How To Become A Venture Capitalist in 2014
So you’ve watched the show “Shark Tank” and think you have what it takes to be the next Kevin O’Leary, AKA Mr. Wonderful? On TV, the career of a venture capitalist appears to be easily obtainable and positively thrilling. Power, prestige, and autonomy are ready and waiting for those bold enough to step forward. In […]
Mistakes to Avoid When Pitching to a VC
Avoid the “How Embarrassing!” Moment No one wants to look dumb — especially while requesting a significant amount of money. As a growing business, it is important to have a firm grasp on the capital raising process — especially if your goal is expansion. The number one concept to understand about Venture Capital is that it is […]
What to Know about Venture Capital
What to Know about Venture Capital Venture Capital (VC) firms collect money from a collection of wealthy individuals, insurance companies, educational endowments and pension funds.1 These assets are allocated over a portfolio of stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. Typically between 5% — 10% are assigned to “Alternative Investments.” The alternative investments are the high-risk/high-reward class […]
How Does the VC Funding Process Work?
Venture capital is ideal for early-stage tech companies that have already acquired some seed capital, but are too small for a public offering. By the time you approach venture capitalists, you will have a working product and business model, a user base and market validation, all of your patents and legal requirements in place, as […]
Seed and Series A Technology Funding Report
Tech Seed and Series A Medians and Averages Show Little Change Despite some notable early-stage Juiced and Jumbo Series A round investments in tech firms such as GitHub and Clinkle, the average and median Seed and Series A transactions are showing little change. Juiced Series A deals typically range between $8M and $15M. Companies raising this type of […]
7 Critical Steps for Attracting Venture Funding
First and foremost, venture capital firms want to see an entrepreneur with passion and vision. Unfortunately, this usually isn’t enough to get them opening their pocket books. Some venture capital firms will have narrow criteria for the types of companies that they invest in while other will adopt a more broad portfolio and invest across […]
Top 8 Faux Pas Claims by Entrepreneurs Raising Capital
What Not to Say to Potential Investors Yes, you need to impress an investor if he/she is going to break out the checkbook. However, there are some common claims made by first-time and seasoned entrepreneurs alike that do not resonate well with investors. Some of these claims are infamous buzz words that can be explained […]
Top Cities for Venture Capital Activity
Entrepreneurial Density and Venture Capital The chart below looks at the total amount of dollars spent by venture capital firms as well as the total number of deals on a per-capita basis. As we can see, Boulder came in third behind San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (AKA Silicon Valley) and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont. The map below provides a […]
Investment in Mobile App Development Industry is Soaring
VC Funding in Mobile App Development Still Hot Since 2012, mobile app development companies have taken $262M in VC funding across 36 deals, which accounts for 59% of the $446M to the mobile app development space overall. Some of the largest acquisitions included Kony Solutions at $18.3M in a Series D round from Telestra Ventures […]
Venture Capital Seed Investment and Re-Investment
Seed Investment Rates Two international firms, 500 Startups and SV Angel, top the list for most active seed investment in 2010-2011. Below is a list of the 30 most active seed VC investors over the two-year time frame ranked based on number of deals they participated (graph thanks you CB Insights): Re-Investment Rates While 500 Startups […]
