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about half of all the initial investments we've made in the past three years have been angel rounds. i see our firm as bridging the gap between angel investing

about half of all the initial investments we've made in the past three years have been angel rounds. i see our firm as bridging the gap between angel investing and venture investing. we can invest $250k in an angel round and scale up to $10mm+ if need be. if there's no reason for our existence, we'll close shop. but right now, we are seeing more deal flow than ever which is certainly an indication that others see a reason for our existence even though you don't

ojbyrne 18y ago
I actually felt like Union Square didn't quite fit my criticism as it is more agile and angel-like. I should have said "those VCs that don't adapt are screwed."
tonystubblebine 18y ago
Fred, I think the decreased cost of starting a web business is what's causing both the calls for the death of venture capital and the experience you're having of increased deal flow. There's just a lot more of us founders so it's natural that you'd see more deals even if you weren't also doing an excellent job of making a name for yourself through blogging and smart investments. On the other hand, the costs dropped so low that I think you're finding a lot more people jumping in who are driven more by the romantic ideal of building a company rather than just to prove one idea before moving on to the next. I say it's a romantic notion because of a recent thread that PG kicked off where he said that he couldn't imagine working on the same company forever because there were so many other interesting things to do. I think the romantics develop such an attachment to the company they're building that they couldn't imagine ever leaving it. I'm a romantic. For a number of overblown reasons, VC feels antithetical to building a company you want to stay at. There's the pejoratives (lifestyle business, would you rather be rich or a king?) that come from the VC backed startup culture. There's the need for an exit. And more importantly, I think people who think this way would much rather ask customers for money than investors. I think that comes down to preferring to focus on value rather than hype.
- ojbyrne 18y ago
  I think that the increased dealflow might also be due to the fact that all the alternatives look really awful right now.
  - tonystubblebine 18y ago
    Which other alternatives are you talking about? Unemployment, that sucks. The corporate world, as soul-suckingly painless as ever. Bootstrapping, different but equally stressful compared to having funding. Non-profit, actually seems pretty bright right now.
    - ojbyrne 18y ago
      I'm talking about the source of funds (the other side of the flow). Hedge funds - history. Real Estate - toast. Savings account, money market account, t-bill - all paying below inflation.

ojbyrne 18y ago

I actually felt like Union Square didn't quite fit my criticism as it is more agile and angel-like. I should have said "those VCs that don't adapt are screwed."

tonystubblebine 18y ago

Fred, I think the decreased cost of starting a web business is what's causing both the calls for the death of venture capital and the experience you're having of increased deal flow. There's just a lot more of us founders so it's natural that you'd see more deals even if you weren't also doing an excellent job of making a name for yourself through blogging and smart investments. On the other hand, the costs dropped so low that I think you're finding a lot more people jumping in who are driven more by the romantic ideal of building a company rather than just to prove one idea before moving on to the next. I say it's a romantic notion because of a recent thread that PG kicked off where he said that he couldn't imagine working on the same company forever because there were so many other interesting things to do. I think the romantics develop such an attachment to the company they're building that they couldn't imagine ever leaving it. I'm a romantic. For a number of overblown reasons, VC feels antithetical to building a company you want to stay at. There's the pejoratives (lifestyle business, would you rather be rich or a king?) that come from the VC backed startup culture. There's the need for an exit. And more importantly, I think people who think this way would much rather ask customers for money than investors. I think that comes down to preferring to focus on value rather than hype.

ojbyrne 18y ago
I think that the increased dealflow might also be due to the fact that all the alternatives look really awful right now.
- tonystubblebine 18y ago
  Which other alternatives are you talking about? Unemployment, that sucks. The corporate world, as soul-suckingly painless as ever. Bootstrapping, different but equally stressful compared to having funding. Non-profit, actually seems pretty bright right now.
  - ojbyrne 18y ago
    I'm talking about the source of funds (the other side of the flow). Hedge funds - history. Real Estate - toast. Savings account, money market account, t-bill - all paying below inflation.