asanwal

99 ms·

361.
by asanwal 14y ago
Not totally correct. VC firms often have many concurrent funds. So while they're investing out of fund 1, they're raising for fund 2. And they're using Fund 1 early returns (often paper returns) to make the case for why the LP should inve
362.
by asanwal 14y ago
The VC market is one where the buyers of VC funds (LPs such as Kaufmann) have a lot less information than the sellers (the VCs themselves) - a market with a high degree of information asymmetry. In "a market where sellers have more informa
363.
by asanwal 14y ago
Interested to know if you have data to support this. Thanks.
364.
by asanwal 14y ago
Sorry but this argument is some combination of naive, inane and/or b.s. VCs are financial investors and their investors (the LPs like Kaufmann) who give them money are expecting a return. Discovery, social good, changing the world and oth
365.
by asanwal 14y ago
Great post and points. BUT most founders (including myself when we started) rarely follow this at least until profitability or funding. (note: I still fall into this trap from time to time) The reality is that founders, before they have
366.
by asanwal 14y ago
Yup - I commented on Chris' post and he responded saying "I'm starting to regret the title I used on this post (versus the more accurate first sentence)."
367.
by asanwal 14y ago
His post is right in that he says you outsource things that don't give you a competitive advantage. But this is not necessarily synonymous with things you don't care about. For example, our company has an email newsletter we sell for which
368.
by asanwal 15y ago
So acquirers are going to pay too much for companies in the coming silly season and this should be your signal to really go "all in" on your startup? Instagram hit the startup lottery. Awesome for them. But building a biz solely because of
369.
by asanwal 15y ago
Not really seasonal, but the gyrations from quarter to quarter are less interesting. That said, this has been a steady trend for some time as VCs who last raised their funds in the early to mid 2000s but who didn't deliver returns to their
370.
by asanwal 15y ago
Great point albeit unexplored by us. Are you talking about loans from traditional banks? I've perhaps unfairly assumed traditional banks won't fund SaaS companies because of unfamiliarity with non-asset intensive businesses. Or that they'd
371.
by asanwal 15y ago
While it is not as sexy, it's worth noting that "funding" from customers is generally cheaper than funding from investors. Plus, once you have revenue, you generally become more interesting to investors and have more leverage in those conv
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Song Machine - The Making of a Pop Hit (or Hundreds of Them)(newyorker.com)
5 points by asanwal 15y ago|0 comments
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Expensive things seem less valuable when bundled with inexpensive items(web.hbr.org)
1 points by asanwal 15y ago|0 comments
374.
Come Work in New York(comeworkinnewyork.com)
20 points by asanwal 15y ago|5 comments
375.
by asanwal 15y ago
Two of the firm's investors are buying more shares in the company, and the valuation is rumored to be $700 million. How is it clear that it won't have a place in the future when those two data points suggest something very different? I'm n
376.
by asanwal 15y ago
I agree with your sentiment, but I think the advice has some merit in the sense that if you have an offer that might be the difference between life and death of your company, it is probably not the best decision to fight over 5% of equity.
377.
Chomp acquired by Apple for $50 million(mobile.businessweek.com)
2 points by asanwal 15y ago|0 comments
378.
Failing Gracefully(finance.fortune.cnn.com)
2 points by asanwal 15y ago|0 comments
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by asanwal 15y ago
I don't really think of HN today as being for any geography. Sure, it may have a slightly Silicon Valley-centric feel but SV also is the epicenter for HN type activity and YC is based there so perhaps only natural. Genuine question - What
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The Alarming Rise of Jeremy Lin's Black Antagonists(m.good.is)
13 points by asanwal 15y ago|9 comments
381.
by asanwal 15y ago
One reason not in this post which may influence the decision to raise is how fast the industry you are in is moving. If it's a fast-growing, fast-paced industry with lots of competitors raising big warchests, raising money may be required
382.
by asanwal 15y ago
Very true although I suspect the larger issue was they pretty casually decided to try "him out for the junk drawer job in the startup — CEO."
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LinkedIn picks up Rapportive for around $15M(techcrunch.com)
4 points by asanwal 15y ago|0 comments
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Tech valuations defying reality(bits.blogs.nytimes.com)
5 points by asanwal 15y ago|1 comments
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Union Sq ventures to lead $10m investment in Dwolla(betabeat.com)
32 points by asanwal 15y ago|18 comments
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Mailchimp diversifying? Two-factor security for web apps(alteregoapp.com)
3 points by asanwal 15y ago|0 comments
387.
The ripe scent of money in Silicon Valley(dealbook.nytimes.com)
1 points by asanwal 15y ago|0 comments
388.
by asanwal 15y ago
Yes would love to learn more about Penn tech events (for current students and alums). I'm an M&T grad. In NYC, I just learned about the Penn NY Tech meetup ( http://www.meetup.com/Penn-NY-Tech ) which maybe worth checking out. (note:
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by asanwal 15y ago
Any SaaS startups out there who have had success doing what David suggests, i.e., staying in touch with customers over a period of time to build a trusted relationship and then turning those folks into paying customers? If yes, what were th
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Lead nurturing in SaaS, PaaS, etc(forentrepreneurs.com)
16 points by asanwal 15y ago|3 comments

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