The Top Venture Capitalists in the World
Here’s a short analysis of the top VCs in the world…
Collaborative Development Financings
This video was created by Richard and his daughter. Fun, creative and highly educational! For more videos like it, visit Richard’s blog at http://hsutube.com/
Richard Hsu is a Silicon Valley Technology Lawyer who believes we are so overloaded with information that if you cannot be brutally pithy and honest, it won’t get read.
What Are the Top 3 Qualities Angel Investors Look For
Ryan Scott is a successful entrepreneur and pioneer, humanist and philanthropist. He’s also an investor and advisor to startup companies and charities.
In this video, he talks about what angel investors look for in entrepreneurs.
Advice for Tech Startups from Angels and VCs
- Sharon Wienbar, Scale Ventures
- Steve Kann, Bridgewater
- Brian Cohen, angel investor
- Howard Morgan, First Round
What do they look for in an investment?
Everyone wants a thoughtful numbers, even if you are wrong. Lots of patents in a field make them wary. At an event, meeting, or otherwise, don’t forget the value of energy and hand-to-hand sales tactics. But — with extra stress — you need to be very upfront about what your product does.
Guy Kawasaki’s Advice for Entrepreneurs: Typers & Prototypers
Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures.
Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki is the author of ten books including Enchantment, Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.
21 Steps for Entrepreneurs to Raise a First Institutional Round of Financing
by John Hagedorn, advisor to FLG Partners & retired CFO
Download the Full Paper: 21 Steps for Entrepreneurs
This paper’s primary purpose is to describe the research, analysis, and organizing sets which founders must complete with great rigor if they are to be successful in raising a first financing round from venture capital firms. The objective of the first 16 of these steps is to qualify the startup as having the potential to grow into a company which can reward the investors with the returns they require. This qualification is in not met by following an accepted outline for preparing documents and presentations. It is accomplished by the founders doing the homework that proves first to themselves, and then to investors that their venture meets the criteria for success posed at each step.
Seed Funding – Startups Through the Lens of Venture Capital
Jeff Clavier and John Lee talk about how newly formed companies in the seed stage can get funded.
Based in Palo Alto, California, Jean-Francois “Jeff” Clavier is the Founder and Managing Partner of SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed stage investors in Web 2.0 startups. Since 2004, Jeff has invested 110+ consumer internet startups in areas like social media, monetization, search, gaming or B2B/B2C web services. These investments are typically located in Silicon Valley, New-York and Boulder. With over 20 years of operational, entrepreneurial and venture capital experience, Jeff is able to add relevant perspective and value to his companies as they grow from inception to maturity, and hopefully, success.
Bill Coleman, Tom Kosnik, and David Hornik Discuss Entrepreneurship Through the Lens of Venture Capital
David Hornik, Bill Coleman and Tom Kosnik discuss their experiences working in Silicon Valley and share several lessons they have learned over the years.
David Hornik
For more than a decade, David has worked with technology startups throughout the software sector. In 2000, David joined August Capital to invest broadly in information technology companies, with a focus on enterprise application and infrastructure software, as well as consumer facing software and services.
Reinventing Finance, One Startup at a Time
Sean Park believes finance will change radically in the coming months. He talks about some of the fin-tech startups he believes in, from people reinventing banks to new payment systems. This video is about finance being reinvented by entrepreneurs with bold new ideas about what modern finance services should serve customers.
Top Five Mistakes Startups Make in Raising Angel Funding
What are the top 5 mistakes that entrepreneurs make when trying to raise angel funding?
This video was created by the the Texas Entrepreneur Networks, which puts startups and mid-market companies in front of Angel Investors around the state. Typically, companies raise between $200K and $3M. Once companies have raised the funding they are looking for, TEN can assist with go-to-market strategies to grow the business.
Esther Dyson (Angel investor) gives her Lightning Talk
Esther Dyson is a leading angel investor and entrepreneur with a special focus on health technologies, online services and air and space. Some of her better known investments include Flicr, del.icio.us and the Finnish S.A.D killer Valkee. Besides a technologist, Esther is also a trained space tourist!
Esther Dyson is an active investor in a variety of start-ups, focusing on technology. Her portfolio of private space and air travel investments includes XCOR Aerospace, Space Adventures/Zero G, Icon Aircraft, Coastal Aviation Software and Airship Ventures. She has flown weightless on Zero-G four times, but hopes to go up again soon.
Dark Sides of Crowdfunding a Product
by Joe Donoghue of Leardon Solution
With the funding environment nearly revolutionized by crowdfunding, Leardon Solutions has had the opportunity to work closely with successfully crowdfunded entrepreneurs. In the process we’ve learned a lot. Luckily, we have had the chance to work with a smart group of folks that handled the challenges of successful crowdfunding campaigns with grace but it’s not always easy.
