early-stage M&A fails so this isn’t likely a good use of capital for a young company). Availability of Capital. We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok.

startup 383

startup VC frameworks capital 383

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 22, 2010

This week I was preparing for my weekly This Week in Venture Capital web show and was researching some of the deals that were announced for the week. So my advice was to focus a bit more. billion (plus an earn out that could have totalled $4 billion but didn’t in the end) in 2005 before selling 65% of the company in 2009 for $1.9

advice 266

advice education venture capital strategy 266

Hunter Walk

AUGUST 26, 2022

From Box to Glossier, and Comms to Venture Capital, Ashley Mayer Is Carving a Pretty Unique Path. And then take your experience and turn it into a piece of thought leadership career advice to share with people reading this. What She’s Learned, And What You Can Learn From Her. We had overlapping circles and then became friends.

VC 75

VC advice energy capital 75

Entrepreneur's Handbook

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

(Any views expressed in the below are the personal views of the author and should not form the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions.) He thought it was super dovish, and revealed that he is fully invested in the markets. Number go up!

hospitality 104

hospitality investing investment advice 104

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. After all, growth equals high valuations and loads of venture capital! In a pool of 25-30 investments in a VC fund the goal is to have 2-3 huge outliers.

startup 390

startup VC venture capital culture 390

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 8, 2021

” The software development agency has worked on more than 350 digital products since its founding in 2009, for startups of all sizes. We’re an evergreen fund, so as the startups we invest in grow, all returns are funneled back into the fund so we can invest in more founders (hence the philanthropic portion).

consulting 94

consulting startup education B2B marketing 94

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

When venture capitalists scale back investing activities it can be very swift and leave many companies that are in the process of fund raising hung out to dry. I would argue that the shut-down of September 2009 was equally severe yet there are signs that this “VC Ice Age” has begun to thaw. Why did the VC markets freeze so quickly?

VC 263

VC board investing investment 263

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. source: Harris Interactive IM Shopping Poll (August 2009)). The first investment I ever made as a VC was in a company now called Invoca. Much more data in the full post. THE ANNOYING THING.

SaaS 339

SaaS VC real estate board 339

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

First, I’d like to quote (paraphrase) Brad Feld speaking at Twiistup in LA in 2009, “I keep hearing people in LA talking with a chip on their shoulders about building a tech business here relative to Silicon Valley. Funding is different – In Silicon Valley you have mega venture capital funds and many of them.

technology 290

technology advice innovation entrepreneurs 290

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. This has been especially true for angels or seed investors as there is a new thesis that less capital is needed to start Internet companies so more money is being spent at this phase of the funding lifecycle.

entrepreneurs 298

entrepreneurs real estate VC advice 298

TechCrunch

AUGUST 10, 2021

Companies that have reached $5 million to $10 million in annual revenue are more likely to assemble growth teams; it’s a smart investment for any startup that’s achieved product-market fit. We frequently run articles with advice for founders who are working on pitch decks. Kickstarter’s CEO on the future of crowdfunding.

pitching 96

pitching disruption mix-use leadership 96

StartupNation

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Michigan is now the state with the highest growth in VC investment. InvestNext is a Detroit fintech startup that has created a platform to streamline how real estate investment firms raise and manage capital. They are committed to diversity and invest in the education of their employees. InvestNext. Grand Circus.

startup 108

startup real estate health energy 108

Tomasz Tunguz

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Unlike these other companies, WorkDay has employed a huge professional services team in addition in investing massively in their R&D to create a broad suite of products. In 2009 and 2010, the company recognized more revenue from services than subscription. Behind this advice is some sage advice, however.

SaaS 43

SaaS advice venture capital investing 43

abovethecrowd.com

JUNE 17, 2014

In July of 2009, the UK instituted a new network known as Faster Payment Service with same day settlement to replace their equivalent of ACH. Many blame Dodd-Frank and the consolidation post 2009 for the loss of free checking. It was simply too complicated to remain fully invested and properly allocated all the time.

disruption 83

disruption financing finance incumbents 83

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

When I described to people why I initially invested my calls went something like this, “He’s taken kicks to the face for nearly 2 years and is still standing. Because my wife is a superstar she published them all on a blog here along with much other wonderful type-A mom advice. Through this process he raised $2 million.

VC 292

VC peer-to-peer investing investment 292

WSJ - The Accelerators

JULY 2, 2015

One of the best graphic depictions of the cone of venture funding was done by CB Insights, which tracked a cohort of the 160 American tech startups that closed on seed funding in 2009. Only 4% of the 160 startups from the class of 2009 completed a 6 th funding round by April 2014. The graphic follows those startups until April 2014.

ventures 28

ventures incumbents venture capital financing 28

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

But that’s hardly fair compensation when your former cube mate gave you $25,000 of money she didn’t really have to invest in you, took tons of risks with her money, and now has to pay a VC price for that money a year after she invested it. Investors call Bull Cap. Enter “the cap.” ” Full R at-shits.

startup 354

startup VC entrepreneurs financing 354