Author Archives: pajones1
Understanding the Limits of Convertible Debt Seed Financing Structures
While Convertible Debt with a “kicker” of some sort (typically either in the form of warrants or a discount on the conversion price) was first used primarily as a structure for bridging companies between rounds of traditional venture capital financing, … Continue reading
Act 255 Tax Credits and …. Convertible Equity
Active angel and venture investors in Wisconsin are generally familiar with Act 255, a state law that provides a tax credit for investors in the equity of qualifying emerging technology businesses. In cases where an investment is made before a … Continue reading
Thoughts on Convertible Debt Valuation Caps
Convertible debt with an equity kicker – typically either in the form of warrant coverage or a discount on the conversion rice – is a common vehicle for seed stage financings. As people on both sides of these deals have … Continue reading
Entrepreneurs with (Bad) Attitudes
Many high impact entrepreneurs have outsized personalities. They combine a big ego with incredible creativity, drive and energy. Pretty much all of them that I have known have had at least one serious personality … quirk. That said, there are … Continue reading
The Good Angel Investor (Part 2): After the Closing
In Part 1 of this post, I focused on issues entrepreneurs and angels should think about as a seed deal comes together. Today, I want to focus on how angels can engage with entrepreneurs after the money changes hands. Foremost … Continue reading
The Good Angel Investor (Part 1): Doing the Deal
At a time when lean startups often require considerably less than $1 million dollars to develop the proverbial minimum viable product and even validate the same with some customers, angel investors are playing an increasingly important role in startup financings. … Continue reading
Maybe It Can Happen Here
Having been around the high impact startup and venture capital business for almost 30 years, on both coasts and now here in Wisconsin, I’ve developed a pretty good set of rules of thumb. One of them is that while all … Continue reading
Some Thoughts on Telecommuting
Marissa Mayer, over at Yahoo!, is making a fair amount of news these days, most recently for reversing the company’s longstanding embrace of telecommuting and insisting that employees work at the company’s offices. A lot of people were surprised by … Continue reading
Tips for Raising Venture Capital
Recently, I had a chance to talk with Eric Wagner, a serial entrepreneur, regular Forbes.com blogger and Founder of Mightywisemedia. Our conversation centered on ideas that entrepreneurs should keep in mind when thinking about raising venture capital dollars, and Eric … Continue reading
Capping Preferred Participation: A Compromised Compromise?
One of the more material, contentious and potentially confusing issues in negotiating venture capital term sheets is the structure of the so-called liquidation preference. Perhaps better thought of as the “exit preference” this is the term that spells out how … Continue reading
