Category: Venture Capital
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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 penned an anti-billable hour op-ed…
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Don’t Hate On Your VC For Exercising Anti-Dilution Provisions
There’s a lot of talk about down rounds now in the venture capital industry since valuations are down. So I suspect a lot of venture-backed companies are dusting off their Series A Preferred Share Agreements and taking a look at the anti-dilution provisions held by their investor(s). But should your founding team be offended if…
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Venture Capitalists Want to Skip 2009
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) released its annual “Predictions Survey.” The NVCA conducted the survey in the last 3 weeks and received more than 400 responses. As you might suspect, it looks like a tough year for VCs and startups alike. I took a look at the survey and found some interesting results: 92%…
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Guy Kawasaki on NDAs
Recently I have been asked a lot of questions regarding nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and investors, either angel or venture capital. I previously wrote my thoughts on trying to drop NDAs on venture capital firms in “Why a VC Will Take a Lighter to Your NDA.” And yesterday, Guy Kawasaki echoed my NDA-VC sentiments in “The…
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Preferred Stock: Where “F” in a Class Can Equal Success
If you pay any attention to TechCrunch or Venturebeat, you’ll see stories titled “Startup Raises $X Million in Y-round Financing.” When the “Y” in story is a large number, do not assume that the startup company is tanking. Instead, the startup could be gaining momentum and approaching positive cash flow…but just needs one more round…
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I Got a Term Sheet, Now What?
Getting a term sheet from an investor is like getting an invitation to the Prom in January–you’ve got a long way to go before you dance. When you get a term sheet from a VC or angel investor, you need to decide whether the economics of the deal feel right. And you also have to…
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Election Calls Turn to Capital Calls
The election is over and thankfully so are those robotic “vote for prop 98c(ii) or else your head will explode and dolphins will die” phone calls. However, some large institutions wish they were getting those calls instead of the capital calls from various venture firms. VentureBeat and Private Equity Hub have put out articles this…
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When To Fire a Startup Company’s Founder-CEO
When should a founder be replaced as CEO of a venture-backed company? The topic is obviously a touchy one for a startup founder that brought early success to a company. But while a founder might have been successful leading the startup to a funding event, can the founder also lead the startup to a liquidity…
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Y Combinator Open Sources Funding Documents…Venture Lawyers Leave Office Early
Well I guess that’s it folks. I had a fun ride. Y Combinator has “open sourced” legal documents they provide to their startups seeking funding. The documents were created by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Y Combinator’s law firm. But as of 7:39PST on August 13, there is a “glitch” with the link to the…
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Shouldn’t the Standardization of Venture Capital Documents Lead to Reduced Legal Fees?
As an industry, venture capital is relatively young. Yet it has been around long enough–through busts and booms–that it will not simply go away as some might have you think. Venture capital is a legitimate industry which is now being enhanced through standards and patterns. Documentation is one area that is trending towards consistency in…