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The Right Investors for your Start-up - Best Investors Guide Your Success
Why you shouldn't seek an investor (and board members) just because they have a lot of cash. Seek the right investors; the ones that will provide value.
Smart Money Vs. Dumb Money - Why Sector Experience Matters for your Start-up
Is there such a thing as "dumb" money? Not all money can open up doors.
Investor Question - Do You Want to be CEO? Or Rich?
By Jeremy Glaser
Jeremy Glaser's #1 piece of advice. It is so simple, and yet so many people totally miss the mark.
SAFEs: The (Not So) Simple Agreement for (Potential) Future Equity
By Dan DeWolf and Brian Novell
Historically, most start-up companies were funded either by the offering of equity or by loans in the form of convertible promissory notes. Recently, however, there have been some hybrid instruments created to fund start-ups. Most notably, and quite popular these days, is the use of an instrument called a SAFE. “SAFE” is an acronym for “simple agreement for future equity.”
Term Sheets For Startups - Why Term Sheets Change Everything
Watch Jeremy Glaser discuss how term sheets change the entire balance of power and negotiations. Find out why your singular focus should be on getting a term sheet, whatever its terms.
How to Raise Money
By Marc Andreessen, Ron Conway, and Parker Conrad
A panel Q&A on Fundraising in this lecture with Marc Andreessen, Founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz, Ron Conway, Founder of SV Angel, and Parker Conrad, Founder of Zenefits.
Various Ways to Raise Capital
By Dan DeWolf
The world of raising capital has been evolving over the last several years. Offerings of securities generally used to fall into two main buckets: (i) private placements under the old Rule 506 or (ii) a public offering. With the implementation of various provisions of the JOBS Act now mostly complete, the array of choices has increased exponentially and include crowdfunding, crowdsourcing by general solicitation for accredited investors, IPO light under the new Reg A+ rules, and confidentially submitted initial public offerings. No one size fits all and issuers, bankers, and legal counsel should look carefully as to the context of the situation to determine which format makes the most sense for a particular offering. We thought it might be helpful to provide a chart of the various alternatives for offerings now available.
Regulation Crowdfunding: A Six-Month Update
It has been almost seven months since issuers across the country began raising money through Regulation Crowdfunding (“Reg CF”), which went into effect on May 16, 2016. In the six months since Reg CF went into effect, 160 initial filings for crowdfunding offerings on Form C were made with the SEC. The following summary of the highlights and trends are based on data collected from those Form C filings through November 16, 2016.
Revised Rule 504: Another Tool in the Toolkit to Raise Capital
By Dan DeWolf and Brian Novell
If there is one common theme that entrepreneurs tend to have, it is fire – meaning, many entrepreneurs are passionate about an exciting idea that they seek to turn into a business. However, entrepreneurs often quickly realize that, in order to make their fire glow high and bright for the world to see, they need fuel – meaning, capital.
FinTech Innovation Lab: A Resource for Fintech Start-ups
Co-founded in 2010 by Accenture and Partnership for New York City, the FinTech Innovation Lab, offers newly-emerging financial technology companies the opportunity to participate in a 12-week mentorship program. During the program, participants are invited to engage in a multitude of events including workshops, panels, and meetings with leaders in the financial technology industry.
Preparing Your Portfolio For Prime Time: IP Due Diligence
By Bill Geary
Due diligence helps potential investors know they are making a winning bet on your start-up. Hence, investors conduct a detailed look “under the hood” of the company and the company’s IP is at center stage.
No Action Letter On Behalf Of Citizen VC
By Dan DeWolf and Samuel Effron
The SEC has finally provided clarity as to how an issuer of securities can conduct a private placement in a password protected web page under Rule 506(b), without it being deemed a “general solicitation” and thereby being subject to the additional requirements imposed by the new Rule 506(c). The guidance has been provided by the issuance of the Citizen VC No Action Letter (the “CVC Letter”), which request was authored by Mintz Levin.
Seniority Matters
By Dan DeWolf
There is little doubt that activity in the trading of secondary shares of private companies remains robust. Private companies are staying private longer and there seems to be an unlimited demand to buy into the newest “Unicorn” anointed each week. As the market for secondary shares stays strong, valuations seem not to matter much to most buyers. Additionally, many buyers seem to pay little attention to whether they are buying senior preferred stock at the top of the stack, as compared to junior securities or common stock sold by many former employees. But as we all know, things that can’t go on forever, don’t. And, as Warren Buffet once famously said: only when the tide goes out do you discover who has been swimming naked.
What is Venture Capital?
By Dan DeWolf
Most of us go through our lives down a certain path. We grow up in our house or apartment; we go to school; we get a job; and eventually we grow up (one way or another) and live out our lives: sometimes happily, sometimes not so happily, and most times a little bit of both. In the course of this journey, many of us dream about starting something new, such as a new business based on a new concept or new paradigm. For many of us it is just a daydream. But for some, it is a call to action. Time and time again, an individual figures out a new way to look at things. Then from a scrap of an idea, and against great odds, this individual begins to build a new business.
What is a Term Sheet?
By Dan DeWolf
When a venture capital firm is interested in a company it will meet with the management team numerous times to understand fully the business model and to learn more about the management. At some point in the process, the venture capital firm will decide that the investment is worth pursuing and will present a Term Sheet to the company. The Term Sheet (which is a nonbinding letter of intent) sets forth the basic terms and premises upon which the venture capital firm would be willing to invest.
Negotiating Your Company's Valuation
What is my company worth? What should I tell the investors my valuation is for the next round of financing? I get these questions from entrepreneurs all of the time. The easy answer is that your valuation is what the market says it is and don’t tell investors anything!
What Makes a Good Business Plan?
By Dan DeWolf
The way most businesses are initially funded is by the three Fs. That is, by "friends, family, and fools." After all, who else would provide the initial seed capital to start a new enterprise? But self-funding (or relying on friends and families) will only take you so far in building out your new business.
IRS Tax Section 1202: Excluding Your Gains on Small Business Investments
By Dan DeWolf and Rachel Gholston
2016 promises to be another very good year to invest in start-ups because of the extension of significant tax breaks for investors who invest in early stage companies. Investors who invest in small businesses can realize exclusions on capital gains if they choose the right type of company.
The New Section 4(a)(7): More Than a Codification of Section “4(a)(1½)”
By Samuel Effron and Cliff Silverman
On December 4, 2015, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (the “FAST Act”) was signed into law by President Obama. Although the FAST Act is primarily a transportation bill, buried in this legislation is a new statutory exemption under Section 4(a)(7) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) that explicitly permits private resales of restricted securities. This new exemption may increase investor liquidity by facilitating the development of secondary markets in private securities.
Your Executive Summary is the Key to Attracting the Attention of Investors
You have raised your friends and family/angel round, built out the beta of your product and have a few early paying customers. Now it is time to raise the money you need to grow from institutional investors. How do you get their attention when so many companies are in the same boat as you? Your executive summary – a one to two page teaser – is the crucial document you need to stand out among the noise and get noticed.
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