Blog
- Brad Feld Blog and Brad Feld Blog Archive
- Ask the VC and Ask the VC Archives
- Foundry Group Docs via Ask the VC
- Starting a Blog Series on Financial Statements
Books
Hobbies and Maker Hours
- What Do You Do On The Weekends? (cf. Chris Dixon)
- Lessons From Maker Hours
- Shifting Hard To Maker Mode For The Summer (cf. Paul Graham)
VC- General
- Why VCs Should Recycle Their Management Fees
- Spending The Day With Another VC Firm
- How To Respond To A Cold Call Email From An Associate At A Big VC Firm
- Dear GP: Why Are You Blowing Me Off?
- Give Your VCs Assignments (cf. Mark Suster)
- Investment vs. Speculation
- How To Get A Job In Venture Capital
- A Mental Model For VC Investments (cf. Charlie Munger, David Cowan, Jerry Colonna)
- Are You Accredited?
- Venture Capital Deal Algebra (cf. Fred Wilson)
Angel Investors- General
Billion Dollar Company
Financing
Signaling
- Entrepreneurs Dislike Signaling; VCs Dislike Free Riders
- Addressing The VC Seed Investor Signaling Problem
Getting Attention
Preparing for a Meeting with Brad Feld
Story Telling, Demos, and Pitches
- Getting Your Demos Right
- Don’t Get Sick Of Telling Your Story
- Don’t Tell Me Your History In Chronological Order
- If You Can’t Explain What You Do In A Paragraph, You’ve Got A Problem
- Entrepreneurial Story Telling
- Show Don’t Tell – Especially In Video Pitches
- The Torturous World of Powerpoint
Eliminate/Outlaw Vagueries
Saying No, Why Am I Passing, Asking for a Referral
- Saying No In Less Than 60 Seconds
- Why Am I Passing?
- Don’t Ask For A Referral If I Say No (cf. Fred Wilson)
Funding Announcements
- Transparent Funding Announcements
- Announce Your Financing In Conjunction With Your Form D Filing and SEC: Form D
Entity Structure
- What Structure Should I Use?
- What’s The Best Structure For A Pre-VC Investment?
- What’s The Best Corporate Structure For An Early Stage Company?
- S-Corp’s vs. LLC’s
- You Don’t Want To Raise VC Money – Do An LLC
Delaware
Feld Technologies (Business Plan Case Study)
- Business Plan – The Company
- Business Plan: Introduction: The Rise of Databases
- Business Plan – The Industry: Introduction
- Business Plan – Charter
- The Business Plan
Feld Technologies (More Business Documents)
- The Feld Technologies Professional Services Agreement
- The Simple Formal Beginnings Of Feld Technologies
- Precepts
History of Brad Feld's Companies
- 2430 Denmark, Garland, Texas
- The Agony and Ecstasy of Selling My First Company
- What Was The Address of Your First Real Office?
- Startups at 351 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, MA
- My First Office – 875 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
- I Suck At Naming Things
- My Zero-ith Company
- Martingale Software – My First Company
Sayahh (Finance Fridays/Term Sheet Series Case Study)
- SayAhh Has Shut Down
- SayAhh’s Revenue Projections
- SayAhh’s Revenue Projections
- Sayahh’s Financial Statements For August 2011
- Introducing the Cap Table and Hiring the CTO
- Overview of Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows (cf. Fred Wilson)
- Setting Up Your Accounting System
- Finance Fridays: Getting Started – Allocating Equity and Founder’s Investment
VC Rights
Seed Series
- The Silliness Of Recapping Seed Rounds
- Too Many Seed Investment Choices (cf. Foundry Group)
- Some Complexities of Venture Capital Seed Investing (cf. Mark Suster)
Standardized Seed Documents
- Failing Fast at Standardized Seed Deal Documents (cf. Jason Mendelson)
- The Proliferation of Standardized Seed Financing Documents
Convertible Debt
- The Pre-money vs. Post-money Confusion With Convertible Notes (cf. Mark Suster)
- How Convertible Debt Works (Term Sheet Series)
- Is It Important To Understand Convertible Debt Terms? (Term Sheet Series)
Term Sheet- General
- The Challenge of The Ideal First Round Term Sheet (Term Sheet Series)
- Terms, Terms, and First Round Terms (Term Sheet Series) (cf. Fred Wilson, Chris Dixon, Jason Mendelson)
- Entrepreneurs Blogging About Term Sheets (Term Sheet Series) (cf. Fred Wilson)
- Revisiting the Term Sheet (Term Sheet Series)
- An Entrepreneur on Term Sheet Terms (Term Sheet Series)
- Term Sheet Series Wrap Up (Term Sheet Series)
Term Sheet
- Annoying Term Sheet Things (Term Sheet Series)
- Compelled Sale Right (Term Sheet Series)
- Contentious Issues and Lawyers (Term Sheet Series)
- Indemnification and Assignment (Term Sheet Series)
- Unilateral or Serial Monogamy (Term Sheet Series)
- Initial Public Offering Shares Purchase (Term Sheet Series)
- Founders Activities (Term Sheet Series)
- Restriction on Sales, Proprietary Inventions, and Co-Sale Agreement (Term Sheet Series)
- Voting Rights and Employee Pool (Term Sheet Series)
- Information and Registration Rights (Term Sheet Series)
- Vesting (Term Sheet Series)
- Conditions Precedent to Financing (Term Sheet Series)
- Conversion (Term Sheet Series)
- Redemption Rights (Term Sheet Series)
- Dividends (Term Sheet Series)
- Pay-to-Play (Term Sheet Series)
- Anti-Dilution (Term Sheet Series)
- Drag Along (Term Sheet Series)
- Protective Provisions (Term Sheet Series)
- Price (Term Sheet Series)
Letter of Intent
- Representations, Warranties, and Indemnification (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Employee Matters (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Conditions to Close (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Fees, Fees, and More Fees (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Structure – Asset vs. Stock (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Asset Sale – Heart or Leaves? (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Form of Consideration (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Structure of a Deal (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Letter of Intent (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Foreplay (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
Due Diligence
Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreements
- Question Regarding NDAs
- Confidentiality / Non-Disclosure Agreement (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Why Most VC’s Don’t Sign NDAs
No Shop Agreement/Clause
- No Shop Agreement (Term Sheet Series)
- The No Shop Clause (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
Liquidation Preference
- Liquidation Preference (Term Sheet Series)
- To Participate or Not (Participating Preferences)
- Liquidation Preferences
Pro-Rata and Super Pro-Rata
- Entrepreneurs: Just Say No To Super Pro-Rata Rights (cf. Mark Suster)
- Seth Levine: What Does Pro-rata Mean?
