101–110 of 237 posts
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I dunno that one. It's typically not much.
For a typical advisory board member, usually .1 to .2% of company for a year's service, typically fully vested on grant (e.g., on a 10M share model, 10K or 20K shares/yr). This can vary widely, of course, for special cases, but something along these lines is probably the norm in the Valley. As you note, not much.
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Sales. Seems very hard. Not that that route is bad but I understand b2c better,
What attributes of twilio/weatherbill made you overcome this fear?
Weatherbill was an earlier investment. I still wish I had put more in. I remember the exact line that convinced me: "You can upload your Quickbooks P&L and we'll calculate your exact exposure to the weather." I guess I like novel marketplaces more than I dislike b2b.
For Twilio, it was the quality documentation that convinced me.
Both companies have kick-ass CEO/founders.
Why aren't you starting a new venture yourself?
Do you ever invest outside of SV? Outside of the US?
My one non-dollar-denominated investment is also the sole acquisition from my portfolio.
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The point of raising funds is to hire people who can accelerate the growth of the business. $200k gets you a person or two, which doesn't do very much. So you find yourself raising again pretty much immediately. The fundraising process is a colossal waste of your time. An entrepreneur going this route is not making good trade-offs. In my experience, most of these companies fail.
If $200k is too small to be a worthwhile raise, what do you think of people getting money from Ycombinator?
In general how far along is the startup by the time you invest?
I really want to see a working prototype first. Rarely do i invest without that.
E.G., if I'm building a social web app, do you expect to just see a prototype with a few of the basic concepts? Or do you expect a first version that's already online and starting to get users?
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I really want to see a working prototype first. Rarely do i invest without that.
With that in mind, how do you feel about all of the people who rushed to send money to the NYU kids with the 'Facebook killer' in mind?
I feel bad for the Diaspora kids. They can't help but fail. Everyone will forget about it shortly, except for the people that gave money. I wish them the best of luck.
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I really want to see a working prototype first. Rarely do i invest without that.
How far along do you expect a prototype to be? E.G., if I'm building a social web app, do you expect to just see a prototype with a few of the basic concepts? Or do you expect a first version that's already online and starting to get users?
Through friction the apple is polished, I think.