Venture Capital Geography & Performance

I’ve always been skeptical of the “you have to be in the Valley” to be a successful startup. Well here’s some potential ammo for those of you being pressured into moving, whether from Dallas to Boston, or Rancho Cucamonga to the Valley: Non-local investments made by venture capital firms based

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What is a Liquidation Preference?

The liquidation preference is the amount that must be paid to the preferred stock holders before distributions may be made to common stock holders. The liquidation preference is payable on either a liquidation of the company, asset sale, merger, consolidation or any other reorganization resulting in the change of control

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WSGR Launches Term Sheet Generator

I just found out from Altgate.com that Wilson Sonsini has launched a “Term Sheet Generator.” Here is WSGR’s description of the free tool: This tool will generate a venture financing term sheet based on your responses to an online questionnaire. It also has an informational component, with basic tutorials and

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Should Your Startup Lawyer Get a Finder’s Fee?

Heck no. Your lawyer should not get a contingent finder’s fee for introducing you to investors or potential acquirers. I think taking a finder’s fee would be a greater conflict than sitting on your startup’s board of directors. I’ve always felt introductions, whether to an accountant, potential co-founder, or investor

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2009 Venture-Backed IPO!

It is bound to happen eventually, right? A venture-backed company will break the drought and find an exit via IPO. Well, OpenTable filed with the SEC and is looking to raise up to $40MM in an initial public offering. If successful, OpenTable will be the first venture-backed IPO in several

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More VC Gloom But With Colorful Charts

TechCrunch just posted some charts regarding the utter lack of venture-backed exits in 2008. In summary, 2008 saw 6 venture-backed IPOs (down 93% ) and 260 merger & acquisition deals (down 27%). And as you might expect, the prospects aren’t that great for 2009. So what does this mean for

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The Billable Hour is Dying…Slowly

The billable hour. Ugh. I don’t like it, and I’m pretty sure you don’t like it either. The good news is that the bandwagon for murdering the billable hour is gaining more members every week. I came across an article about how a partner at a very large firm just

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