Here’s a list of things that we recommend entrepreneurs take into account as they partake in a crowdfunding campaign.
Venture Finance by Chuck Eesley (Part 1)
Chuck Eesley discusses venture financing and raising money. The three main topics covered are the amount of funding, the structure of the deal, and sources of capital.
Chuck Eesley — About Me:
My research focuses on the influence of the external environment on entrepreneurship. Specifically, I investigate the types of environments that encourage the founding of high growth, technology-based firms. Although I build on previous literature that explains why entrepreneurs are successful on the basis of individual characteristics, network ties, and strategy, my major contribution is to demonstrate that institutions matter. I show that effective institutional change influences who starts firms, not just how many firms are started.
Venture Finance by Chuck Eesley (Part 2)
Chuck Eesley discusses venture financing and raising money. In this video, pre and post-money valuation along with dilution are discussed with example calculations.
Chuck Eesley — About Me:
My research focuses on the influence of the external environment on entrepreneurship. Specifically, I investigate the types of environments that encourage the founding of high growth, technology-based firms. Although I build on previous literature that explains why entrepreneurs are successful on the basis of individual characteristics, network ties, and strategy, my major contribution is to demonstrate that institutions matter. I show that effective institutional change influences who starts firms, not just how many firms are started.
Venture Finance by Chuck Eesley (Part 3)
Chuck Eesley discusses fundraising. In this video, he talks about the economics, structure, and types of venture capital firms and the process of raising money from VC firms.
Chuck Eesley — About Me:
My research focuses on the influence of the external environment on entrepreneurship. Specifically, I investigate the types of environments that encourage the founding of high growth, technology-based firms. Although I build on previous literature that explains why entrepreneurs are successful on the basis of individual characteristics, network ties, and strategy, my major contribution is to demonstrate that institutions matter. I show that effective institutional change influences who starts firms, not just how many firms are started.
“Why Timing Matters” by Geoff Yang of Redpoint Ventures
Geoff Yang, founding partner of Redpoint Ventures, explores why timing matters in entrepreneurial ventures and shares insights into how Redpoint evaluates opportunties.
Geoff Yang is a Partner of Redpoint Ventures. Prior to founding Redpoint, Geoff was a general partner with IVP, a firm he joined in 1987.
Geoff emphasizes investments in consumer media and infrastructure. His media and advertising investments include Ask Jeeves, Clicker, Efficient Frontier,Excite, Machinima, MySpace and TiVo.
His networking investments includeCalix, Foundry Networks, Juniper Networks, MMC Networks and Wellfleet. He currently serves on the Board of Bluefin, Branchout, Findery,Formspring, Gaia Online, Gravity, Machinima, Oodle, Scribd and Tidemark.
Angel Investors vs. Venture Capitalists
Successful entrepreneur and CEO, Jay Adelson, demystifies the start-up process by providing advice, tips, and answering questions. Today Jay discusses funding and explains the difference between angel investors, super angels, and VCs.
Have a question about launching a business that you want answered? Comment or add a video response!
Jay’s Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/jayadelson
EMail Your Questions:
askjay@revision3.com
ABOUT ASK JAY:
Entrepreneur, CEO, and business owner Jay Adelson (Equinix, Digg, Revision3, SimpleGeo) demystifies the start-up process by providing advice, tips, and answering questions. Submit questions to learn how to turn any business idea into reality and maybe even change the world
How Venture Capital Works (part 1)
SVB Financial Group hosted this panel discussion entitled “How Venture Capital Works”. The panelists are discussing the relationships, decisions, and economics that drive venture capital.
The panel included participants representing the three key roles in VC industry dynamics:
- Bryan Roberts, Ph.D. — Partner with Venrock, a leading venture capital firm
- Judith Elsea — Co-Founder and Managing Director of Weathergage Capital, a fund-of-funds and limited partner in venture capital investing
- John Mendlein, Ph.D. — Chairman of Fate Therapeutics, an emerging company backed by venture funding.
- Michael Hanewich moderator and Head of Silicon Valley Banks Life Sciences East practice.
How Venture Capital Works (part 2)
SVB Financial Group recently hosted a panel discussion titled How Venture Capital Works. The panelists discussed the relationships, decisions, and economics that drive venture capital.
The panel included participants representing the three key roles in VC industry dynamics:
Bryan Roberts, Ph.D. — Partner with Venrock, a leading venture capital firm
Judith Elsea — Co-Founder and Managing Director of Weathergage Capital, a fund-of-funds and limited partner in venture capital investing
John Mendlein, Ph.D. — Chairman of Fate Therapeutics, an emerging company backed by venture funding.
How to Meet VCs & Start Your Company by Andy Rachleff
Andy was a General Partner of Benchmark Capital from its inception in 1995 until 2004 at which time he joined the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business to teach a variety of courses on entrepreneurship.
