Venture Capital

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...

At Tau Ventures we advise all entrepreneurs to look upon the diligence process during a fundraising round as a two-way street. We believe it is not only an opportunity but a duty of the...

At Tau Ventures we have invested in startups that are fully in the US, where the CEO is in the US and the rest of the team offshore, and everything in between. For us...

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...

Primum non nocere -- Latin for “first, do no harm” has been enshrined by the medical practice since the times of the Hippocratic Oath. Unfortunately erring is part of the human condition and despite...

Have an investor wanting to do a SPV? Wondering what is all this talk of SPACs? This post is focused on entrepreneurs looking to learn more. 1) Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) -- Also sometimes called...

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...

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...

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...

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...

On Sep 10, Totient, an AI-driven drug discovery company, emerged from stealth with the announcement of a key partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks to rapidly identify neutralizing antibodies against COVID-19. Totient has raised more than...

Is “IBM Watson Health Imaging” the Future of Healthcare? Google details AI that classifies chest X-rays with human-level accuracy. New Research Finds FastMRI Scans Generated with Artificial Intelligence Are as Accurate as Traditional MRI. Headlines like these...

You are a startup that has done fantastic in your home market. Congratulations. Can you repeat it in new markets? This post focuses on how to think it through, focusing on 4 critical levers. 1)...

The three core requirements for raising a strong round of financing: substance -- vision and results, our put it another way team + traction + tech style -- present those results in a meaningful...

First of all -- congratulations. Getting a round together always takes work and a big VC fund is certainly a big validation. That said, it takes both awareness and execution to maximize the pros...

As an operator turned founder turned investor I get asked often the pros and cons of being each. I often respond with a sports analogy -- it isn’t mutually exclusive but do you enjoy...

Venture Capital market analysis from the Great Recession to COVID19 When analyzing a startup, especially the ones at early-stage, investors focus on three main factors: team, market and product. Times of crisis don’t make an...

You open your phone, take an eye exam, and find out your risk of Alzheimer’s 3-5 years ahead even though you have no symptoms. A doctor takes data (CT scans, genomic tests, blood labs, demographics...

So you have just spent six months building a prototype with an early team, punting the question on how to divide the company. Now you are looking to raise external capital essentially forcing you...

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...