Expert insights. Personalized for you.
The challenge remains, however, of navigating the current investment climate, and we want to help our founders as much as possible in this unknown landscape. The post How Startups Can Navigate the Change in Investment Climate Due to COVID-19 appeared first on 500 Startups. All Announcements Founders Tips and Trends Venture Capital InvestingWith the rise in regulations and restrictions surrounding COVID-19, we’ve entered unprecedented times on a global scale. MORE
I am thrilled to announce that we have added Hamet Watt as a Partner at Upfront Ventures. This is a big news day at Upfront Ventures. But as sweet as that success has been (we invested pre-revenue in a small team) today my even more important news was the further expansion of our partner ranks. Hamet started his career in Venture Capital working for the first post-apartheid VC fund in South Africa. He will be a venture partner. MORE
The post Our Investment Framework Post-COVID-19 appeared first on 500 Startups. All Venture Capital Investing covid19 Investing investing strategy seed investing venture capital investingThere’s no doubt that COVID-19 has affected nearly every industry globally. MORE
How has corporate venture capital changed? Conventional wisdom dictated that incumbents should focus their innovation efforts on R&D and growing their cash cows while investing in a few startups. But the rate of change has accelerated and with it, the balance of internal versus external investment. The post The Future of Corporate Venture Capital appeared first on 500 Startups. All International Investor Education Venture Capital Investing MORE
In 2010, 500 Startups started as a new kind of venture capital firm in Silicon Valley with a contrarian belief that talent can come from anywhere in the world. Back then, very few venture capital firms in the valley were focused on much outside of our collection of cities within the San Francisco Bay area. ”If If you look at our early team, our DNA has always been very global with experience growing up abroad or working internationally. MORE
Andy Areitio is a partner at the early-stage fund TheVentureCity , a new venture and acceleration model that helps diverse founders achieve global impact. million Series A round, passed the due diligence process, and the investment committee had approved the deal. Andy Areitio. MORE
This past week, I took a look at the 25 investments that GAN Ventures has made so far. Meaning, I started to ask myself, “Is there any similar trait or feature that each of the companies in the GAN Ventures portfolio share?” Meaning, companies that are poised for returns you’d expect in a venture fund. I’m not saying all of this as shameless self-promotion of GAN Ventures or our portfolio companies themselves. MORE
The fact is, it''s just not cool to criticize the investing side of the venture capital market. But can''t I disagree with him on an investment? Why does it seem to automatically make someone an a **e to be critical of an investment? I think it sucks that we are in a media culture where we''re supposed to give everyone pats on the head for entrepreneurship when there are legitimate criticisms to be had about the high profile investments we read about all the time. MORE
NextView Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital fund, has raised an $89.6 The NextView Ventures team did not immediately respond to request for comment. Despite the pandemic, Boston’s startup scene has continued to attract record numbers in venture capital volume. MORE
“More than 50% of our founders still are in their current jobs,” said John Vrionis, co-founder of seed-stage fund Unusual Ventures. To gain a competitive advantage, Unusual is investing small checks into founders before they’re full-time. MORE
Derek Zanutto is a general partner at CapitalG , Alphabet’s independent growth fund, where he invests in data, security and SaaS-based enterprise software. Despite our valuation concerns, we ended up making the investment. Derek Zanutto. Contributor. Share on Twitter. MORE
If you take venture capital money. 3) You will almost certainly take more venture capital money after that. 9) You will own less and less of your company over time as you take on additional investment. 10) You will face more competition as venture investment signals that what you''re doing may be attractive. Venture Capital & Technology MORE
For years — decades, even — there was little question about whether you could become a venture capitalist if you weren’t comfortable financially. ” Explore management fee offsets , which investors in venture funds often determine to be reasonable. MORE
