Terrible terms will attract terrible companies.
Why do you think our terms are "terrible"?
How did you guys arrive at 15% for 150K?
Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
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Re: Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
#12These terms are so good that Kima may have put itself in a strange position of looking "too good to be true."
Standoffish arrogance in VCs is unpleasant, but it can signal that the VC is so successful that he or she doesn't need to be nice.
If only the straightforward approach worked!
Re: Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
#13I think it's an interesting move. I can tell most of HN seems to dislike this idea but I believe it's basically what incubators are offering without the usual smokescreen of "advice + intros"
I know nothing of Kima itself, they could be great or terrible investors - but that seems orthogonal to this idea which could makes sense for both parties in many cases.
Re: Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
#14I am a co-founder at a startup that just graduated from 500startups and as part of my fundraising process, I decided to approach Jeremie.
I think what's this post is missing is some context, Jeremie is running one of the most active seed fund in the world (200 investments is no feat) and they have a stellar reputation which is why I approached him - I did some due diligence with other entrepreneurs who provided me great recommendations as well.
Jeremie turned us down for various reasons but did in a timely manner and was being very honest about it (no sugar-coating or stalling the process to keep the door open like most VCs do).
I think if you're looking to take money from an unknown investor (who has made almost no investment), you should be doing your due diligence. However with a network of 200 backed companies - making a due diligence can be fast and take just a few days and I also think you should do that prior applying to Kima15 via Angellist.
Some cite the valuation not being favorable, however there are stages when your company is so immature and early that you shouldn't worry about over-optimizing for valuation and rather take some money at a lower valuation and move fast in order to make great progress that will let you close more money at a significantly higher valuation. If you are looking to build a company which might be the $100M-$1B valuation range then that low valuation will not have any significant impact on your outcome.
It is also very refreshing to see a seed fund publishing a SLA - I am looking at this as a very clever marketing feature - now people will remember Kima as the first seed fund that agreed to commit for a SLA for giving you an answer - one of the biggest pain in raising funds.
Re: Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
#15I know I wouldn't invest or accept an investment without being able to meet the founders face-to-face. That is part of why Y Combinator has been as successful as it has been, it offers less funding and more networking. The later being what a founder needs just as much OR MORE.
Re: Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you think our terms are "terrible"?
How did you guys arrive at 15% for 150K?
We wanted to call it Kima15 so it's 15%. Good answer? ;-)
More seriously. We know the market better than many angels and we are investing in any country of the world. This offer was already been accepted by a lot of awesome founders building big things.
Re: Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
#17These terms are so good that Kima may have put itself in a strange position of looking "too good to be true." Standoffish arrogance in VCs is unpleasant, but it can signal that the VC is so successful that he or she doesn't need to be nice. If only the straightforward approach worked!
Ok, so the good strategy is to give a bad deal to entrepreneurs ? ;-)
Re: Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
#18What do you guys think about the terms of the deal? Isn't 15% a lot to give out for just 150k?
Y Combinator is $20k (+ $80k maybe) for ~6% equity.
Re: Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
#19Terrible terms will attract terrible companies.
Why do you think our terms are "terrible"?
Terrible is a strong word, but I don't think these terms are good for lots of companies. Each company is at a different stage when they first start raising seed funding. Some companies might just be worth 1 MM, but if you have a strong team, great technology, a workable plan, and early customer interest/revenue 1 MM is a horrible deal. In my opinion these terms are great for some ventures and absolutely horrible for others. I think the quick decisions are great, but I would think it would be more fair and equitable for you not to box the valuations. Perhaps offering a tiered option where higher value ventures take a little longer to evaluate, but I think boxing the valuation will have you miss the best companies. My two cents anyhow.
Re: Kima Ventures Will Allow Startups to Raise $150K Within 15 Days Via AngelList
#20I am a co-founder at a startup that just graduated from 500startups and as part of my fundraising process, I decided to approach Jeremie. I think what's this post is missing is some context, Jeremie is running one of the most active seed fund in the world (200 investments is no feat) and they have a stellar reputation which is why I approached him - I did some due diligence with other entrepreneurs who provided me gr…
Thanks Adam for your kind words.
Still love a lot what you are doing at BinPress!
Good luck!