Tag: VC
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“I have to be a little bit skeptical, or I’d invest in everything. But it’s also my job to ask myself ‘What if it works?’.” If you invest in startups, you have to hit a delicate balance. You can’t give everyone a check . And yet, you have to believe…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Silicon Valley, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital, Work-Life Balance+
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I look at around 2,000 startups a year. Certain ideas pop up over and over — and keep failing. Today, I thought I’d break down a few common startup ideas I see, and why they tend to go wrong. 1) Geolocation – “An app to find your friends and hang…
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+ Angel Investing, Apps, Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
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Series A may be the hardest round to raise. But new data shows that cutting burn can give you a huge advantage. Startup advisory firm Kruze Consulting released an extensive report yesterday based on data from about 100 seed stage startups. All tried to raise a Series A in 2023.…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Investing, Money, Series A, Silicon Valley, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
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VC’s have over $300 billion of money they haven’t invested, also known as “dry powder.” But you may never get it. What Is Dry Powder? Let’s say I’m running investments for Francis University. I decide to invest in ABC Ventures. I promise to invest $100,000,000 — so that means I…
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+ Entrepreneur, Finance, Founders, Investing, LP, Silicon Valley, Startups, Tech, VC, Venture Capital+
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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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Tremendous 