We have covered in past FTTWs how to value your startup and how much capital to raise. Once your startup decides to pursue equity financing, you should start to prepare for the investor due diligence process. On the business side, you will need to prepare a business plan and should take steps such as obtaining management references, interviews and background reviews, customer/user references, technical/product reviews, financial statements and business model reviews.
Congratulations! After months of networking, pitch meetings, phone calls, and negotiations, you’ve finally signed a term sheet for your company’s first round of venture financing. What you face next could be one of the biggest hurdles to successfully closing your round—the due diligence process. Read on for […]
As outside counsel to thousands of VC-backed startups, we are often asked the same questions about what startups need to do after raising their first round of VC financing. Here is a quick and dirty list of those next steps. The action items below are described in […]
We are going to touch on the basics of what you need to increase the likelihood of a successful fundraising round. Keep in mind that you are competing against every other investment opportunity that comes across an investor’s desk. Investors are tight on time and resources, so […]
Below are a few guiding principles to keep in mind when creating a pitch deck for investors. Please note that these considerations are not meant to be comprehensive and are only intended to provide general, high-level guidance with respect to the antifraud provisions of U.S. securities laws, […]
You may be wondering how investors come up with valuations as well as the number of shares to be included in a financing round. Much of this is determined by the market rate as well as incentives and “venture math.” As you can imagine, it is important […]
One of the many misconceptions when creating a company is that the terms “startup” and “small business” are easily interchangeable. They are not. In the venture capital industry, a startup has many more requirements and expectations of being a hypergrowth endeavor that can generate at least 10x […]
In our Emerging Companies & Venture Capital group, we often work with founders and early- stage companies that are in the process of raising their first round of financing. On occasion, this takes the form of a “friends and family” round, consisting of a group of supportive […]
Key to any early stage fundraising effort is a well-crafted Executive Summary, or Exec Summary. This succinct document describes your new venture and preemptively addresses fundamental questions that prospective investors will have. I have read hundreds of executive summaries over the years. And, the few good ones […]
The passing of the JOBS Act created much fanfare, especially given the relaxation of the securities laws with respect to the use of "general solicitations." Notwithstanding the excitement from the blogosphere, the revised rules also come with some hidden costs that make using a “general solicitation” in fundraising less attractive.
