Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

They had received a term sheet from a VC and were wondering whether to work with this firm. You’re tied at the hip to your VC. Get to know VCs over a long period of time so that when you’re ready to get engaged you feel you know their character. But what was the VC like when the chips were down?

VC 298

VC advice venture capital entrepreneurs 298

Gust

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

It should therefore come as no surprise that an asymmetry of information exists, mostly gleaned from experience, between founders and investors in a venture financing deal. A term sheet for a convertible note deal may run two or three pages, versus 8-10 pages for a typical Series A Preferred Stock financing.

financing 178

financing finance VC entrepreneurs 178

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 6, 2015

He found me through my blog and I didn''t think he was real. Hunter Walk can''t be any blog commenters real name, can it? I wasn''t sure whether his answers would wind up here or vice versa, but when I thought about it, it turned out I was pretty adamant that my blog is for my voice. I''ve known Hunter Walk for almost a decade.

VC 361

VC collaboration disruption founder 361

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. I eventually stumbled on to the best source of high-quality deal flow imaginable – blogging. ” I love businesses that don’t lend themselves well to VC Panels at conferences or Demo Days. I attended events. I hustled.

VC 347

VC advice pitching entrepreneurs 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The typical VC process is as follows: They say there are three rules in property: Location, location, location. The surest sign a fund-raising process has stalled is when you aren’t getting follow-up meetings or hearing from the VC or hearing from friends that they got a phone call or email asking about you. Same with VC.

VC 332

VC advice entrepreneurs energy 332

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 29, 2011

No matter how much I or any of the team here at First Round made themselves accessable through Office Hours, LinkedIn, Twitter, speaking, blogging, etc., Then I realized that it's probably not obvious what the dynamics are around how VCs tend to get introduced to companies and what works best for people, so I figured I'd blog about it.

VC 289

VC pitching entrepreneurs networking 289

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. She found non-traditional financing. Without this money she wouldn’t have been able to finance operations. So Tracy began keeping a blog about … (what else?)

peer-to-peer 363

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs startup entrepreneurship 363

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

In the VC insider baseball world a discussion has gone on about “VC platforms” over the past 5 or so years. While firms define platforms differently, let’s just say they are the services that a VC offers outside of investment capital and partner time on boards or providing intros.

VC 198

VC peer-to-peer mix-use leadership 198

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

You can watch the video above for a very brief overview of why we rebranded and where we see our place in the VC ecosystem along with what has changed in our industry. Relaunching our brand is part of our larger initiative to build a VC firm of the future. When he starts his blog I’ll let you know.

ventures 324

ventures VC strategy advice 324

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

We are often asked how companies get funded, why VCs make the decisions we make and what we’re looking for in entrepreneurs. I think this is a Seriously great example of how this process works for at least one VC – Upfront Ventures. So I hope that offers you insights into how companies move through the VC system.

media 373

media education VC finance 373

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

That was back when VCs weren’t so quick to respond to emails. I was thinking about all of this as I looked at the logs from my WordPress blog this evening. People who comment to me privately about how surprised they are by how rapidly I’ve “built a name for myself in VC&# remind me of this fallacy.

advice 391

advice VC financing finance 391

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

Helping companies get to next financing round successfully: I was just beginning this phase in Sept 2010 and said so. I’ve now been involved with many other successful foll0w-on financings. “Ok, so this guy can write a blog and source deals but can he make any money?” Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10.

VC 387

VC venture capital ventures financing 387

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

APRIL 20, 2020

I wrote a blog post on March 12th called Open For Business and thought I would return to the topic. If you search for “vc open for business” on Twitter , you will see almost universal scorn for the idea that VCs are open for business right now. But I don’t see that across the entire VC landscape.

peer-to-peer 236

peer-to-peer VC finance financing 236

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

I have blogged about some of the downside consequences of the changes and the private information I have says the consequences are much worse than is reported in the press since few people publicly talk about. Does he blog about venture capital and try to advise entrepreneurs? Fundraising / Negotiations Startup Lessons VC Industry'

venture capital 352

venture capital VC board financing 352

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Ask your VC to send a critical email to a contact.

board 365

board VC advice pitching 365

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

Yesterday I saw a Tweet from Chris Sacca fly by that prompted me to want to write a blog post helping entrepreneurs understand why they should push back against VCs asking for “super pro-rata” rights. They might own 8% of your company after the first funding but demand up to 33-50% of your next round of financing.

entrepreneurs 310

entrepreneurs VC financing finance 310

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

Monitor had a little internal VC group so he got some experience there. More like a temporary VC just to get some experience and of course we’d pay him. We got a bit of extra help on company analyses and he got to see a VC from the inside. The photo in this blog (like many of mine) came from 500px. And thank you.

collaboration 344

collaboration VC accelerator consulting 344

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2015

If a VC tried to do this to you on an early-stage deal they would get such a bad reputation that no other VCs or entrepreneurs would work with them. On VC financings this term is explicit so entrepreneurs understand they’re getting screwed. If you do I will amend this blog post.

entrepreneurs 381

entrepreneurs VC advice financing 381

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

I have written extensively on this blog over the last decade and a half about the significant negative consequences that the two large mobile operating systems have on distribution of software. Our team is planning to submit a formal request for Apple to allow its users to earn crypto and see a list of decentralized finance apps.

finance 72

finance financing development innovation 72

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC “ There’s a great meme developing this morning on the need to simplify funding terms and documents. That prompted Fred Wilson’s blog post appealing to the industry to make these simplified term sheets standard. I have this mentality, too.

founder 252

founder pitching VC advice 252

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

Because my wife is a superstar she published them all on a blog here along with much other wonderful type-A mom advice. I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. It is additive.

