-
Search this blog
Archives
-
Recent Posts
- The 18-month rule and a harrowing tale
- Entrepreneurs: Employment law is not on your side!
- Insurance is always too expensive – until it’s needed.
- Any advice can be worthless, or worse.
- I won’t serve on a board without D&O insurance!
- How about your board members’ time commitments?
- How do you pay an early stage board?
- Please learn this: “Noses in; fingers out!”
Categories
Category Archives: Raising money
Don’t be defensive, but defend.
When meeting with investors, during the period devoted to feedback after your presentation, you will hear comments and recommendations that don’t resonate with you. Some will be from a misunderstanding of your explanation. Some listeners will challenge your assumptions. Some … Continue reading
Don’t get hung up on valuation.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up premoney valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable … Continue reading
Posted in Ignition! Starting up, Raising money
2 Comments
Turn the tables: What’s an angel look like?
Angel investors, particularly those in organized angel groups, are typically former entrepreneurs who have had successful liquidity events in their pasts, or executives of companies who’ve retired with the funds from their stock options. Occasionally, an angel is a member … Continue reading
Posted in Raising money
1 Comment
Find your champion.
If you seek funds from an organized investment group such as an angel fund, venture capital entity, or even an investment club, the first thing you want to do is to find one person to buy into your vision, become … Continue reading
The Rule of Thirds
It is rare when one person starts a company, supplies all the funding, and shares no management tasks or equity with others, and still grows the company to any significant size, worthy of a multi-million dollar opportunity to cash out … Continue reading
Huge opportunities do NOT command amazing pre-money valuations.
Dave’s note: Popular Bill Payne returns this week with a thoughtful take on valuations. By Bill Payne One entrepreneur has a company which appears to be scalable to a $30 million exit value in five to eight years, and a … Continue reading
Posted in Ignition! Starting up, Raising money
Leave a comment
Early stage money: The problem with PPMs
By Bill Payne Bill Payne has been actively involved in angel investing since 1980, funding over 50 companies and mentoring over 100 more. He is the recipient of the coveted “Hans Severiens Award form the Angel Capital Association, its highest … Continue reading
Posted in Raising money
6 Comments
Both sides must be fair in a term sheet negotiation.
By Basil Peters After being an active angel investor for about fifteen years, I realized that many of the discussions I was involved in were virtually identical to ones I’d had many times before. A good example was during the … Continue reading
Posted in Raising money
1 Comment
Can you finance your company with grants?
First, here’s a link to my recent TEDx talk, “Smiling at success; laughing at failure.” I am chairman of a company that, as I write this, is twelve years old and has not yet taken a dollar of outside investment. … Continue reading
Posted in Growth!, Raising money
Leave a comment
And don’t forget creative fund raising.
Let me tell you the story of how I raised $100,000 to fill a gap needed to purchase a new home for my young family years ago. I had located a beautiful home that would be a stretch to finance, … Continue reading
Posted in Raising money
Leave a comment
