Hurting Angel Investors
I have a small angel fund with a few friends. We are not able to invest more in later rounds in all our best deals,…
Category: Financing a Startup
A Farewell to Startup Business Plans
I was taught that I have to create a full business plan, ideally 50-100 pages, with a fully developed product and strategy before I can…
Renegotiating Bad Deals
My co-founder and I gave up 75% to our Series A investor for just $1 million. Now that the company is taking off and needs…
Hiding Information
My co-founder is handling the diligence process with our acquirer and I am not comfortable with how loose he is being with some of the…
Avoiding Harsh Pay to Plays
I am looking to raise some money from insiders in a Series A-1 deal to see if we can get traction for a pivot we…
Hold Off On IP Holding Companies?
I have an IP holding company which owns all my patents and licenses them to my startup. I am deep in diligence with a potential…
Actionable Investor Reporting
One of my primary responsibilities is to gather monthly reports on our portfolio companies…. The founding partners are a close group of six serial entrepreneurs…
How Hard to Negotiate
How hard should I fight with my potential investor for the best valuation? I am inclined to take the term sheet offered, but my friend…
Keeping Your Head Up During Down Rounds
I am an angel investor in a company that is looking at doing a down round “pay to play.” How can I protect myself from…
Should I Push Back On My VC?
I just got a term sheet for a Series A financing. The VC accepted the valuation I proposed, which was aggressive, but added a 2x…
Strategic Investing: Pros and Cons for Startups
One of the startups I am working with is looking at taking money from a strategic investor. What are some of the pros and cons…
Convertible Notes vs. SAFEs
Is a SAFE the same as a convertible when raising funds? Many first time founders typically raise their first few funds either way, so I…