article thumbnail

Bad Notes on Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? I can’t imagine any rational investor would sign up to that. They raised $2 million but when you add up all of the liquidation preferences if they convert at our proposed share price the total liquidation preferences would equal more than $7 million. Me: With a cap?

article thumbnail

Need investment capital?

Berkonomics

Preparing for the game… If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

Invest 296
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

Here is How to Make Sense of Conflicting Startup Advice

Both Sides of the Table

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Because I’ve asked more than 100 VCs similar questions I start to notice patterns in thinking.

Startup 407
article thumbnail

Playing the Long Game in Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

The Valley has obsessed with a quick up-and-to-right momentum story because we were thought to live in “winner take most” markets. But markets have changed and I think investors, founders and experienced executives who want to join later-stage startups can all benefit from playing the long game. It literally drove FOMO.

article thumbnail

What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383
article thumbnail

Upfront Ventures Raises > $650 Million for Startups and Returns > $600 Million to LPs

Both Sides of the Table

We believe this consistency in leadership and intuition for where the markets were going in the heady days of 2019–2021 helped us to stay sane in a world that momentarily seemed to have lost its mind and since we have new capital to deploy in the years ahead perhaps I can offer some insights into where we think value will be derived.

Startup 408
article thumbnail

Risk, insanity, and the 50% startup rule!

Berkonomics

How to define “success” for a startup? Vision, risk and capital, oh my! Everyone has a vision when starting a business. And few think of the risks that increase over time as initial capital is expended. Then again, with the fifty percent rule, aren’t all entrepreneurs a bit insane to start?

Startup 317