In addition to teaching at Stanford, Andy serves as trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, the Chairman of the board of overseers for its School of Engineering and Applied Science and vice chairman of its endowment investment committee.
The Y Combinator Model & the Future of Venture Capital
Paul Buchheit, from Y Combinator, leads a discussion about what he believes to be the future of venture capital. Paul discusses the Y Combinator model that acts as an incubator for early-stage startups and contrasts it to the traditional model for venture capital.
Paul Buchheit is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur. He was the creator and lead developer of Gmail. He developed the original prototype of Google AdSense as part of his work on Gmail. He also suggested the company’s now-famous motto “Don’t be evil” in a 2000 meeting on company values.
John Frankel on Venture Capital & Why He Doesn’t Like VCs
John Frankel has been an early-stage venture investor since 1999. Mr. Frankel was one of the earliest investors in Quigo Technologies, which was purchased by AOL in December 2007, and in Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD on NASDAQ), which had a successful IPO in March 2011.
John has also served and/or now serves on the boards of 500px, Apparel Media Group, Alerts.com, Centzy, ClearPath Immigration, Infochimps, Gobbler, Klout, Patents.com, Parse.ly, Phone.com, Quigo Technologies, StrongTech, The Goldman Sachs Trust Company, Track.com, and Voxy. He is also a Mentor with the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator program.
Howard Hartenbaum of August Capital Gives Advice on Funding Your Startup
Howard Hartenbaum from August Capital discusses different types of funding sources, different types of investors and how to approach them, what VCs look for in companies, and his experiences from being an IT investor and entrepreneur.
Howard Hartenbaum joined August Capital in 2008. Prior to joining, he served as a General Partner at Draper Richards LP where he was the founding investor in Skype and a former member of the board of directors where his achievement resulted in his joining the Forbes Midas List of top venture capitalists.
Why do VCs Invest in Startups and How Do You Get Funded?
Why do VCs invest in startups? How do you get funding for your company, startup, technology, or idea? Why would a VC invest in your startup when you have nothing but an idea?
LAUNCH 2012: Panel: The Changing Face of Venture Capital
This panel includes a lively discussion on the changing face of venture capital. The panelists include Jeff Clavier of SoftTech VC, Tim Connors of PivotNorth Capital, and Pete Sonsini of NEA. The panel is moderated by Sally Kay of Cooley LLP.
2012-13 Angel & Venture Capital Financing Overview
In 2012 venture investment appears to have softened considerably and may be in a state of transition with the funding environment less robust. The VC industry is undergoing profound changes and seed/angel funds have become more active than ever before. A panel of expert angel and venture capital investors take a look at early stage investing during the past year and what the future investment environment holds.
Speakers
Welcome: Andre Marquis, Executive Director- Lester Center for Entrepreneurship
Moderator: Sam Angus, Partner- Fenwick & West LLP
Money Tree Presentation: Steve Bengston- PricewaterhouseCoopers
Brad Feld, Venture Capitalist at Foundry Group
Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies. Brad is also a co-founder of TechStars.
Brad currently serves on the board of directors of BigDoor, Cheezburger, Fitbit, Gnip, MakerBot, MobileDay, Oblong, Orbotix, SEOMoz, Standing Cloud, and Yesware for Foundry Group. Previously, Brad was an executive at AmeriData Technologies after it acquired Feld Technologies, a firm he founded in 1987 that specialized in custom software applications.
An Interview with Michael Moritz – The King of All VCs
Want to know more about Michael Moritz? Google him! Without his early investment, Google might not be the household name it is today.
Moritz is a Silicon Valley venture Capitalist with Sequoia Capital. He’s a guru of selecting internet and technology companies in which to invest. Some of his early insightful investments were Google, Yahoo, and PayPal. He currently sits on the boards of 24/7 Customer, Earth Networks, Gamefly, Green Dot, Klarna, Kayak.com, LinkedIn, Sugar Inc and The Melt.
Find Out How Pebble Raised $10 million on Kickstarter
Eric Migicovsky, the founder of Pebble Technology, shares his story. Learn how he got backers to pony up $10 million for the Pebble smartwatch.
About Pebble:
Pebble is fully customizable, with beautiful downloadable watchfaces and useful internet-connected apps. Pebble connects to iPhone and Android smartphones using Bluetooth, alerting you with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages. Pebble Technology strove to create a minimalist yet fashionable product that seamlessly blends into everyday life.
How to Run a Successful Kickstarter Campaign & Raise Millions of Dollars
Everyone is talking about raising money on Kickstarter, and why not? Who wants VC money, where you have to give up equity and often control of your company?
But it’s not as easy as it looks to raise money on Kickstarter. There are certain types of projects that raise far more than others.
Here’s my analysis of what makes a good Kickstarter campaign:
1) Projects that are altruistic in nature tend to motivate people to give. This makes sense because people are giving for a cause they believe in.
