As these markets continue their chaotic path downward, people's true colors come out. Some people show increasing amounts of fairness and consideration. Others will self-optimize and use every bit of leverage that they can get their hands on. Two entrepreneur...
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"Thus far in the second quarter of this year, there have been NO venture-backed IPOs. There has never been a quarter where this situation has occurred (since NVCA has been tracking such data). " -- NVCA Mailing I am pronouncing...
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A number of entrepreneurs have asked me recently about how VC's view founders taking money off the table these days as part of a financing. Until the past 5-10 years, this was a non-starter for most VC's. VC's want to...
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Yesterday on the the VC fundraising panel at the TECH cocktail conference, Eric asked the VC's how an entrepreneur can hook up with a VC. (BTW, great job Eric & Frank pulling off a class A event). While there is...
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I am talking tonight (Thurs, Dec 6th) at the Ignite Chicago event (click for the site) at the Debonair Social Club (1575 N Milwaukee Ave). I was originally going to do a talk on Venture vs Angel fundraising. However, I...
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Jason and Brad at AsktheVC forwarded to me a question sent in by one of their readers. Their site is a great site for answering a broad array of questions regarding VC and entrepreneurship. Question: What's a completely generic range...
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Nearly all VC’s use convertible preferred stock as their vehicle of choice. Most entrepreneurs know this but many don’t fully understand the different flavors and elements of it. Preference refers generally to the seniority of a given class of stock...
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Sam Martin sent in an email asking about determining founder equity. "What amount/percentage of equity is usually reserved for the founder, CEO, and management team. Is there a rule of thumb for how you determine who should receive equity and...
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One of my readers asked me how I viewed companies raising money from customers. The traditional advice is not to take money from customers since it gives them additional leverage. I recently experienced this at a company where our portfolio...
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For many entrepreneurs, the venture world is needlessly opaque and confusing. Venture capital is both art and science with karma mixed in. With a synchronistic twist, this blog will try to shed light on the world "behind the curtain" as well as how key entrepreneurial lessons are mirrored in everyday life.