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Andrew Romans
Andrew Romans, General Partner of 7BC Venture Capital, 3x author, and university professor, talks to VCs, founders and other VC-startup ecosystem players about all things venture capital, startups, entrepreneurship, technology, CVC, and big corporate tech titans.
E116 Nada CityFunds a new way to own real estate w/ Tore Steen
E116 Nada CityFunds, a new way to own real estate, w/ CEO Tore Steen on Fireside with a VC. Tore is the CEO of Nada which operates CityFunds. Nada helps homeowners and individual investors solve the challenge of accessing and investing in home equity by providing a platform for home equity investment without additional debt or monthly payments. Homeowners sell a home share in exchange for cash and investors may invest in a CityFund that owns home shares in many homes in a specific high growth city or invest in the entire basket of home shares across multiple cities. Tore previously cofounded CrowdStreet, the largest online real estate investment platform in the U.S. having raised and invested over $4.4bn primarily from accredited and retail investors, where he raised over $50m of VC funding and additional venture debt funding. Tore joined Nada first as a board member and now as CEO.
Links and Resources:
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uvDWJvJMuzI.
Find all episodes of Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Learn more about Nada and their CityFunds: https://www.nada.co/
https://www.cityfunds.com/
Follow on Tore on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toresteen/
Contact Tore: [email protected]
Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Join our Newsletter to get our insights and curated content from the VC-startup ecosystem - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Learn more about 7BC Venture Capital here: https://7bc.vc/.
Get Andrew's new book here: Masters of Raising Venture Capital: https://www.amazon.com//dp/B0DHH5M4TM/.
Get Andrew's book on Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) here: Masters of Corporate Venture Capital: http://rb.gy/u46e9r.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
46:4719/11/2024
E115 Intel Capital, Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) putting the silicon back in Silicon Valley
E115 Intel Capital, Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) putting the silicon back in Silicon Valley, Jennifer Ard, Managing Director, Head of Investment Operations at Intel Capital
Links and Resources:
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kzB5m6ViVzE.
Find all episodes of Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Learn more about Intel Capital: https://www.intelcapital.com/.
Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-ard-cfa-32a69b3/.
Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Join our Newsletter to get our insights and curated content from the VC-startup ecosystem - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Learn more about 7BC Venture Capital here: https://7bc.vc/.
Get Andrew's new book here: Masters of Raising Venture Capital: https://www.amazon.com//dp/B0DHH5M4TM/.
Get Andrew's book on Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) here: Masters of Corporate Venture Capital: http://rb.gy/u46e9r.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
38:1902/11/2024
E114 How Antler became the most active VC globally so quickly
E114 How Antler became the most active VC globally so quickly – Anthony Millet, Partner & Co-Head Antler Capital, on Fireside with a VC
Anthony Millet discusses how Antler quickly became the most active VC globally since founding in 2018 with a team of 300 investing in 500 startups per year out of offices in 30 cities on 6 continents. Pre-Seed to Series A and beyond. Meet Anthony Millet in person next week in Palo Alto at the 7BC Venture Capital event October 29, 2024 from 5 to 9 pm.
Links and Resources:
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Y92-7ZscN2Y.
Meet Anthony Millet in person and hear him on the VC panel: https://lu.ma/1o2zs7x8.
Find all episodes of Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC. Learn more about Antler: https://www.antler.co/.
Follow Anthony Millet on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-millet-9327713/
Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Join our Newsletter to get our insights and curated content from the VC-startup ecosystem - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Learn more about 7BC Venture Capital here: https://7bc.vc/.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
47:4622/10/2024
E113 AI for VC Fund Admin, Compliance, Tax & Portfolio Construction: pay less perform better
E113 Zive AI CEO Rajesh Gopi on Fireside with a VC explaining how his firm has applied AI to revolutionize venture capital admin, compliance, LP reporting, interacting with portfolio companies, LPs, portfolio construction, and, how to hit your IRR, DPI, and TVPI targets and so much more. The days of running a VC without AI are over.
Links and Resources:
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wVYm7JKD2Io. Find all episodes of Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: https://pocasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Learn more about Zive AI: https://www.zive.ai/.
Follow Rajesh Gopi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeshgopi/ Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Join our Newsletter to get our insights and curated content from the VC-startup ecosystem - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc. Learn more about 7BC Venture Capital here: https://7bc.vc/.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
44:0804/10/2024
E112 K&L Gates Navigating Term Sheets
E112 A walk through an NVCA VC Term Sheet for a Series A funding round with Jason Putnam Gordon, legendary Silicon Valley VC lawyer and Partner at K&L Gates, one of the premier VC-focused law firms. This episode literally walks through every term in a term sheet with a lawyer and VC discussing each term, explaining what they mean, and which ones are worth fighting for. Lawyers like Jason can be very expensive but worth every penny. Strap in for a free masterclass!
Links and Resources:
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/F2MnHqWFBHA.
Find all episodes of Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Learn more about the K&L Gates: https://www.klgates.com/firm-overview.
Follow Jason Putnam Gordon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonputnamgordon/
Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Join our Newsletter to get our insights and curated content from the VC-startup ecosystem - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Learn more about 7BC Venture Capital here: https://7bc.vc/.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
01:15:3120/09/2024
E111 Breakup big tech monopolies? Nava VC & Stanford Prof Manish Patel
E111 Breaking up big tech monopolies on Fireside with a VC speaking with Manish Patel, founder of Nava Ventures, a $175m VC fund in San Francisco, Teaching Faculty at Stanford University, early Googler, and former General Partner at Highland Capital Partners. Talking about his history at Google pre-IPO and the current state of monopolies with Google, Apple and Microsoft and what should regulators do as well as regulatory capture with Open AI and other tech titans. Manish also talks about Nava VC and their Series A concentrated strategy backing 15 startups per fund from a roughly $175m fund.
Links and Resources:
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HSjpaXNrclE.
Find all episodes of Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Learn more about the Nava Ventures: https://www.nava.vc/.
Follow Manish Patel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manishpatelli/.
Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Join our Newsletter to get our insights and curated content from the VC-startup ecosystem - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Learn more about 7BC Venture Capital here: https://7bc.vc/.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
01:05:4905/09/2024
E110 Austin, TX Venture Capital, ATX Ventures Chris Shonk
E110 Austin, Texas Venture Capital on Fireside with a VC speaking with Chris Shonk, cofounder and Managing Director of ATX Venture Partners. Discussing the evolution of Austin as a tech corridor from early semiconductors to IBM, Tivoli, and a string of startup hits early days of VC here and how Austin founders had term sheets from Silicon Valley requiring relocation to California in the old days and now the reverse is happening. How Austin has become the fastest growing VC town with the highest density of VCs per capita in the United States.
Links and Resources:
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HLO6VVARRM8.
Find all episodes of Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Learn more about the ATX Ventures: https://www.atxventurepartners.com/.
Follow Chris Shonk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisshonk/.
Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Join our Newsletter to get our insights and curated content from the VC-startup ecosystem - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Learn more about 7BC Venture Capital here: https://7bc.vc/.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
56:3529/08/2024
E109 Pre-Seed VC RSCM, 2k+ investments since 2012
E109 Pre-Seed venture capital on Fireside with a VC speaking with David Lambert, Cofounder, Right Side Capital Management (RSCM) one of the most active pre-seed or pre-VC investors in Silicon Valley and across the US and Canada.
