Dream It

AUGUST 29, 2019

At the seed stage, talking about exit strategy always seems a bit premature, even presumptuous. But this topic is always in the back of mind for VCs and other investors, so it’s important to formulate a plan around the topic, even if those exit strategies might change as you grow your startup. Take Google as an example.

strategy 299

strategy VC energy disruption 299

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. ” Most VCs view it as their responsibility to mentor, debate, cajole and generally assist with investments they make.

VC 365

VC board communities pitching 365

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 16, 2014

How long does it take from first meeting a VC to getting cash in the bank? The way I choose conferences and events, and my strategy once I''m there, is based more around who I''m going to back two years from now than it is who is raising now. That''s an interesting question. But does the data play that out?

VC 418

VC pitching networking venture capital 418

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. On investment strategies I have “ Deflationary Economics ” 6. What is a founder to do?

advice 407

advice frameworks startup mix-use 407

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you.

VC 324

VC investment investing entrepreneurs 324

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. If you’re an early-stage enterprise startup services revenue is exactly what you need.

startup 403

startup financing finance strategy 403

Hunter Walk

FEBRUARY 22, 2025

Ok, back to the VC content marketing. As a result I’ve seen hundreds of VC decks, all certain they will be among the top performers. Most strategies are some combination of innovation and best practices along the classic five steps of venture investing: See, Pick, Win, Service, Exit. .’ Did I miss any categories?

startup 97

startup VC strategy leadership 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

I have never been more optimistic about the impact that the tech startup community is having on cities in America or about the role that cities outside of San Francisco / Silicon Valley can play in our future. Changes in the Startup Ecosystem. So the startup work moves to where the startup founders live and not vice versa.

startup 390

startup communities venture capital angel capital 390

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 24, 2014

These days, there are a ton of options for you if you''re a startup seeking guidence. We''ve done a lot to make sure startups get all the help we can get--and it''s leading to higher companies getting off the ground. Not every potentially good VC previously worked for Fred Wilson and Josh Kopelman. But what about investors?

accelerator 388

accelerator mentorship VC incubation 388

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

Scott and I agree on nearly everything: The VC structure is changing and there appears to be a bifurcation into small & large VCs with an impact on “traditionally sized” VCs. The only point we didn’t seem totally aligned on was what we happening to the “middle of the VC market.”

VC 309

VC SaaS strategy ventures 309

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.

investment 365

investment investing VC board 365

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

I work with a lot of startups. If you are a super young, well-connected, Stanford CS or EE, worked at Facebook early, have a bit o’ dosh and have VCs chasing you … you are exempt. Delaying going out of business gives you way more chances at product / market fit than any other strategy I know of. Your VC is right.

VC 412

VC advice strategy accelerator 412

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

I’m a stickler for focus, being efficient with capital and building out operational excellence, so our strategy initially was very constrained. They had instilled in me a discipline that few well-funded but inexperienced startups have. It’s no wonder incumbents don’t want us to exist. The Early Years. What Comes Next?

strategy 282

strategy peer-to-peer incumbents real estate 282

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

It’s that time of year, time to look back and reflect on the most significant storylines in the tech, startup, and VC world. And, with that warning, I offer to you, the big stories in the startup and investing ecosystem of 2018, written in ascending order of importance and magnitude…. 6/ Venture Capital In Expansion Phase.

VC 165

VC startup venture capital mix-use 165

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. I had just left Salesforce.com where I was VP, Products, after they had acquired my second startup. VC is a long-term business Some businesses are overnight successes but few of them really move immediately up and to the right. Over the past 2.5

VC 223

VC venture capital capital investment 223

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting.

VC 261

VC pitching advice entrepreneurs 261

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

I love how open Danielle has been throughout the development of her startup Mattermark including honest reflections of when she has changed her opinion. They now have a strong VC lead from Foundry Group and from experience when you get advice from Foundry it comes with authority, experience, empathy and the right amount of straight talk.

startup 323

startup advice pitching VC 323

American Entrepreneurship

OCTOBER 17, 2024

The startup’s platform was quickly embraced by marketing agencies and in-house teams. With the recent funding of AirOps, marketers have a platform that builds and scales go-to-market strategies using human + AI content workflows that produce best-in-class brand content. The power of AI is unfolding across industries.

creativity 98

creativity VC entrepreneurship strategy 98

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Didn’t I make myself clear about celebrities & startups ? She debates manufacturing strategies. Turns out she’s done this startup thing before. And they’re both full time committed to their startup – Moonfrye. Unsurprisingly for Kara is was the VC connections. Startup Advice'

startup 398

startup creativity advice entrepreneurs 398

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. I often advise startup companies not to try and pin all of your brand equity into an announcement. who is talking about putting in up to $30 million in our startup.

