Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

This meant: Less capital to start a company thus the rise of “micro VCs” Younger, more technical founders (not as big of a leap to take a risk on a 24-year-old when it’s $250k and not $5 million. So the startup work moves to where the startup founders live and not vice versa. Welcome to the future.

startup 390

startup communities venture capital capital 390

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

Dan asked Fred about “generational change” at USV and in the VC industry more broadly. And he led what is currently our best performing company out of that 2012 fund – AdoreMe. But there was another element that was very subtle and nicely handled that I’d like to expand upon.

VC 176

VC peer-to-peer board disruption 176

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But honestly there are times when being a VC can feel like that, too. I wonder sometimes if founders even know about the hours their lawyers or advisers put in on evenings, weekends, vacations. I had dinner with my friend Brooke Hammerling , founder of Brew PR recently. Not all VCs are good human beings or good actors.

startup 363

startup real estate VC venture capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

I am a VC. But through expressing points-of-view I can raise above the consciousness of my customers (entrepreneurs and limited partners who invest in VC funds) in ways that I couldn’t without breaking through the noise of the hundreds of others of VCs who also have money. I hand out money. How differentiated is that?

mix-use 389

mix-use advice VC technology 389

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Now that he’s become a VC he’s promising me he’ll provide way more public information and discourse so please welcome him by following him on Twitter and better yet welcoming him with a Tweet of your own linking to his Twitter handle or this post. I only wanted one thing in the deal – Hamet. I stayed close.

ventures 340

ventures investment investing board 340

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2013

He became a VC at London-based Benchmark Europe (now Balderton) and then CEO of Endemol, a large multibillion media company best known for creating & owning global franchises for Big Brother, Deal or No Deal and other unscripted television. Ynon & I first discussed Maker in early 2012. billion deal to Disney.

peer-to-peer 320

peer-to-peer media networking board 320

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

While that post resulted in term sheets for Dennis and Naveen from VCs, the original intention was actually to get Yelp to invest in the company. As far as I know, they never reached out, and 200k, pre-VC blitz probably would have been worth over $50 million now.

VC 270

VC opportunity investment investing 270

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

This feels like a West Coast mentality, because deals seem to feel "hot" more often out there--I believe because of founder pedigree. It''s more often the case that founders are repeat entrepreneurs on the west coast. I wasn''t even at a VC fund at the time. — Brian Alvey (@brianalvey) November 10, 2013. Show up early.

venture capital 282

venture capital ventures education pitching 282

Dream It

AUGUST 29, 2019

For this reason, it would be ridiculous for a founder to ever tell a venture investor that they want to keep the company private. The exit strategy conversation should be nuanced, and founders should use it as a way to show investors you can think about things from different angles. In reality, exits are an outcome, not a strategy.

strategy 299

strategy VC energy disruption 299

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Recently the firms two founding partners (and also Managing Partners) —  Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham  — decided to transition management of the firm to Andy Weissman (who joined in 2012) and Albert Wenger (joined in 2008 and writes one of the most thoughtful blogs in our industry ). And so it goes. Maybe that’s USV, too.

leadership 161

leadership VC venture capital ventures 161

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. We are experiencing a frenetic time. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. These days I find myself doing less. Year in, year out.

advice 398

advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 16, 2022

Over the last several years, VC money has been abundant and relatively cheap. Source: PitchBook data from 2012-2022. Across all stages, companies were seeing higher post-money valuations, anywhere from about 40% at the earliest stages to over 200% in the growth stages in the 2018 to 2022 period, compared to 2012 to 2018.