Links and Resources:
Watch the full episode on
YouTube: https://youtu.be/cspNXaMmorI.
Find all episodes of Fireside
with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Learn more about the fund: https://rightsidecapital.com/.
Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get insights and favorite content from the VC startup ecosystem: subscribe.7bc.vc. Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
01:08:5512/08/2024
E108 Morgan Stanley Funding African American, Latino & Woman Startups
E108 Fireside with a VC speaking with Alice Vilma, Managing Director and Co-Head of The Next Level Fund at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Alice explains how the Next Level Fund looks to promote financial inclusion and provide founders of tech and tech-enabled startups with much-needed access to investors—along with the tools, resources and connections they need to grow and thrive. We discuss how the fund encourages underserved segments of the market to apply for funding and what that process entails. The economic case for funding diversity and making change happen.
Links and Resources:
Learn more about the fund: Morgan Stanley Next Level | Team Page
Contact Alice: [email protected]
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oojqABhTBZk.
Find all episodes of Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get insights and favorite content from the VC startup ecosystem: subscribe.7bc.vc.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
43:3317/07/2024
E107 Scenario Planning for China & Asia, Silicon Valley & China
E107 In this episode of Fireside with a VC, we discuss scenario planning for China & Asia and the relationship with Silicon Valley. We explore future opportunities with Francis Bassolino, Managing Director of Alaris Consulting, who has been helping companies of all sizes enter, succeed, and exit China over a span of 30+ years. Francis is also an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in Shanghai and Chicago. Having lived in Shanghai for over 21 years and in China since 1988, he brings extensive insights into the region.
We delve into the history of what has happened and the opening of China up to today. We also look at different scenarios such as an invasion of Taiwan, a blockade of Taiwan, no invasion or blockade, China with no reforms, with reforms, and the potential for a return to high growth in China. We examine how these different scenarios will impact the greater Asia region and the West.
Our discussion includes the relationship between China and Russia, particularly days before Russia invaded Ukraine when Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced their partnership has “no limits” and vowed to deepen cooperation on various fronts, including the Russia-Ukraine war. We talk about the bargain between the Chinese people happily giving up civil liberties for a prosperous life and 10% growth consistently over decades.
We also cover the impact of recent oppressive COVID-19 lockdowns, the period of low growth, the lack of job opportunities for the youth, and the generation of young Chinese not getting married, having children, or working in post-Jack Ma China. Is the Chinese economy in a freefall now?
Furthermore, we discuss the evolving relationship between Silicon Valley and China, what it might look like in the future, and different scenarios and opportunities for Western companies to grow revenues and lower costs with the Chinese partnership.
Links and Resources:
Learn more about Francis Bassolino and Alaris Consulting at www.alarisconsultinggroup.com.
Connect with Francis Bassolino: [email protected].
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ddjmtok1OZg.
Find all episodes of Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform: Spotify.
Follow Andrew Romans on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/romans/.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get insights and favorite content from the VC startup ecosystem: subscribe.7bc.vc.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
01:29:1411/07/2024
E106 Ex-Head of Eric Schmidt’s Family Office, CFO of Sybase, Excite@Home, Siebel, Fortinet, Yahoo!
E106 Fireside with a VC speaking with Ken Goldman, former President of Eric & Wendy Schmidt’s family office, former CFO of Yahoo!, Fortinet, Siebel Systems (acquired by Oracle), Excite@Home, Sybase, and Cypress Semiconductor. Discussed the changes in VC, going public and the reasons companies should go public again, the problems secondaries for founders create, how to leave a company ethically, general advice on how to win in the big leagues, selling Siebel to Oracle, the dynamics of changing CEOs, lessons learned from board of directors dynamics at Yahoo!, working with activist shareholders, how enterprise software companies should or should not go international, running Eric and Wendy Schmidt’s family office, and now speaking at family office and other conferences.
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/krSWnl3eGco.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your
favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join our Newsletter to get our insights and favorite curated content from the VC-startup ecosystem - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you
think about these topics and this episode.
53:2325/06/2024
#105 Ex-President of TiE Silicon Valley, Chair of TiE Global, founder of Monta Vista Capital, Seed VC
E105 Fireside with a VC speaking with Venktesh (Venk) Shukla founder of Monta Vista Capital and former President of TiE Silicon Valley, Chair of TiE Global. Venk explains the core values and magic of TiE. We discuss what Venk learned from making his first 20 investments and how he developed his framework for his Monta Vista Capital seed stage VC fund and how he invests in pre-revenue and very early stage startups. We also discuss investing in AI, the secondary and exit markets.
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lrsNia672Eo.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
https://montavc.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vnshukla/
https://tie.org/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join our Newsletter - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you
think about these topics and this episode.
52:4015/06/2024
#104 Tax secretes for founders & tech execs RSUs, AMT, ISO, 83(b) elections
E104 Fireside with a VC speaking with Bruce Barton, founder of Parkworth, Wealth Management for Tech Professionals in Silicon Valley and the author of Author of Personal Finance for Tech Professionals In Silicon Valley and Beyond. Discussing tax and personal finance issues specific to employees and founders of publicly traded and privately held tech startups and how equity compensation can get rather complicated and must be navigated to avoid being double taxed.
1) Double taxed on RSU share sales – How to avoid getting taxed twice.
https://www.parkworth.com/blogs/dont-pay-tax-twice-on-rsu-sales
2) AMT on ISO exercise –people who exercised incentive stock options (ISOs) and then get a big AMT (alternative minimum tax) bill that can be challenging to pay.
3) ISO exercise and QSBS – What people need to know about starting the 5-year clock for QSBS tax treatment on ISOs.
https://www.parkworth.com/blogs/6-rules-for-exercising-stock-options-to-qualify-for-qsbs?rq=qsbs
4) 83(b) elections –Why this is so important for founders.
https://www.parkworth.com/blogs/avoid-this-big-tax-mistake-when-founding-your-tech-startup?rq=qsbs
5) Retirement planning for people in tech - Is a career in tech different from other industries for retirement planning? How to operate in the fast lane of the Silicon Valley and prepare for retirement.
Find Bruce’s book, Personal Finance for Tech Professionals: In Silicon Valley and Beyond: https://rb.gy/wc0r2q
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jVtzqLyztPQ.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
https://www.parkworth.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-barton-cfp/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join our Newsletter - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us
what you think about these topics and this episode.
43:5125/05/2024
#103, Cut costs, grow revs, raise or not raise more VC – Canadian episode!
#103 Every CANADIAN startup or investor should listen to this episode! Fireside with a VC speaking with Kevin Kliman CEO of Humi discussing getting healthy lowering costs, maintaining growth, the tradeoffs to consider raising a growth VC funding round or not, and when to raise. Discussing Humi’s business which is processing $4.5bn CAD of payroll every 4.5 months. Humi is the payroll, benefits, & insurance platform for Canadian companies. Discussing Humi’s new product for the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentives where Canadian startups get 66% of tech employee salaries back in cash.
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ei1xRFoHIzY.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
https://www.humi.ca/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kkliman/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join our Newsletter - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us
what you think about these topics and this episode.
