When acquisition negotiations fail, might both parties come to the table again in the future?
Jason M. Lemkin Like many things in life, I think it depends. Ultimately in my experience in depends on the why. Let me give you two personal examples. In my first start-up: Before we got up and running, I went to our ultimate acquirer and asked them to buy our...
54 Awesome Sponsors at The SaaStr Annual. Should You Be One of Them?
Ok, we’re just about all maxxed out for sponsors at The SaaStr Annual. Â Salesforce-for-Startups and Salesforce Ventures are sponsoring The Big Party on Wed, Feb 10th with the Beastie Boys’ Mix Master Mike and 2,000 of your SaaS founder, VCs, and VP...
How did Jason M. Lemkin get the idea for his first startup?
Jason M. Lemkin I had two very different experiences. My first start-up, NanoGram Devices, was about clear whitespace with a single defined idea. I saw an abandoned technology, and white space in a soon-to-be-fast-growing market. I licensed the technology, recruited...
Hey U.S. Startups – How much SaaS you got? Show us and win 1:1 meeting with your favorite SaaS VC
Ok, ok, we heard you US teams. You asked for your own video contest, you got it. Today we’re officially kicking off our “Show Us Your SaaS: US Edition” video competition. And if you happened to miss the international video contest we ran a few months back,...
How can I become a venture capitalist with $5000?
Jason M. Lemkin Well it’s not easy, but nothing is here. Here’s my advice. It’s “bad” advice from a rational, financial perspective … but it might actually work: First, spend the next 18 months trying to get into the One Most...
Does a founder have to mandatorily disclose their personal investment/equity in other startup that they formed and also about their mentor role there?
Jason M. Lemkin Yes. And as investor — if I didn’t hear about it at almost the start of the investment process — I’m out. It’s great you are still helping another company you got off the ground. But the fact that you are hesitating to...
How bad is the current venture capital environment (December 2015)?
Jason M. Lemkin A couple of thoughts: First, note that the best funds, and tons of Not The Best funds, have tons of capital to deploy (i.e., invest). And many big funds are going back to market in Q1 to raise even more funds to deploy. So the money is still there to...
Does Dropbox regret its Mailbox acquisition?
Jason M. Lemkin I don’t think so. In corporate M&A, you’re making bets just like VCs do … only the bets are different. If you are buying something that already has true scale, i.e., >=10% of your revenues … then you are making a bet you...
Why don’t VCs follow Warren Buffett’s 20 slot rule?
Jason M. Lemkin I think they do. It can just be hard to tell from the outside. An entire venture capital firm will certainly do more than 20 investments over the years. But: Most funds do about 20-30 investments per fund; And, each partner in each fund probably only...
Two Great Ways to Get the *New* SaaStr + Predictable Revenue Book “From Impossible to Inevitable”
Ok, it’s coming, and it’s time for you to get your copy! It’s the Book!  SaaStr + Predictable Revenue team up with Wiley for “From Impossible to Inevitable”, the book. The book is about 20% of your favorite SaaStr content, but...
Why do entrepreneurs take venture capital when VCs are flippers not investors?
I think this is a fairly dated view. The best VCs aren’t remotely “flippers”. First, most VC funds have 10-14 year lifetimes. And the VCs are paid a decent salary most of that time. So they don’t need to flip for short-term cash. Second, VCs...
Does anyone enjoy startup fundraising?
Jason M. Lemkin I think a lot of us eventually sort of enjoy it because (x) we get pretty good at it, and (y) it’s a solveable game. After a while, you get pretty darn good at pitching the story, the team, the traction, the vision. You get really, really good....
How important is it that the founders/CEO have over 51% equity?
Jason M. Lemkin I back into the answer. To me, it’s very important than the founders, by the time of IPO (or exit), together own at least 20%. Or “double digits each” as I think about it. The more, the better. But at least >=10% each (assuming...
What would venture capitalists do when they don’t have to source or execute deals?
Jason M. Lemkin VCs don’t spend most of their time on new deals. They spend most of their time on existing investments. Imagine you are a VC on 9 boards of directors: Bored, er, Board meetings alone can take 20% or more of your time. Each board meeting takes a...
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