Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

We had email, instant messaging, group calendars, discussion boards, etc. But AOL brought online services, email, chat and discussion boards to the masses and thus educated a generation that paved the way for others. In May 2007 there were fears that Google was becoming a monopoly. It isn’t new stuff. Enter Facebook.

networking

David Teten VC

MARCH 1, 2022

The easiest way to work with and for VC funds is to become a part-time scout, getting paid for sourcing investments. How to win consulting, board, operating, and investment roles with private equity and venture capital funds (video). Syllabus for how to launch, manage, and invest a VC fund. But how do you do that? .

VC

Tomasz Tunguz

MAY 5, 2018

” A few hours later, as I boarded the plane home, I read Fred Wilson’s post on Buffett and Munger’s critique of cryptocurrency investing. Buffett and Munger argue that buying crypto isn’t investing but speculating. You aren’t investing when you do [buy crypto]. That is not investing.

strategy

Andreessen Horowitz

DECEMBER 4, 2023

In board meetings, we scrutinize the efficiency of sales and marketing (S&M) spend, costs of goods sold (COGS), and general and administrative costs (G&A). Focus on performance management of your product and engineering teams as early indicators for what R&D investments are working, and which aren’t.

frameworks

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. At Upfront, our partners have been fortunate enough to be part of 18 companies that have reached north of $1 billion and the average tenure of an investment that exits at this scale is more than 10 years. Accel led the B, Morgan Stanley the C and now HIG the D.

VC

Revolution

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

According to PitchBook , VC investments were down 30% in Q2 2022 compared with 2021, and IPOs hit a 50-year low. The process starts slowly, but as the chart below shows, venture-backed M&A plummeted during the recessionary period, when venture investing also slowed.

startup

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

We write about $40 million of first-checks into new deals / year and about $40 million of follow-on investments. Many experienced partners are funds have 7-10 boards and most of these will need more capital. As you can see below, investments have skyrocketed – up 300% since 2009. But let me be even more clear.

startup

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

Until recently it was headquartered 2 blocks from our offices in Santa Monica so we literally saw it emerge under our feet and we proudly invested in the last 3 rounds of financing. That’s a bit like imagining Apple launching the 2007 iPhone and then not having 10-years of constant improvements to maintain its market leadership position.

transportation

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 24, 2023

406 Ventures since 2007 and investing as a partner since 2013. He’s a board director at multiple security companies, including Oort, KSOC, ThreatX, Tausight and Sevco Security. He’s also on the advisory board for the Advanced Cyber Security Center, where he previously served on the board of directors.

ventures

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Sun King, a provider of off-grid solar energy products in Africa and Asia, has secured a $70 million equity investment led by LeapFrog Investments. We are proud that LeapFrog is investing in Sun King to expand access to energy with renewable solar power,” said Thakkar. Sun King’s founders will continue to hold voting control.

energy

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Private investment in the public equity deal is priced at $15 a share, putting the implied pro-forma equity value at $24 billion. The private investment and cash from Churchill will provide roughly $4.4 The announcement comes more than a week after Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, reported a deal was close to being finalized.

energy

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. We could not be happier to have him on board.

board

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

“This investment will accelerate the geographical breadth of Pano’s AI solution, enabling us to safeguard more communities from these climate-caused emergencies. Kim-Mai Cutler, partner at Initialized Capital, will also be joining our board of directors. Her company raised $20 million at a $90 million post-money valuation.

accelerator

TechCrunch

JUNE 17, 2021

Eurazeo managing director Nathalie Kornhoff-Brüls will join the company’s board of directors. CEO and co-founder Emil Eifrem said that Neo4j, which was founded back in 2007, has hit its growth stride in recent years given the rising popularity of graph-based analysis. “We

data analysis

OurCrowd

MAY 11, 2020

Historically, venture investing right after major market downturns – such as after the Internet bubble burst in 2000-2002, and after the financial crisis of 2007-2009 — has proved lucrative because you’re buying at a discount. Despite the coronavirus crisis, 40 new jobs in Israel were added in the past month to the OurTalent job board.

venture capital

Angel Capital Association

JANUARY 17, 2021

After assisting in founding four angel groups - the Frontier Angel Fund (2006), Vegas Valley Angels (2003), Tech Coast Angels (San Diego - 2000), and Aztec Venture Network (1999) – it was clear to Bill that angels needed comprehensive education, no matter where they were in their investing journey. Because angels invest their own money.

founder

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2013

And yet as I reflected this week on December/January board packs that highlighted the year many companies I’ve invested in have had it is pretty mind boggling. I’m so happy to have put much of that behind me. But of course life isn’t like this. We all face demons and stress.

creativity

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

We could do more in 2010 with more VC investment; the doubling assumes only ratable increase in marketing spend to achieve profitability. By then I was still on the board of my first company but it hadn’t yet sold (it ended up selling in 2007 to a publicly traded French company). >50% of our revenue in now viral.