Here are some common red flags for venture investors: Red Flag #1 : Ask isn’t tied to specific fundable milestones. On the other hand, if your ask offers investors too little equity, the investors won’t have enough skin-in-the-game to achieve meaningful or target returns on their investment. Once you’ve identified your fundable milestones for investment, the next step is to determine how much cash you’ll need to reach the inflection points. MORE
When I started out investing (via a fund — not my money), I was just investing based on a simple schedule: About once a month, invest $25K into one company I liked. The trick with these experiments and lessons is that in investing, you don’t get the feedback right away — it can take a few years at seed to understand the impact of those decisions. Fund investing is easy — fund management is not. Career Culture Technology Venture Capital MORE
Today, we’re announcing the launch of Revolution Ventures III (RV3)?—?an an over-subscribed $215 million fund to invest in transformative early stage companies with the same team and differentiated approach as the successful Revolution Ventures II (RV2). For over a decade, Revolution has invested time and capital to develop a proprietary network, ecosystem, and brand focused on sourcing deal flow from underserved markets around the country. MORE
When GAN Ventures considers whether to invest in a startup, we look for four primary things: Authentic founders: Founders that know their own strengths and weaknesses and aren’t afraid to ask for help. Startups that are positioned for venture scale: We focus on venture-scale opportunities that have a logical path to a 10x, and a plausible path to a 100x, return on our investment. The post Why We Invest in Authentic Founders appeared first on GAN. MORE
Not every company raises venture capital—most don’t. We, on the other hand, *need* to invest our money, so we don’t have the luxury of turning down good deals if they come along. Different investors are good at different things—and they provide different levels of engagement depending on stage and how much they have invested in you. Venture Capital & TechnologyTweet. 1) You need it. MORE
Oklahoma often gets knocked in national venture capital rankings based primarily on data that is collected by PitchBook or similar venture deal data collectors. As a result, PitchBook, PwC MoneyTree, the Walton Foundation, and others were unaware that last year alone i2E invested $8,696,500 in 10 Oklahoma companies, participating in venture rounds where these companies raised a total of $11,290,792. The breakdown of these investments by industry is also instructive. MORE
So here's all the reasons I told him he shouldn't be in: 1) Fund investing is boring. More updates, more casual events, more exposure to portfolio companies, co-investing, etc., Being in a fund is not the same thing as angel investing. Of course, angel investing for most people isn't very fun past the first year. You could wind up getting distribution checks from a fund you invested in a dozen years ago. MORE
Brooklyn Bridge Ventures led the round. I had been meeting with Keya and her team months and months before I actually invested--because I liked the space and was impressed by her personally. Venture Capital & TechnologyToday, ElectNext announced that they had raised $1.3mm to launch a data, analytics and marketing service to bridge the data gap between politicians, lobby groups, and their constituents. MORE
You face a lot of challenges—anything from your commute time, to finding great talent, to landing big investments, to connecting with your target customers (fashion and beauty companies come to mind, for instance). Staying in business in a small city or an emerging market can be truly difficult, so what if you invest in a company that doesn’t make it? When a company raises another round of financing, it comes at a higher valuation than when we invested in it. MORE
Why are more US VCs investing in international startups? But by 2016, US VCs’ share of the pool had dropped 1,200 basis points to 65% of global VC allocation, while more dramatically, only 54% of total VC investment went to the US, a drop of 3,100 basis points. This implies that the US is still the center of the VC industry, even while there is more opportunity for US VCs to invest abroad. . MORE
Spearhead asked me to write a post on angel investing when they first launched. Charlie Munger says investing requires a latticework of mental models. Here are 11 lessons for your angel investing lattice: If you can’t decide, the answer is no. Investing takes years to learn, but improves for a lifetime. Invest only in technology. Incentives make for bad investing advice. If you can’t decide on an investment, the answer is no. MORE
Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round with commitments from Cisco Investments, angel investors from the collaboration and security space, and previous investors Neotribe Ventures, Firebolt Ventures and WestWave Capital, the company said. MORE
