Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. VC firm policy or fund analysis. Helping be the VC “presence” at key events. inside insight into VC decision-making. Industry reviews.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note. Pre-money ($8m) + investment ($2m) = Post-money ($10m) and the investors now own 20% of your company $2m / $10m. So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages?

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

If you’re an entrepreneur who would like to see this clause in more startups please ask your VC to include it in future term sheets and link to it from their home page. “We We strive to invest in companies that are consciously working to create a diverse leadership team?—?one Ours is: upfront.com/inclusion.

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AsiaTechDaily

DECEMBER 27, 2022

Register TradeDog Group, the parent company of TD VC that is based in Dubai in the UAE, has announced the launch of their $100M Web3 “special situation” fund that will be allocated in projects with good products and businesses with struggling token markets. No account yet?

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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. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

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TechCrunch

OCTOBER 4, 2022

Mar Hershenson , co-founder and managing partner at Pear VC. Mar Hershenson co-founded and serves as managing partner at Pear VC, a seed-stage investment firm in Palo Alto backing companies like Guardant Health, DoorDash, Gusto, Aurora Solar and Branch. He also serves on the board of Friends of Hudson River Park.

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David Teten VC

AUGUST 21, 2019

Most founders who are raising capital look first to traditional equity VCs. Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. For more background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

*. If you are a 20-something tech entrepreneur you could be forgiven for thinking that seed-stage investors, Angellist Syndicates and widely available angel money always existed. Some quick highlights include: The Role of a Seed Stage VC. Jeff and his peer group have done an excellent job at creating a new category of seed-stage VC.

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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.

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 10, 2016

It was from a top college endowment that was taking a look at the next fund of a widely known VC who had backed him. The truth of the matter is that their experience with this VC hadn't lived up to the hype. The VC firm was growing quickly, having raised two funds in just a few years, each quite larger than the previous one.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

I’ve written a few posts about boards recently as part of a series on the subject. I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions.

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JULY 19, 2021

” Unlike public markets, private market investments are held for many years, often a decade or more. If an investor and an entrepreneur find each other difficult to work with, there is no easy solution. And so the result is likely to be entrepreneurs and investors getting stuck in bad marriages.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. If you don’t live in a major VC zone, I have some tips for how to make it easier to raise Venture Capital. Tomorrow I’m meeting with a senior exec who is considering joining a company in which we’ve invested.

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StartupNation

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

With so many entrepreneurs and startup ventures seeking investment opportunities, it’s crucial that venture capitalists (VCs) create a list of criteria they want their potential investments to meet. As such, VCs have to consider a number of factors when choosing which companies or entrepreneurs in whom to invest.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

But as I rose in my career (and post MBA) I moved into a role in which I was to advise board-level executives on topics where I was expected to rapidly become an expert. In my experience many VC’s fall into this “I’m expected to know all the answers” trap. We are their sparring partners, their sounding boards.

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This is going to be BIG.

JULY 8, 2013

I usually direct people to this post --still hanging atop the search rankings for " How to be a VC analyst" years later. I know what it''s like being an entrepreneur trying to get people to care about what I cared about--you feel so desperate and as if you were just one big break or random intro away from success.

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venture capital VC advice capital 419

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 16, 2014

There''s been some writing about how VCs and founders interact with each other and it inspired me to take a step back and reflect on what my role is supposed to be with regards to the investments I make and the founders I deal with. Here''s what I am not: I am not necessarily an entrepreneur''s friend.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Beware of VC Seagulls, who shit on you and then fly away (or worse yet leave you with Red Herrings). I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. I like to say to first-time entrepreneurs, picking a VC is more permanent than marriage. I guarantee this is a bad VC. There are many great VCs.

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This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

Any success as an entrepreneur? How about as a VC? He hasn't founded or built either a successful, let alone innovative company, and he hasn't raised $ to invest in those entrepreneurs. Fred has basically always been a VC, Mike was a reporter, and Jim worked in product marketing and management consulting.

