Fundraising

If there is one thing that most startups misunderstand entirely, that’s probably fundraising. Thus, they create their own mental image of what needs to be done to raise money successfully. After interacting with more...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

So a VC is investing in you -- great news. But then you see a string of names and numbers in their investment vehicles and you wonder, what is really going on. This post...

If your VC wants to invest more in you then you have a good problem in your hands. Here are five practical ways to think about it. 1) Prorata (and Super Prorata) A prorata is the...

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...

What is the right cap and discount for your convertible? Should you even have them at all? The latter used to be a very rare situation, now it is a commonly asked question. This...

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...

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...

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...

Someone wants to give you money before you start fundraising? When you still have cash in the bank? And you are getting a great valuation? Hurray! But while it’s almost always a good thing, there...

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...

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...