Today we are thrilled to announce our investment in Orchard , a company dramatically simplifying the process of buying and selling a home with a modern, digital experience from search to close. real-estate startup venture-capital MORE
Canadian VC Janet Bannister, a partner at Real Ventures, loves investing in “conscious founders” who are trying to make the world a better place. Her style of “human-centered investing” prioritizes people and relationships, and investing in smart, self-aware, teachable entrepreneurs. . Today, Janet Bannister is a Partner at Real Ventures, but when Founding Partner John Stokes—aka J.S.—first Why would I go into Venture Capital?” Real Ventures. MORE
On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? Me: When an investor signs a note with a cap they must assume they are willing to pay the cap or why would they invest? Me: So, who was willing to invest in that? Doesn’t their investment determine the price of the next round? I have never come across a sophisticated A, B or C round venture capitalist who thinks convertible notes are a smart move for entrepreneur or investor. This week. MORE
VC has been invested over the past decade according to race, gender and educational background makes for grim reading — with all-ethnic teams and female entrepreneurs receiving just a fraction of available funding versus all-white teams and male founders. MORE
Long before diversity and inclusion became buzzwords, we decided to make venture capital inclusive from day one at 500 Startups. 500 actively invested in founders who were diverse or were building for diverse customers; we shunned manels by making sure to feature female speakers at our events, so that it wasn’t predominantly men doing the talking. The post Why Investing in Female Founders Matters Now More Than Ever appeared first on 500 Startups. MORE
Qualcomm Ventures , Qualcomm’s investment arm, today announced four new strategic investments in 5G-related startups. ” So far, Qualcomm Ventures has invested over $170 million in the 5G ecosystem, including this new batch. MORE
Venture Capital & Technology A year ago, I wrote a post about how I was trying to keep my phone away during meals-- No Phone with Food. These days, we''ve got so much that can distract us, being present has become a rare feat. I''ve tried to stick to it, but it''s hard. I run my own business and I try and make myself available whenever my entrepreneurs need me. MORE
By Revolution Ventures Partner Clara Sieg and Principal Graham Ober Although we briefly met Kristin Langenfeld, co-founder and CEO of Denver-based Good Buy Gear , last summer?—?in billion was invested across 347 deals in the state?—?and venture-capital marketplaces startup MORE
Kelly will help Techstars increase connectivity between startups and the global venture community to fuel innovation and growth. With 11 Techstars mentorship-driven accelerator programs in Europe and the Middle East, Techstars has a portfolio of close to 350 companies and invests in nearly 110 startups in EMEA annually. Declan has been a significant connective tissue between startup founders and the global venture community for years,” said Cody Simms, partner at Techstars. MORE
Brooklyn Bridge Ventures , the pre-seed and seed stage VC fund I run in NYC, has invested in 64 companies in the last six and a half years. The diversity is the direct result of our mission—to build the most accessible venture capital fund in NY. Twenty-five of them have at least one female co-founder. Fifteen had co-founders over 40. Five have LGBTQ+ founders. Three teams have African-American founders. Three of the founding teams are married couples. MORE
I woke up to a dream this morning where I was playing a game that was very similar to Turntable.fm , a failed effort to create a social music experience that had a moment back in 2011 and that I had invested in via USV. Then I found out that the creators of this new game had received venture capital funding and were going to turn it into a business. Investments that don’t work haunt me. And investments that don’t work are often failures of execution. MORE
Today we’re announcing that my partner Kara Nortman is becoming Co-Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to welcome her to her new role. She worked for 5 years as a VC at Battery Ventures and co-headed M&A at IAC working with Barry Diller. MORE
500
JUNE 9, 2020
The post Our Investment Framework Post-COVID-19 appeared first on 500 Startups. All Venture Capital Investing covid19 Investing investing strategy seed investing venture capital investingThere’s no doubt that COVID-19 has affected nearly every industry globally.