45:3820/05/2024
#102, Revolution Ventures, Tige Savage cofounded w/ Steve Case
Episode #102 Fireside with a VC speaking with Tige Savage who cofounded Revolution with Steve Case, founder of AOL – America Online, one of the biggest internet companies in history reaching a peak market cap of $200bn dominating email, internet connectivity, online news, and chat. Tige discusses all things venture capital with a wealth of multi-decade experience covering a wide area of topics on how to run a high-performing VC fund year over year and best practices on investing, governance, legals, portfolio construction, sectors, overall strategy, and today’s exit market.
Discussing the organization of Revolution with 1) Revolution Rise of the Rest – their $150m pre-seed fund, 2) Revolution Ventures – the $150m VC fund Tige manages with a concentrated 15 portfolio companies per fund, and 3) Revolution Growth which continues to invest in Series B and beyond. Discussed the pioneering thesis of investing across the US rather than being concentrated in the Silicon Valley, New York, Boston or other highly evolved tech corridors and why Washington DC matters.
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FzartNaPUoY.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
https://revolution.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tigesavage/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join our Newsletter - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
58:4929/04/2024
#101, Andrew Romans on American Dreams Show with Alen Olsen
Fireside with a VC episode #101, Andrew Romans on The American Dreams Show with Alan Olsen discussing the future of venture capital covering Seed to Late Seed & Series A and Late Stage Growth VC and what has changed over the past few decades.
Alan Olsen is a fixture in Silicon Valley and cofounder of GROCO Family Office Advisors, Advisors to the Ultra Affluent and organizer of Legacy Builders. We Protect Our Clients’ Lifestyle & Resolve Complex Tax & Wealth Concerns
https://groco.com/family-office-services/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanolsen1960/
Contact us if you want to join Alan and his group of 50 family offices in Silicon Valley on May 15th.
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MWoyTKUDskQ.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join our Newsletter - Fireside with a VC: https://subscribe.7bc.vc.
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
34:0023/04/2024
#100, Calculating valuations & how much capital to raise, Vibhor Rastogi, Global Head of AI investments at Citi Ventures
Fireside with a VC episode #100 speaking with Vibhor Rastogi, Global Head of AI investments at Citi Ventures, discussing how to determine startup valuations and how much capital a startup should raise. How much to raise should be driven by enough time runway to achieve the next key milestone to unlock the next funding round - be that product, revenue, users or other measurable business milestone KPIs. How the market is changing. Expect to need at least enough time 1) to reach the next business milestone and 2) to raise the next funding round. Expect at least 2 quarters to raise the next funding round in today’s market. How much dilution should a startup expect to take from each funding round ranging from pre-seed to late seed, Series A, B, C, D? How to tie expected exit valuations to today’s valuation? What can a realistic exit be in a good scenario and a bad scenario? What are expected exit multiples and discounted to today’s valuation with the consideration of dilution from future funding rounds? How to calculate future dilution or reserve strategies for various ownership target percentages. Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) best practices at Citi Ventures – Citigroup. How to manage conflicts of interest as a strategic investor compared to a pure financial investor. How Citi Ventures can add value to startups across industry verticals.
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/T7yffG5sJ3E.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
https://www.citi.com/ventures/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vibhorrastogi/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
48:0521/03/2024
#99, Using retirement IRA accounts to invest in VC funds w/ Matthew Calhoun at Equity Trust
Fireside with a VC episode #99 speaking with Matthew Calhoun, director at Equity Trust, formerly Midland Trust Company, discussing the benefits of investing into alternative assets such as venture capital funds using your self-directed IRA dollars. What is a Self-Directed IRA and what is different from other retirement accounts? What are the requirements, terms, and cost for this, and how long does it take? Help boost your retirement with this wealth-building combination of tax-optimized retirement accounts maximizing the potential of higher returns with less volatility by adding private market venture capital investments to your tax-advantaged account.
We are happy to introduce our listeners to Matt or contact him directly: [email protected].
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/o9FslKnPrmU.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
https://midlandtrust.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-calhoun-51828687/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
12:1522/02/2024
#98, How much funding to raise at what valuation with Eric Ver Ploeg, Founding Partner, Tunitas Ventures
Fireside with a VC episode #98 speaking with Eric Ver Ploeg, Founding Partner of Tunitas Ventures about key data and trends in the US tech Series A fundraising environment as well as specifics about how much cash funding a startup should raise at pre-Seed, Late-Stage Seed and Series A as well as the many other considerations with regards to terms and legal structures do’s and don’ts.
Eric Ver Ploeg, is a VC veteran and runs Tunitas Ventures a focused seed stage investing firm that assists portfolio companies raise their Series A. Eric shares research and data on how the ratio of San Francisco Bay Area startups have a higher graduation rates of completing a Series A than startups in the rest of the country and how this multiple has been rising in recent years. Check out a link to a blogpost Eric released on this topic today: http://rb.gy/3fzl3p.
https://tunitas.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericvp/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TUkan6oIbrs.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
47:3415/02/2024
#97, The future of AI with Igor Jablokov, CEO of Pryon $159m VC funding
Fireside with a VC episode #97 speaking with Igor Jablokov, CEO of Pryon $159m VC funding and founder and CEO of Yap, which Igor sold to Amazon which became the nucleus of Amazon’s Alexa & Fire TV. Pryon was the code name for Alexa. Discussing the evolution of humanity with AI, risks of AI, what we need or should expect with regulations, where innovation is happening, what are the OSI layers of the AI world, how the Fortune 500 will adopt or fail to adopt true AI, other relevant key industries ranging from nuclear power plants to healthcare and the military.
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/N0H-zb5I72A.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
https://pryon.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ijablokov/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
55:4605/02/2024
#96, Legal terms, governance & valuations for up, flat & down rounds with Fenwick’s Kristine Di Bacco
Fireside with a VC episode #96 speaking with Kristine Di Bacco, Partner at law firm Fenwick, discussing tough terms for startups in the context of flat and down rounds as well as more punishing terms for startups. What is common and expected in today’s market for up, flat, down rounds as well as convertible notes and SAFEs? Planning today’s current round in a way to set a precedent for the next funding round balancing valuations and terms. A deep dive on the difference between pre- and post-money SAFEs vs convertible notes, QSBS, etc. What to expect for typical governance, board of directors construction, etc. across multiple financings for startups. Secondaries in the bull market leading up the peak in 2021 compared to today’s 2024 market and what to expect for funding and exits in 2024 and beyond. How she cofounded and built Fenwick’s New York City office and is now back in Silicon Valley. Understanding differences and similarities in the New York compared to Silicon Valley ecosystems.
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Q6eV6oqg2Is.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
https://www.fenwick.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristine-di-bacco-72b35b/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
54:5921/01/2024
Episode #95, M12 Microsoft’s Venture Fund, Peter Berg, Managing Director
Episode #95, Peter Berg, one of two Managing Directors leading M12 Microsoft’s Venture Fund, discusses with Andrew Romans on Fireside with a VC how Microsoft is investing in early-stage startups in B2B SaaS, AI, web3/crypto, and gaming. How the $2.776 trillion dollar conglomerate can add value to startups in a way no other VC can match.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Find this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qZ2MIYFHEvU.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterberg/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
https://www.7bc.vc/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
53:1522/12/2023
Episode #94, Business with China now and in 2024
Episode #94, Why is China the way it is, what’s happened, and how is China interacting with the rest of the world from a startup & VC perspective? Jonathan Bench, a China expert, practicing lawyer in the region, and active for over 20 years in the market, discusses with Andrew Romans on Fireside with a VC:
• What led up to the decoupling with China and how North American, European and Japanese companies will continue to do business with China?