founder

FundersClub

JUNE 30, 2017

Jerrod Engelberg and Kevin Lee of FundersClub discuss board of directors, why they exist, how they work in public companies vs startups, what founders should be thinking about when dealing with a board of directors, and more in " Transparent VC, Episode 6: It’s All About That Board. " Investor Thoughts.

construction

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.” Are We Too Gullible or Naive?

peer-to-peer

TechCrunch

APRIL 24, 2022

The company acquired Ding, a mobile payments platform; and it led a $46 million investment into Treinta, a financial “superapp” aimed at small businesses. Both are based in Colombia. Y Combinator alum Treinta, which launched only 18 months ago, has 4 million customers.

founder

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

MAY 5, 2021

There has been this narrative about investing in VC funds that you have to get into the top quartile (25%) or possibly the top decile (10%) in order to generate good returns. Manager selection remains an important part of VC investing because the lower half of VC funds do not outperform the stock market.

VC

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. Should VC’s really be impacted by public market valuations when the money that they’re investing today should be for returns in 7-10 years?

VC

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

And to show you just how similar many of these pioneers of the industry went through a similar startup journey to you – Jeff started by investing his own personal money ($250k) for a few years – $25k at a time – until he could persuade a few institutional investors to give him some money.

VC

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

I learned this lesson long ago – many investors wait until you’re staring at a cliff before committing whether to re-invest in you. My SVP of Sales & Marketing quit 30 minutes before an important board meeting. We control our hours, our travel and our investment areas. It was 2007. I had to go there?

entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 5, 2017

s COO in 2007. Keeping the wrong people on board can hurt your company culture and your bottom line. The COO and friend I let go in 2007 is now a super-successful consultant who enjoys better hours, projects he loves and higher pay. When you invest the time and effort to fire someone the right way, everyone benefits.

entrepreneurs

TechCrunch

MARCH 10, 2021

Israel’s retrain.ai , which uses AI and machine learning to read job boards at scale and gain insight into where the job market is going, has closed a $9 million Series A led by Square Peg. is the first investment by Square Peg’s new $450 million fund. The VC previously invested in Canva, Stripe, Fiverr and Airwallex.

sustainability

TechCrunch

MARCH 30, 2022

When Alex Zhou, founder and CEO of Yami, moved to the Midwest for college in 2007, he had limited access to Asian groceries and products. On top of that, it plans to invest in technology like artificial intelligence and big data, which will strengthen its supply chain and improve customer experience, Zhou told TechCrunch.

culture

TechCrunch

APRIL 19, 2022

Founded in 2007 by Perez and Oscar Garcia Mendoza , who now serves as chairman of NovoPayment’s board, NovoPayment had been bootstrapped since inception until it raised its Series A round earlier this year, the company announced today.

ventures

Angel Capital Association

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

We have all heard the importance of having one or more of our angel investments noted as a “home run” In terms of a return exit. Based on this knowledge it is very important for angel investors to build a portfolio of angel investments to potentially increase the likelihood of having a “home run” in the portfolio. What is a “home run”?

angel investing

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

I learned this lesson long ago – many investors wait until you’re staring at a cliff before committing whether to re-invest in you. My SVP of Sales & Marketing quit 30 minutes before an important board meeting. We control our hours, our travel and our investment areas. It was 2007. I had to go there?

entrepreneurs

Angel Capital Association

MAY 25, 2023

We all know that investing in startup companies is inherently risky. Over half of early-stage investments typically fail to return any capital, with the top 10% usually returning 85-90% of all the cash proceeds. The game is won on “grand slam home runs," not “singles."

angel investing

TechCrunch

MARCH 4, 2021

Connor Folley, Downstream’s CEO who co-founded the company with another ex-Amazonian, Salim Hamed (who is Downstream’s CTO), told me that ads “within the walls of Amazon itself” still make up the majority of that figure, although it will continue to invest in areas like its DSP to expand beyond its own ecosystem.

leadership

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

It’s a bit like if you bought a $1 million home in 2007 and want to sell it for $1 million today. They don’t have the appetite to invest more money but they want to protect all (or much of) of the investment they’ve made too date. Dealing with an artificially high price can make fund raising hard.

venture capital

Smart Hustle Magazine

JUNE 17, 2021

I remember in the great recession, in 2007, I saw so many people lose their livelihood, and I had tenure. And when Jocelyn got on board, we were able to sit down. So, now we had more money to invest back into the business. They want to make great money, pay for their kids’ college, invest, have good retirement.

communities

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

“This essay is dedicated to the great VC’s on my board who I am lucky to work with: Sameer Gandhi from Accel, Jeremy Liew from Lightspeed, and Kirsten Green from Forerunner. Most top tier VCs return about 3x invested capital and outlier funds (the best of a vintage) might return 6-8x. I rest my case. billion in returns.

VC

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

If you don’t know Montgomery & Co it is one of the premier technology & media focused investment banks in the country (and as Michael corrected me they also have a strong Healthcare / Med tech practice). Should you use investment banks to raise venture capital? Board includes Nick Wheeler, CEO of Charles Tyrwhitt.

VC