TechCrunch
NOVEMBER 10, 2020
Qualcomm Ventures , Qualcomm’s investment arm, today announced four new strategic investments in 5G-related startups. ” So far, Qualcomm Ventures has invested over $170 million in the 5G ecosystem, including this new batch.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
500
OCTOBER 25, 2019
How has corporate venture capital changed? Conventional wisdom dictated that incumbents should focus their innovation efforts on R&D and growing their cash cows while investing in a few startups. But the rate of change has accelerated and with it, the balance of internal versus external investment. The post The Future of Corporate Venture Capital appeared first on 500 Startups. All International Investor Education Venture Capital Investing
Bryan Janeczko
NOVEMBER 4, 2020
A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC
AUGUST 17, 2020
I woke up to a dream this morning where I was playing a game that was very similar to Turntable.fm , a failed effort to create a social music experience that had a moment back in 2011 and that I had invested in via USV. Then I found out that the creators of this new game had received venture capital funding and were going to turn it into a business. Investments that don’t work haunt me. And investments that don’t work are often failures of execution.
This is going to be BIG.
JUNE 10, 2015
So here's all the reasons I told him he shouldn't be in: 1) Fund investing is boring. More updates, more casual events, more exposure to portfolio companies, co-investing, etc., Being in a fund is not the same thing as angel investing. Of course, angel investing for most people isn't very fun past the first year. You could wind up getting distribution checks from a fund you invested in a dozen years ago.
|
Venture Hacks
APRIL 17, 2019
Spearhead asked me to write a post on angel investing when they first launched. Charlie Munger says investing requires a latticework of mental models. Here are 11 lessons for your angel investing lattice: If you can’t decide, the answer is no. Investing takes years to learn, but improves for a lifetime. Invest only in technology. Incentives make for bad investing advice. If you can’t decide on an investment, the answer is no.
TechCrunch
NOVEMBER 13, 2020
NextView Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital fund, has raised an $89.6 The NextView Ventures team did not immediately respond to request for comment. Despite the pandemic, Boston’s startup scene has continued to attract record numbers in venture capital volume.
GAN
OCTOBER 9, 2019
You face a lot of challenges—anything from your commute time, to finding great talent, to landing big investments, to connecting with your target customers (fashion and beauty companies come to mind, for instance). Staying in business in a small city or an emerging market can be truly difficult, so what if you invest in a company that doesn’t make it? When a company raises another round of financing, it comes at a higher valuation than when we invested in it.
GAN
MAY 22, 2019
When GAN Ventures considers whether to invest in a startup, we look for four primary things: Authentic founders: Founders that know their own strengths and weaknesses and aren’t afraid to ask for help. Startups that are positioned for venture scale: We focus on venture-scale opportunities that have a logical path to a 10x, and a plausible path to a 100x, return on our investment. The post Why We Invest in Authentic Founders appeared first on GAN.
This is going to be BIG.
FEBRUARY 18, 2019
Brooklyn Bridge Ventures , the pre-seed and seed stage VC fund I run in NYC, has invested in 64 companies in the last six and a half years. The diversity is the direct result of our mission—to build the most accessible venture capital fund in NY. Twenty-five of them have at least one female co-founder. Fifteen had co-founders over 40. Five have LGBTQ+ founders. Three teams have African-American founders. Three of the founding teams are married couples.
|
This is going to be BIG.
JUNE 10, 2014
Venture Capital & Technology A year ago, I wrote a post about how I was trying to keep my phone away during meals-- No Phone with Food. These days, we''ve got so much that can distract us, being present has become a rare feat. I''ve tried to stick to it, but it''s hard. I run my own business and I try and make myself available whenever my entrepreneurs need me.
500
APRIL 6, 2020
The challenge remains, however, of navigating the current investment climate, and we want to help our founders as much as possible in this unknown landscape. The post How Startups Can Navigate the Change in Investment Climate Due to COVID-19 appeared first on 500 Startups. All Announcements Founders Tips and Trends Venture Capital InvestingWith the rise in regulations and restrictions surrounding COVID-19, we’ve entered unprecedented times on a global scale.
GAN
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
This past week, I took a look at the 25 investments that GAN Ventures has made so far. Meaning, I started to ask myself, “Is there any similar trait or feature that each of the companies in the GAN Ventures portfolio share?” Meaning, companies that are poised for returns you’d expect in a venture fund. I’m not saying all of this as shameless self-promotion of GAN Ventures or our portfolio companies themselves.
Revolution
SEPTEMBER 18, 2019
Today, we’re announcing the launch of Revolution Ventures III (RV3)?—?an an over-subscribed $215 million fund to invest in transformative early stage companies with the same team and differentiated approach as the successful Revolution Ventures II (RV2). For over a decade, Revolution has invested time and capital to develop a proprietary network, ecosystem, and brand focused on sourcing deal flow from underserved markets around the country.
TechStars
SEPTEMBER 17, 2019
Kelly will help Techstars increase connectivity between startups and the global venture community to fuel innovation and growth. With 11 Techstars mentorship-driven accelerator programs in Europe and the Middle East, Techstars has a portfolio of close to 350 companies and invests in nearly 110 startups in EMEA annually. Declan has been a significant connective tissue between startup founders and the global venture community for years,” said Cody Simms, partner at Techstars.
Both Sides of the Table
OCTOBER 26, 2020
Today we’re announcing that my partner Kara Nortman is becoming Co-Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to welcome her to her new role. She worked for 5 years as a VC at Battery Ventures and co-headed M&A at IAC working with Barry Diller.
TechCrunch
NOVEMBER 2, 2020
VC has been invested over the past decade according to race, gender and educational background makes for grim reading — with all-ethnic teams and female entrepreneurs receiving just a fraction of available funding versus all-white teams and male founders.
TechCrunch
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
Derek Zanutto is a general partner at CapitalG , Alphabet’s independent growth fund, where he invests in data, security and SaaS-based enterprise software. Despite our valuation concerns, we ended up making the investment. Derek Zanutto. Contributor. Share on Twitter.
TechCrunch
OCTOBER 30, 2020
For years — decades, even — there was little question about whether you could become a venture capitalist if you weren’t comfortable financially. ” Explore management fee offsets , which investors in venture funds often determine to be reasonable.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
I am thrilled to announce that we have added Hamet Watt as a Partner at Upfront Ventures. This is a big news day at Upfront Ventures. But as sweet as that success has been (we invested pre-revenue in a small team) today my even more important news was the further expansion of our partner ranks. Hamet started his career in Venture Capital working for the first post-apartheid VC fund in South Africa. He will be a venture partner.
TechCrunch
OCTOBER 27, 2020
Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round with commitments from Cisco Investments, angel investors from the collaboration and security space, and previous investors Neotribe Ventures, Firebolt Ventures and WestWave Capital, the company said.
David Teten - VC
APRIL 30, 2018
Why are more US VCs investing in international startups? But by 2016, US VCs’ share of the pool had dropped 1,200 basis points to 65% of global VC allocation, while more dramatically, only 54% of total VC investment went to the US, a drop of 3,100 basis points. This implies that the US is still the center of the VC industry, even while there is more opportunity for US VCs to invest abroad. .
This is going to be BIG.
DECEMBER 8, 2014
If you take venture capital money. 3) You will almost certainly take more venture capital money after that. 9) You will own less and less of your company over time as you take on additional investment. 10) You will face more competition as venture investment signals that what you''re doing may be attractive. Venture Capital & Technology
TechCrunch
NOVEMBER 10, 2020
Andy Areitio is a partner at the early-stage fund TheVentureCity , a new venture and acceleration model that helps diverse founders achieve global impact. million Series A round, passed the due diligence process, and the investment committee had approved the deal. Andy Areitio.