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Gust

MAY 31, 2014

A company’s board of directors is technically elected by the company’s shareholders. So before a startup receives outside funding, the board is “elected” by—and usually consists of—the founders (although it may exist in name only.). Invested Interests board of directors business entrepreneur founders startup'

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 25, 2021

Founded by Yele Badamosi in 2017, Microtraction arrived on the continent’s early-stage investment scene with all intent to be “the most accessible and preferred source of pre-seed funding for African tech entrepreneurs.” Other investors include Pave Investments and US-based angel investor, Chris Schultz.

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TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

The most interesting story for the VC and startup nerds among us comes from Connie today. Startups and VC After two years of seeking regulatory approval, Wefunder has officially received the green light to operate its investment crowdfunding services within the European Union. PST, subscribe here. It’s Fridayyyy.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “what’s it like being a VC?&# I’ve been a VC for nearly 3 years now. I always start my answer to this question with, “you’d have to be a pretty big baby to complain about being a VC.&# At least for the best entrepreneurs. That’s true.

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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. This is a big news day at Upfront Ventures. The idea immediately resonated.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2012

It has always surprised me that founders were so quick to fight over how many board members there were and so quick to agree to have as many board observers as people wanted. I have always been vehemently against board observers and wrote some of the reasons in this previous post. The Case for a Silent Observer.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 12, 2010

I recently wrote an article on how to respond to board members between meetings. If I were to re-write the original post I would have taken out the section on “how to get better intro’s from VC’s&# and made it it’s own post. It seems to me this is the main problem with boards. It’s true.

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board advice VC development 267

Jason Malki

JUNE 2, 2023

Throughout his career, Steve has been involved in investments in connectivity, M2M/Internet of Things, security, robotics, and embedded systems. His past board seats include Lucid Motors, Quantenna, Canesta, Kineto Wireless, Newport Media, and Teranetics. How did you break into tech investing?

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Jason Malki

OCTOBER 24, 2023

Triet’s journey in the world of investing began as a self-taught retail trader, a path he pursued to support his college education. Triet has a wealth of experience in portfolio support, angel investing, venture scout networks, advising emerging funds and startups, and has also been a founder himself.

venture capital 52

venture capital capital ventures investing 52

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 3, 2016

At least, that's how a lot of entrepreneurs feel. Why do VC's get such a bad rap? That's literally your baby--and 98% of the time, a VC will tell you that your baby is ugly. We're "kingmakers" whose investment has the "Midas Touch." VC, in large part, is done by people with access to money. So what gives?

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. Of these 19 have received funding (10 have received significant amounts of VC funding) and 5 have been acquired (2 for more than $30 million).

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 21, 2022

“If you believe VR and immersive computing is the future — whether for consumer or business use cases — Activision helps Microsoft build a flywheel of content and technology that gets more users on board to this future.”. 500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

(In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Entrepreneurs make fast decisions and move forward knowing that at best 70% of their decisions are going to be right. This paralyzes most people.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

Many startup companies hire advisory boards. It’s mostly done by first-time entrepreneurs who want to persuade (bribe?) So do advisory boards really add value? In my experience most advisory boards under deliver relative to expectations. At a minimum their angel investments will likely take precedence.

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StartupNation

DECEMBER 17, 2020

The American entrepreneur is changing, and the time has come for investors to keep up. As an Asian-American woman and a venture investor myself, I know this to be true — that investing in startups owned by people of color is key to unlocking innovation, elevating underserved communities and fostering long-term economic success.

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David Teten VC

MAY 19, 2017

Historically VC has been an apprenticeship business. VC ASSOCIATIONS. No-cost accelerators: Afore Capital Angel to Fund Manager (AFM), Founder Institute VC Lab , Recast Capital Enablement Program – Accelerators with tuition: Oper8r , OnConduit ‘s Emerging Fund Managers Initiative. Reboot VC Bootcamp.

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David Teten VC

JANUARY 19, 2021

His work on VC and small communities can be found at greatercolorado.vc/blog. raised money from VCs and 7.7% More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. A new category of VCs have emerged offering a hybrid between VC and RBI, which we call “Flexible VC”. .

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