Venture Capital

Misunderstood Venture Capital Terms

If you don’t understand all the terms, and especially the ones that are part of your fundraising journey, it can cost you big bucks. In today’s episode we discuss such real life examples where real time mistakes were made. 

Questions Covered in This Episode Include:

1. What is Liquidation preference
2. How are Participating Preferred different from Non Participating Preferred Stocks
3. What terms work the best for you as an entrepreneur 
4. What is a clean term sheet and what are the benefits
5. Understanding Anti- Dilution Clauses with another real life example
6. What to choose when you have to decide between a higher valuation vs structure?
7. Understanding Convertible Note vs SAFE
8. What is a Standard Price Round
9. What is the next inflection point for a business

Let us know the terms you had a hard time understanding, or still don't understand. What should we talk about next? Give us a follow and leave us feedback.

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How to Find a VC Mentor

Some of the most successful people attribute their success to their mentors. If you want to speed up your learning process, find one! But the question is not only - how to find a mentor but what kind of mentor should you seek. 

Questions Covered in This Episode Include:

1. How does an entrepreneur build his network
2. Why is it important to find a mentor
3. What kind of mentors should you seek
4. How service plays an important role in finding a mentor
5. Let's discuss some real life examples where it has benefited us
6. How to find such opportunities
7. How to reach out to them in the best possible way
8. How to have asks that are easy to respond to

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Follow University Growth Fund

Website: https://www.ugrowthfund.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-growth-fund/Instagram: https://instagram.com/ugrowthfund

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How To Start a Venture Capital Fund

If you have ever wondered about starting a VC fund but felt overwhelmed. Jon speaks to Peter Harris who started a fund with his partner a couple of years ago. He breaks it down for us and shares his suggestions. 

Questions Covered in This Episode Include:

1. Peter, you and your partner started a fund 7 years ago. How did you do it?
2. Where did you start?
3. How much does it cost?
4. How is it structured? 
5. What is the process of raising the fund?
6. Can you consider taking a bank loan?
7. Are you responsible for contributing?
8. Can you start one if you are not rich? How crucial is having a network of rich friends and family?
9. What happens if you don’t have rich friends?
10. What is front loading and how can you use it?
11. What are some things to keep in mind when forming a fund?

• Legal
• Cash flow considerations 
• Ask why would they invest 

Follow Peter Harris

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Website: https://www.ugrowthfund.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-growth-fund/Instagram: https://instagram.com/ugrowthfund

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How do VCs Make Money?

Some of you might be intrigued to understand how a VC fund runs. How do they make their money? Peter breaks down all that in this episode and all clear out the air if VCs are rich.

Questions Covered in This Episode Include:

1. Peter, everyone wants to know how VCs make money? ( Carried interest and management fee)
2. How important is it to be rich to be a Venture Capitalist?
3. What is the average salary of a VC? (Partner/Analyst)
4. Sometimes people criticise venture capitalists because they get rich off of management fees and not fund performance 
5. Does deal performance that you lead affect individual compensation?
6. Are they overpaid?
7. How does the compensation structure affect how you make invest decisions

Follow Peter Harris

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Website: https://www.ugrowthfund.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-growth-fund/Instagram: https://instagram.com/ugrowthfund

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In today's episode we focus on some of the important considerations that need to be made while finding a VC firm. Are they a good fit? Do they have my company's best interest at heart? How to distinguish a Good VC from a BAD one. 

Questions Covered in This Episode Include:

1. Peter, what stories have you personally seen where VCs did not act the best
2. As an insider, what would you say are some of the red flags when it comes to a VC or a firm?
3. As someone who is seeking funding, what are some of the things you should push for? Things you should expect at your end?
4. If someone is looking for an early exit, is it always a red flag?
5. How to know if a VC is wasting your time?
6. What if they haven’t done a  deal in 12+ months?
7. Discussing what happened with Pelion/Weave
8. What are the appropriate ways to vet a VC?
9. Should I be concerned if they’ve invested in a similar deal?
10. How do you know if they’ll steal or share my ideas with other founders?
11. How to take into consideration if a VC didnt stand up for sexual wrongdoings, etc. in the past?
12. What if the VC is planning to swap out the founder?

Follow Peter Harris

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevcstudent

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterharris1

Instagram: https://instagram.com/shodanpete

Follow University Growth Fund

Website: https://www.ugrowthfund.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-growth-fund/Instagram: https://instagram.com/ugrowthfund

Follow Jon Bradshaw

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrjonbradshaw

Getting Funded: Should a Startup Hire a Professional Fundraiser?