Revolution
OCTOBER 6, 2020
By Revolution Ventures Partner Clara Sieg and Principal Graham Ober Although we briefly met Kristin Langenfeld, co-founder and CEO of Denver-based Good Buy Gear , last summer?—?in billion was invested across 347 deals in the state?—?and venture-capital marketplaces startup
Revolution
SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
Today we are thrilled to announce our investment in Orchard , a company dramatically simplifying the process of buying and selling a home with a modern, digital experience from search to close. real-estate startup venture-capital
Innovation 2 Enterprise
NOVEMBER 3, 2019
Oklahoma often gets knocked in national venture capital rankings based primarily on data that is collected by PitchBook or similar venture deal data collectors. As a result, PitchBook, PwC MoneyTree, the Walton Foundation, and others were unaware that last year alone i2E invested $8,696,500 in 10 Oklahoma companies, participating in venture rounds where these companies raised a total of $11,290,792. The breakdown of these investments by industry is also instructive.
This is going to be BIG.
NOVEMBER 3, 2014
The fact is, it''s just not cool to criticize the investing side of the venture capital market. But can''t I disagree with him on an investment? Why does it seem to automatically make someone an a **e to be critical of an investment? I think it sucks that we are in a media culture where we''re supposed to give everyone pats on the head for entrepreneurship when there are legitimate criticisms to be had about the high profile investments we read about all the time.
500
DECEMBER 10, 2019
In 2010, 500 Startups started as a new kind of venture capital firm in Silicon Valley with a contrarian belief that talent can come from anywhere in the world. Back then, very few venture capital firms in the valley were focused on much outside of our collection of cities within the San Francisco Bay area. ”If If you look at our early team, our DNA has always been very global with experience growing up abroad or working internationally.
TechStars
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
Canadian VC Janet Bannister, a partner at Real Ventures, loves investing in “conscious founders” who are trying to make the world a better place. Her style of “human-centered investing” prioritizes people and relationships, and investing in smart, self-aware, teachable entrepreneurs. . Today, Janet Bannister is a Partner at Real Ventures, but when Founding Partner John Stokes—aka J.S.—first Why would I go into Venture Capital?” Real Ventures.
TechCrunch
OCTOBER 21, 2020
“More than 50% of our founders still are in their current jobs,” said John Vrionis, co-founder of seed-stage fund Unusual Ventures. To gain a competitive advantage, Unusual is investing small checks into founders before they’re full-time.
Dream It
APRIL 21, 2020
Here are some common red flags for venture investors: Red Flag #1 : Ask isn’t tied to specific fundable milestones. On the other hand, if your ask offers investors too little equity, the investors won’t have enough skin-in-the-game to achieve meaningful or target returns on their investment. Once you’ve identified your fundable milestones for investment, the next step is to determine how much cash you’ll need to reach the inflection points.
Haystack
JANUARY 20, 2019
When I started out investing (via a fund — not my money), I was just investing based on a simple schedule: About once a month, invest $25K into one company I liked. The trick with these experiments and lessons is that in investing, you don’t get the feedback right away — it can take a few years at seed to understand the impact of those decisions. Fund investing is easy — fund management is not. Career Culture Technology Venture Capital
This is going to be BIG.
APRIL 2, 2013
Brooklyn Bridge Ventures led the round. I had been meeting with Keya and her team months and months before I actually invested--because I liked the space and was impressed by her personally. Venture Capital & TechnologyToday, ElectNext announced that they had raised $1.3mm to launch a data, analytics and marketing service to bridge the data gap between politicians, lobby groups, and their constituents.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? Me: When an investor signs a note with a cap they must assume they are willing to pay the cap or why would they invest? Me: So, who was willing to invest in that? Doesn’t their investment determine the price of the next round? I have never come across a sophisticated A, B or C round venture capitalist who thinks convertible notes are a smart move for entrepreneur or investor. This week.
This is going to be BIG.
OCTOBER 17, 2011
Not every company raises venture capital—most don’t. We, on the other hand, *need* to invest our money, so we don’t have the luxury of turning down good deals if they come along. Different investors are good at different things—and they provide different levels of engagement depending on stage and how much they have invested in you. Venture Capital & TechnologyTweet. 1) You need it.
178 
Let's personalize your content