Tag Archives: Private Equity
We’re In Seed-Stage Boom, Not a Series A Crunch
Two related trends in venture capital investing have been getting attention for the last few years. The first is the growth in angel investing, particularly after the crowd-funding provisions of the JOBS Act. The second is the “Series A crunch” where many companies that receive… Continue reading
Evergreen venture fund structure offers new strategy
Heartening to read a blog at Axial about the Evergreen Venture Fund Structure that we use at my Greybull Stewardship: http://www.axial.net/blog/evergreen-fund-structure/ Thanks to Billy Fink and his M&A blog, I’m excited to have the conversation about how the traditional fund protocols are changing with new… Continue reading
Align Your “Loss Ratio” Expectations with Your Investors
In early stage venture capital, the best investors expect that 40% of their investments will become worthless. Thus, they focus on companies that could be worth billions because the winners have to make up for all their losses. They want every company to shoot for… Continue reading
Business Owners Must Balance Math (Finance) and Soul (Company Culture)
Owning a business means balancing all sorts of things. We have explored this idea in a few other posts: the Art of Balance that has a starter list of 20 things a business owner must balance such as strategy vs. execution and delegating vs. doing,… Continue reading
Ideal business financing for growing, profitable companies in 100 posts or less?
“Teach what you want to learn” is the theme with which I started this blog in April 2012. Since then, I have written 100 posts — which means I’ve learned for myself and shared what I’ve learned under several themes: Business financing and venture capital… Continue reading
Accounting & Reporting Pays Off
Accounting should not drive anything about a company, but accounting also should not be forgotten at the side of the road. Many companies choose, correctly, not to focus much attention on proper accounting and reporting — until they first have a real, sustainable business. Later,… Continue reading
Path of Equity Value Creation Not Easy to Plan or Pace (see Disney)
Equity value creation, in my experience, does not follow a smooth, straight path or a predictable timeline. It zigs and zags, stalls and spurts. Therefore, forcing a company into a certain path of possibilities or tight timetable is often counter-productive. I have found it to… Continue reading
Raising Capital: About Fit and Timing
I was in New York last week speaking with existing and prospective investors in my investment fund, Greybull Stewardship. The match-making activity between capital seeking returns and opportunities seeking capital is truly amazing in the United States. Nothing brings this home like New York City… Continue reading
Old School Myths About the Ideal Time for Raising Capital (of the Right Type)
Old school myths from last century have stuck around to this century — especially about when to raise capital. Modern companies often have the freedom to make a decision about when to seek capital because they do not need capital at a certain point in… Continue reading