Tag Archives: Seed Capital
Angel Investing Outside of the Major Venture Centers: Special Challenges
High impact angel investing in the major venture capital centers is not without its special challenges. That said, problems like a target rich environment of experienced entrepreneurs and a plethora of alternative funding options are, as they say, pretty high … Continue reading
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
Convertible What?
For some time, now, convertible debt has been the poison of choice for seed financings by angel investors. Basically, these deals involve the investor providing capital in exchange for a note that automatically converts into equity at a future financing … Continue reading
The Lean Life Sciences Startup and the Minimum Viable Milestone
The “lean startup model” is all the rage in the entrepreneurial world these days, and well it should be – for the right kind of startups. Which is to say, for startups that can realistically talk about delivering the model’s … Continue reading
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