VC 94

VC founder capital ventures 94

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

.” I applaud all efforts by people to take on this issue and especially be Adeo who – let’s be honest – was really the first champion of trying to make the VC world more transparent by launching TheFunded, which didn’t exactly endear him to VCs initially. They’ll get priced soon enough by a VC.”

startup 354

startup VC entrepreneurs finance 354

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

I remember when seed funds first started (they were being incorrectly called “super angels” and then Micro VCs before Seed Funds stuck) and every LP (who invest in VCs) told me they weren’t convinced about Seed Funds (too small, too hard to pick winners, would they be able to follow on?). Non VC Growth Rounds. VC Infighting.

venture capital 271

venture capital capital ventures VC 271

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

For me Silicon Beach doesn’t quite encapsulate the wonderful, dynamic, creative, large, thriving community that is the 13 million proud Angelinos any more than Silicon Alley captures the bustling 2012 community of New York City. IA Ventures – Roger Ehrenberg was doing angel investing before he became a VC.

communities 304

communities startup creativity VC 304

David Teten VC

AUGUST 19, 2019

Does the traditional VC financing model make sense for all companies? VC Josh Kopelman makes the analogy of jet fuel vs. motorcycle fuel. VCs sell jet fuel which works well for jets; motorcycles are more common but need a different type of fuel. . Absolutely not. So what is Revenue Based Investing?

founder 99

founder investment investing VC 99

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My original thinking from Oct ’09 was, while I didn’t (and still don’t) have a crystal ball I worried that: consumers were over-stretched with debt (and make up 77% of the economy), unemployment would continue to rise, which in turn would drive the stock market south and cut the rate of M&A activity and VC investment even further.

entrepreneurs 298

entrepreneurs real estate VC advice 298

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

Chris Dixon made the point that he thinks investors should look for the founders to have the domain knowledge rather than them having domain knowledge themselves. But I prefer a certain naive optimism in founders but I can’t see that this extends to angel investors. got picked up early without raising a lot of VC.

angel investing 152

angel investing investment investing VC 152

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 25, 2013

Three companies from the Studiomates community-- Sherpaa , Tinybop , and Editorially --received VC dollars in 2012. I have a special relationship with Etsy, because I was at Union Square Ventures, the VC firm that backed the company, back in 2006. via Brownstoner.

communities 290

communities innovation creativity real estate 290

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

APRIL 22, 2020

Duolingo’s co-founder and CEO, Luis von Ahn , told me this in an email yesterday: 1. I’m betting on Duolingo (and have been since we made our seed investment in the company in 2012). The number of tests we administer per day has gone up 10x! So now the market is open to competition and the best product can win.

incumbents 192

incumbents education investment investing 192

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Ximena Aleman is co-founder and chief business development officer at Prometeo , an open banking platform that serves Latin America. Year-in, year-out, the gender gap in venture capital investment continues to be a problem women founders face. VC went to startups with at least one woman on the founder team.

VC 123

VC startup leadership communities 123

TechCrunch

APRIL 19, 2022

Conductive Ventures raised a $200 million Fund III to continue its focus on investing in founders where other venture capital firms did not see the potential. Today, Conductive has 24 companies in its portfolio and boasts that over 50% of them are based outside the Bay Area and two-thirds of the founders are immigrants or minorities.

support 98

support ventures founder venture capital 98

David Teten VC

DECEMBER 20, 2023

I’m pleased to announce a strategic partnership between Coolwater Capital and Versatile VC. Coolwater is an investor in VC funds and runs an accelerator for emerging VC fund managers. Coolwater has built an investment community of 300+ founder VCs and over 5,000 technology companies.

VC 59

VC capital venture capital real estate 59

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

The news this week that HQ Trivia has finally called it quits reminded me of this post I wrote back in 2012 about the difference in sustainability (and thus value) between entertainment and utility apps. And the result has been a predictable boom/bust cycle that has not produced a lot of value for founders or investors.

sustainability 172

sustainability founder VC technology 172

TechCrunch

MARCH 8, 2021

million round back in 2012 that tapped Bessemer, DFJ and others. TechCrunch asked Makerpad founder Ben Tossell about the structure of the deal, who said via email that his company will operate as a “stand-alone” entity from its new parent company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. That’s a no.

education 145

education communities VC accelerator 145

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

Still, Sheel Mohnot, who was formerly a general partner at the fintech fund of 500 Startups, and Jake Gibson, co-founder of personal finance startup NerdWallet, were a little taken aback by investor interest in their fintech-focused early-stage venture firm, Better Tomorrow Ventures , or BTV. SM: We have founders of fintech unicorns.

