A complete guide for landing an Analyst/Associate position — There’s rarely a question that I get asked more by university students and acquaintances than how to break into VC. And it’s a topic that I’ll gladly cover because there’s so much improper advice to be found online. So, in this piece, I’ll give you my top recommendations for how…

A venture capitalist’s guide to a successful fundraise — There’s many opinions on what founders should do in their fundraising. It’s easy to be misguided with poor advice from “advisors” or “brokers” that operate with their own best interest in mind. And it can be difficult finding your answers online. It’s a question I’ve been asked over and over…

The five pillars of strength for investors and founders — Entrepreneurs often ask for my guidance on where to focus their efforts. I’m hesitant to give company-specific advice without knowing the business inside-out, but the five pillars of strength are always applicable for company success. In any given industry, I look for: An A-star founder/management team A unique product offering …

Private company valuations jumped more dramatically last year than in any other year since the middle of the previous decade. According to PitchBook data, the median late-stage VC valuations in the US was about 20x revenue in 2021 — nearly twice as high as the year before (10.9x). Nonetheless, founders…

It starts with a confident, thorough storytelling — Are you building a tech startup and want to raise Seed money? Or are you trying to land that initial angel investment and grant? The process of building a solution and finding product/market fit while keeping afloat is difficult and stressful. Securing funding is vital for most. But how do…

And VC as a whole outperforms every other major asset class — I recently came across an interesting memo from Fred Wilson at USV that points out the faulty performance measurements of venture capital (VC) returns and why this is a problem for the industry as a whole. For a long time now, the story has been that a VC firm needs…

In these years we are nearing the fourth phase of capitalism. The following walk-through is a simplified and abbreviated version of our economic phases. First phase (lassiez-fair capitalism): From the 19th century up to the beginning of the Depression in early 1930s. Adam Smith, free market economy, clashes with feudal…

A liquidation preference is a provision meant to serve as a protection for investors if a company exits at a lower valuation than initially expected, and sometimes as a way to guarantee a certain amount of returns. Liquidation preference is a senior claim to proceeds in the case of a…

A mini guide to potent startup investing from a venture capitalist — I am often surprised that many Business Angels I talk to, even those investing professionally full time, have ended up investing in startups based on only a few meetings with the founder teams. In failing to spend time with founders, you won’t get to know them. And perhaps just as…