Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. And so forth.

venture capital 417

venture capital capital ventures financing 417

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

I’ve seen friends (and family members) lose much of their savings that way over the years because “Black Swans” happen and in 1987, 2001, 2003 & 2008 (just to name a few from my memory) huge market gyrations caused much financial distress to people seeking short-term gains. So, too, investments.

financing 344

financing finance ventures real estate 344

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

tevye2009 , Q: “can you briefly explain why it’s best to get a small valuation when getting investment.&# The A round was done in February 2000 (end of the bull market) and my B round was done in April 2001 (bear market). 6: @ marklanday Q: “Do you make personal angel investments and if so what are your criteria?&#

venture capital 282

venture capital capital ventures angel investing 282

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. In an early round of investment where there is not an extremely high price relative to normal valuations this is anything but benign. Those were the dog days of entrepreneurship.

founder 405

founder VC venture capital entrepreneurs 405

TechCrunch

MARCH 21, 2023

After all, the money could be invested in something more impactful. VCs would return capital to LPs because they don’t see attractive investment opportunities that are good fits with their mandate, fund size, [and so forth]. Any advice to founders on this front? It’s not the end of the world.

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founder board entrepreneurs capital 97

TechCrunch

JANUARY 29, 2021

Mercedes Bent and Bradley Twohig , partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners (a multistage generalist fund with investments including Forage, Clever and Outschool). Rising African venture investment powers fintech, clean tech bets in 2020. Rising African venture investment powers fintech, clean tech bets in 2020. yourprotagonist.

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VC founder media education 107

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

We went “nuclear&# and slimmed down to 33 people (yes, I know, still large by today’s standards but this was 2001), raised $10 million and we built a real company. I learned everything I know about startups in these lean years: 2001-2004. Tags: Startup Advice. Photo courtesy of Pat Page via Flickr.

culture 333

culture construction startup advice 333

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

million pre-money valuation is now raising $1 million at a $12 million valuation the next investor has nowhere to go but up (or sit out the investment). Just because the valuation in absolute terms isn’t a big difference does not mean that people aren’t paying higher than intrinsic value for these investments.

real estate 309

real estate entrepreneurs financing finance 309

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. Me: So, who was willing to invest in that? At an accelerator ….

VC 153

VC financing finance entrepreneurs 153

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. Just ask anybody who was trying to close funding the fateful week of September 11, 2001 or even March 2000. The best MBA class I took was an investment strategy class.

VC 263

VC board investing investment 263

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. I later learned that they were a spin out from an investment bank. I visited 14 VC’s, got 8 call-backs for second meetings, had 6 firms indicate an interest to explore an investment and possibly submit a term sheet and 3 companies actually say they were ready to write a check.

VC 274

VC venture capital pitching capital 274

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 13, 2010

Within a year, by late 2000 / early 2001 consulting firms were firing people en masse. On July 27th, 2001 Accenture IPO’s and many of the partners grew fabulously wealthy. My advice to entrepreneurs is to have a sense of purpose and stick to that regardless of what you’re reading in TechCrunch or Business Insider.

consulting 302

consulting leadership entrepreneurs advice 302

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. I’ve tried to make this advice as well-rounded and biased free as I can. Partners make investment decisions. Raising money is hard.

strategy 366

strategy development VC advice 366

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Start Up Advice &# but I’d really like to call this post, “VC Advice.&#. We could do more in 2010 with more VC investment; the doubling assumes only ratable increase in marketing spend to achieve profitability. In my first company I had to raise money in April 2001 or die.

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founder VC advice pitching 329

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2009

This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. Please don’t also confuse this with whether a VC should invest in a CEO who’s done it before – that’s a given. My advice: don’t. Tags: Start-up Advice startup technology. Only Hire A+ People Who Punch Above Their Weight Class. million.

startup 327

startup advice SaaS consulting 327

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

I lived through this again September 2001. If it’s a biz deal you might care about IP protection, revenue share, investment commitments to joint marketing – whatever. This is part of my ongoing series with Startup Advice (although this also applies tightly with Raising Venture Capital ). Anybody who didn’t close was dead.

venture capital 301

venture capital advice real estate VC 301

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

That next round of investment is proving difficult. This was soon after the bursting of the dot com bubble – in early 2001. I jumped on a plane and immediately flew to New York for just 1 day to meet with the Chief Investment Officer of ETF. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice.

entrepreneurs 298

entrepreneurs advice VC SaaS 298

Gust

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

Amid the remembrance of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks this past weekend, much was made of the voluminous 9/11 Commission report, which described in excruciating detail countless ways in which the United States homeland security and emergency response infrastructure failed to respond adequately to a disaster of unprecedented proportions.

startup 98

startup communities culture consulting 98

TechCrunch

APRIL 6, 2022

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 most of all, he will go out of his way to help newcomers (as well as veterans) of the Austin tech scene whenever they need help or advice or counsel,” Forrest said. “We

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transportation entrepreneurship capital entrepreneurs 93