From the Investors
Tomasz Tunguz of Redpoint Ventures concludes that the Series B will likely be the most challenging round to raise in the beginning of this year in “What’s Really Happening In The US Venture Fundraising Market In Early 2016”
First Round Capital publishes the latest letter to their LPs in which they discuss the need to rethink prior assumptions about prioritizing growth above all else in “The Watney Rule for Startups – and the Return to the ‘Old Normal’”
Alida Miranda-Wolff of Hyde Park Angels takes lessons from successful entrepreneurs and investors to explain when entrepreneurs should raise venture capital or bootstrap in “How to Fund Your Early-Stage Startup”
Elizabeth Yin of 500 Startups walks through a hypothetical to find the best people to ask for an investor introduction in “Who is the Best Person to Ask For an Investor Intro?”
Brian Q. Pham of Sherpa Capital reminds us about what it takes to build an enduring company in “The Courage to Build Intrinsic Value”
Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School and Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz argue that it’s not incompetence, but competence, that causes companies to be disrupted in “Disruption in Business…and Life” (podcast)
Jeff Markowitz of Greylock Partners shares his presentation on five stages of executive recruiting in “A Blueprint for Executive Hiring”
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From the Operators
Peter Reinhardt of Segment offers his story to help other founders avoid “wandering lost in the woods” and achieve product-market fit sooner in “Finding Product Market Fit”
Andy Doyle of Medium talks about his company’s experience with holacracy and their decision to move on to a different management philosophy in “Management and Organization at Medium”
Cody Simms of Techstars reviews the last twenty-two years in consumer internet and forecasts the next industries and institutions that will experience the same massive, existential shifts in “Disruption and the Next Twenty-Two”
A.J. Watson of Fundify summarizes data to show why angel investors should seek to invest in industries where they have prior experience or invest alongside investors with prior experience in “The One Question Every Angel Investor Should Be Asking”
Steli Efti of Close.io outlines how you can take the framework of a minimum viable product and apply it to things other than your product in “MVP Your Team to Excellence”
David Spinks of CMX uses his experience to show why you should consider not taking investor money in “Bootstrapping in Unicorn Land”
Here’s 2015’s Biggest Fundraising Rounds in the Most Active States (read more)
Continuing our theme of finding new ways to discuss data, the following interactive tool is worth playing with if you want to better understand the US venture market.
Hustle Con
Hustle Con is a one-day conference on May 13th in Oakland, CA, where 15 startup founders teach actionable, non-technical lessons on how to launch and grow your business. Mattermark’s CEO, Danielle Morrill will be speaking at this event. For 20% off, use the code “ILOVEMATTERMARK.”