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It’s every startup founder's dream... having a venture capital firm invest in your company. Let’s celebrate! We’ve finally made it! We’re going to be big….. right? Well most likely not. First off only 20% of venture funded companies are considered a success by their investors, and of the those not every... Read More
I was meeting with an experienced serial entrepreneur who had the right mix of education and successful exit credentials…. two very important hurdles to cross for founders seeking investors. His Idea was big. Possibly a home run and more likely a spectacular failure. He was very early stage, some patents applied... Read More
To angel and venture capital investors, companies seeking capital are driving buses on which the investor is hopping on for the ride. These companies are vehicles that investors hope will take them from point A (the investment) to point B (10X returns). Experience tells investors that the odds are against ever... Read More
Work for the government, or create the next Facebook, that is the question. Whether it is nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of startup boom to bust cycles or to work on some of the coolest technology projects while a.) being assured rational working hours, b.) actually being on... Read More
It is a common trap for entrepreneurs pitching to investors to demonstrate their brilliance by conveying in a wealth of detail that they are subject matter experts. After all, if the investor is going to invest in your business, they really need to understand your business... right? ...........WRONG! If you are... Read More
Of the 32 DC regional companies funded in Q3 last year, only 9 received funding from area VCs. It kind of makes you wonder about the health of the regions start-up ecosystem. Well in a very weak Q4, where only 23 area companies landed funding, DC investors accounted for 10... Read More
Participating Preferred Stock.... it's not an evil thing. It's not a bad thing. It is a real thing and significant thing that effects valuation and the quality of an exit. Therefore it's prudent that entrepreneurs seeking funding should understand its implications.Preferred - a stock that is a cross between a... Read More
Sometimes we focus on certain details at the expense of the big picture. For instance many entrepreneurs seeking venture funding focus solely on valuation as the key factor to choosing an investor. Valuation is just one of many factors that contributes to the division of the spoils upon an exit... Read More
Ultimately start-up valuation is more art than science. Any company seeking capital receives a valuation based on a negotiation between the price investors are willing to pay and entrepreneurs are willingness to accept. In public stock markets a company is worth what the last person paid for the last... Read More
When you listen to as many investment pitches as I have you get a chance to see people create awkward and sometimes comical situations (albeit more comical to the audience than the presenter). The interesting thing is that these faux pas are constantly repeated and with just a little preparation... Read More
Investors seek the familiar investments that are analogous to companies that they admire. They would like to believe that you can be successful because you are like another company that has been successful, is understandable and provides proof that it can be done. Create your plan around a successful like-company... Read More
How to cook a round of venture financing: A. Cooking Basics: VCs rarely invest outside their sweet spot of Industry, Stage, and Region. So you need to try and align your company with VCs that align with your company. VCs stick to their knitting. They tend to invest in multiple industries and... Read More
Raising money will rarely proceed on schedule. A venture capital raise is like building or remodeling a house. It's like developing a new version of software. Complex stuff just doesn't go as planned and is rarely completed on time or on budget. So when you finally get that fish on... Read More
Raising investment capital is brutal. It’s a jungle out there. Early stage capital has never been more difficult to raise. There are too many business plans chasing too few open wallets. The entrepreneurs who can capture the imagination of an investor on the first slide has a higher probability of... Read More
