I am stating the obvious in this opening sentence, but I need it for the post: In each round of funding for a startup, the founders sell a portion of their equity in exchange for cash. While there’s variance, it’s accepted that founders will experience... Read More
The last few weeks, the same question has surfaced: “What on earth is happening in the seed market?” My answer: “Everyone is on the hunt for the next DocuSign. And it’s a bloodbath.” Let’s wind the clock back over two years. In the summer of... Read More
Many of the most storied brands in venture capital made their name by being the investor of record in a specific company’s “Series A” round — largely thought of as the round after friends, after family, and more recently, after seed, where the new investor... Read More
Over the past few weeks, I’ve caught up with and hung out with some of the larger investors on Sand Hill and beyond. At the same time, I am helping lots of seeded companies begin to think about and/or prepare for their Series A. As... Read More
As I begin Haystack III, I wanted to write down and share the reflections I’ve had on seed investing to date. However, please note (1) I’m still learning; (2) I’ll make new mistakes; and (3) these reflections are for me, and not generally applicable to... Read More
This past summer, I wrote some columns on StrictlyVC on the relationship between LPs and VCs, and I realized I never cross-posted them here, so here goes. I reposted them here with subheadings. This may not be of interest to the regular reader, but really... Read More
One of my goals before the year ends tonight (and surge pricing kicks in) was to (mostly) complete the Table Of Contents for my upcoming book on Uber, The Uber Effect. Well, here it is, see below. I’m sure it will change a bit, but... Read More
It’s been just under one year since I started Haystack and began investing out the fund. Technically, I’m the sole General Partner and thereby the only one who can write a check from the fund. While the title is kind of silly and one I... Read More
I am so fascinated by what Naval and Nivi and the AngelList team have done, I’m overwhelmed with thoughts to I have to stop tweeting and just write them down, in no particular order: Video demos for startups are going to be even more important.... Read More
In terms of venture deals in 2013, none so far * have been as interesting as the latest round by Uber. With $258M from Google Ventures and about $100M more from private equity powerhouse TPG (and existing investors with some pro rata, I’d imagine), Uber... Read More
Over the weekend, YC co-founder Paul Graham penned this very important essay on his observation on investing trends. It is a very important post. I’m not one to fawn over PG’s recent posts and tweets, but if you’re at all interested in investing in and... Read More
Lyft just raised $60M in funding. Whoa! For the last year, I’ve contended ride-sharing at scale “could be” a massive trend and have corresponding economics that are attractive. About 11 months ago, in July 2012, I started commuting to SF every day from Palo Alto,... Read More