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 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. Just as I was getting the swing of things the world shifted beneath my feet and the stock market went into a free fall and venture capital all but shut down for nearly a year. We not only have our Series A funds that can write $500k?—?$15

VC 223

VC venture capital capital investing 223

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

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I only say that because after years as a VC I can always tell when my peer group invested in something because “it seemed like it would make money” versus when they invested out of passion. I have placed a much bigger emphasis on falling in love as a criterion for my making an investment. Does she live your journey?

peer-to-peer 373

peer-to-peer VC pitching entrepreneurs 373

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.). 5 million was always the classic definition of an A-round between the late nineties (crazy financings aside) and say 2007.

VC 136

VC advice financing finance 136

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. Current round: $20mm in Series C by Accel Partners (Jim Breyer, board member at Wal-Mart, Dell, and FaceBook), KPCB, and DAG Ventures. Note that I’m not defining who numbers 1,2 are.

VC 240

VC peer-to-peer advice collaboration 240

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. otherwise I prefer to invest less and risk less). Understand how venture debt might shorten your projections. *

startup 383

startup VC frameworks capital 383

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

It’s the one bit of advice I find myself giving most frequently these days, “raise money at the top end of normal.&#. If you invested in the first angel round of a startup company it is usually very hard to sell your stock – usually for many years if ever at all. Here’s what I mean. They are pretty illiquid.

startup 336

startup advice pitching VC 336

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. They should heed the age old advice that raising slightly more money while you can is always better than trying to optimize future valuations. Short answer – yes.

VC 263

VC board investing investment 263

abovethecrowd.com

JULY 23, 2014

Eric rose quickly, and by the age of 26 he became Opsware’s Vice President of Marketing, remaining in that role through the company’s acquisition by HP in 2007. We believe that successful early-stage venture investing is just that: a craft. He stayed briefly at HP as a vice president.

board 74

board entrepreneurship energy advice 74

Smart Hustle Magazine

DECEMBER 7, 2021

These financing options can help you mitigate cash flow disruptions, cover short-term expenses (including employee bonuses and raises), and even invest in larger projects and initiatives so your business shows growth and direction. Our goal at National Business Capital is to help businesses grow their ventures. 3) Show Flexibility.

culture 98

culture sustainability financing finance 98

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I know that most people who are close to them tend to deny their existence, as we saw in the great housing bubble of 2002-2007 and the dot com bubble of 1997-2000. 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). source: Capital IQ.

real estate 309

real estate entrepreneurs financing finance 309

StartupNation

JANUARY 24, 2022

Though he made various investments in tech during the late ’90s, the dot-com crash and 9/11 flushed all that cash down the drain. They launched SEMrush at the height of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. So they had to make a key decision of when to raise investments at the right time. Gorny was forced to start all over.

entrepreneurs 87

entrepreneurs peer-to-peer strategy leadership 87

Founders Coop

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

. ——— In the Beginning: Champions of the Local Startup Ecosystem Techstars launched its first program in Boulder in 2007. From the beginning, we were deeply committed to Techstars’ “give first” ethos and mentorship-driven approach to startup investing. Bottom line, Techstars needed cash.

startup ecosystem 195

startup ecosystem accelerator communities support 195

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Since its 2007 founding by Morris — who also co-founded Capital One Financial Services in 1994 — and Frank Rotman, QED has backed more than 150 companies, including 20 unicorns. Clearly, Alexandria, Virginia-based QED was investing in fintech before fintech was “cool.” the United Kingdom, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

investing 91

investing investment capital advice 91

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. It’s that simple. >50% of our revenue in now viral.

founder 329

founder VC advice pitching 329

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2020

“We did hear that and I think it’s very poor advice,” he says. That only changed in 2019, when it decided to incur losses in favor of investing millions trying to conquer the U.S. companies should relocate to Silicon Valley if they really want to grow. market, choosing New York and L.A. Siemiatkowski left undeterred.

investing 143

investing investment mix-use media 143

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2020

“We did hear that and I think it’s very poor advice,” he says. That only changed in 2019, when it decided to incur losses in favor of investing millions trying to conquer the U.S. companies should relocate to Silicon Valley if they really want to grow. market, choosing New York and L.A. Siemiatkowski left undeterred.

investing 82

investing investment mix-use media 82

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

If you were a newly minted, venture-backed consumer Internet company you had to have a deal with AOL to reach your customers. It had grown stratospherically from 2004-2007 to 100 million users, which actually was slightly smaller in December 2007 then MySpace was. They controlled distribution to the masses. Enter Facebook.

networking 318

networking mix-use innovation development 318

FundersClub

JUNE 30, 2017

" Ethan Kurzweil of Bessemer Venture Partners chats with Harry Stebbings of The 20 Minute VC about how to view pattern recognition and deal with the anti-portfolio, the next frontier in developer focussed businesses, and why eSports is interesting again in " 20VC with Ethan Kurzweil, Partner @ Bessemer Venture Partners.

construction 70

construction SaaS board strategy 70

abovethecrowd.com

DECEMBER 26, 2012

If you want your venture to succeed, it must succeed as a business – eventually. Cormac McCarthy’s Apocalypse (originally published in 2007) is offered as premium content behind the Longreads subscription wall. He offers advice on everything from running a BOD meeting to maintaining innovation in a large company.

financing 68

financing finance media innovation 68

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Now, he ‘outsources’ his investments through John Frankel of Frankel Asset Management. The Union Square Ventures partners started whispering in his ear that “it’s all about social now”. They sold in December 2007, but he started selling Quigo in 2004. He is also an active angel investor in companies like Klout and Meetup.

disruption 302

disruption technology financing finance 302

Smart Hustle Magazine

JUNE 4, 2021

You have other people who can market for employees… So let’s go back then to that growth of between 2007, 2017, this 10 year, and how’s grown. But, it’s an investment. Not those on the front line, clearly, who you invest a lot in. Ramon Ray: I love it. And as a leader, that’s probably your job.

leadership 88

leadership advice sustainability investing 88

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. Consumer debt relative to incomes has risen to an all time high reaching 138% of 2007 (obviously that’s not sustainable!) Either won’t bode well for angels if they’re also hurting on non tech investments.

entrepreneurs 298

entrepreneurs real estate VC advice 298

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

Venture Capitalists typically have partners’ meetings on Mondays. When I first got into the industry it was 2007. 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.

VC 305

VC disruption entrepreneurs venture capital 305

abovethecrowd.com

JUNE 2, 2021

On March 26, SoFi announced that “it will be offering its members (at least those with $3K in their account) the ability to invest in IPOs for companies going public, an investment opportunity that has traditionally been reserved for large institutional investors or ultra-high-net-worth individuals.”

peer-to-peer 82

peer-to-peer VC advice capital 82