Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. When I was single, I registered for (a lot of) dating websites. When I met my now-wife, I realized that any technology that can find me a spouse is a killer...
[Continue Reading]Free money for your impact tech startup
Congratulations! You’ve decided to launch a technology-enabled startup with a positive social impact! Nearly every major Silicon Valley venture-capital firm has now invested in a B Corp; maybe you will be one of them! Now the bad news: some venture capitalists have a bias against startups with an explicit positive social impact, on the grounds...
[Continue Reading]How to choose an investment banker…or replicate one
Should you hire an investment banker? And if so, who? The good news: even if you are a small company and can’t afford a banker, you can synthetically and cheaply replicate a banker. That’s part of the value proposition of an institutional VC; I have been the (unpaid) investment banker for many of my portfolio...
[Continue Reading]Should you raise traditional VC or Flexible VC?
Most founders who are raising capital look first to traditional equity VCs. But should they? Or should they look to one of the new wave of Revenue-Based Finance VCs, or other Flexible VCs? Revenue-Based Finance (“RBI” or “RBF”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. RBF...
[Continue Reading]Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Finance?
You’re working on launching a new VC fund; congratulations! I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching Revenue-Based Investing and other new approaches to VC. The question I’m asking myself: should a new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing, traditional equity VC, or possibly both (likely from two separate pools of...
[Continue Reading]Why are Alternative VCs investing in so many women & underrepresented founders?
A new wave of Alternative VCs are emerging who are using creative investing structures with some of the upside of traditional VC, but some of the downside protection of debt. Many are reporting that they’re seeing a more diverse pool of applicants than traditional equity VCs… even though virtually none have a particular focus on...
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