The IPO market is poised to make an almost complete 180° turnaround after a bleak Q1 and a very quiet summer. In contrast, venture capital investments, which had recalibrated alongside…
There are three types of science fiction (in my view): crap, serialized crap and hard-science science fiction. The last type contains a wealth of visions of the future, many of…
One of my seed portfolio founders called for advice recently. He’d raised a Series A from a Tier 1 VC and was ahead of plan, but his investor suddenly wanted…
They say once you’ve had frostbite, you never forget the cold. A founder who has suffered a bad board, or board member, never forgets that, either. I took my company…
When I heard Ray Kurzweil present the concept of the singularity to a small group at TED, the idea that computing power advances would ultimately allow thinking machines to advance…
IPO Slowdown: A Look At Company Profitability
8:00 am PST • January 26, 2016
The IPO market cooled in 2015. There were fewer of them, they raised less capital and performance was down. Investor sentiment and a sideways public market were primary drivers, but…
Looking at startups from the outside, it’s easy to assume the startup game is just that, a game. A game with big winners and glorious and rapid rises to the…
A recent discussion on the tech IPO market yielded the comment “all IPOs this year were down rounds.” Square’s recent IPO priced below its last private offering, spurring Khosla (a…
Seed rounds are all about the sizzle, the exciting promise of the future if things go as dreamed. Risk is high — but the reward, if it works, is far…
Entrepreneurs looking for a pivot or an idea sometimes ask me “what’s hot now?” That’s the wrong question! What’s hot now is too late for you if your dreams are…
Series A 101
6:00 am PDT • October 10, 2015
In my prior life as a seed investor, I helped many companies raise Series A, some raise B and a few raise C. First time founders often ask about the…
At the dawn of the web I launched one of the first e-commerce sites. I spent six months on research, perfecting the site, striving to get everything right. After six…
For as long as I’ve paid attention, Sand Hill Road has been synonymous with venture capital. But that is changing. As the epicenter of the technology renaissance age has shifted,…
The Importance Of Founders
8:00 am PDT • May 11, 2015
In a prior era, some considered it best practice to bring in “professional managers” to run the businesses started by creative and hard-working entrepreneurs once those business began to scale…
Big Valuations Come With Dangerous Small Print
5:00 pm PDT • April 13, 2015
About three years ago we started noticing a sliver of founders who were obsessively focused on valuations start to make short-term decisions in their fundraising that risked meaningful long-term consequences.…
With 137% returns in an approximately two year period, there’s logic in mutual funds continuing to throw big dollars into strong IPO candidates, thus significantly inflating valuations. With this encroaching…
Separating The Rest From The Best In Venture Partners
11:00 am PDT • March 15, 2015
I‘ve studied Tier 1 venture firms for over seven years, and I see two weaknesses in partners, particularly young ones, that separate the rest from the best: they don’t take…
Series A Is The New Series B
6:00 am PDT • June 4, 2014
When I moved to Silicon Valley over a decade ago, I thought “venture” meant looking for smart people with great ideas. I’ve learned that’s not true; they’re looking for smart…
The End Of The Acqui-Hire?
6:00 pm PDT • May 17, 2014
A few years ago, before seed investing was as well defined as it now is, I co-hosted a bean bag sitting circle at The Lobby on the topic of “the…
