The Pros and Cons of Taking an Inside VC Led-Round
One big thing has changed in venture over the past few years that’s subtle but a big shift: Big VC Funds want to lead the next round in their winners, period. Not once in a while. Not if it’s a good deal. But in all their winners. Smaller VC funds...
How did Slack Technologies manage to raise so much capital?
Q: How did Slack Technologies manage to raise so much capital? I think it’s important to understand the context. Slack was a second-timer founder success story 6 years in the making. Stewart Butterfield managed to raise decent seed / Series A rounds based on the...
New on SaaStr.com: 5x the Content, Effective Today! (from Quora and more)
We’ve now crossed 2,000,000 views a month on SaaStr content overall, but it’s a bit fragmented. Â We have a strong base on Quora that probably has never been to SaaStr.com. Â And we have a loyal group on SaaStr.com that has never heard of Quora. Â And we have...
What’s Your Collections KPI?
As we get later into the year, I’ve heard this refrain from a number of start-ups: Â “We hit our revenue plan, but we’re behind on collections.” Hmmm … I get it, I’ve lived it. Â And it’s not OK, and let me help you make some...
Why did you want to become a VC after being an entrepreneur?
Q: Why did you want to become a VC after being an entrepreneur? Seemed like a way to leverage what I learned, just with founders better than me. Who then could do even better than me. I got most of it wrong but I think I got that part right (so far). View original...
What qualities do venture capital firms look for in a startup?
Q: What qualities do venture capital firms look for in a startup? If you are talking about early-stage investments, I think VCs break into two groups, roughly: Strategy A: Insanely smart, driven founders; Pointed in a pretty good direction; BUT Perhaps with very...
What % of Silicon Valley startups that have raised $10 million from VC have boards that are firmly controlled by the founders/early employees?
Q: For Silicon Valley startups that have raised $10 million from VC, what % of these companies have boards that are firmly controlled by the founders/early employees? I don’t know the exact percent, but a better way to guess this is by the # of rounds of venture...
We have a startup but it’s going to be impossible to get started without $50 million. Where do I start?
Q: We have a startup but it’s going to be impossible to get started without $50 million. Where do I start? It’s really hard to do — but there is an answer. You need to find a founding CEO to join you who can raise that sort of money. Someone who...
What 3 pearls of wisdom would you give a 1st time CEO of a small technology startup?
Q: What 3 pearls of wisdom would you give a 1st time CEO of a small technology startup (product yet to be launched)? My 3: 1. Make sure your co-founder is good enough AND committed enough. Even if your idea and even ability to close initial customers is good enough,...
Turnover is Normal Part of Hypergrowth
Q: What does the rising turnover of a hyper growth SaaS company (post $20M in funding) tell you as an investor/board member who led the last round? Nothing. People make too much of “Everyone’s leaving Company XYZ”. Yes, sometimes it’s true...
Why are acquisitions more common than IPOs?
Q: Why are acquisitions more common than IPOs? Because there are more buyers. There were ~50 Tech IPOs in 2014. Will 2015 be a blockbuster year for tech IPOs? There were hundreds of acquisitions, if you include the smallest ones, over 1,000 apparently: 2015 Will Be...
Andy Wilson, CEO of Logikcull: “10 Things We’ve Learned From Exhibiting at Dozens of Trade Shows”
A little while ago, we wrote up Andy Wilson, CEO of eDiscovery start-up Logikcull and his learning moving from a services business to a SaaS business. The other day he copied me his Top 10 learnings over 10 Days on how to make a trade show worth your time.  With trade...
What does M&A integration best practice look like?
Q: What does M&A integration best practice look like? I believe it’s complicated because there are really two playbooks: Do you want to retain the founders and senior execs? I mean — really retain them? Or not? If retaining the founders and senior...
Should I move to San Francisco or Palo Alto?
Q: Should I move to San Francisco or Palo Alto? San Francisco. It should make a lot more sense to come to the Peninsula, to Palo Alto / Mountain View / etc. After all Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. are all there. That’s a huge pool of talent to recruit from,...
CEO & Founder
Related Posts
