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Marc Andreessen on "Series Seed Documents" and Why VCs Should Start Using Them

27 points by pchristensen 17y ago

wglb 17y ago
I would be curious what pg thinks of these documents.
- pg 17y ago
  I haven't seen them, but I applaud the idea. The Series AA documents we and WSGR produced have been used by many startups and have saved them a great deal of time and trouble. http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa.html http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa.html The Series AA documents are intended for angel rounds, whereas it sounds like the Series Seed documents, despite the name, are intended to be used with VCs. It could be harder to talk VCs into using standardized documents, but it would be great if that happened.
  - jamesshamenski 17y ago
    Nope. the new docs are for angel rounds. Horowitz makes the point that VC's should act like angels when in an angel round (when in rome). I anticipate that both docs (YC + Andreessen/Horowitz are very similar. They keep it simple so that shit doesnt get complicated if you make it to an A round. What's great is that lots of top notch folks have pledged to use them = a standard is upon us.
    - pg 17y ago
      Well, we know standard docs work in that situation. I hope once the Series Seed docs are out, someone will publish an analysis of the diffs between them and the Series AA docs.
ryanhuff 17y ago
This is great stuff, and is an example of how its the relationship that is ultimately the most important for the attorneys. I wish they took this to the next step and provided similar documents or template for incorporation for your typical small tech startup. While legal zoom and other cheap services can get you there, I am reminded of PG's interview on Mixergy, and how he remarked about YC companies bringing in their "broken" LLC's. Perhaps if there was a better template for startups to use (both LLC and s-corp), these companies could be better positioned when they get to the angel investor or vc stage.
halffinn 17y ago
i really applaud this type of approach. and i do think it's completely appropriate given the ratio between legal fees and the money changing hands in smaller rounds. i do wonder how well this will play out globally. the world is increasingly global, and a lot of companies end up taking rounds from investors in multiple countries as they expand and enter new markets.

27 points by pchristensen 17y ago

wglb 17y ago

I would be curious what pg thinks of these documents.

pg 17y ago
I haven't seen them, but I applaud the idea. The Series AA documents we and WSGR produced have been used by many startups and have saved them a great deal of time and trouble. http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa.html http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa.html The Series AA documents are intended for angel rounds, whereas it sounds like the Series Seed documents, despite the name, are intended to be used with VCs. It could be harder to talk VCs into using standardized documents, but it would be great if that happened.
- jamesshamenski 17y ago
  Nope. the new docs are for angel rounds. Horowitz makes the point that VC's should act like angels when in an angel round (when in rome). I anticipate that both docs (YC + Andreessen/Horowitz are very similar. They keep it simple so that shit doesnt get complicated if you make it to an A round. What's great is that lots of top notch folks have pledged to use them = a standard is upon us.
  - pg 17y ago
    Well, we know standard docs work in that situation. I hope once the Series Seed docs are out, someone will publish an analysis of the diffs between them and the Series AA docs.

ryanhuff 17y ago

This is great stuff, and is an example of how its the relationship that is ultimately the most important for the attorneys. I wish they took this to the next step and provided similar documents or template for incorporation for your typical small tech startup. While legal zoom and other cheap services can get you there, I am reminded of PG's interview on Mixergy, and how he remarked about YC companies bringing in their "broken" LLC's. Perhaps if there was a better template for startups to use (both LLC and s-corp), these companies could be better positioned when they get to the angel investor or vc stage.

halffinn 17y ago

i really applaud this type of approach. and i do think it's completely appropriate given the ratio between legal fees and the money changing hands in smaller rounds. i do wonder how well this will play out globally. the world is increasingly global, and a lot of companies end up taking rounds from investors in multiple countries as they expand and enter new markets.