ventures 324

ventures VC strategy advice 324

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. Santa Monica is the place where the highest concentration of early-stage startups are created if you consider also the contiguous geography of Venice Beach. Startup Advice' This month we closed our 4th fund of $200 million.

ventures 343

ventures venture capital advice VC 343

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

The startup ecosystem is a terrific manufacturer of bad fundraising advice. They’ll tell you all about their strategy, the order of operations of who and how they pitched, the magic slides, the timing of the raise itself, etc. Well, if you add it to your startup, it does a few things. This isn’t surprising. That adds risk.

advice 476

advice pitching venture capital VC 476

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

innovation 286

innovation startup board leadership 286

American Entrepreneurship

JUNE 19, 2025

New multi-strategy venture fund addresses capital alignment challenges with equity and credit options tailored for scaling companies in regulated industries. Lioncrest Ventures has officially launched with the debut of a $100 million multi-strategy investment platform designed to support growth-stage technology companies.

ventures 64

ventures startup strategy venture capital 64

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

2021 saw phenomenal returns for our industry and it topped off more than a decade of unprecedented VC growth. As money poured into our industry, it encouraged many VCs to write $20–30 million checks at increasingly higher and higher valuations where it is unlikely that they had substantively more proof of company traction or success.

ventures 408

ventures startup peer-to-peer venture capital 408

American Entrepreneurship

MAY 21, 2025

This expansion signals vast potential for early-stage investment in consumer-facing tech startups. Consumer has the largest share of global GDP, and yet consumer startups have been underfunded by venture capital in recent years, said Sasha Kaletsky, Managing Partner at Creator Ventures. Were here to fund those breakthroughs.

ventures 81

ventures startup SaaS venture capital 81

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

No VC will be so naive as not to see straight through it. When I first became a VC, seed rounds were typically $500k – $1.5 There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.).

VC 399

VC advice finance financing 399

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 13, 2022

In this case, a VC would have every right, having seen lots of products get built and succeed or fail, to want to observe and discuss that process. What’s harder to notice for a founder is all of the things that a founder isn’t being asked to review in detail that a VC has no problem trusting the founder on.

founder 415

founder VC board strategy 415

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2015

I spoke at Michael Kim’s excellent annual Cendana VC/LP conference today. You can read it in VCs discussions about hedge fund managers, activist investors or the need to have dual-share voting structures. Today I called it, “our own little VC led, portfolio-by-portfolio company version of RIP Good Times from 7 years ago.”

VC 392

VC capital culture venture capital 392

Dream It

APRIL 7, 2020

Friday, April 3 was supposed to be the orderly launch of the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) providing $349B of urgently needed funding to struggling startups and small businesses. What are the immediate do’s and don’ts for startups? For instance, one of our startups applied to J.P.

startup 348

startup communities VC ventures 348

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

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. It’s easy to think the role of a VC is to have strong opinions about markets, trends, tech dynamics and so forth. The role of VC is sparring partner.

venture capital 363

venture capital capital ventures VC 363

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

I’m often asked about the differences between being at a VC and being an entrepreneur and whether I prefer one or the other. The biggest difference I cite is that Venture Capital often feels like an “individual sport” while startups are a “team sport.” That’s what we’re trying to do at Upfront.

culture 339

culture VC communities venture capital 339

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

What is the right organizational strategy for a large UK conglomerate to operate more effectively? How should a large European telco deal with a rival “free Internet access” startup? What would the right technology strategy for Telecom Italia be in 5 years. ” Startup Lessons' It is unknowable.

peer-to-peer 337

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs consulting VC 337

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

He had been working as a strategy consultant post b-school at Monitor and worked closely with a good family friend of mine who recommended I meet him. We got along and shared stories about the startup market. Monitor had a little internal VC group so he got some experience there. We met six years ago. We had a shared history.

collaboration 344

collaboration VC accelerator consulting 344

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

Yes, VC / Startup Funding is up Massively If you look at how much VC firms have raised from Limited Partners (LPs) over the past 2 decades you’ll see that we’ve returned to a level that we haven’t seen since 1999. If you want the whole deck you can find it on SlideShare but I’ve written up a short summary with commentary below.

venture capital 292

venture capital capital ventures peer-to-peer 292

Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

During our recent Dreamit Kickoff week, Bullpen Capital Founder and General Partner Paul Martino ( @ahpah ) spoke with our Spring 2020 cohort about the state of the VC ecosystem in the current economic crisis. Startups should know how VCs work. startup) per month.

ventures 334

ventures startup capital board 334