Stock Option Grants
- A Different Approach to Refreshing Stock Option Grants
- How to Set The Strike Price on Stock Options
- Assumption of Stock Options (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
- Two Last Things On Assumption of Stock Options (Term Sheet Series/Letter of Intent Series)
Registration Rights
Right of First Refusal
Escrow
GAAP
EBITDA
409a
- IRS Grants “Relief” on 409A
- 409A – Oh How I Love Thy Wiliness
- Is 409A Too Difficult For The IRS To Figure Out?
- Does Your VC Understand 409A?
- Does 409A Apply To ISO’s?
- 409A Legal Disclaimer
- Practical 409A Valuation Question
- 409A – Tying Up Loose Ends
- 409A – Mythbusters
- 409A – IRS Update – Maybe The Sky Isn’t Falling
- 409A – Fixes, Glitches and Hitches
- 409A – An Example (DCF/Black Scholes Model)
- 409A – The Valuation Process
- 409A – Government Maximus Interruptus
Audits- General
Audits- FAS 157 ("fair value measurement")
- FAS 157 – Another Annoying Accounting Provision
- FAS 157 – The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Audit
Board of Directors with Jim Lejeal
- Board of Directors: Number of Meetings (Board of Directors Series)
- Board of Directors; The Agenda (Board of Directors Series)
- Board of Directors: A Little More on “The Chairman” Post (Board of Directors Series)
- Board of Directors: The Chairman (Board of Directors Series)
- Board of Directors: Duty of Care and Duty of Loyalty (Board of Directors Series)
- Board of Directors (Term Sheet Series)
Compensation for Board Members, Outside Directors, and Advisors
- Compensation for Board Members
- The Best Approach To A Board Package (cf. Eric Ries)
- PDF Your Board Package
- Compensation for Outside Directors
- How Many Stock Options Should I Give An Advisor? and Non-Qualified Stock Option Wikipedia
Directors and CEOs
- All CEOs Should Be An Outside Director For One Company
- The Power of a CEO 360 Review
- Talking to Directors
- Recruiting a New Director
- Talking To Fellow Directors About Replacing A CEO (cf. Heidi Roizen)
- Signs That A Board Should Consider Replacing The CEO (cf. Heidi Roizen)
Board Meetings
- The Board Operating System (cf. Anil Dash)
- The Full Day Quarterly Board Meeting
- The First Board Meeting
- Expectations for Outside Board Members
- My Ideal Board Meeting
- Mentor Whiplash About Early Board Members (cf. Steve Blank)
- Do You Need A Board Chairman?
- Monthly Financials, Quarterly Board Meetings, Continuous Communications
- Should VC Board Observers Rights Exist?
- Retrospective Addiction Of A Madman Post Board Meeting
- What Makes An Awesome Board Member?
- Great Board Meetings
- Remote Board Attendance Via Skype
- Note To CEO’s: Decisions Come From You, Not The Board
- Abolish Board Meeting Update Calls (cf. Steve Blank)
- Joining The Reinventing The Board Meeting Bandwagon (cf. Steve Blank)
- Start Every Board Meeting With A Demo
- Board Meeting Lessons From The Supreme Court
- VC Behavior in Board Meetings
- The Best Board Meetings
- The Closed Session of a Board Meeting
- Sample Board Meeting Minutes
- Board Meeting Rules
- Board Meetings – Do The Formal Stuff First
- Board Meeting Food
- Ideal Board Meetings
- Boards That Are Not Bored
- Technical advisory board meeting
Metrics
- Financial Literacy (cf. Fred Wilson)
- Beware the Hockey Stick in Your Budget
- Metrics for An Enterprise Software Company (cf. Paul Kedrosky)
- Financial Metrics – The DOC Report
- Financial Fitness for Entrepreneurs
Using Products
- Use Your Competitors’ Products All The Time
- Should You Force Your Investors To Use Your Product?
- Do Your Investors Use Your Product?
Competition and First Mover
Market Fit
- The Illusion of Product/Market Fit for SaaS Companies (cf. Ben Horowitz, Fred Wilson)
- Founder Market Fit (cf. David Lee, Chris Dixon)
Lean-ish
Aquihire
Interviewing, Recruiting, and The Compensation Conversation
- Guidelines For Interviewing At A Startup
- Recruiting Software Developers By Showing Up With Pizza
- More On Recruiting Programmers To Your Startup (cf. Chris Dixon)
- Getting The Compensation Conversation Right
Payroll Frequency
Domain Names
80-19-1 Rule
Customer Support
Feedback
Code Red
Giving Up Salary
Restarts and Negative Overhang
Burn Out, Depression, Failure
- Talking About Failure
- Depression and Entrepreneurs
- Burning Out
- It’s Not That I Don’t Suffer
- The Stockdale Paradox
Failed Startup
Agents
Bershire Hathaway