SAFE: Great (Esp For Entrepreneurs), As Long As Done Safely
Simple Agreement for Future Equity, or SAFE, is an increasingly popular instrument for fundraising especially at the earliest stages of a startup. SAFEs were really formalized by Y-Combinator in late 2013 (more on their...
Advisors In Your Startup? 4 Ways To Best Work With Them
Advisors, as the name says, can give advice that becomes the difference between success and failure for an entrepreneur. But beyond words advisors can also provide several other values:
Credibility -- within your company...
Be a Better Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs always look for the right recipe to increase the odds of success.
Steve Blank was probably one of the “recipe” pioneers as he started the lean startup movement. Before the lean movement, I would...
Hardware is Hard — 5 Practical Tips For Startups To Raise Successfully
You had a great idea. You built a great team. You know that hardware is a significant part of the product but also provides defensibility. Then why are you still hearing too many polite...
Have A Startup Idea? How To Raise A Pre Seed
The term pre seed has really become institutionalized in the last couple years, before that the idea / powerpoint stage wasn’t called by any other specific name. Let’s delve into definitions before
1) Definitions
There is...
Closing Your Startup Round? 5 Practical Guidelines
Previous articles have talked about party rounds and keeping momentum in your fundraising. This one will focus specifically on the close, which ideally is a foregone conclusion but sometimes becomes the period of highest...
Under The Hood: How VC Funds Operate (And How That Is Changing)
This is an article meant primarily for entrepreneurs and LPs (limited partners i.e., those investing in a VC fund), albeit we think it’s useful for VCs too. Managing Partners are typically the ones managing...
Signaling Risk? How Early Startups Can Work Best With Big Funds
Signaling risk typically happens when a large fund comes into an early round, creating an expectation in the market that they will lead the next round. For instance, if a $1B firm puts in...
Fundraising During A Pandemic? 4 Ways For Startups To Be Most Effective
The fundamentals of pitching a startup during a pandemic are no different than pitching in normal times. In fact, there is a strong argument for looking at the crisis as an opportunity to start...
Virtual Fundraising For Startups — A Q&A
Q&A with Eileen Wu Raise Partners CEO and Sand Hill Network Co-Founder, Former CNN and CNBC Reporter/Producer
Has virtual fundraising leveled the playing field for international founders? Is it easier now for international founders to...
Crowdfunding? 3 Principles For Entrepreneurs
Oculus. Glowforge. Flow. Exploding Kittens. Veronica Mars. Tile. The Coolest Cooler. BauBax. Fidget Cube. What do all of these companies have in common? They are all successful and started with crowdfunding -- the list...
Going Crazy Managing A Fundraise? 5 Practical Guidelines For Entrepreneurs
At Tau Ventures we believe the fundraising process is always a bit broken -- it works for some startups some of the time but by and large it’s inefficient. While part of it is...
Raising A Startup Round? How And When To Share Fundraising Updates
How long does it take to raise capital?
Why am I not getting term sheets when other companies are?
Is that investor really interested?
These are among the most common questions entrepreneurs ask themselves and VCs. Rounds...
Fundraising Intermediaries? Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Do It, And Where It Still Makes Sense
When it comes to startup fundraising, using intermediaries is looked disfavorably in many if not most ecosystems. Three key reasons for this trend -- more investors around, technology has made coordination and communication increasingly...
So My Startup Is Not Growing As Fast — 5 Practical Tips To Still...
Long sales cycle? Marketing got too expensive? Spent too much time fixing the product?
There are so many reasons why things can take much longer than planned. In fact, our experience at Tau is that...
No place at the table without this one table
An introduction to cap tables
“Our potential investors asked as to present the cap table. What is he/she looking for?” I’ve been asked this question occasionally in sessions with startups looking for funding.
A cap table...
Doing Deals Without Meeting In Person? 5 Guidelines For VCs And Entrepreneurs
Since covid hit the US six months ago VCs and entrepreneurs worldwide have had to adapt to the new reality of doing deals without meeting in person. Building trust is the challenge -- both...
Is There A Bubble? And 3 Practical Tips For Entrepreneur For 2022
If you are asking the question then you probably already believe in the answer.
Pitchbook is a company focused on analysis and research in VC, PE and M&A and per their data till the end...
Why We Invested in Salú – Health At Work
Excited to announce our investment alongside Softbank (Upload Ventures), Aggir and Norte in the now oversubscribed $2M seed of Salú, which is helping provide occupational health insurance in Brazil. They are also focusing on...
Nitty-Gritty Details Will Make (or Kill) Your Valuations. Here’s Why.
Genius is in the details that other people skim.
Answer me honestly. When’s the last time you bothered to read beyond the first line of a Terms and Conditions agreement or take the time to...