In today’s episode we discuss the pros and cons of having a professional fundraiser. Should you consider one and if yes, when is a good time to do so.

Questions Covered in This Episode Include:

1. What is a professional fundraiser?
2. How does one become one? What kind of education, background, social skills or experience is needed for it?
3. How much do they charge?
4. How do VC’s look at companies that use professional fundraisers? (Pros/Cons)
5. When is it a good idea for a business to hire a professional fundraiser?
6. What to keep in mind while hiring a Fundraising Consultant
7. What are disadvantages of hiring one? Will people lose confidence in your capability 
8. Is there a particular time when they should be hired to maximise the impact like pre-seed etc?
9. Should a startup ever consider making a professional fundraiser your CEO? Eg-David Bradford?

Follow Peter Harris

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevcstudent

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterharris1

Instagram: https://instagram.com/shodanpete

Follow University Growth Fund

Website: https://www.ugrowthfund.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-growth-fund/Instagram: https://instagram.com/ugrowthfund

Follow Jon Bradshaw

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrjonbradshaw

How to Get and Keep a VC’s Attention

The trickiest part of reaching out to a VC, is keeping them interested. In this episode, we discuss best practices and share a few tips.

Questions Covered in This Episode Include:

1. Should I focus my efforts on VC’s in my geographic area, or extend beyond my city/state?
2. How accurate are online lists? What are some of the good ones?

• AngelList
• Forbes Midas list
• Crunchbase
• CB Insights
• PitchBook
• Others?

1. How do you find a venture capitalist that is a good fit for you?- Size of business (Idea, Pre-Revenue, Etc.)/ Industry?
2. What about VC’s that focus on particular industries like Blockchain, Healthcare, or SaaS? Or should we look to a generalist?
3. What are your thoughts on professional fundraisers as a source?
4. Is it worth my time to network and build relationships with local entrepreneurs to ultimately find a VC?
5. What do VC super connectors look like?
6. Does the process change if I’m a college student or a new entrepreneur?
7. Does attending a bootcamp like NewChip, TechStars, or YCombinator help?
8. Would first signing with a syndicate, like Jason Calcanis’, increase my odds?
9. How helpful is it to attend events and virtual conferences with investors present?

Locally we have

• Silicon Slopes
• TechBuzz

Follow Peter Harris

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevcstudent

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterharris1

Instagram: https://instagram.com/shodanpete

Follow University Growth Fund

Website: https://www.ugrowthfund.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-growth-fund/Instagram: https://instagram.com/ugrowthfund

Follow Jon Bradshaw

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrjonbradshaw

How to Find a Venture Capitalist (And Get Funded)
Let’s talk about how do you find a venture capitalist for your startup.

Questions Covered in This Episode Include:

1. What is your general advice for someone raising in 2022?
2. Has the process changed in recent years?
3. Will the process change in the coming years?

Now lets cover some common questions to make sure we’re addressing them

1. Should I focus my efforts on VC’s in my geographic area, or extend beyond my city/state?
2. How accurate are online lists? What arethe good ones?
   1. Angel List
   2. Forbes Midas list
   3. Crunchbase
   4. CB Inisghts
   5. PitchBook
   6. Others?
3. How do you find a venture capitalist that is a good fit for you?
   1. Size of business (Idea, Pre-Revenue, Etc.)
   2. Industry
4. What about VC’s that focus on particular industries like Blockchain, Healthcare, or SaaS? Or should we look to a generalist?
5. What are your thoughts on professional fundraisers as a source?
6. Is it worth my time to network and build relationships with local entrepreneurs to ultimately find a VC?
7. What do VC super connectors look like?
8. Does the process change if I’m a college student or a new entrepreneur?
9. Does attending a boot camp like NewChip, TechStars, or YCombinator help?
10. Would first signing with a syndicate, like Jason Calcanis’, increase my odds?
11. How helpful is it to attend events and virtual conferences with investors present?

Follow Peter Harris
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevcstudent
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterharris1
Instagram: https://instagram.com/shodanpete

Follow University Growth Fund
Website: https://www.ugrowthfund.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-growth-fund/Instagram: https://instagram.com/ugrowthfund

Follow Jon Bradshaw
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrbradshaw/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrjonbradshaw/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrjonbradshaw