BLOG STARTUPS, VENTURE AND THE TECH BUSINESS
Posts Tagged ‘Venture Capital’
February 26 2010
by Scott Johnson
Speculating on Apple’s “Big Bold Moves”
Apple said yesterday in its shareholder meeting that it is not going to dividend any of its cash. Rather, Steve is planning some “Big, Bold Moves” for the $40 billion mountain of green he sits atop. He either said this because he needs good World Cup tickets from investment bankers, or he is actually planning ...
February 25 2010
by John Backus
VC Tips for Entrepreneurs: How to manage the VC on your Board
Venture Capitalists love giving advice to startup entrepreneurs. We especially love doing it while in the boardroom, before, during, and after that 40-slide powerpoint presentation that you and your management team spent a week preparing. With a VC on your board of directors, you never know if you are going to get The Good, The ...
February 25 2010
by John Backus
VC Tips for Entrepreneurs: Thoughts About Raising Money
Most entrepreneurs raise money to help their businesses get off the ground. Whether from angels or venture capitalists, I see most entrepreneurs making the same mistake. They raise money when they “have to.” There is a better way. With some advance planning, you can raise money, easier, at certain moments in time. Take advantage of ...
February 12 2010
by Todd Hixon
Pay to Pitch?
Should entrepreneurs pay third parties to help raise money? This is a perennial question in the venture world. It comes down to two things: Will the investment in outside help pay off? Will investors see paying for help as a negative factor? There are different kinds of fund-raising help. The main ones are: “investment bankers”, ...
February 9 2010
by Todd Hixon
The Seduction of Venture Debt
Summon up your picture of a VC: insouciant air, expensive casual clothes, youthful with a touch of gray for gravitas, cruising the 101 in a Porsche, thinking about moving up to a Tesla. Does this guy have a sub-prime mortgage? No way, you think! But probably he does, not on his house but on his ...
January 11 2010
by Scott Johnson
Follow-on Capital
I see seed stage investing happening all around me. Angels appear to me to be very active as individuals although I have nothing but anecdotal data to support that. Dedicated funds doing seed investing are gaining traction with LPs who want their piece of the next super-deal. We at NAV do the occasional seed deal, ...
January 4 2010
by Todd Hixon
Sizzle and Steak: The Importance of Profitability
The management team of one of my venture capital backed companies (pseudonym “Hermes”) recently floated this trial balloon: “We’re now profitable at reasonable scale [Ed: after years of hard work and much investment]. We have the beginnings of a great company. We should raise a big venture round and use the money to develop new ...
November 19 2009
by Todd Hixon
The Death of B2B Venture Capital?
At the October 21 Xconomy “Global Vision for Venture Capital …” forum, Terry McGuire remarked that Polaris has stopped taking risk on commercial/industrial technology start-ups, as the recent experience has not been good. That’s a consequential thing. “Commercial/industrial technology” encompasses enterprise software, most of telecom and datacom, and large parts of clean tech. Note that ...
November 10 2009
by Thanasis Delistathis
5 things to know about creating a financial model for your business
When pitching your business to venture investors, sharing a well designed financial model is very important! Why? Because how a financial model is designed helps investors learn some things about you and your business: it provides insights into how you think about your business, helps clarify what are the main assumptions that drive it and ...
November 3 2009
by Tim Rowe
MIT $100K Elevator Pitch Competition
This past Thursday was the Grand Finale of the MIT $100K Competition’s precursor competition, known as the EPC or Elevator Pitch Competition. Over 350 entrants had made their 60-second pitches over the past several days to persevering judges. The resulting twelve finalists did not yet know who they were, however everyone who was in the ...
