Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2010

I had an hour to interview Mike Hirshland of Polaris Ventures. This lasted from about 2001-2004. Since then Mike his built his career by investing in early-stage companies (seed or series A), which is remarkable given that Polaris Ventures is a $1 billion fund. Venture Financings we Discussed. Competitors: Google.

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VC ventures venture capital capital 230

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. Importantly, the founders’ time could also be focused on more productive endeavors, greatly improving their mental and emotional well-being.

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founder board entrepreneurs capital 97

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. Investors own 25%, the founders own 75%.

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founder VC venture capital entrepreneurs 405

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 6, 2020

Like the downturns in 2008 and 2001, this has been a very trying time for entrepreneurs running startups. Many entrepreneurs are reliant on outside funding, whether angel investors, venture capitalists or strategic investors , to keep the venture going. The pandemic of 2020 has tested most sectors of the economy.

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peer-to-peer startup advice entrepreneurs 327

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. It wasn’t always like this and frankly it took a lot of joy out of the industry for me personally.

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VC culture sustainability capital 466

TechCrunch

JUNE 7, 2022

Imagine a world where founders boasted about how much growth they’ve driven, as opposed to their fundraising prowess. EDT, we’re hosting a Twitter Space with new contributors who are covering climate, crypto, venture capital and more. “Across the board, the variance in metrics is stark,” says Townshend.

SaaS 87

SaaS sustainability venture capital ventures 87

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

When I first started in venture capital, back in 2001, I used to fund funds. I worked for an institutional investor that invested in both venture capital funds and later stage growth deals. My job was to figure out why certain firms were winning and why they might continue to win.

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sustainability angel investing venture capital VC 289

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. In fact, far better if you haven’t raised venture capital. This is minutes 8-11.

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venture capital capital ventures angel investing 282

TechCrunch

APRIL 11, 2022

There’s been talk of a slowdown in venture funding recently, with TechCrunch looking at it from different angles, including the fintech sector, a PitchBook report and even earlier on how startups should prepare in case it happens. We asked Beezer Clarkson, partner at Sapphire Ventures, and Josh Lerner, the Jacob H.

venture capital 97

venture capital investing investment ventures 97

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 27, 2022

Andre Maciel is the founder of Volpe Capital. Jennifer Queen is the founder of Pina , a PR firm focused on startups and venture capital firms. Latin American venture capital and growth investments through 2018 had averaged less than $2 billion per year. Share on Twitter. He formerly worked with J.P. Jennifer Queen.

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venture capital capital VC opportunity 95

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 21, 2022

My estimate is that a lot of startup founders will hit the market between April to June next year, and that’s the moment of truth for the ecosystem,” he said at a gathering over the weekend organized by Indian newspaper Economic Times.

startup 92

startup startup ecosystem startup founder board 92

TechCrunch

MAY 17, 2022

Hailing from around the United States and the globe, founders will pitch on the main stage, for four minutes, followed by an intense Q&A with our expert panel of judges. Join us on Wednesday, May 18 and Thursday, May 19 to watch these incredible founders take the stage. You can find additional details on each of the judges below.

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pitching energy startup consulting 76

TechCrunch

APRIL 4, 2023

In his latest column, Sales Kiwi co-founder and TC+ contributor Jonathan Martinez shared five essential takeaways that he learned along the way to reaching $1M ARR. “Another part of this is that I’m a solo founder, and I just don’t really have time to make a deck.” Lesson one? Not always.

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pitching consulting advice health 85

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2015

One of the points I tried to make is that as venture capital investors as an industry we seem to have a healthy disdain for public market investors. We have an entire generation of startup founders who don’t have muscle memory from getting their burn rates back into shape from 2008/09 or 2001-2005. Others will follow.

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VC capital culture venture capital 392

StartupNation

DECEMBER 6, 2020

We live in a world with a stereotypical representation of what a startup founder looks like, so it’s no wonder that a large portion of the population feels underrepresented. So, why should startup founders care about attracting and retaining a diverse workforce? Myth 1: Startup founders are young . Fastest growing 0.1

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innovation startup creativity funders 97

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Sometimes an original idea simply doesn’t pan out, a market gets too crowded or a company’s founders stumble onto something they have built that is actually a better business than the original idea. billion was originally a college lecture sentiment platform, according to CEO and co-founder Peter Reinhardt.

startup 114

startup founder development capital 114

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 1, 2021

The funding was led by Seae Ventures , with participation from Fiserv , Mass Mutual , Citizens Financial Group , Astia Fund , NBA stars Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, and actors Anthony Anderson and Lance Gross. Goalsetter , a financial education platform for kiddos, has announced the close of a $15 million Series A financing round.

education 98

education B2B marketing financing finance 98

Entrepreneurs' Organization

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

In a study conducted by Cambridge Associates, researchers found that the real failure rate hasn’t gone above 60% since 2001. According to Griffith, the 90% failure myth serves to soothe the bruised egos of those startup founders who failed. It’s common for founders to look for more people like them, but this can prove disastrous.

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startup disruption entrepreneurs culture 130

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

EDT, we’re talking with M13 partner Anna Barber about what today’s founders can learn from the dot-com bubble bursting. 2001, a Starbucks Odyssey : In August, Starbucks got things percolating with plans for a blockchain-based loyalty program and NFT community. PDT / 3:00 p.m. The TechCrunch Top 3. Like, that’s not gonna happen.

micromobility 89

micromobility SaaS capital VC 89

Feedough

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

But, still, every startup, especially those seeking angel and venture capital funding, are conditioned to project this growth curve – because investors love it. Usually, founders haven’t quit their jobs at this stage. Surging Growth: This period started in 2001. Today, disruption is rather slow-paced.

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disruption sustainability entrepreneurs energy 111

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is exactly what happened in the broader VC industry between 1999-2001 as many people without the requisite skills entered the industry. Aydin Senkut, Chris Sacca, XG Ventures – all ex Googlers (XG actually stands for that). I believe that if you have 5 distinct skills you have a good chance at making great returns.

angel investing 306

angel investing investing investment VC 306

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

Contact has been in the business of consumer finance since 2001, while Wasla was founded in 2018 by former Serag Meneassy and Taymour Sabry , both ex-Rocket Internet entrepreneurs, and investment banker Mahmoud El Said. “It’s million in funding from a number of investors including Ventures and Glint Consulting.

financing 89

financing finance consulting networking 89

StartupNation

DECEMBER 6, 2020

We live in a world with a stereotypical representation of what a startup founder looks like, so it’s no wonder that a large portion of the population feels underrepresented. So, why should startup founders care about attracting and retaining a diverse workforce? Myth 1: Startup founders are young . Fastest growing 0.1

innovation 45

innovation startup creativity funders 45

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

There are real changes in the venture capital industry and it would have been fun to talk about them. We need venture debt, factoring companies and public markets. And people like Jeff Clavier, Aydin Senkut, Dave McClure, Chris Sacca & Eric Paley (at Founder Collective) are leading the charge. Answer: Not much.

disruption 308

disruption VC entrepreneurs financing 308

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

The founder of Parachute, Ariel Kaye , had a clear vision for what she wanted to disrupt and how she thought she could do it. I will use some examples from Parachute and some other portfolio companies to give you examples from our experiences of watching successful brands grow.

sustainability 296

sustainability communities media disruption 296

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Not so in venture capital. when you missed your targets, when your co-founder quit, when the competition chose your competitor or when the other investors around the table lost confidence? My chips were down in late 2000 / early 2001. After Sept 11th?

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VC advice entrepreneurs venture capital 288

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 12, 2020

Alex Wilhelm hears from one startup founder who has taken a bit of an alternative approach to building a SaaS company. Here’s more: Now north of $200 million in revenue, [ Nextiva ] is a quiet giant and, notably, has not taken venture capital funding along its path to scale. How to bootstrap to $200m+ in revenue.

venture capital 122

venture capital capital SaaS startup 122

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I recently spoke at the Founder Showcase at the request of Adeo Ressi. I said that at the Founder Showcase, too. In any given year there are about 50 venture-backed companies or so that are bought for $100 million or more. some founders lose their life savings. This post originally ran on TechCrunch. source: Capital IQ.

real estate 309

real estate entrepreneurs financing finance 309

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. There is also True Ventures that does early stage, seed investments.

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VC startup real estate financing 311

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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VC financing finance entrepreneurs 153

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. Another called Parker Harris, the co-founder and CTO. On December 3rd Brad Feld wrote a one paragraph blog post titled “ Raising Venture Capital &# in which he linked to my blog. I don’t plan to write the authoritative venture capital blog, just some anecdotes.

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VC venture capital pitching capital 274

Tomasz Tunguz

AUGUST 14, 2014

The chart above compares the total number of MegaRounds, those VC investments of $50M or more, from 2001 through 2013. The rise of MegaRounds as a new financing tool for founders is a terrific development for founders. Note, I’m excluding Facebook’s IPO in 2012 as an outlier and I’ve adjusted for inflation.

financing 40

financing finance VC capital 40

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

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

If a company has reached a level of success, has been around for a few years and you believe the company has potential to break out into a much bigger company then you should let the founders take money off of the table. Founders however are asked to take low salaries and never really get back the time they worked for free.

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founder VC advice pitching 329

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. And should that impact when founders start companies? What’s really going on?

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advice networking development founder 40

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. I sat next to Irwin Jacobs (founder of Qualcomm) on a bus ride.

media 310

media advice VC energy 310

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

My co-founder and other management team members wanted us to hold off and see whether we could get the deal done at a higher price. 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. I was resolute.

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venture capital advice real estate VC 301