“The easiest way to become a millionaire is to start off a billionaire and go into the airline business.” – Richard Branson Summary: Every investor uses social proof to filter dealflow; Ron Conway has a fund that uses social proof as the sole investment criterion. Angels should almost do more homework than a professional VC [...]
Entries Tagged as 'VC Industry'
If you’ve run out of ideas, buy gold
July 8th, 2010 · 5 Comments · AngelList, VC Industry
Angel investor Thomas McInerney: “Take a look at all the innovation happening today — Tesla has produced a beautiful 100% electric car. The cost of mapping the human genome has gone from $3 billion ten years ago to thousands today. Moore’s Law continues unabated and the rate of innovation in smart phones is staggering. The [...]
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A conflict of interests
July 6th, 2010 · 12 Comments · Competition, Pitching, VC Industry
If you’re a passionate entrepreneur, you can often see the vast potential for your product. In your head, the possibilities of the future branch out, with infinite forks and potential. When pitching to investors, you’ve learned to define your market as broadly as possible while remaining credible. So, it’s not surprising that you’re disappointed when investors don’t disclose a [...]
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John Doerr: The salesman for nerds
May 26th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Negotiation, VC Industry, Video
Here are the latest videos from Venture Hacks TV (the best startup advice you can get while you’re folding the laundry). You can subscribe to VHTV via RSS, email, or Twitter. 1. John Doerr: The salesman for nerds Video: Charlie Rose interviews John Doerr I’m going to keep my eyes on [...]
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More diligence and less capital coming for startups (and their investors)
March 4th, 2010 · 10 Comments · Limited Partners, Sponsor, VC Industry
Thanks to George Zachary, a partner at Charles River Ventures, for sponsoring Venture Hacks this week. If you like this post, check out George’s blog and tweets @georgezachary. – Nivi In my first post, A brief history of your investors (and their investors), I wrote about the history of venture capital. I described how the [...]
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"He has no clue whether it will be another Google, yet he has to make promises that only hucksters can make."
February 12th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Limited Partners, Pitching, Plans, VC Industry
Ho Nam (@honam): “The blockbusters are oftentimes the ‘ugly ducklings.’ Cisco is probably the best example in the VC world. Everyone passed except for Sequoia. In the book world, almost everyone passed on JK Rowling. “It’s just hard to predict the future looking into the rear-view mirror, yet everyone wants to pile onto the brand [...]
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A brief history of your investors (and their investors)
February 11th, 2010 · 5 Comments · Limited Partners, VC Industry
Thanks to George Zachary, a partner at Charles River Ventures, for sponsoring Venture Hacks this week. If you like this post, check out George’s blog and tweets @georgezachary. – Nivi Why should you read this post? So you know what questions to ask your potential investors about their investors (their limited partners). You need to [...]
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How to raise money without lying to investors
January 21st, 2010 · 39 Comments · Pitching, Plans, Sponsor, VC Industry
Thanks to FastIgnite, a startup advisory firm, for sponsoring Venture Hacks this month. This post is by Simeon Simeonov, the firm’s founder and CEO (and formerly a partner at Polaris Ventures). If you like it, check out Sim’s blog and tweets @simeons. – Nivi “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” Niels [...]
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The Arrogant VC: Why VCs are disliked by entrepreneurs, Part 2
January 2nd, 2010 · 4 Comments · Sponsor, VC Industry
Thanks to Atlas Venture for supporting Venture Hacks this month. This post is by Fred Destin, one of Atlas’ general partners. If you like it, check out Fred’s blog and tweets @fdestin. – Nivi In Part 1 of The Arrogant VC, I discussed 4 reasons why VCs are disliked by entrepreneurs: Poor first impressions Getting [...]
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The Arrogant VC: Why VCs are disliked by entrepreneurs
December 27th, 2009 · 7 Comments · Sponsor, VC Industry
Thanks to Atlas Venture for supporting Venture Hacks this month. This post is by Fred Destin, one of Atlas’ general partners. If you like it, check out Fred’s blog and tweets @fdestin. I’ve also generated an MP3 version of this post. Let me know if it’s useful. – Nivi Below is the summary of all [...]
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