Jonathan Friedman

Jonathan Friedman Contributor Jonathan Friedman is a partner at LionBird Israel and blogs about the Venture Capital Point of View at VCPOV.com. More posts by this contributor The Erosion Of “Same Round, Same Price” What To Do If Your Lead Investor Asks For ESOP

Jonathan Friedman is a partner at LionBird Israel and blogs about the Venture Capital Point of View at VCPOV.com.

The Latest from Jonathan Friedman

The Erosion Of “Same Round, Same Price”

It seems most founders believe investors asking for “extras” on the side are simply greedy and short-sighted. While it’s easy to criticize investors, I believe this behavior is driven in large p

What To Do If Your Lead Investor Asks For ESOP

As valuations continue to rise, early stage VCs are getting more “creative” with their deal structuring. In particular, I’ve seen a rise in requests for ESOP shares to be allocated to lead inves

Buy/Hold/Sell In Venture Capital

A common rule of thumb among early stage VCs is to reserve 2–3X dollars for every $1 initially invested in a startup. This is in order to maintain ownership levels in selected portfolio companies an

Read This Before Meeting VCs For Pre-Pitch “Advice”

Startups often ask VCs for pre-pitch meetings. These requests usually are positioned along the lines of, “We aren’t looking for money yet, just advice.” Of course, we all know this is just a nic

Three Reasons Your Term Sheet May Fall Through

So you’ve made it past all the VC grilling and received a term sheet. Congratulations! But don’t celebrate just yet. Term sheets are non-binding, and even though they should signify a VC has convi

Is Competition Really For Losers?

While declaring “competition is for losers” has become fashionable among unicorn-chasing VCs, most founders still reject this line of thinking. They know there is a gray area, and that large marke

The “Common Plus” Opportunity

It’s become increasingly common for early-stage entrepreneurs to “lead their own rounds” via the use of convertible notes. In cases where they set financing terms themselves, they often set a hi

How Top Founders Juggle Term Sheets

Breakout startups that are ready for “Fundraising Acceleration” often face the challenge of managing interest from multiple investors. Having been involved in a number of these startups first-hand

The Key To Raising Your Seed Extension Round

Given the growth in seed funding driven by the combined forces of the "Micro-VC glut" and increasing activity by angel investors (often via crowd funding), it’s become increasingly common to meet so