Fireside with a VC episode #98 speaking with Eric Ver Ploeg, Founding Partner of Tunitas Ventures about key data and trends in the US tech Series A fundraising environment as well as specifics about how much cash funding a startup should raise at pre-Seed, Late-Stage Seed and Series A as well as the many other considerations with regards to terms and legal structures do’s and don’ts.   Eric Ver Ploeg, is a VC veteran and runs Tunitas Ventures a focused seed stage investing firm that assists portfolio companies raise their Series A. Eric shares research and data on how the ratio of San Fra ..read more

Fireside with a VC episode #97 speaking with Igor Jablokov, CEO of Pryon $159m VC funding and founder and CEO of Yap, which Igor sold to Amazon which became the nucleus of Amazon’s Alexa & Fire TV. Pryon was the code name for Alexa. Discussing the evolution of humanity with AI, risks of AI, what we need or should expect with regulations, where innovation is happening, what are the OSI layers of the AI world, how the Fortune 500 will adopt or fail to adopt true AI, other relevant key industries ranging from nuclear power plants to healthcare and the military.   Find the full episode on ..read more

Fireside with a VC episode #96 speaking with Kristine Di Bacco, Partner at law firm Fenwick, discussing tough terms for startups in the context of flat and down rounds as well as more punishing terms for startups. What is common and expected in today’s market for up, flat, down rounds as well as convertible notes and SAFEs? Planning today’s current round in a way to set a precedent for the next funding round balancing valuations and terms. A deep dive on the difference between pre- and post-money SAFEs vs convertible notes, QSBS, etc. What to expect for typical governance, board of directors c ..read more

Episode #94, Why is China the way it is, what’s happened, and how is China interacting with the rest of the world from a startup & VC perspective? Jonathan Bench, a China expert, practicing lawyer in the region, and active for over 20 years in the market, discusses with Andrew Romans on Fireside with a VC: • What led up to the decoupling with China and how North American, European and Japanese companies will continue to do business with China? • What led up to the current situation on a timeline of developments and ultimately Covid? • The 5x+ increase in shipping costs and the impact of fa ..read more

Episode #93, VC Panel Part Questions from Audience @7BC San Francisco Event Nov. 14, 2023 VC Panel *Benjamin D. Black, Co-founder and Managing Director, Akkadian Ventures *Victoria Cheng, Partner, PruVen Capital *Carolin Funk, Partner, Blue Bear Capital *Vibhor Rastogi, Global Head of AI/ML/Data Investments, Citi Ventures *Ben Levy, Cofounder, BootstrapLabs *Andrew Romans, General Partner, 7BC Venture Capital, Moderator Confidential videos available for 7BC Portfolio Company 7-Minute Presentations Ryan Welsh, cofounder & CEO, Kyndi - generative AI answer engine for enterprises ($42.8m fund ..read more

Episode #92, Part I of the VC Panel at the 7BC Venture Capital San Francisco event Nov 14, 2023 *Benjamin D. Black, Co-founder and Managing Director, Akkadian Ventures *Victoria Cheng, Partner, PruVen Capital *Carolin Funk, Partner, Blue Bear Capital *Vibhor Rastogi, Global Head of AI/ML/Data Investments, Citi Ventures *Ben Levy, Cofounder, BootstrapLabs *Andrew Romans, General Partner, 7BC Venture Capital, Moderator Confidential videos available for 7BC Portfolio Company 7-Minute Presentations Ryan Welsh, cofounder & CEO, Kyndi - generative AI answer engine for enterprises ($42.8m funding ..read more

Episode #91, Part II of the VC Panel at the 7BC Venture Capital San Francisco event Nov 14, 2023 *Benjamin D. Black, Co-founder and Managing Director, Akkadian Ventures *Victoria Cheng, Partner, PruVen Capital *Carolin Funk, Partner, Blue Bear Capital *Vibhor Rastogi, Global Head of AI/ML/Data Investments, Citi Ventures *Ben Levy, Cofounder, BootstrapLabs *Andrew Romans, General Partner, 7BC Venture Capital, Moderator Confidential videos available for 7BC Portfolio Company 7-Minute Presentations Ryan Welsh, cofounder & CEO, Kyndi - generative AI answer engine for enterprises ($42.8m fundin ..read more

Episode #89, Jarred Kessler, CEO, EasyKnock fintech, real-estate tech, 15th largest home owner in the US Discussing the dynamics of inflation, interest rates and the volatile US residential real-estate market; Running a New York fintech / real-estate startup before, during, and after Covid; Raising over $120m of equity funding and $600m of debt financing; How they became the 15th largest owner of single residential homes in the US in less than 7 years; The Operating Company/Property Company (Opco/Propco) company structure; Overseeing high-velocity growth in headcount, acquiring and integratin ..read more

Episode #88, Everything you need to know about Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS), the exemption that allows investors in startups or investors in VC funds that invest in startups to NOT pay capital gains tax on the greater of the first $10m of capital gains or 10x the cost basis (what you paid for the stock). A discussion of what qualifies and what does not, how this plays with the amount of funding, the value of the balance sheet at the time of the investment, holding period, how to tack or rollover, SAFEs compared to priced rounds and convertible notes to get the tax exemption, how it ap ..read more

Episode #87 Discussion with Catalina Daniels and James Sherman, authors of Smart Startups: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know-Advice from 18 Harvard Business School Founders published today by Harper Business. This book has 18 interviews with a compelling list of founders that all raised VC funding and managed to get to an exit via M&A or IPO. The authors and interviewees can be forgiven for all having gone to Harvard, but they do share their learnings from their experiences founding, raising, building and exiting. We discuss these learnings with the two entrepreneurs and angel authors ..read more