recently rated:

Rated by 43

2.6 2.6 2.6 2.9 2.4

2.6

General Catalyst

 

$$$$$ Cambridge, US East

top rated funds:

Rated by 14

4.3 4.2 3.9 4.2 3.8

4.1

Andreessen Horowitz

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 16

3.8 4.5 4.0 3.8 4.2

4.0

Rincon Venture Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Santa Barbara, CA, US West

Rated by 43

3.6 3.8 4.2 4.2 3.8

3.9

True Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 12

4.4 4.1 4.2 2.7 3.9

3.8

Y Combinator

 

$$$$$ Mountain View, US West

Rated by 11

3.9 4.2 3.2 3.6 4.0

3.8

Mangrove Capital Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Luxembourg, Europe

Rated by 45

3.8 4.1 3.3 3.7 4.0

3.8

RRE Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 107

4.7 3.8 3.7 3.1 3.6

3.8

Sequoia Capital

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 33

3.9 3.8 3.8 3.4 4.1

3.8

Altos Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 32

4.0 4.1 4.0 2.8 4.1

3.8

406 Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Boston, US East

Rated by 64

3.9 3.8 3.8 3.4 3.9

3.7

First Round Capital

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

Rated by 23

3.6 3.5 4.0 3.7 4.0

3.7

DFJ Mercury

Certified

$$$$$ Houston, US Central

Rated by 27

3.8 3.6 3.8 3.8 3.6

3.7

FLOODGATE

Certified

$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 13

3.7 3.8 3.8 3.4 3.8

3.7

IDG Ventures SF

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

Rated by 11

3.6 3.7 3.6 3.8 3.4

3.6

Flywheel Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Santa Fe, US West

Rated by 19

3.7 3.6 3.8 3.5 3.5

3.6

August Capital

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 10

4.0 3.8 3.9 2.8 3.7

3.6

Updata Partners

 

$$$$$ Red Bank, US East

Rated by 64

3.8 3.5 3.4 3.5 3.9

3.6

Trinity Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 15

2.9 3.6 3.8 3.3 3.8

3.5

Merus

 

$$$$$ US West

Rated by 21

3.5 3.6 3.6 3.2 3.4

3.5

Wellington Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Munich, Europe

Rated by 12

3.2 3.6 3.4 3.0 4.2

3.5

DN Capital

 

$$$$$ London, Europe

Rated by 30

3.3 3.4 3.3 3.7 3.7

3.5

Clearstone Venture Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Santa Monica, US West

Rated by 28

3.7 3.0 3.0 4.0 3.3

3.4

The Founders Fund

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

Rated by 49

3.7 3.4 3.1 3.4 3.2

3.4

Menlo Ventures

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 16

3.9 3.7 2.9 2.9 3.6

3.4

Versant Ventures

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 10

3.6 3.4 3.9 2.7 3.3

3.4

DFJ Esprit

Certified

$$$$$ London, Europe

Rated by 13

3.0 3.8 3.5 3.2 3.4

3.4

Fidelity Growth Partners Europe

Certified

$$$$$ London, Europe

Rated by 16

3.9 3.6 3.1 2.9 3.5

3.4

GRP Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Los Angeles, US West

Rated by 61

3.8 3.3 3.0 3.5 3.4

3.4

New Enterprise Associates

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 17

3.5 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.2

3.4

Scale Venture Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Foster City, US West

Rated by 18

3.2 3.4 3.3 3.0 3.6

3.3

Blumberg Capital

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

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Imagine raising capital, having a fast growing business, and then not being able to raise further capital because your existing investors have no "dry powder" to make future investments. These "walking dead investors" may scare off new investors because they do not participate, and they may even block new financing deals to maintain their equity position. Guess what. It happens a lot, and it happened to me.

The NVCA predicts that the number of venture firms will decrease, so this problem is only going to get worse:

"Most respondents believe the industry will consolidate further in 2008 with 57 percent predicting the number of venture firms will decrease next year. Those that remain will be raising the same size or larger funds according to 84 percent of venture capitalists polled. Only 16 percent believe funds will be smaller next year."
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do"id=803488

What do you do" Members, read on...

Your current investors will often have different motives with a new financing round that you do, so be extremely careful. Maybe they want to get more equity at a good price. Maybe they have internal fund pressure to show portfolio growth with a higher valuation. Maybe they want to gain some more investor control to force a liquidity event. Many times, old investors will pressure a company to raise new capital, and almost always the motives of existing investors in a fundraise is not what they appear to be.

The best advice is to take the time to engage in a proper fundraising process, even if you have "insider interest." Most of all, do not accept an internal offer without at least trying to secure one or two additional external offers. Your existing investors can be counted on to help make some introductions to other funds, and you should encourage them to participate at their pro-rata allocation.

It's your job to get the best possible terms, and there is no question that you are better off with multiple interested parties bidding up the price, even when you are busy growing the business.

When you are in the thick of fundraising, you'll likely get put into a position where it is tempting to compromise and accept a term sheet from a less-than-desirable fund or a fund that you have some hesitations with. Hey, you just want to get back to running the business. Maybe the fund makes an attractive offer. Maybe you are burnt out on fundraising. Maybe you need the money. I strongly recommend, from experience: don't compromise on your investor selection.

If you leave a meeting thinking, "what a waste of time," think about having these people waste more of your time as an investor. The questions and insights don't get any better over time, even with domain knowledge. If your gut is telling you that the investor is not that smart, conceited, mean, or devious, they probably are. They will continue these traits when they are on your Board, too. It's not like they switch from "mean pitch mode" to "happy investor mode." The tricky situations are when someone does have their "game face" on in a pitch, so you definitely should do as much research as possible.

I am on my 7th start-up, and I have had a lot of investors. Some are and were horrible. Others are and were great. The one thing that is evident to me now is that, with the exception of one person, the quality of the investor or Board Member is obvious very early on. More importantly, it certainly does not get better, but it may get worse. So, again, don't compromise.

Your first investors in the angel round or Series A will set the tone for your business and all of your fundraising going forward in a big way. These investors will be your long-term partners in any future funding event, helping your company secure future rounds, or, in the worst case, sabotaging future rounds through indecision or desire for control. Members, read on...