VC 292

VC peer-to-peer investment investing 292

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Hire admin / office management after you raise a reasonable size VC round. Equally – a great VP Finance can be leveraged well to take on finance, legal, HR and much of the operational tasks. Maybe you’d make a better part-time Chairman and let the COO run the business? Be careful about board construction.

startup 388

startup consulting construction board 388

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 find a job as a VC scout. VC recruiters list and compensation data. How to negotiate a partner role at a VC or private equity firm. Syllabus for how to launch, manage, and invest a VC fund.

VC 128

VC venture capital accelerator ventures 128

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 1, 2010

The simple fact of the matter is that most startups seeking angel or vc capital just don’t receive it—and that’s just anywhere. It’s often some combination of the idea not being big enough to sustain a venture exit or the company just not being appropriate for venture financing. If only VCs were smart, they’d fund me.”

startup 286

startup media ecology VC 286

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

In the old days there weren’t many fights about whether angels would take their prorata rights in financing rounds. Plus, many VC rounds traditionally didn’t guarantee angels prorata rights unless they were “major investors” which often means they wrote large checks in the angel round. Thus begins the dance.

VC 336

VC investment investing entrepreneurs 336

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

In my experience many VC’s fall into this “I’m expected to know all the answers” trap. The more self-assured the VC is and the more impressionable the entrepreneur is the worse the outcome. ” I’ve already blogged about how I work through this process: I triangulate. It is unknowable.

peer-to-peer 337

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs consulting VC 337

David Teten VC

MAY 19, 2017

Historically VC has been an apprenticeship business. VC ASSOCIATIONS. Revenue Based Financing Network Group. VCs who care. ACCELERATORS FOR EMERGING VCs. VentureForward (NVCA), includes list of all VC organizations focused on diversity. International Climate Finance Accelerator – based in Luxembourg.

VC 83

VC angel investing venture capital accelerator 83

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

Finally, a lot of people asking me about typos on my blog. In addition to the P2P deals covered below, on the show we also talked about some of my favorite financing startups ( Wonga in the UK run by Errol Damelin , who is a superstar) and Affordit.com run by serial (and I mean serial!) Blogging has gone through many iterations.

venture capital 265

venture capital peer-to-peer capital ventures 265

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2016

In 2008 I started VC blogging. I had blogged when I was an entrepreneur. I started doing SnapStorms, which are short burst of video around a certain startup or financing topic. They thought it was like MySpace and why did I need a MySpace page? Ironic to be self-centered while you’re trying to offer advice to others.

networking 230

networking advice VC finance 230

TechCrunch

JANUARY 11, 2021

David Teten is founder of Versatile VC and writes periodically at teten.com and @dteten. Jamie Finney is a founding partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund , where he blogs about his work on VC and small communities. From traditional equity VC, flexible VC borrows the option to pursue and reap the rewards of an outsized exit.

VC 109

VC funders startup venture capital 109

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

MARCH 30, 2021

But I am writing again as there is likely to be a bunch of chatter about Dapper, Flow, and NBA Top Shot as the news of a financing round comes out today. Financings don’t really interest me but companies do. That got our attention and led to a financing that spun out the team and Cryptokitties into Dapper Labs.

incubation 251

incubation financing finance communities 251

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. I eventually stumbled on to the best source of high-quality deal flow imaginable – blogging. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. They are venture bankers not investment bankers.

advice 361

advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 361

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

That would mean that the increased number of new business startups will lead to a “funding gap&# of deals that can’t get financed. We haven’t hit that wall yet for three reasons: 1) not enough elapsed time, 2) the VC market is frenzied now, too and 3) we haven’t seen a market downturn since the volume picked up.

angel investing 299

angel investing investing investment real estate 299

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

David Teten is founder of Versatile VC and writes periodically at teten.com and @dteten. Akshat Dixit is a senior at North Carolina State University, an intern at Versatile VC , and a past intern with the HBS Alumni Angels Association and the Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Scouts help promote diversity in VC.

VC 93

VC peer-to-peer consulting board 93

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

People assume that I’m biased because I’m a VC and think you should always get the highest valuation possible. But if you do this early (pre VC) then the price points are pretty low. Q: “If you have a term sheet on the table how should you leverage with other VCs?&# A: It’s not best. This is wrong.

venture capital 282

venture capital capital ventures angel investing 282

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

What is the True Sentiment of VCs? I recently survey more than 150 VC friends from all stages and geographies what they thought about the market by asking “Which of the following statements best describes your mood heading into 2016?” When I started blogging it was because I was inspired by Brad Feld.

startup 285

startup VC entrepreneurs investment 285

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 13, 2011

I run Revolution’s VC investments. Both AOL and Time Warner had existing VC operations. Tige and I discuss an excellent blog post written by the CEO of Hulu (Jason Kilar) on the future of advertising. In that way, you could say that we are stage agnostic. Can you talk about it? The Case Foundation. -

founder 277

founder venture capital media strategy 277