Tag Archives: startup

Jun 3 Pillpack: Adding $50M in funding to bring redesigned pharmacy to all

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There are some people in the world that it is simply a joy to work with, and when good things happened to them you can only feel joy.  TJ Parker and Elliott Cohen are two such people and I’m delighted …

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May 19 Zoopla at seven – how focus and speed drive exceptional outcomes

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 I first invested in Zoopla in July 2007.  At the time, a mere £500,000 to get the company going and back Simon Kain and Alex Chesterman in improving the real estate experience. Last week, almost exactly 7 years after this …

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Apr 10 The Boston Surprise

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 Now that I am leaving Boston I can talk about its startup ecosystem in all candor.   When I came over 4 years ago, it was essentially as an act of belief in my partner Jeff and in myself. To …

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Mar 31 Why Series B is usually the hardest

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 Tom Tunguz and Danielle Morrill both came out with data suggesting Series B are hard.  Tom calls it the “hardest round to raise”, based on his numbers.  Let me try to address why that is.   Let’s assume we’re in …

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Mar 5 Pro-rata rights: the good, the bad and the ugly

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 Fred Wilson posted an article to explain the concept and value of pro-rata rights, with his usual elegance in making the concept clear. Pro-rata rights are incredibly valuable for a simple reason: most startup companies fail, but pro-rata rights are …

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Dec 10 CAD Venture Chef : The Recipe for a $5M Series A with Lagoa

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Since this is festive season I thought I would share with you the recipe of a successful series A fundraising and tell you the story of Lagoa: Start with a devilishly smart entrepreneur who’s able to code a multi-physics engine …

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Oct 9 The Glorious Post Seed Startup Financing Chaos

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The other day I got a call from Scott Kirstner at the Boston Globe answering: “what happens to all these incubators entrepreneurs after Demo Day”.   The short answer: chaos.  Full of opportunity, but chaos nonetheless.  Cue fractals on this …

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Jun 27 There are no shortcuts to intelligent Founder – CEO transitions

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 Founder transition is one of those tense topics that holds limited upside for the writer, especially when said individual is a venture capitalist. However it’s also very often one of the defining moments in a startup’s life; a moment that, …

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Nov 21 Startup Ecosystem Report : Boston vs rest of the world

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The good folks at Startup Genome continue to produce data where none existed.  After their first effort (the phenomenally useful Startup Genome Data) they are back with a systematic analysis of startup ecosystems around the globe. You can download the …

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Mar 7 Startup Mentoring, the Socratic Way

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 I have been involved in many environments in which mentoring is a core part of the value proposition. Seedcamp or Techstars succeed almost exclusively on the quality of their mentoring. As a board member I try to be a good …

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