This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC .” The “Triple Play” of VC Presentations large part of my series has been outlining what the typical VC PowerPoint presentation should look like.  Some You want to build a dialogue where you get to know the VC with whom you’re meeting.  It’s photo courtesy of Atlanta Braves 8221;

This is part of my ongoing series about Raising Venture Capital . few years ago it became fashionable for large VC’s to do seed funding.  If the large VC doesn’t agree to do your A round then you’re in a bit of trouble.  Because as a potential A round investor I’m thinking to myself, “if the large This posting was inspired by an email from Rajat Suri who wrote me an email in response to Chris Dixon’s blog post (link below) from August, which recently re-ran on Business Insider and has generated much Twitter chatter. A

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009.  There There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.  This There’s no doubt (at least anecdotally) that This post highlights some of the reasons why the market is moving again and what entrepreneurs should do about this. The real irony of the market thaw is that the biggest symbol of the freeze as I mentioned in my last

When venture capitalists scale back investing activities it can be very swift and leave many companies that are in the process of fund raising hung out to dry.  I would argue that the shut-down of September 2009 was equally severe yet there are signs that this “VC Ice Age” has begun to thaw. But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be Just ask anybody who was trying to close funding the fateful week of September 11, 2001 or even March 2000.  They should heed the age old advice that raising slightly more

Saturday’s TechCrunch had an article with the title above…  the “end” of traditional VC has been something that we (and many others) have been predicting for a while.   Investors in venture capital funds have caused the problem.   First, they themselves have massive amounts of capital to put to work and it is extremely time consuming and difficult to The short version of the components are this: Despite the fact that fund size and fund returns are generally inverse related, all of the incentives are to raise bigger funds:

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA).  This morning we heard from Jamie Montgomery, CEO of the venerable Montgomery & Co investment bank who is at the heart of what is going on in M&A for venture backed companies.  They Montgomery & Co Projects Deal Volume to Grow by 167% in Just 2 Years with No End to Growth in Sight

I came across an interesting article that reports on the trends in venture capital Series A funding , as investment stands at the end of August, 2009. think there are positive signs for those of us looking to the capital markets for resources (cash to build our grand visions, that is). The article does report that seed funding activity was low, but those numbers are difficult to come across at best. I Here are the numbers that the article reports for 2009:

This is part of my ongoing Raising Venture Capital (VC) series When people refer to a strategic investor they are usually talking about an investor that comes from the industry you serve as opposed to an independent venture capital investor.  I But the venture guys don’t make the calls on what the product / business guys  do.  The Yesterday I had lunch with a really interesting and capable serial entrepreneur who is raising his A round.  The The topic of  ”strategic” investors came up.  It

Much of this frustration is directed toward Venture Capitalists; they seem to fund so few opportunities, their criteria for investment is somewhat mysterious, they have a reputation for tough negotiation and low valuations, etc.The purpose of this note is to give you insight into how a venture capital company works, how its partners are compensated and why they operate the way they do. Venture capital funds are typically organized as a Limited Partnership (the “Fund” or the “LP”) managed by a General Partner (the “GP”).

Venture capital fundraising activity dropped significantly in Q4, according to a report released Monday by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The report, which tracks the fundraising activity of venture capital firms, found that there was $3.4 billion in forty-three venture capital funds raised in billion in the prior quarter, and down significantly from the $11.7 billion raised in Q4 of 2007.