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The other day I had the opportunity to observe several founders pitching to investors for capital. What stood out to me was the difference between the If's’s and the Is’s. And it hit me. I realized every “IF” and every “It Will” adds risk for an investor. Investor’s want to... Read More
What: Dingman Center Angels Date: Wednesday,April 10, 2013 Time: 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM Where: Univ of MD, 2518 Van Munching Hall, College Park, MD FlagTap helps businesses increase online engagement, understand traffic, and get new users with the world's largest game of capture the flag. FlagTap is like AMEX reward points for online engagement across the entire Internet. Management... Read More
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
You know I keep hearing the tales of woe from founders seeking funding. Waaaaa it's too hard to get money in DC. Waaaaa no investors have the big vision to see that a Moose Picture Search Engine is going to be the next big thing. Waaaaaa, I can't get money... Read More
As an angel investor, I often announce my favorite deals by writing a check. But for every check I write there are 10 deals on which I’ll take a pass because they are not in a sector I understand, bad timing or a host of other reasons. For the last few... Read More
Venture Capital investors in DC continue their movement to the conservative right, as fewer area VCs continue their shift from funding seed deals to funding later and expansion stage. Some of that movement can be attributed to the lack of new money for many area investors who are left to... Read More
Novak Biddle In July 2012 Novak Biddle Partners, the once formidable force behind DCs early stage venture financing ecosystem announced their intentions to raise a sixth fund. The past year has seen reshuffling at Novak Biddle as several partners have taken on reduced roles while increasing roles outside the firm. Phil... Read More
DC Venture Funding is settling down to a narrower range with lower highs and higher lows. Data provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data provided by Thomson Reuters. ... Read More
Every profession has them; Black Sheep, Bad Actors or if you prefer.... rascals, miscreants, scum bags, slime balls, or douche bags. You find these douches in every walk of life like politics, business, entrepreneurs and yes.... even Angel Investors. I'm an angel investor. I have made numerous investments in the past... Read More
What's the opposite of reformed? I think it's impaired. So does that make Mark Suster, former entrepreneur turned venture capitalist an impaired entrepreneur? Nah, Mark's one of the most pragmatic thought-leaders in Venture Capital and he's not gone to the dark side. He's broght light into a world of darkness. Here's... Read More
I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Here was an industry superstar cursing and ripping a powerful industry in the GeekWire article: “Dave McClure is ripping VCs again: They’re f***ing arrogant and stupid a**holes.” What’s wrong with that picture? Three things: Cussing – Cursing is so 15 minutes ago. It’s not shocking.... Read More
The crew at Tech Cocktail surveyed the growing field of Startup Accelerators and picked their top 15. Ranked in order: Y Combinator, Mountain View, CA techstars, Boulder, CO Kicklabs, San Francisco CA io ventures, San Francisco CA Excelerate, Chicago, IL AngelPad, San Francisco, CA techstars, New York, NY techstars, Boston, MA LaunchpadLA, Los Angeles, CA 500startups, Mountain View, CA Dreamit Ventures, Philadelphia PA techstars, Seattle,... Read More
How has risk tolerance changed by DC Venture Capitalists in the last 3 quarters? In Q4 2011 Virginia's CIT made 1 seed stage investment as did Maryland's DBED fund. Last quarter CIT made 2 seed stage investments and New Atlantic Ventures made 1. No DC firm made a seed stage... Read More
If you've been feeling like DC Venture Investors have an aversion to risk, last quarter's investments appear to bear that out. In Q2 of 2012 DC Venture Capital firms were weighted to more mature expansion and later stage deals. No DC VCs invested in seed stage deals last quarter and... Read More
2 VCs with offices in DC woke up in Q2 of 2012. Boulder Ventures (Based in Boulder with offices in the DC region) made 2 total investments after 3 quarters of no investments and Updata who made 2 investments last quarter after 2 quarters of no investments. JMI continued a string... Read More
DC area Venture Capital participation investment in area companies represented 25 of the total 49 investments made in 33 local startups last quarter. While on a percentage basis the 51% local transactions was only 2% higher than the prior quarter, on a deal basis there were 8 less local investors... Read More
The DC region had a not-so-hot, quarter in terms of area companies closing Venture Capital financing and you can't blame Virginia for that. The Old Dominion carried the region raising 79% of all capital in the region versus Maryland's paltry 2nd place 13%. Here's the breakdown: The Deals Company Ind Raised ST Stage Round Near Infinity Corporation SW ... Read More
Software continues to be king as 40% of all Venture Investments went into software last quarter. If you're looking for money, take note of what's hot and what's not. Q1 vs Q2 Sector Q112 Q212 Change Software 1,675,646,700 2,306,073,000 38% Industrial/Energy 792,468,400 914,101,000 15% Medical Devices and Equipment 697,461,800 699,531,800 0% Biotechnology 840,113,000 696,770,700 -17% Media and Entertainment 415,135,100 671,441,400 62% IT Services 487,654,600 547,686,300 12% Semiconductors 209,282,900 341,419,800 63% Telecommunications 172,192,200 247,645,300 44% Consumer Products and Services 417,014,900 198,707,000 -52% Retailing/Distribution 47,588,100 102,052,300 114% Networking and Equipment 65,363,400 90,426,700 38% Computers and Peripherals 60,962,300 71,499,000 17% Healthcare Services 20,913,900 66,700,000 219% Financial Services 55,341,000 43,287,800 -22% Electronics/Instrumentation 42,958,000 34,744,100 -19% Other 10,750,000 7,200,000 -33% Business Products and Services 32,991,200 5,205,400 -84% Grand Total 6,043,837,500 7,044,491,600 17% Q2... Read More
The second quarter of 2012 saw Venture Capital investment rise by a Billion dollars over the prior quarter but was down a Billion over the same quarter of 2011. Deals Dollars Q2 2012 898 7,044,491,600 Q2 2011 1,057 8,006,233,900 Difference -1,955 -961,742,300 Q2 2012 898 7,044,491,600 Q1 2012 809 6,043,837,500 Difference 89 1,000,654,100 Regionally Silicon Valley continues to outperform the next 8 regions combined in total investment dollars. The DC Region... Read More
Rumors of the death of the DC VC are highly exaggerated. Tracing the source of capital inflows into the capital beltway tells the tale of a resurgence of DC VCs. Of the Forty DC area companies that were funded in the region last quarter an overwhelming amount of that capital... Read More
Many startup founders believe they can avoid locking in a valuation during seed funding by deferring valuation in the form of a convertible note. Convertible notes do place less emphasis on valuation and yet most seed investors will insist on a cap. The cap in effect is a valuation.So here’s... Read More
Fortify.vc isn’t your standard Venture Capital firm, least ways not the type of firm we’ve become use to in the DC region. There’s just something different about the firm’s partners Jonathon Perrelli and Adam Fazackerley. They talk different, they’re approachable and pragmatic, where others often seem distant and theoretical. The... Read More
