Dream It

JANUARY 13, 2021

The venture capital screening call is an important step to get right in due diligence. Learn how to pass a VC associate screen in under 10 minutes! It means you haven’t properly framed this deal in the associate’s mind and that makes it hard for us to come to a definitive conclusion.

VC 364

VC founder consulting networking 364

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

And that was evident on today’s Angel vs. VC panel. There are real changes in the venture capital industry and it would have been fun to talk about them. The VC industry is segmenting – I have spoken about this many times before. We need people at all stages of the funding lifecycle and not just VCs.

disruption 308

disruption VC entrepreneurs financing 308

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “ Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts? She has a quote from literally every major VC from whom you’d want to hear. ” [it's short, you should read it]. Please watch this. Every single one.

entrepreneurs 341

entrepreneurs entrepreneurship VC pitching 341

Entrepreneur's Handbook

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

Since then, I’ve founded several startups, was employee #3 at a $65m VC firm in San Francisco, and realized that there is a similar phenomenon to what Robert Kiyosaki is talking about in Rich Dad, Poor Dad currently occurring in Silicon Valley. A lot of people go out and start their first business and try to make it a venture-backed startup.

founder 144

founder VC venture capital entrepreneurship 144

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

I recently got an email from a friend who had been approached by a well known VC. I’m an investor at [Big Name, Large Fund VC] and recently came across [Your Company]. But if that’s all that they’re after then entrepreneurs should definitely be wary of taking these calls.

VC 294

VC entrepreneurs advice investing 294

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 25, 2013

Anyone who was doing something new and cutting edge should feel connected to each other--whether or not they are building a venture backed startup. It's even more relevant now that I've started the first venture capital fund in Brooklyn-- Brooklyn Bridge Ventures --and invested in four Brooklyn based companies. 33 Flatbush.

communities 315

communities innovation creativity real estate 315

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

How about as a VC? If* you believe that a good venture capitalist should have launched their own company and exited, then I simply don't have that track record. Fred has basically always been a VC, Mike was a reporter, and Jim worked in product marketing and management consulting. Charlie is a nice guy, but his company failed.".

VC 275

VC peer-to-peer board advice 275

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I spoke about how Amazon Web Services deserves far more credit for the last 5 years of innovation than it gets credit for and how I believe they spawned the micro-VC category. I said that I felt that Micro-VCs were the most important change in our industry. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. I believe that.

real estate 309

real estate entrepreneurs financing finance 309

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 11, 2014

It''s a solid exit to a company that has lots of revs, is growing, and together will form a very formidable player in the data backup space--one that can definitely be a public company in the next couple of years. Venture Capital & Technology' He took a long term view and jumped in with a check.

board 274

board venture capital creativity entrepreneurship 274

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Elect 1-2 representatives and even invite a local VC to invest personally and sit on the investment committee or be an advisor.

communities 378

communities startup venture capital capital 378

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

Changes in the Software World & in Venture Capital. That didn’t make them bad – it just didn’t make them efficient at making rapid decisions of whether to fund a startup or not and the terms on which they would fund were typically not “market” for a startup company that would become venture backed one day.

startup 390

startup communities venture capital angel capital 390

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

Monique Villa is an investor at Mucker Capital , an early-stage VC fund investing in startups across the U.S. Getting a seat at the VC table. The wave of venture capital interest in geographies other than Silicon Valley has been building momentum over the past 5+ years. VC deals by region, as of June 2019. and Canada.

opportunity 101

opportunity VC venture capital funders 101

David Teten VC

JUNE 9, 2021

Would you like to work with private equity and venture capital funds? There are relatively few jobs directly inside private equity and venture capital funds, and those jobs are highly competitive. See How to negotiate a partner role at a VC or private equity firm.) At Versatile VC , we’ve used all these models.

consulting 128

consulting venture capital board capital 128

Gust

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

The most successful serial entrepreneurs in the world may found three or four, perhaps even eight or ten venture-backed startups over the course of their careers. By contrast, venture capitalists and angel investors typically make scores or even hundreds of investments over the course of their careers. Knowledge is power.

financing 178

financing finance VC entrepreneurs 178

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

JANUARY 31, 2010

I spotted my fellow VC Leo Spiegel (from Mission Ventures) who had spoken previously to the same group and asked about his experiences. It definitely is an IQ test thing for me. I walked around to a few tables and I asked students what would interest them. I can then change my focus based on the results. Are you a moron?

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Today Upfront Ventures is announcing that we’ve backed Rebecca Kantar ’s startup Imbellus , a company designed to assess human potential and ultimately change the way we teach children. We led a $4 million investment along with Thrive Capital, GLG and Sound Ventures. But really it’s something I look for.

incumbents 270

incumbents entrepreneurs education pitching 270

AsiaTechDaily

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

Register Startup founders need to be authentic and prepared when they get the chance to meet prospective investors, according to Rex Fong, founding partner at investment and advisory group Capitale Ventures. Fong’s Capitale Ventures is an investment and advisory group with expertise in complex, cross-border transactions.

ventures 97

ventures startup VC strategy 97

David Teten VC

MARCH 5, 2021

(co-written with Katherine Boe Heuck , a MBA candidate at MIT Sloan (class of 2022); past intern at Versatile VC ; and a current intern at Metaprop NYC.). What can we learn from the best 40 venture capital investments of all time? We reviewed CB Insights’ global list of “40 of the Best VC Bets of all Time.”

