What’s the problem with too much funding?
With the influx of seed money, much has been written about the fact that start-ups that are taking far more funding than they need. For example, check out Fred Wilson’s post where he compares funding a start-up to walking up a flight of stairs. When building a company, it’s smarter to hit each step on […]
Growth versus capital efficiency
I often see two entrepreneurs executing on similar opportunities, but with two very different capital efficiencies. First, there’s the aggressive one who spends money very quickly, building a large team, buying early growth through aggressive marketing and sales, and hoping for a large upround in the next financing round. Then, there’s the bootstrapping entrepreneur who […]
The best way to approach investors: four tips
When you’re on the hunt for funding, it’s natural that you want to get things moving as quickly as possible. However, identifying and approaching the right investor should be a measured process. Blasting the same quick email to a dozen investors will never work in your favor. The average investor receives hundreds of pitches each […]
Reinvesting your capital
A big part of Silicon Valley’s success as a startup ecosystem can be linked to a continuous recycling of capital: entrepreneurs who made made money selling their company become angels, angel investors and VCs take profits from one deal and invest those in more deals. With tech ecosystems getting more and more important in places outside of […]
Announcing Version One Ventures
I am excited to announce today the launch of Version One Ventures, a new $15 million micro-VC fund. Version One will back outstanding web and mobile entrepreneurs across North-America with $250,000 to $500,000 investments in Seed and Series A rounds. The fund builds on my successes with over 35 angel investments which include six exits – among them […]