Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. 2001–2007: THE BUILDING YEARS The dot com bubble had burst. How’s that advice holding up? What happened? Until we weren’t. Let’s deploy faster!

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TechCrunch

APRIL 4, 2023

In an excerpt from her new book “Breaking into Venture,” SemperVirens General Partner Allison Baum Gates revisits her early days as an investor, when establishing deal flow and networking were skills she’d yet to acquire. ” Should you post that you’re #OpenToWork?

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This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 3, 2012

For a solid six or seven minutes, I was pretty pissed at Fred Wilson for his last post on the age of venture capitalists. I think Fred was trying to offer some friendly advice to young investors that you're going to "take lumps" and that it's worth learning from those who are more experienced. that's not what he wrote at all.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Not so in venture capital. So my first advice is not to rush in the fund raising process. Don’t take my advice, take Eric Clapton’s. My chips were down in late 2000 / early 2001. You’re tied at the hip to your VC. My story briefly.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 29, 2021

Here’s who she spoke to: Deborah Quazzo , managing partner, GSV Ventures. Ashley Bittner , founding partner, Firework Ventures (a future of work fund with portfolio companies LearnIn and TransfrVR). Jomayra Herrera , principal, Cowboy Ventures (a generalist fund with portfolio companies Hone and Guild Education).

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. 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. No gotchas. No option pool shuffle.

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TechCrunch

MARCH 21, 2023

A growing number of investors have begun suggesting that certain venture-backed startups that have yet to find so-called product-market fit throw in the towel. Any advice to founders on this front? After all, the money could be invested in something more impactful. It’s not the end of the world.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. On December 3rd Brad Feld wrote a one paragraph blog post titled “ Raising Venture Capital &# in which he linked to my blog. The Original Post (after the jump): Venture Capital, By Mark Suster (December 2nd, 2006). Thus is venture capital. Tempus Fugit.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

In any given year there are about 50 venture-backed companies or so that are bought for $100 million or more. To anybody who asks my advice I repeat the same line, “I don’t know whether this party will last 6 weeks, 6 months or 18 months. It’s what I love about entrepreneurship and about venture capital.

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Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Me: So, you raised venture capital? 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. On the phone ….

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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.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. But there are also problems / risks: - the funding environment might change dramatically – there may never be a next round (see: March 2000, September 11, 2001 and September 2008). - It’s a tricky question with no clear answer. There are trade offs.

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Tomasz Tunguz

DECEMBER 13, 2015

The fundraising markets have infused more cash into startups in 2015 than in any year since 2001. But, the venture backed IPO markets touched five year lows and whispers of a bubble have become a meme in the past six months. When potential founders ask me the right time to start a company, I remember his advice to me.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

I’m not going to cover in this post the obvious post-show marketing tasks such as following up on all those business cards you grabbed, communicating with all those people who registered at your site and leveraging your new found fame to score venture capital. 2001-2004 were very humbling but we built a real company.

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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.&#. In my first company I had to raise money in April 2001 or die. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice VC Industry startup technology vc venture capital. It’s that simple.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

It quickly became impossible to raise venture capital. I lived through this again September 2001. It isn’t even a story about raising venture capital or M&A. Don’t over shop – If the deal you’re involved with involves raising venture capital or selling your company you naturally want some competition. Any deal.

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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. So they go out of their way to offer advice and introductions.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

We raised a seed round of capital in 1999 and our first venture capital round was the first week of March 2000 (e.g. We found a way to make our venture capital last when it shouldn’t have, at around the same time one of my all time favorite New Yorker cartoons was published on this topic. We were based in London. You can do it.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

If you want that advice please click on the link. Most of what I learned about operating startups I learned from the really tough years at my first company from 2001-2003. My company had raised venture capital in April 2001 but we were told that there may never be any more coming. We built a long-term relationship.

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Unvalidated Learnings

OCTOBER 5, 2016

Johnson, the company’s first employee, built an epistolary community of fellow runners (a forum of sorts), who, in exchange for his expert advice, would provide him with invaluable product feedback: “ Unlike me, however, most customers came to depend on Johnson’s letters. Most wrote him back. I recall one day, sitting in Wallace’s office.

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TechCrunch

APRIL 6, 2022

She also covers consumer packaged goods startups, and medical tech and biotechnology ventures. He launched his latest venture, Strangeworks in 2018 and raised $4 million in seed stage capital. In 2001, for six months, Whurley left Austin to follow a girl to Las Vegas and to break into casinos as a hired hacker. Register here.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Blogs weren’t popularized yet so it was an oddity for me to read the founder of a software company spewing out advice. Lesson: Joel had been building a community of readers since 2001. With StackOverflow, Joel raised money through venture capital. Union Square Ventures is an investor. Fog Creek now has 35 people.

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