• What led up to the current situation on a timeline of developments and ultimately Covid?
• The 5x+ increase in shipping costs and the impact of factory shutdowns in China during Covid on western minds for the future relationship with China.
• Supply chain establishment, management and support in China plus Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Mexico and western efforts to diversify and challenges to get out of China.
• How China is buying land and establishing factories in Mexico and how China is everywhere globally?
• How Chinese entrepreneurs are forced to operate within the communist party system and how to establish legitimacy with the rest of the outside world.
• Growth of the legal system in China with US companies now winning in the Chinese legal system which points to the growing legitimacy of the evolving Chinese legal system.
• Examples of Chinese companies trying to play by the rules and achieve legitimacy.
• The different cultural concepts of a signed contract being a final agreement or a stepping stone to an ongoing relationship where key terms are continuously changed
• What are the opportunities for the west to do business in China?
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC.
Find this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZtTrik6517E.
Pix from Andrew Romans’ trips to China: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eSxTKBLnJNpBcKvu6.
Andrew Romans’ books published in Chinese:
The Entrepreneurial Bible to Venture Capital (Chinese Edition): https://rb.gy/mwxp1p
Masters of Corporate Venture Capital (Chinese Edition): https://shorturl.at/dgwBJ
https://www.linkedin.com/in/benchjonathan/
https://harris-sliwoski.com/our-team/jonathan-bench/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
https://www.7bc.vc/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
25:2315/12/2023
Episode #93, VC Panel Part Questions from Audience @7BC San Francisco Event Nov. 14, 2023
Episode #93, VC Panel Part Questions from Audience @7BC San Francisco Event Nov. 14, 2023
VC Panel
*Benjamin D. Black, Co-founder and Managing Director, Akkadian Ventures
*Victoria Cheng, Partner, PruVen Capital
*Carolin Funk, Partner, Blue Bear Capital
*Vibhor Rastogi, Global Head of AI/ML/Data Investments, Citi Ventures
*Ben Levy, Cofounder, BootstrapLabs
*Andrew Romans, General Partner, 7BC Venture Capital, Moderator
Confidential videos available for 7BC Portfolio Company 7-Minute Presentations
Ryan Welsh, cofounder & CEO, Kyndi - generative AI answer engine for enterprises ($42.8m funding to date)
Delivering immediate, accurate, and trusted answers to enterprise users with the power of large language models.
John Green, cofounder & CEO, Nada - Unlocking wealth with real-estate. Real estate FinTech ($11.4m funding to date)
Nada's platform makes it possible for investors to own a piece of a top city’s home equity market with as little as $100 ("Cityfunds") and for homeowners to cash out home equity without the burden of taking on debt ("Homeshares"). Their platform brings this two-sided market together - delivering access to investors and liquidity to homeowners.
Matthew Speitel, CFO, Umbra - Space and Earth based datasets for your defense, intelligence and analytics solutions. ($125m funding to date)
We design, build, launch, and operate satellites for high resolution Earth observation, new communications capabilities, and exquisite signal monitoring for low cost distribution via an integrated web platform.
Eric Menees, cofounder & CEO, Fynn Credit, Solving America's skilled labor shortage ($11m equity & $25m debt raised to date)
Fynn offers loan services for school students. Their loans are private loans, and they do not have the same terms, repayment options, or rates as those offered through federal loan programs, other private lenders, or school based financing options.
https://www.7bc.vc/https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
16:4728/11/2023
Episode #92, VC Panel Part I @7BC San Francisco event Nov 14, 2023
Episode #92, Part I of the VC Panel at the 7BC Venture Capital San Francisco event Nov 14, 2023
*Benjamin D. Black, Co-founder and Managing Director, Akkadian Ventures
*Victoria Cheng, Partner, PruVen Capital
*Carolin Funk, Partner, Blue Bear Capital
*Vibhor Rastogi, Global Head of AI/ML/Data Investments, Citi Ventures
*Ben Levy, Cofounder, BootstrapLabs
*Andrew Romans, General Partner, 7BC Venture Capital, Moderator
Confidential videos available for 7BC Portfolio Company 7-Minute Presentations
Ryan Welsh, cofounder & CEO, Kyndi - generative AI answer engine for enterprises ($42.8m funding to date)
Delivering immediate, accurate, and trusted answers to enterprise users with the power of large language models.
John Green, cofounder & CEO, Nada - Unlocking wealth with real-estate. Real estate FinTech ($11.4m funding to date)
Nada's platform makes it possible for investors to own a piece of a top city’s home equity market with as little as $100 ("Cityfunds") and for homeowners to cash out home equity without the burden of taking on debt ("Homeshares"). Their platform brings this two-sided market together - delivering access to investors and liquidity to homeowners.
Matthew Speitel, CFO, Umbra - Space and Earth based datasets for your defense, intelligence and analytics solutions. ($125m funding to date)
We design, build, launch, and operate satellites for high resolution Earth observation, new communications capabilities, and exquisite signal monitoring for low cost distribution via an integrated web platform.
Eric Menees, cofounder & CEO, Fynn Credit, Solving America's skilled labor shortage ($11m equity & $25m debt raised to date)
Fynn offers loan services for school students. Their loans are private loans, and they do not have the same terms, repayment options, or rates as those offered through federal loan programs, other private lenders, or school based financing options.
https://www.7bc.vc/https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
20:5728/11/2023
Episode #91, VC Panel Part II @7BC San Francisco event Nov 14, 2023
Episode #91, Part II of the VC Panel at the 7BC Venture Capital San Francisco event Nov 14, 2023
*Benjamin D. Black, Co-founder and Managing Director, Akkadian Ventures
*Victoria Cheng, Partner, PruVen Capital
*Carolin Funk, Partner, Blue Bear Capital
*Vibhor Rastogi, Global Head of AI/ML/Data Investments, Citi Ventures
*Ben Levy, Cofounder, BootstrapLabs
*Andrew Romans, General Partner, 7BC Venture Capital, Moderator
Confidential videos available for 7BC Portfolio Company 7-Minute Presentations
Ryan Welsh, cofounder & CEO, Kyndi - generative AI answer engine for enterprises ($42.8m funding to date)
Delivering immediate, accurate, and trusted answers to enterprise users with the power of large language models.
John Green, cofounder & CEO, Nada - Unlocking wealth with real-estate. Real estate FinTech ($11.4m funding to date)
Nada's platform makes it possible for investors to own a piece of a top city’s home equity market with as little as $100 ("Cityfunds") and for homeowners to cash out home equity without the burden of taking on debt ("Homeshares"). Their platform brings this two-sided market together - delivering access to investors and liquidity to homeowners.
Matthew Speitel, CFO, Umbra - Space and Earth based datasets for your defense, intelligence and analytics solutions. ($125m funding to date)
We design, build, launch, and operate satellites for high resolution Earth observation, new communications capabilities, and exquisite signal monitoring for low cost distribution via an integrated web platform.
