Tag Archives: Venture Capital

Comparing term sheets

Jeff Bussgang did a guest post on PEHub on the topic of how entrepreneurs should look at and compare competing term sheets. Jeff correctly points out that the pre-money valuation of the company is not what entrepreneurs should focus on … Continue reading

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Beyond Bootstrapping Redux

Got hit by the SlideShare April Fool’s joke today that I’ve become a RockStar because one of my presentations has been getting a ton of views in the past 24 hours. I went into my account and, indeed, the Beyond … Continue reading

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The responsibility of an entrepreneur: when to shut down early?

Jason Calacanis has written a lengthy post with a lot of good advice for entrepreneurs who are facing the potential failure of their business. It has good tips for extending the runway and making do with less. It also has … Continue reading

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Founder Dilution

Founders often ask me, “If I own X% after my first investment round, how much will I be diluted through financings until exit?”. There are rules of thumb but there is no good data about what happens to common stock. … Continue reading

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For the MIT 100K Participants: Executive Summaries

I was invited to speak tonight at the MIT 100K Web/IT track mixer but, unfortunately, I’m sick (which wouldn’t have necessarily prevented me from going) and have lost my voice (which would have made going to the event pointless). So, … Continue reading

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The Anti-Patterns of Bootstrapping

The three most common bootstrapping mistakes I’ve observed: Setting the wrong bootstrapping objectives. Prototype? First paying customer? CFBE? I often meet with startups that are bootstrapping to a particular objective with the expectation that it will allow them to achieve … Continue reading

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Startup #5 & Future Forward Tidbits

My blog rank is in the drain. I have been busy creating a new startup company, the fifth I’ve done at Polaris and the second (after Plinky) I’ve co-founded since I shifted roles to spending 100% of my time on … Continue reading

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Attributing Entrepreneurial Success

I’m flying back to Boston after a crazy week of Plinking, TC50ing, CTIAing and thinking about starting a new company in the mobile space. My brain is jacked up and exhausted at the same time. So much to process… Living … Continue reading

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Starting Up Plinky

Om Malik broke the news today about Plinky. Plinky is the brainchild of founder/CEO Jason Shellen, a former Googler who worked on Blogger and shipped Google Reader. Jason and I partnered up last fall and just raised our seed round from my … Continue reading

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Should VCs Bet on the Idea or the Team?

My partner Bryce Youngren pointed me to some research by Chicago GSB Professor Steven Kaplan who tackles the perennial question of whether one should bet on the jockey or the horse. The presentation, although meandering, does have some good data in … Continue reading

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