VC 145

VC real estate board angel investing 145

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2016

Investors sat with the founder & CEO, Jason Spievak, and asked him what he wanted to do about the future. We knew better than to start funding raising in August, when larger VC firms have a harder time assembling full decision teams – so in August we would plan and September we would commence. September started easily enough.

SaaS 236

SaaS VC board finance 236

TechCrunch

MAY 17, 2023

Venture capital (VC) firm Lifeline Ventures today announced a fresh €150 million ($163 million) fund aimed at early-stage startups across Finland. “The early stage is the most recession-proof business, both for founders and investors, as you are likely to always grow faster than markets can go down,” Ahopelto said.

VC 88

VC ventures startup investing 88

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Over the past 4 years LA’s tech fundings have growing at a 30% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) which is > 4 times the US average VC CAGR (7%). Around $400 billion of imports & exports pass through the LA ports each year, which set the national high-water mark in 2012.

entrepreneurs 376

entrepreneurs creativity technology capital 376

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As an early-stage VC I love this phase. Sam also had a vision as early as 2012 about how MakeSpace would be a large employer of middle-income jobs: The company would hire employees rather than just have contractors and he would lead the effort to ensure they had opportunities for growth and benefits for their families.

innovation 286

innovation startup board leadership 286

TechCrunch

JULY 6, 2022

As venture capital continues its slowdown after an aggressive 2020 and record-breaking 2021 , it’s clear that early-stage founders looking for their first dollars will require a new approach. What do early-stage founders need to know to capture VC interest, and dollars, in a challenging market?

ventures 95

ventures education venture capital disruption 95

AsiaTechDaily

AUGUST 17, 2023

Register Singapore-based venture capital firm Jungle Ventures has announced its merger with HealthXCapital , an early-stage VC firm specializing in healthcare investments. Founded in 2012, Jungle Ventures avoids the conventional approach of attempting to cater to a wide range of sectors.

ventures 98

ventures hospitality venture capital collaboration 98

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

I know because I went back a second time with 75 or so tech executives and VCs and my inbox is flooded this morning. Catherine (Cat) Hoke founded the program in 2010 and launched the business plan competition in 2012. You can read more about her here but let me give you my take. She runs a 501c3 (non profit).

ventures 392

ventures education hospitality opportunity 392

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 16, 2022

An example: “growth at all costs” is a fairy tale made possible by cheap money that helped venture capitalists set expectations for founders — and each other — for years. “Growth at all costs” is a fairy tale made possible by cheap money that helped VCs set expectations for founders — and each other.

VC 86

VC pitching frameworks health 86

TechCrunch

MARCH 10, 2021

Since launching in 2012, Savannah Fund — led by Mbwana Alliy and Paul Bragiel — has backed more than 30 startups. Before becoming a VC firm, Savannah Fund started as an accelerator program in Kenya. We’re proud to partner with WeFi to further expand and encourage female founders on the continent.

investment 100

investment investing startup venture capital 100

TechCrunch

MAY 5, 2023

Down rounds carry a negative connotation and are often interpreted as the fault of the company or founder. But in a market where everything seems to be heading downward, they shouldn’t imply a company or its founders made a mistake — you often simply can’t help it.

founder 82

founder media board VC 82

FundersClub

JUNE 12, 2017

Being an effective founder means questioning current paradigms, asking ‘Is there a better way to do this—and am I the person to do it?’ That line of questioning led Mittal and co-founder Boris Silver to build FundersClub in the way they did. Why have you switched to the dark side? What's the insight there?

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VC venture capital networking founder 93