Meet The VC Firm With $544 Million To Buy ‘Orphaned’ Startup Stakes From Other Funds

NewView Capital founder Ravi Viswanathan has worked with startups as a venture capitalist for more than two decades. He’s never seen the game change more than in its most recent stretch.

He rattles off some highlights (and some low ones): the sudden lockdown of early 2020; the host of new players who split off from known firms or launched first-time funds; the increased startup interest from hedge funds and public market specialists; the record dollars flowing in and the more recent pullback. “The last two or three years have been the most extraordinary,” Viswanathan says. READ MORE

SPAC Disclosure, Marketing and Gatekeeping in 2022

We reported last year that unprecedented SPAC deal volume signaled an increased risk for disputes given their unique structure, including risks associated with disclosure requirements, material non-public information, valuation, and conflicts of interest. Our assessment proved prescient, as the SEC began to flex its enforcement muscles vis-à-vis SPACs as the year progressed, and took specific notice of potential asymmetries between SPACs and traditional IPOs that may form the basis for disputes in 2022. READ MORE

The VC aiming to be the “family and friends” of early-stage founders

History reminds us that Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in his Harvard dorm room. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple when they were 21 years of age. Bill Gates wrote his first code aged 13, helping computerize his school’s payroll system while still enrolled there. There are many examples of tech being born, and leaders being formed, at a young age in academic environments - it’s what inspired Fresh.Fund to initially establish itself as a fund dedicated to pre-Seed rounds for young entrepreneurs. READ MORE

An Alternative to Traditional Crowdfunding You Can Use to Fund your Startup

Every entrepreneur has felt the struggle of raising money for a business. It costs tens of thousands of dollars to launch even a modest startup, and potentially millions of dollars for a bigger or more demanding idea. Old school tactics like tapping into personal loans or shopping for an angel investor are still around, but these days, more and more entrepreneurs are tapping into the power of equity crowdfunding. READ MORE

Build a versatile startup team to make pivots easier

Steve Blank’s definition of a startup is “a temporary organization in the search of a repeatable business model”. Temporary, because as soon as you have built a machine where you pour $10 into the top of it, and $11 falls out of the bottom, you’re no longer a startup. Or, if you run out of cash, and the whole thing collapses like a poorly-built house of cards, well, that’s the end of your company as well. But few people talk about what you’re actually building as a startup. READ MORE

For startups, the message is clear: Grow fast or die

News that Databricks crossed the $800 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) threshold last year was impressive, but more notable was its growth rate of greater than 80% during the same period. That’s a wild expansion pace for a company of Databricks’ size, and it backed up its CEO’s general vibe that his team could weather any change in market conditions regarding the value of software startups, provided that he keeps the growth flowing. READ MORE

In-depth PE-ople crisis: ‘Everyone’s running out of candidates’

Private equity houses have been on an acquisition spree in the past 12 months, but there is still one asset that many of them are struggling to obtain: people.

Buyout shops are racing to raise larger funds, expand into new markets and deploy vast warchests of capital, but the growth spurt has led to a dearth of new talent for hire and an upwards spiralling of salaries, according to industry executives and recruiters. READ MORE

Venture capital must embed ESG to back the companies of the future

In February, the UN PRI released a discussion paper detailing the development of environmental, social and corporate governance in venture capital, putting the spotlight on the attitudes and outlooks towards ESG among VC firms globally. ​​

Although the conversations around sustainable finance have grown substantially in the past 12 months, the venture capital industry has been slow on the uptake when it comes to ESG, let alone integrating it into decision-making. As defined by the CFA, ESG investing represents the environmental, social and governance criteria that investors are increasingly using as part of their analysis to identify material risks and growth opportunities. READ MORE

Did venture capitalists undervalue startups for decades?

Data indicate that the pace of startup value creation reached a fever pitch in 2021. According to venture capital data collected by PitchBook, prices spiked for startup equity across the maturity spectrum last year. The result of those rising prices was a huge gain in the pace at which paper wealth was generated.

The rising velocity of value creation may indicate that rich entry prices for early startup investments will math out as similar pricing dynamics play out in the later stage of company development. READ MORE

Venture Capital And The Mixed Blessing Of Exclusivity

As in dining, there is great variety in equity investing. Big institutional investors, like university endowment and pension funds, sometimes have their own investment staff. These are like live-in chefs. Then there are financial advisors who sell mass-market investment products on commission. They help keep the public markets liquid, and the world needs them. But to stick with the dining metaphor, they're microwaving lasagna at chain restaurants. READ MORE