Venture Capital Trends: East Meets West – Lewis Geffen, Co-chair, Venture Capital Practice
In the regular corporate world, the capital structure of a company usually means the ratio between the company’s equity (money the company’s owners invested in it) and debt capital (external funding injected into the company...more
Being an entrepreneur involves wearing many hats. In addition to thinking about product and design, you must also be able to speak the language of investors. Below are some important terms every entrepreneur should know...more
In late September 2018, Y Combinator released new forms of Simple Agreements for Future Equity (“Safes”) containing significant changes to the original forms released in late 2013. In its issuing release, Y Combinator cited a...more
The National Venture Capital Association (“NVCA”) has created and maintained a standardized, industry-embraced set of model documents that can be used as a starting point in venture capital (“VC”) financings. These model...more
Preferred stock is commonly used for venture capital and private equity investments. It gives the investor the ability to convert to common stock if the deal succeeds, and also includes protection of the liquidation...more
Christopher Mims had an article in the Wall Street Journal recently titled “The Dangers Ahead if Tech Unicorns Get Gored.” In his article, Mr. Mims discusses the potential collateral damage of a failed unicorn. The article is...more
Founders are often focused on maintaining at least 51% ownership of their companies. With 51%, they will be able to control the Company, and their destiny. At least that’s what they thought. In reality, the 51% control...more
One of your first tasks in financing your technology company is likely to be completing your initial equity financing with outside investors. Typically, these financings are done with a venture capital firm (“VC”), angel...more
In early 2011 we published our first Seed Financing Survey (for 2010) in recognition of the growing importance of seed financing to entrepreneurs and the venture capital environment, especially in the internet/digital media...more