Eric Menees, cofounder & CEO, Fynn Credit, Solving America's skilled labor shortage ($11m equity & $25m debt raised to date)
Fynn offers loan services for school students. Their loans are private loans, and they do not have the same terms, repayment options, or rates as those offered through federal loan programs, other private lenders, or school based financing options.
https://www.7bc.vc/https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
20:5728/11/2023
Episode #90, Down rounds & pay-to-pay provisions, raising at a lower valuation
Episode #90, Down rounds & pay-to-pay provisions, raising at a lower valuation on Fireside with a VC
Ben Kern, Partner at Winston & Strawn LLP, corporate securities veteran, discusses the details of how startups raise funding in down rounds at lower valuations than the last funding round as well as more punitive financings that cram down or wipe out existing investors that do not Pay-to-Play wiring capital into the
new financing. We discuss the different tools in the tool kit of how these financings are legally structured and what it means to all parties and how to sail through these very choppy waters.
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0RqBNqLGckQ.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamindkern/
[email protected]
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
Join us in person for the next 7BC San Francisco VC Insight Panel & networking reception November 14th .
https://7BCinSF.eventbrite.com
43:3008/11/2023
Episode #89, Jarred Kessler, CEO, EasyKnock fintech, real-estate tech
Episode #89, Jarred Kessler, CEO, EasyKnock fintech, real-estate tech, 15th largest home owner in the US
Discussing the dynamics of inflation, interest rates and the volatile US residential real-estate market;
Running a New York fintech / real-estate startup before, during, and after Covid;
Raising over $120m of equity funding and $600m of debt financing;
How they became the 15th largest owner of single residential homes in the US in less than 7 years;
The Operating Company/Property Company (Opco/Propco) company structure;
Overseeing high-velocity growth in headcount, acquiring and integrating other companies successfully;
Managing growth between funding rounds; continuing to innovate product development and service offerings;
The interesting interplay between credit card debt, interest rates, inflation, the housing market;
The changing percentage of Americans that qualify for a home mortgage;
Advice on how to raise VC funding;
The difference between raising VC vs debt financing;
Managing growth vs profitability, pushing back on investors, and preparing for fundraising in the next economic cycle;
Various paths to an exit for a company like EasyKnock
Find the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qJttkx2KJRA.
Find this and all full episodes for Fireside with a VC on your favorite podcast platform here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
https://www.easyknock.com/
https://www.7bc.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation, leave comments, and tell us what you think about these topics and this episode.
Join us in person for the next 7BC San Francisco VC Insight Panel & networking reception November 14th .
https://7BCinSF.eventbrite.com
37:1801/11/2023
#88, QSBS not paying tax on capital gains
Episode #88, Everything you need to know about Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS), the exemption that allows investors in startups or investors in VC funds that invest in startups to NOT pay capital gains tax on the greater of the first $10m of capital gains or 10x the cost basis (what you paid for the stock). A discussion of what qualifies and what does not, how this plays with the amount of funding, the value of the balance sheet at the time of the investment, holding period, how to tack or rollover, SAFEs compared to priced rounds and convertible notes to get the tax exemption, how it applies to founders and not only investors, how to document it and when it does not apply.
Roger Royse is a Silicon Valley career corporate and tax partner at law firm Haynes and Boone.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerroyse/
Find this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/j18ziU2fWg0.
Find this and all episodes for Fireside with a VC here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
21:3717/10/2023
Episode #87, Lessons from new book “Smart Startups” interviews w/ Blue Apron & 17 other VC backed startups
Episode #87 Discussion with Catalina Daniels and James Sherman, authors of Smart Startups: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know-Advice from 18 Harvard Business School Founders published today by Harper Business. This book has 18 interviews with a compelling list of founders that all raised VC funding and managed to get to an exit via M&A or IPO. The authors and interviewees can be forgiven for all having gone to Harvard, but they do share their learnings from their experiences founding, raising, building and exiting. We discuss these learnings with the two entrepreneurs and angel authors in this episode of Fireside with a VC.
The discussion covers ideation and coming up with the killer idea, team building comparing solo founders to balanced teams, raising angel and VC funding, execution, pitfalls across the board including the risk of raising too much VC funding, complexities of M&A exits and how to position for success and guard against land mines.
Find this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/l8ZeL7CnUvk.
Find this and all episodes for Fireside with a VC here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
Smart Startups: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know-Advice
from 18 Harvard Business School Founders
Find the book here on Amazon out today: https://a.co/d/dFDHCp0.
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
56:0809/10/2023
Episode #86 Flint Capital investing in Israeli startups coming to the USA
Episode #86 Flint Capital investing in Israeli startups
coming to the USA
Fireside with a VC speaking with Andrew Gershfeld at Flint Capital based in Boston and Tel Aviv talking about funding and supporting Israeli startups and helping them grow into large US companies.
Find this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3sEIYeIri_E.
Find this and all episodes for Fireside with a VC here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
Andrew Gershfeld: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewger/
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
54:5329/09/2023
Episode #85 Building startups on SalesForce – Place RevOps automation and connectivity
Episode #85 Building startups on SalesForce – Place RevOps automation and connectivity
Fireside with a VC talking to Brandon Metcal, CEO of Place, about
RevOps (revenue operations) to solve financial forecasting and cash management with sales starting in 2020. Also discussing automating and synchronizing sales to finance, to human resources and other components to streamline SaaS companies that run on SalesForce and now SalesForce CPQ.
Talking about lessons learned from both Place and his previous business where Brandon raised $28m in funding and sold the business making a profit for investors, founders and employees.
We also take a deep dive on how to partner with SalesForce and lessons learned from over 20 years of working within the SalesForce ecosystem.
Place has also carved out a slice from their last funding round for investors on WeFunder to increase the network of support for the company.
Wefunder: https://wefunder.com/placetechnology/
SalesForce AppExchange: https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=5e950d92-8476-4461-af88-eea66e55485c (new
listing)
RevOps: https://www.placetechnology.com/solutions/revenue-operations (offering)
Place Cash and Burn Podcast,
stories of SaaS growth: https://www.placetechnology.com/cash-and-burn-podcast
https://www.linkedin.com/in/metcalf/
Find this
episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Nt11xrPdKCM.
Find this
and all episodes for Fireside with a VC here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/FiresideVC
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
50:0420/09/2023
#84 Flipping Your Business into the United States w/ Roger Royse
Fireside with a VC discussing flipping your business into a US Delaware C corporation from outside of the US. Many startups and teams are born in Europe, South East Asia, Middle East, Africa, LatAm, Canada and everywhere and need to consider if they should flip to the US and if yes, technically how to do it. Considerations on attracting new investors from the US vs the country in which the business was created as well as tax considerations of flipping early or flipping later. Discussing specific tactics to minimize the tax burden and consequences for existing and new investors as well as founders and early employees.
Roger Royse is a Corporate and Tax Partner at Haynes and Boone, LLP and has decades of experience doing countless flips and venture financings in Silicon Valley. Roger is also the author of best seller 10,000 Startups: Legal Strategies For Startup Success (https://a.co/d/0H0IZ1p) and the host of a podcast of the same name.
Podcast: 10,000 Startups: Legal Strategies For Startup Success:
Apple
Spotify
Amazon
BuzzSprout
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerroyse/
Find this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VO0y1lK75ag.
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation and tell us your view of flipping or not flipping to the US and the best or worst ways to do it.