VC 82

VC investing investment founder 82

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 23, 2021

He leads the group’s venture capital fund, Seedstars International, which invests in seed-stage startups across emerging markets. Even after the unprecedented year that we had in 2020, the VC markets picked up in 2021 and founders raised 157% more capital in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year. Daniela Moreno.

capital 115

capital entrepreneurship VC venture capital 115

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 19, 2022

For Black founders, who have rarely received more than 1% of total venture capital invested in startups, 2022 wasn’t kind, and 2023 doesn’t look promising given how things are going. 3 Black founders predict little will change in VC in 2023 by Dominic-Madori Davis originally published on TechCrunch.

VC 85

VC founder venture capital creativity 85

David Teten VC

AUGUST 30, 2021

I co-wrote this essay with Prabhat Gusain , currently the Chief of Staff at Caffeinated Capital; formerly an intern with Versatile VC ; and a 2021 MBA from UVA Darden. VC firms looking for fundable founders. In a very small number of geographies, there is no shortage of VC funds (NY, CA, Boston, Israel, Beijing).

investing 119

investing investment founder VC 119

TechCrunch

JANUARY 21, 2022

500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions. 2021 was a year like no other when it came to venture investment, and this year is poised to tread a similar path, writes 500 Global’s CEO and co-founder, Christine Tsai. “All 500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions.

VC 80

VC incubation angel investing investing 80

Hunter Walk

AUGUST 23, 2023

Specifically I’ve had the chance to spend meaningful time over the years with Michael Mignano as he went from startup CEO to Executive/Angel Investor and now VC Partner at Lightspeed. I can vouch for his genuine optimism Hunter Walk: You got to work with a number of different VCs on your cap table for Anchor. Was I right?

VC 97

VC founder ventures culture 97

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 21, 2012

I met him in April of 2010--almost two years before he got a venture round. Three companies most definitely makes a pattern. Actually, I wouldn't even really call them passes, because in a couple instances, they were just conversations--"Pre Deck" if you will. Devrim Yasar just raised an additional $7.25 million for Koding.com.

VC 265

VC education entrepreneurs development 265

David Teten VC

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023

Q: What is CISA and how does it compare to other alternative VC models? Oftentimes our investments are in companies with little revenue or traction, making them more difficult to finance from a traditional VC/angel perspective. These may indicate room for Versatile VC to build or invest in a startup addressing that need.

VC 59

VC financing finance peer-to-peer 59

Revolution

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

We dive deeper into the definition in our 2022 Annual Report. There’s a reason venture capital is considered “risk capital,” but there’s also ample opportunity to look beyond the typical diligence checklist to find factors that de-risk an investment. Founder-market-geography fit is one of those factors.

founder 246

founder transportation innovation education 246

TechCrunch

AUGUST 12, 2021

Scott Lenet is president of Touchdown Ventures. Is there a creed in venture capital? Analyzing the spectrum of corporate innovation from R&D to VC. I’m frequently asked by journalists whether I think venture capital valuations are too high in the current environment. More posts by this contributor.

venture capital 100

venture capital startup VC ventures 100

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it. One of the primary ones is the referral source.

VC 159

VC angel investing pitching entrepreneurs 159

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 11, 2020

This latest tranche of funding is being co-led by new investor Eurazeo Growth and Dawn Capital, with PayPal Ventures, HMI Capital, Heartcore, ABN AMRO Ventures, Poste Italiane and BNP Paribas’ venture arm, Opera Tech Ventures, also participating. Rapyd remains VC-backed and was last valued at $1.3

networking 117

networking accelerator capital ventures 117

TechCrunch

SEPTEMBER 17, 2022

One could probably argue that Floodgate , the Bay Area-based seed-stage venture firm, punches above its weight. What is your definition of a big idea and how do you know when you see it? VC Ann Miura-Ko is looking to help more students answer the question: Is this idea big enough? The aim is to help them identify big ideas.

VC 96

VC networking incubation investing 96

American Entrepreneurship

MARCH 14, 2024

“Our vision is to grow Foundation Health into the definitive tech platform for powering and managing complex consumer healthcare operations globally,” said Foundation Health founder and CEO, Umar Afridi.

health 105

health SaaS enablement VC 105

TechCrunch

AUGUST 15, 2023

Brett Calhoun Contributor Share on Twitter Brett Calhoun is the managing director and general partner at Redbud VC. Amid these turbulent times, the VC accelerator industry has emerged as a stalwart player. Amid these turbulent times, the VC accelerator industry has emerged as a stalwart player. psychedelics or construction).

accelerator 96

accelerator peer-to-peer startup VC 96

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

It turns out that while later-stage investors, mostly international VC firms, grabbed headlines by writing immense checks, pre-seed and seed-stage investors were instrumental to the growth of the continent’s tech ecosystem. We definitely noticed deals were happening slower,” said Karima El Hakim, country director of Plug and Play Egypt. “A

startup ecosystem 96

startup ecosystem startup incubation VC 96

TechCrunch

AUGUST 17, 2021

Prabhat Gusain is currently the chief of staff at Caffeinated Capital and was previously an intern with Versatile VC. David Teten is founder of Versatile VC and writes periodically at teten.com and @dteten. How to win consulting, board and deal roles with PE and VC funds. Next are VC firms looking for founders.

founder 97

founder investing investment VC 97

TechCrunch

JANUARY 12, 2023

Having local expertise in the category every VC wants to invest in right now doesn’t hurt, either. billion — venture investors on the ground can feel the city’s potential. (I Pittsburgh has yet to have its moment, but all the signs are there that it could be next.

startup 95

startup startup accelerator startup ecosystem accelerator 95

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

We spoke with: Alex Bondar , partner, Acre Venture Partners. Joshua Posamentier , co-founder and managing partner, Congruent Ventures. Maryanna Saenko , co-founder and partner, Future Ventures. Valerie Shen , partner and COO, G2 Venture Partners. David Frykman , general partner, Norrsken VC. Robert Downey Jr. ,

strategy 98

strategy health energy opportunity 98