Archives for 2007

This is a continuation of a previous set of posts and is seventh in a series.Okay. This post probably should have been the end of the previous entry, but I was lazy.Let's say you've met all five criteria in the last few slides. Good for you! Unfortunately, so do a bunch of other deals. All things being equal, VCs will use secondary elements to … [Read more...]

This is a continuation of a previous set of posts and is sixth in a series.The most common question a VC gets asked is "What sort of deals do you invest in?" Most of them will give variations of the same answer... looking for a fast-growing market, strong technology, great management, at a fair price. And it's nice to have milestones to know when … [Read more...]

This is a continuation of a previous set of posts and is fifth in a series.I'll come back to this one in more detail later... but, for now, you need to figure out if a particular firm is going to invest in your geography. (Or, alternatively, if you're willing to move to their geography. Bay Area VCs are particularly bad about wanting you to move … [Read more...]

This is a continuation of a previous set of posts and is fourth in a series.Not all venture investors are created equal. Most firms have specialties. Even within firms, individual partners will have specialties. Don't waste your time on firms who don't focus on companies that look like you.You can read the parameters on the chart above. Pay … [Read more...]

This is a continuation of a previous set of posts and is third in a series.When I taught a semester in entrepreneurship for the MBA students across the street, I spent an entire 90-minute class on this single slide...The first thing to know about the venture capital cycle is: it's not the VC's money! They like to pretend that it is (I can say … [Read more...]

This is a continuation of a previous post and is second in a series.I usually try to get some audience participation going at this point; unlike the PDFs, the Keynote slides (I don't use PowerPoint except when forced to) are set to not display the "good news" text until manually triggered; same for the "bad news." So I try to get the audience to … [Read more...]

So I was teaching a class for Paul Steffes in ECE (Electrical and Computer Engineering) last week. One of the things I love about being on staff at a university is that I can drop in to a graduate class, teach to very smart people for ninety minutes, then leave. As I proved a couple of years ago when I was teaching in the College of Management, … [Read more...]