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When Better.com CEO Vishal Garg laid off 900 employees, or about 9% of the company’s staff, in early December, the startup world was shocked by his callous delivery.
Now a video of Garg and CFO Kevin Ryan addressing the remaining employees right after the chief executive performed those layoffs has emerged, confirming many reports of his brash style and harsh words about those affected. READ MORE
Investment in artificial intelligence startups hit a record high of $59 billion in 2021, up from $28 billion in 2020, according to Crunchbase data.
Venture investment in AI startups will only continue to rise in the next five years. That’s because AI has finally reached a tipping point where it is powerful and affordable enough to make a real economic impact on diverse industries. READ MORE
Private funds can draw lessons about how to prioritize their compliance efforts and practices in response to a series of warnings by newly-appointed federal regulators of increased scrutiny, regulation, and enforcement activity. READ MORE
The first quarter of 2022 brought a historically huge sum of investment for global startups, with the three-month period outclassing any quarter in 2018, 2019, and 2020, according to CB Insights data.
But despite the fact that Q1 2022 posted historically elevated results, venture capital investment decelerated from Q4 2021 levels. And it may be that late-stage startups are those under the most fundraising pressure, data indicates. READ MORE
It's the same cry for help I get about once a month and it's every founder's worst nightmare. You pour years into a business idea, then months into building the perfect pitch deck and a series of stressful investor meetings. Then at the end of it you're left with a smattering of well-wishes, a few vague invites to send follow-up emails, and a whole big bucket of rejection.
You're back at square one. No funding, no traction, no resources. This is not uncommon. READ MORE
Big venture rounds get media coverage, but they’re not the only financing option for startups —or even the most attractive.
VC and other traditional funding streams have steep costs. You cede partial control to investors, who often expect hypergrowth. But the slow funding process itself can stunt that growth. READ MORE
Last month, the SEC proposed new rules under the Advisers Act that, if implemented, would be the most significant enhancement of disclosure obligations for private fund managers since the Dodd-Frank Act. Citing investor protection and transparency concerns for limited partners as investors, these proposals signal the Commission’s intent to add additional tools to the fund manager enforcement and examination toolbox. READ MORE
Andy Bell has said private equity is attracted to the platform market because of the opportunity to make money.
The founder and chief executive of AJ Bell made the statement yesterday (6 April) at the monthly Lang Cat Home Games series.
Bell said: “Private equity goes where the sex and violence is. And that’s what we are seeing here. The platform market is where it is at. So I take that as great; we are in the right spot. READ MORE
After spending several years at Greylock Partners and raising multiple rounds as a startup founder, I can tell you that VC is very much an insider’s game. Here are my tips to give you an edge. READ MORE
Holy smokes.
That’s been the collective reaction around these parts after reading a new post by business journalist Eric Newcomer, who smartly took the time to review filings for his newsletter, Newcomer, that reveal how much money some of biggest brands in venture capital are currently managing. The numbers are frankly staggering.
Note that these are all firms that are structured as registered investment advisors and thus required to disclose their assets under Securities and Exchange Commission rules. READ MORE
After the last few weeks of geopolitical volatility spilling over to the financial and crypto markets, it seems like all anyone can talk about is what startups and VCs can, should or will do in the anticipated downturn. READ MORE
The term “founder friendly” is ubiquitous in the venture-capital world — so much so that the phrase no longer feels meaningful. Entrepreneurs have become rightfully skeptical of such empty claims, and cautionary tales of “supportive” VCs undermining founders abound. READ MORE
Against a backdrop of declining public market performance, venture capital deal sizes and valuations have begun to erode.
A preliminary look at the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report for the first quarter of 2022, scheduled to be released next week, shows that poor public market performance is affecting venture-backed companies that have close ties to the public market and are seeking to raise capital. READ MORE
Stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents are the traditional building blocks of portfolio diversification, but sophisticated investors often seek alternative asset classes for greater diversification and potentially higher returns. Venture capital (VC) investments fit that bill nicely. However, historically, the VC industry has only catered to the needs of institutional investors and the ultrawealthy. READ MORE
Global venture funding reached $160 billion in the first quarter of 2022, Crunchbase data shows, marking the first time in a year of records when startup capital fell quarter over quarter.
The first quarter of 2022 jumped 7 percent compared to the first quarter of 2021, but fell 13 percent, from $184 billion, in the fourth quarter of 2021, which notched the largest funding amount raised in any quarter last year, and for all time. READ MORE
You have social capital in your industry and access to hot startups. You know top investors. You’re smart, have hustle, know what it takes. It’s almost inevitable, and maybe even your destiny: You are going to be a VC. And so you ask the VCs you know: How do I raise my first fund? You ask me, Caterina Fake, and my answer is counterintuitive: Don’t.
Don’t start by raising a fund.
Start with SPVs. READ MORE
Startups are once again considering layoffs as a way to control cash consumption and attract new capital.
News that Fast, a one-click checkout software provider targeting the e-commerce market, is offering sharp staff cuts to investors in hopes of securing new capital is notable, but a single data point. A public database tracking startup layoffs, however, indicates that the company is not alone in looking to reduce its headcount. READ MORE
This year's private equity (PE) recruitment season is underway. And it is more mad than ever before. "It's on, it's all on. It's very intense," says one headhunter. "They are going bonkers," says another.
Private equity funds have always chased junior investment bankers and have always competed viciously for analyst-level talent. But this year seems particularly crazy. READ MORE
What does it mean to receive venture capital versus an angel investment? Entrepreneurs new to these financial terms sometimes get these two types of funding mixed up. Both provide small businesses with much-needed capital, but the difference is in which types of startups they financially back and how much goes in each investment.
Here’s what you need to know about the difference to ensure you’re receiving the right funding for your startup. READ MORE
After winning the 2013 TechCrunch Meetup and Pitch-off, I decided to drop out of business school to pursue my startup full time. Two years and two award-winning iPhone apps later, we ultimately decided it was time to sell our technology to Snapchat.
At that point, I went back to Harvard to finish up my MBA, and after graduation, I joined an early-stage venture capital firm based in Palo Alto. READ MORE