Tag: VC
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What does it take to raise money right now? Here’s what I’m seeing in the market for pre-seed, seed, and Series A: Pre-Seed: $100k ARR or less Pre-seed deals usually have a trickle of revenue, but not much more. I did a pre-seed deal recently at $75k ARR — on…
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“I love this team and your product is amazing! I just couldn’t get my partners there. We’ll be cheering from the sidelines!” How many times have you heard that? Well, you won’t hear it from me. “They Never Give a Reason” I recently spoke with Mike*, the founder of a…
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Startupland is all about getting big, fast. But for venture funds, smaller is better. Funds below $250 million have outperformed larger funds significantly in recent years. Smaller funds delivered comparable or better performance in most periods, according to Pitchbook data going back to 2017. Twilight of the Megafunds? The boom…
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+ Endowments, Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Pensions, Silicon Valley, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
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“What do most investors get wrong?” I posed this question to a top investor this week. His answer: investing in companies with no revenue. Only about 10% of startups ever get a product out, he estimates. Of those, only around 10% will ever make a penny in revenue. This puts…
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“We have $20 million worth of LOI’s with major companies in the space.” Whenever I see a phrase like that, I roll my eyes. Letters of Intent (LOI’s) are one of a series of what I call “meaningless metrics.” They’re supposed to show that a startup is doing well, but…
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Why do I love down markets? What do venture capitalists and Hasidic diamond merchants have in common? I dug into that and more at a great Q&A session recently with interns at Starta VC in NYC. Here are some of my favorite moments: 10:13: How pro rata rights work. 12:16:…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Silicon Valley, Small Business, Startups, VC, Venture Capital+
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In 2009, a small startup called Square was raising its Series A. Andreessen Horowitz saw the deal and passed. That mistake cost them $4.8 billion. The Pitch Square (now Block) had a big idea: make it easy for small merchants to take credit cards. It had an awesome product: a…
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Venture-backed startups have created virtually all of the net new jobs since 1977. Of the top 5 US companies by market cap, every single one raised venture capital. Venture capital has a huge impact on the US economy, but few people understand how it works. In The Secrets of Sand…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Reading, Silicon Valley, Startup, Startups, VC, Venture Capital+
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Yesterday, I had a great conversation with a founder kicking off his Series A. He had an awesome product with serious traction — but one thing was missing. He had no idea how to price the round! Who could blame him? Though this founder had raised money numerous times in…
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+ Angel Investing, Angel Investors, Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
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If you’re having a hard time raising money, you’re not alone. Venture funding fell by half in May compared to the prior year. From a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence: Venture capital investments worldwide dropped 47.8% year over year in May to $18.85 billion from $36.08 billion, according to…
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Tremendous 