Joe, if you're still following this thread, thanks for sharing that presentation and for the extra information here. I have a question. Your very last point says "Board composition REALLY matters". Could you expand on that? What are some red flags to watch out for? Is a fair, founder-friendly solution possible? Is it common? What does it look like?<p>I ask because I have heard many nasty stories of founders thinking that they would stay in control of their company, only to find that, because of the board, this wasn't true at all. I would like to know how to make sure this doesn't happen. It seems like the issues can't all be obvious, or so many smart people wouldn't fall prey to this pattern.
I can personally say that Joe Beninato is a great guy. He personally took time to meet with me at a Starbucks and gave some honest, valuable advice when we were looking for some funding early on with Picwing. Glad to see he's still doing that!
Hi Joe, we really appreciate your time and energy at fbFund REV!<p>I'm curious about the distribution of meetings/term sheets for the investors you highlighted.<p>Also interested in the second and third order effects of introductions to investors. Who has the best recommendation/conversion in the valley?
*Need to do my HW on papers, dissertations, etc. to formulate better questions but seems like we could run tests to validate some of your points with our teams...<p>Thank you,
Enrique<p>Sorry would of posted earlier but failing to get my username enriqueallen back :(
Why is he so adamant about not communicating a valuation? Is it because if you don't give one, there's a chance the VC will value you higher than the valuation you would have communicated?
You see the list of angels, angel groups, and seed firms? They're all in the Valley. You can do your startup elsewhere and succeed, but hey, if it's possible, probably worth moving.
This presentation is really well done and will save you time from having to read 5-10 other smaller posts on the subject.<p>I still think it's best to raise capital when they come to you. Most don't or won't have the luxury of that though.