25:5507/09/2023
#83, Aiden software automation & cybersecurity SaaS company for enterprises
Fireside with a VC discussing how technology has evolved from mainframe-dumb terminal architecture to client-server architecture and making sure that all the right software is on each endpoint, making sure each endpoint is configured correctly, quickly, and efficiently, making sure cybersecurity attacks do not happen, and if they do rapidly rebuild from ransomware for new clients, eliminate vulnerabilities, reduce risk, automate application packaging, deployment, and reduce IT headaches. The economics of modern smart IT and keeping all software up to date. Reducing months to weeks for new customers that have been hacked.
The types of vulnerabilities are changing. How Aiden is staying ahead of the puck on what IT thresholds are changing to and how to program alerts and keep organizations in their own redefined compliance thresholds and providing that information to client organizations. Providing visibility of IT business intelligence to the CEO and C-suite.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/C4mcAz7zbHM
Find this episode on all podcast platforms:
https://open.spotify.com/show/57V2XYhekz5ETiOwtanWIn?si=a835a3f3b5804cbb.
https://www.meetaiden.com/
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaeaaron/
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation and tell us your view of the future of automation, cyber, smart IT networks, or any of the topics discussed in this episode.
39:2221/08/2023
#82, Understanding pre & post SAFEs, convertible notes vs priced rounds with Daniel Zimmermann, Partner, WilmerHale
#82, Understanding pre & post SAFEs, convertible notes
vs priced rounds with Daniel Zimmermann, Partner, WilmerHale
Fireside with a VC is hosting a series of discussions on specific legal topics with the best lawyers from Silicon Valley and around the world. This episode is designed to help founders, VCs, advisors and supporters of startups understand everything they need to know and all the moving parts in convertible notes, pre-money and post-money SAFEs compared to priced equity financings. We start out explaining the key parts everyone needs to understand and then quickly get into an in-depth detailed conversation about how important these legal matters are and how it can be the difference between making a great return or not from an investor's perspective and steering clear of icebergs that can sink your startup or have you end up owning much less of your startup on the day of exit.
Daniel Zimmermann is a legendary corporate securities lawyer in Silicon Valley, a Partner at law firm WilmerHale and an absolute experienced expert on this topic.
Legals is something every founder, angel and VC should be an expert on and we are amazed on a daily basis how many investors and founders fail to understand the basics and moving parts, which ones to push for when negotiating and the finer subtleties that normally only come from decades of experience.
Find this episode on all podcast platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/57V2XYhekz5ETiOwtanWIn?si=a835a3f3b5804cbb.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/pI6J1Q6W6dU
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-zimmermann-lawyer/
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation and tell us your view of the pros and cons of using SAFEs vs convertible notes vs priced rounds or any of the topics discussed in this episode.
01:08:1912/08/2023
#81, Sway Ventures, Brian Nugent, Founding General Partner
Fireside with a VC hosting Brian Nugent, Founding General Partner
of Sway Ventures at Professor Romans’ class on VC at Chapman University. Discussing a wide range of topics including:
· Brian’s path to VC from Cisco to startups to venture
capital.
· Career advice for junior and senior folks to
break into a career in venture capital.
· ESG, women and minorities in venture.
· How venture capital works.
· Each stage of funding from friends and family,
pre-seed, late stage seed, series A, B and growth funding rounds and
considerations.
· Pros and cons of investing at seed vs growth rounds, ownership targets / expectations for dilution, returns, timing and risk / reward profiles.
· How Sway Ventures adds value.
· Tactics for proprietary deal flow, avoiding bidding wars with other VCs, and delivering value to portfolio companies.
· Primary sources of deal flow.
· Common threads of most successful Sway portfolio companies. What are the characteristics of winning companies?
Find this episode on all podcast platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/57V2XYhekz5ETiOwtanWIn?si=a835a3f3b5804cbb.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/t17ruj6yFK0
https://www.swayvc.com/
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation and tell us your view of any of the topics discussed in this episode.
01:14:0808/08/2023
#80, neonVest – how to instantly get Zooms with VCs & Superchargers
Fireside
with a VC speaking with Aakash Shah and Surya Viswanathan, the founders of
neonVest, how their platform is democratizing access to VCs for early-stage
startups. NeonVest allows founders to instantly get Zooms with VCs, successful
founder operators and other superchargers to help with funding, refining and
improving their pitch, company strategy, financial model, SaaS metrics, exit preparation,
referrals, operations, tech and product, valuation, culture, sales &
marketing, pitch deck, pricing & biz models, term sheets, legal, market dynamics,
talent & hiring, ideation & user testing, board formation, market sizing
and everything else from angel and VC funding to company building and exiting.
We also dive into the value prop to VCs and other superchargers and why they
participate in this marketplace for Zooms and meetings. We close talking about the
current market dynamics for Seed to late stage growth financings in Silicon
Valley and around the world.
Check
out signing up as a founder or VC here: https://neonvest.com/
Check
out the neonVest Audio Experience podcast on
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1CB6LR8HPxEbr8Ac5vxgqr?si=f940d0e280684cd1
Find this episode on all podcast platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/57V2XYhekz5ETiOwtanWIn?si=a835a3f3b5804cbb
YouTube: https://youtu.be/ID2vQD9Z3sM
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation and tell us your view of the current market
conditions for seed financings for tech startups.
57:1927/07/2023
#79, Band of Angels - Round table discussion with one of Silicon Valley’s most active angel groups
Fireside with a VC diving into a round table discussion with The Band of Angels, one of the oldest and most active angel groups in Silicon Valley covering the current seed and early stage investing and fundraising market environment and conditions. How are valuations and terms changing, the importance of QSBS tax and when to use priced rounds, convertible notes and the dangers of SAFE notes.
Disclaimer: many of these angel groups are LP investors in our VC funds and active members of our network sourcing deal flow, conducting due diligence, taking board seats, actively adding value to our portfolio companies, impacting our exits and helping us raise more LP capital for our VC funds. Many of the members of The Band are highly successful senior executives from large tech titans as well as successful entrepreneurs that have founded startups, raised angel and VC funding and experienced the spectrum of positive and negative outcomes making them more valuable than many VCs to have in your corner in good and bad times along the startup journey.
On all podcast platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/57V2XYhekz5ETiOwtanWIn?si=a835a3f3b5804cbb
YouTube: https://youtu.be/D_3mqnLF-7w
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Join the conversation and tell us your view of current market
conditions for seed financings for tech startups.
21:3219/07/2023
#78, Jack Guedj, Band of Angels, one of Silicon Valley’s oldest & most active angel groups
#78, Jack Guedj, Band of Angels, one of Silicon Valley’s oldest
& most active angel groups
Fireside with a VC diving into current seed and early stage
investing and fundraising market environment and conditions. How are valuations and terms changing, the importance of QSBS tax and when to use convertible notes and the dangers of SAFE notes.
Next episode #79 includes the roundtable discussion with the
Band of Angels. Jack Guedj is also an active member of Sand Hill Angels. Disclaimer: many of these angel groups are LP investors in our VC funds and active members of our network sourcing deal flow, conducting due diligence, taking board seats, actively adding value to our portfolio companies, impacting our exits and helping us raise more LP capital for our VC funds. Many of the members of The Band are highly successful senior executives from large tech titans as well as successful entrepreneurs that have founded startups, raised angel and VC
funding and experienced the spectrum of positive and negative outcomes making them more valuable than many VCs to have in your corner in good and bad times along the startup journey.
On all podcast platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/57V2XYhekz5ETiOwtanWIn?si=a835a3f3b5804cbb
YouTube: https://youtu.be/yfcoZgSLZew
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
01:06:4519/07/2023
#77, Andrew Romans talking startup valuations and the current environment for VC financings w/ generative AI w/ US Angels Group
Episode #77 of Fireside with a VC, talking startup valuations and the current environment for VC financings as well as the impact of generative AI on startups, angels, VCs and LPs with U.S. Angels, one of the most active investor groups in the U.S. and an LP in 7BC Venture Capital.
· How to price the pre-money valuation for a startup?
· How much cash should a startup raise in its next round?
· What is changing with regards to valuations, size of rounds, terms, exit expectations?
· The connection between the stock market and the private markets from seed to late stage pre-IPO funding and secondaries?
· What does AI mean for capital requirements, competition and everything?
· What to expect from this vintage of startups and VC funds?
· Roundtable discussion with John Ricci and U.S. Angels
Special thanks to John Ricci, a friend of more than 15 years!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfricci/
https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/yCRhe7cD7zb
https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewRomansVC/videos
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
57:3506/06/2023
#74, Charles Hudson, Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures on Generative AI
Episode
#74, Charles Hudson, Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures on Generative AI
*Discussing how investors and founders can think about new generative
AI startups that appear to have build products in days or weeks compared to
years.
*What this new technology means for developing moats or barriers to
entry for startups that can create working products so quickly.
*Early days of emerging managers with SoftTech VC / Uncork Capital and
working with other emerging managers generating much higher returns than the
large 30 year funds.
*Founding a new VC emerging manager and migrating from small ticket
LPs to larger institutional LPs.
*Portfolio construction for early seed and strategies for follow on
investing.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/qTz9frTbkq8
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Thanks to our sponsor Pacific Western Bank, Startup Banking & Venture Debt, Mark
diTargiani, [email protected]
53:2202/06/2023
#76, Claus Skaaning, CEO of DigiShares tokenizing real estate assets
Episode #76, Claus Skaaning, CEO of DigiShares tokenizing real estate assets
· Discussing tokenization of real estate and other assets via white label solutions as well as launching their own real estate crypto exchange in the US and Europe enabling users to not touch crypto on or off ramps with everything working legally, licensed and compliantly.
· Why tokenization is important?
· How it lowers backend costs saving money and improving the performance of customers?
· What kind of assets are being tokenized other than real estate?
· The importance of fractionalization and democratization of the asset class.
· Creating trading liquidity and growing the demand for finite real estate supply.
· Raising money from investors in the current marketplace.
· How the world will be different as a result of all this digitization of large asset classes in 5 or 10 years from now?
Contact: [email protected]
https://digishares.io/
https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/yCRhe7cD7zb
https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewRomansVC/videos
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
36:0702/06/2023
#75, Hadley Harris, cofounder, ENIAC Ventures, NYC Seed Fund
Episode #75, Hadley Harris, cofounder, ENIAC Ventures, NYC Seed Fund
· Discussing strategies for Seed investment as well as Opportunity Funds for doubling down in winners.
· How much diversification is required for optimal risk mitigation and impact of winners to fund results
· Evolution of the New York startup ecosystem over the past 13 years since ENIAC’s first fund
· Acquisition market in New York
· How to price a seed round and determine the right amount of capital to raise.
· How much dilution is expected in a first pre-seed round.
· What milestones are expected to get to the next late stage seed round.
· Convertible notes vs SAFE notes vs priced rounds
· What tech sectors are getting the most interest
· Making sure startups have more than a thin layer on top of ChatGTP
https://youtu.be/Lj0OffldWyQ
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/firesidevc
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
40:4226/05/2023
Episode #73, VC Insight Panel, 7BC Event NYC March 7 2023
Recording of the VC Insight Panel at the sold out 7BC Venture Capital event in New York City at Pillsbury March 7, 2023.
VC Insight Panel
Andrea Lamari, General Partner, Manhattan Venture Partners (MVP)
Steve Brotman, Managing Partner, Alpha Partners, Senior Advisor, Pritzker Group
Wiz, Chief Astronaut, Spacecadet Ventures, The Marketing VC
Jonathan Shriftman, Partner, Expanding Capital
Andrew Romans, General Partner, 7BC Venture Capital, moderator
Talking about everything from seed to growth stage capital, dynamics around pro rata equity rights to complex structured secondaries.
Many thanks to sponsors and partners Fidelity, Better Engineering by Salsa Mobi, neonVest and Pillsbury.
Join us for our next event in Seattle April 4th which is nearly sold out with more than 50% VCs, family offices, angels and LPs registered. https://7BC-neonVest-Seattle.eventbrite.com
YouTube: https://youtu.be/CYyZt6aKKy4
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
52:1231/03/2023
Episode #72, Krishna Srinivas, cofounder, LiveOak Venture Partners
Episode #72, Krishna Srinivas, cofounder, LiveOak Venture Partners on Fireside with a VC
Ahead of SXSW very happy to share our podcast with one of Austin’s VC OGs discussing:
Ten lessons on entrepreneurship from summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro with his wife and kids
100% all-in on Texas, early stage, tech and tech-enabled services, Seed to Series A entry point
Close to $500m AUM at LiveOak
The evolution of the Austin, Texas VC startup scene
What sectors and topics founders were working on and how this evolved to today
Who were the VC funds in the 90s, early 2000s when there were literally fewer than 5 active VCs, then 15 VCs with representatives from NEA, Polaris and other big funds and then the collapse back to 5 to 8 active funds and the rise to today with Austin being a leading city with one of the highest concentrations of VC funds per capita
The perfect storm of conditions for Austin to become a #2 market after California with huge tech talent and still total lack of local VC capital
Lessons from the 2000 dot-com crash relevant to today’s 2023 market, how the current batch of startups will move forward from early to growth stage
YouTube: https://youtu.be/1zRJeFouxPA
All podcast platforms: https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC
Registration is open for 7BC’s in-person VC insight panels, startup presentations & networking receptions
New York City, March 7, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-NYC.eventbrite.com.
Seattle, April 4, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-Seattle.eventbrite.com.
Planning events in cities in key tech corridors across the U.S. Get in touch if you want to host or sponsor any of our events.
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Thanks to our sponsor Pacific Western Bank, Startup Banking & Venture Debt, Mark diTargiani, [email protected]
50:4103/03/2023
Episode #71, Andrea Lamari, General Partner, Manhattan Venture Partners (MVP)
Episode #71, Andrea Lamari, General Partner, Manhattan Venture Partners (MVP) on Fireside with a VC
Meet Andrea at 7BC's in-person event in New York City on March 7, 2023 - https://7BC-neonVest-NYC.eventbrite.com.
101 lesson on secondaries and the secondary market
Complexities of how secondaries work from the perspective of founders and investors selling shares for liquidity, the buyer of the secondaries, existing preferred shareholders and the company with Right of First Refusals (ROFRs)
Deep dive on ROFRs
Structuring for primaries and secondaries
The bid / ask divide between sellers and buyers and how this will play out over the coming quarters following a downward reset of the market following a boom of early 2021 and a crash of the public markets in February of 2022
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewRomansVC/videos.
All podcast platforms: https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC
Registration is open for 7BC’s in-person VC insight panels, startup presentations & networking receptions
New York City, March 7, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-NYC.eventbrite.com.
Seattle, April 4, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-Seattle.eventbrite.com.
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/7bc-venture-capital-52957202553#events
Planning events in cities in key tech corridors across the U.S. Get in touch if you want to host or sponsor any of our events.
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Thanks to our sponsor Pacific Western Bank, Startup Banking & Venture Debt, Mark diTargiani, [email protected]
01:08:5118/02/2023
Episode #70, John Frankel, cofounder, ff Venture Capital in New York, Poland & Ukraine
Episode #70, John Frankel, cofounder, ff Venture Capital on Fireside with a VC discussing:
· Learnings from Goldman Sachs applied to VC
· Launching the largest VC fund in Ukraine
· Launching a VC fund in Poland
· Managing the 6 VC funds based in New York, but investing across the US
· What percentage of companies get to $100m of ARR and how this drives portfolio construction
· What is the true work and lifestyle in running a VC business from raising capital, sourcing and diligencing deals, reporting, helping startups, numbers, and repeating
· The types of investors John got into fund I and how this changed with characteristics of raising a fund II, III, IV up to fund VI
· The true time table of starting to getting to exits and into carry
· The difference between investing early, mid stage and late stage within the context of a changing dynamic economy
· QSBS tax breaks for LPs, VCs and founders. No tax on the greater of 10x cost or $10m
· Details on why convertible notes are bad and SAFEs are worse
· The best way to construct a board of directors from pre-seed onwards
· Where is the market going? When is the bottom of the market and why?
· Breaking "the economy" into at least 6 different economies
· How the standoff on falling valuations will play out as we recover
· The complex relationship of public markets and private markets
Twitter: https://twitter.com/john_frankel
YouTube: https://youtu.be/DDCqJMVgUsc
All podcast platforms: https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC
Registration is open for 7BC’s in-person VC insight panels, startup presentations & networking receptions
New York City, March 7, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-NYC.eventbrite.com.
Seattle, April 4, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-Seattle.eventbrite.com.
Planning events in cities in key tech corridors across the U.S. Get in touch if you want to host or sponsor any of our events.
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Thanks to our sponsor Pacific Western Bank, Startup Banking & Venture Debt, Mark diTargiani, [email protected]
01:02:4910/02/2023
Episode #69, Martin Tobias, founder, Incisive Ventures in Seattle on Fireside with a VC
Episode #69, Martin Tobias, founder, Incisive Ventures in Seattle on Fireside with a VC discussing:
· How is Seattle different from Silicon Valley, Austin, or New York startup VC ecosystems?
· Getting away the very last IPO as CEO before the dot-com crash and lessons learned and how these apply to today’s climate.
· Old days of Microsoft and becoming a super angel and launching a Seed VC fund.
· Investing in Google, DocuSign, Ron Conway’s SV Angel I and II Funds
· Figuring out which of his 200 angel investments were the best and developing an investment thesis around this.
· Top meta themes & screening process
YouTube: https://youtu.be/iCl0_4i_rqM
Spotify: https://rb.gy/chjrsf
All podcast platforms: https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC
Martin writes notes to himself on how to live the good life at DeepGreenCrystals.com.
Registration is open for 7BC’s in-person VC insight panels, startup presentations & networking receptions
New York City, March 7, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-NYC.eventbrite.com.
Seattle, April 4, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-Seattle.eventbrite.com
Planning events in cities in key tech corridors across the U.S. Get in touch if you want to host or sponsor any of our events.
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
56:5204/02/2023
Episode #68, Steve Brotman, Managing Partner, Alpha Partners & Advisor to the Pritzker Family Office
Episode #68, Steve Brotman, Managing Partner, Alpha Partners & Advisor to the Pritzker Family Office discussing:
· The Alpha model to partner with Seed to Series A VC funds to invest in their pro-rata growth rounds of top winners and share carry with the Seed to Series A VC funds.
· Dynamics of early-stage VC funds deciding to double down or create an SPV to put more capital into winners versus partnering with growth specialists like Alpha Partners.
· Is it bad to let your fund LPs get overexposed to single deals via SPVs.
· The trend of LPs trying to do more directs coinvesting with their GPs and now LPs pulling back from making direct investments and “coinvestments” becoming a bad word.
· Investing in growth rounds in this new 2023 macro-economic environment.
· Expectation of multiples and holding times for growth stage investing.
· What are sensible multiples of ARR to pre-money valuations?
· What revenue year-on-year growth rates are expected for growth stage venture backed startups?
· How growth companies can get to profitable unit economics for growth companies and restructure businesses that were selling $100 to customers for $50.
· Are we heading into a worse economy or is the economy improving over the next 6, 12, 18 months?
YouTube: https://youtu.be/3EXtUiunpcQ
All podcast platforms: https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC
https://alphapartners.com/
Registration is open for 7BC’s in-person VC insight panels, startup presentations & networking receptions
New York City, March 7, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-NYC.eventbrite.com. Steve Brotman will be one of the panelists on the VC panel in NYC and will be joined by over 37 VCs, family offices and angel investors already registered for the event as of Jan 31, 20223. Waiting list starts at 100 delegates.
Seattle, April 4, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-Seattle.eventbrite.com.
Planning events in cities in key tech corridors across the U.S. Get in touch if you want to host or sponsor any of our events.
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
54:4931/01/2023
Episode #67, Mike Smerklo, cofounder, Next Coast Ventures, $600m+ Austin-based VC
Episode #67, Mike Smerklo, cofounder, Next Coast Ventures, $600m+ Austin-based VC and author on Fireside with a VC discussing:
· Moving from Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas
· Cofounding a VC in Austin, Texas with over $600m in AUM focused on Series A and B rounds within 6 years currently investing out of a $310m Fund IV closed in early 2022
· Timing of a perfect vintage within the macro-economy
· Author of 2020 published book - Mr. Monkey and Me: A Real Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs - https:a//rb.gy/4qfdq3
· How Mike got into startups and venture being recruited by Marc Andreessen
· Building a company from 30 to 3,000 employees, $300m revenue to nearly $1bn valuation and IPO’ing
· Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley in the early dot-com days
· Dynamics of raising fund II compared to funds III and IV
· Are we going into a further recession or recovery in the startup world?
· Valuations and dynamics of A, B, and C rounds over the next 24 months and how to prepare
Book: Mr. Monkey and Me: A Real Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs - https:a//rb.gy/4qfdq3
Blog: www.mikesmerklo.com
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikesmerklo
Twitter: mikesmerklo
Facebook: smerklo
Registration is open for 7BC’s in-person VC insight panels, startup presentations & networking receptions
New York City, March 7, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-NYC.eventbrite.com
Seattle, April 4, 2023 – https://7BC-neonVest-Seattle.eventbrite.com
Planning 10 other cities in key tech corridors across the U.S.
Get in touch if you would like to host an event or sponsor and become part of the tour.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/57V2XYhekz5ETiOwtanWIn?si=6f51aad36d47450a
YouTube: https://youtu.be/EkF219SkWI0
All podcast platforms: https://anchor.fm/FiresideVC
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
50:5027/01/2023