Biztech Lawyers’ Post

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉 We are thrilled to announce that Novel has secured an oversubscribed $15M Pre-Series A round! Including previous rounds, this brings our total funding to over $130M, fueling the expansion of our groundbreaking Capital Intelligence™ platform. Our mission for this next chapter is clear: transform how tech Founders fund and grow their businesses. In addition to the $100M+ in non-dilutive funding that we’ve already provided, we’re also rolling out a comprehensive, data-driven platform for Founders, including: -The CEO Dashboard: A real-time view of crucial metrics. -Valuation Tool: Benchmark your worth against thousands of startups. -VentureMatch™ (Beta): Connects Founders with top VC firms. Special thanks to IGNIA Partners and Ulu Ventures for co-leading this round, which will help us continue to give SaaS Founders the resources they need to scale faster and plan better exit strategies.  Stay tuned, we’ve got big things in store! 🚀 #FinTech #SaaS #NonDilutiveFunding #CapitalIntelligence #Innovation #TechStartups #NovelCapital #SeriesA #FundingRound 

Hey fellow founders! Let's talk investor relations. It's like dating—pursue too hard, and you'll scare them off. Instead, focus on making your product irresistible. Build your user base, ramp up turnover, and boost net dollar retention. Ignore investors, and watch them come running. When your company's hot, and you're ready to fundraise, you'll have your pick of suitors. It's like being the prom king or queen of startups! So, keep hustling, keep innovating, and when the time comes, wink at the investors. They'll be lining up to invest in your unicorn journey! #CEOInsights #StartupLife #InvestorRelations #VC

"If you build it he (they) will come" Sneak-peek into one of the five big f@%k-ups that many startups make when they go to market. Hear more about this one and four others at the masterclass we're hosting at FOUNDRY, Poole on 16 May. (more info and sign-up in the comments below) If you're responsible for GTM in a startup or scaleup and based on the South Coast it would be great to see you there. FinTech West, Barclays Eagle Labs #fintechevent #inpoole #fintechcommunity #MarketingStrategy #FintechMarketing #Founders

Just had Bill Gurley, Brad Gerstner, and David Weisburd on for an epic roundtable on the state of tech in private/public markets. Bill Gurley kicked us off with a quick state of the industry: -- Tech is and always has been cyclical -- Risk-on happens very slowly, risk-off happens FAST (like overnight fast) -- As risk-on appetite grows, valuation expansion occurs -- That leads to less focus on margins and profits over time, with more focus on growth -- When the mood quickly changes to risk-off, it's hard to pivot back to breakeven before the tide goes out -- This cycle was unique because later-stage startups had major cash positions -- So the "day of reckoning" for many companies was delayed into 23/24 -- This is why we saw more shutdowns in 23 vs 22 -- Expect 24 to be as bad as 23 -- With that said, down markets are a great time to start a company: office space is available, talent is affordable, and incumbents are (in many cases) hurting! Watch in full here: https://lnkd.in/gikY-YX5 #startups #tech #publicmarkets #privatemarkets #valuation

"Unicorns Ruled for a Decade. Tech Needs a New Beast. The era of obsessing over lofty valuations needs to end. It’s time to refocus on revenue." - Parmy Olson in Bloomberg At #LondonTechWeek earlier this week, Phoenix Court and Dealroom.co published new insights about startup fundamentals in Europe and beyond. In the UK alone, 118 startups are bringing in more than $100 million in revenue! 785 do more than $25 million in revenues. One of the key things we discovered is also that the number of new startups with $100M+ revenues and the number of new unicorns moved pretty much in synchronous in recent years, apart 2021 when valuations went nuts! This new research marks a further step in Dealroom's mission to help unleash the potential of startup ecosystems with intelligence. At Dealroom.co we now cover financial regulatory data on 80% of the European startup ecosystem. Outside Europe, we are also making strides, although the financial disclosers are more limited. We believe this is the start of a new era with much more focus on fundamentals. This matters hugely not only for investors but also for employees and all stakeholders. #venturecapital #unicorns #revenues

Nearly a year ago, we launched our Pre-seed to Succeed program in partnership with AltaIR Capital, Yellow Rocks!, Smart Partnership Capital and I2BF Global Ventures. The program is designed to help early-stage founders build and scale their companies by providing financial support and connecting them with experienced mentors and experts. Since then, we've received over 1,700 applications, reviewed hundreds of projects, and invested in 6 promising startups. And we're excited to meet new founders who could become part of the P2S portfolio family at our upcoming speed-dating event during TechCrunch Disrupt on October 28th! You'll have up to 3 minutes to deliver your pitch directly to investors. After the pitch, there will be a 6-7 minute Q&A session with investors. After 10 minutes, the gong sounds and the founders change their place. Don't miss this opportunity to pitch your startup and get real-time feedback from investors. Some of the investors who will be reviewing pitches include Dmitry Firskin, Partner at AltaIR, Nikolay Kirpichnikov, Managing Partner at Smart Partnership Capital, along with other top VCs. Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/d-6qwCah #techcrunchdisrupt #techcrunchdisrupt2024

Be like this. Hate most VCs, until VCs or any investor would contribute to your business. And make money together. Be like David, be unique, especially when building startups. Context: I hate most VCs in Asia too, since after all we're all figuring out how to catch up with Silicon Valley. There're certain exceptions with experienced VCs (i.e: operating on $1B scale and above), other than that don't listen to what VCs tell you, until they prove it. Then focus on proving your business instead. Image from: https://lnkd.in/gp3_Mcgp

Thanks to all the accomplished leaders who reached out to take me up on my challenge to debate at Collision Conf. Amazing to see all the passion on both sides of the topic. It was a tough decision but I have found the formidable opponent I was seeking in Alon Zieve, whom we are flying in from #Israel for the debate. Alon has had an incredible career at the highest ranks of startups, investment media, and even marketplaces. Over the last 15 years he has had significant stints in the C-suites of Bringg, a unicorn in the logistics industry, Seeking Alpha, the world’s largest investing community, and Natural Intelligence, a multi-vertical marketplace comparison platform with half a billion in revenues. One thing that Alon and I can agree on is that founders should have a way to reduce their highly concentrated exposure to their own startup before the company itself achieves an exit. However Alon does not believe that this can or should be achieved by allowing private shares to be sold more freely. Rather, his new startup Aption seeks to provide founders and early employees with the ability to contribute their shares to, and in turn take a stake in, a broader diversified pool of shares created by the contributions of other founders. While this approach does not address the need for near-term liquidity, it could reduce the founder’s personal financial risk by allowing them to diversify away from their own startup (and theoretically get distributions over time as companies in the pool achieve exits). So, each of Alon and I have a deeply vested interest in our respective sides of the debate. Hiive benefits from allowing people to sell their shares, and Aption represents an alternative to trading that at least enables employees to diversify.  While we will not be on stage to debate each other’s business models, I am curious to hear what people think of the Aption’s approach. Alon, see you Wednesday. And may the best founder win. #liquidity #secondarymarket #privatemarket #preipo #stockoptions

Hurry! ⏰ The survey closes tomorrow! ➡ https://lnkd.in/eSxkC5ww If you are looking to hire or looking for a new job, it is crucial that you take part #DATA #DATA #DATA

Success is not eternal, it is a continuous process. Startups must remember that no matter the height of their achievements, they are always vulnerable to decline. This humility ( not hubris) is crucial for long-term survival.