recently rated:

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2.0 2.1 1.9 2.2 2.0

2.0

Tech Coast Angels

Certified

$$$$$ Los Angels, US West

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3.8 3.1 2.9 3.0 3.5

3.3

Azure Capital Partners

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$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

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3.2 3.2 3.2 3.5 3.4

3.3

Adams Capital Management, Inc.

 

$$$$$ Sewickley, US East

Rated by 10

3.6 3.4 3.2 3.0 3.2

3.3

Noro-Moseley Partners

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$$$$$ Atlanta, US East

Rated by 23

3.3 3.4 3.0 3.4 3.3

3.3

Allegis Capital

Certified

$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 14

3.0 3.4 3.4 3.1 3.4

3.3

OpenView Venture Partners

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$$$$$ Boston, US East

Rated by 38

4.2 3.3 2.9 2.9 3.1

3.3

Greylock Partners

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$$$$$ San Mateo, US West

Rated by 39

3.6 3.4 3.3 3.1 3.3

3.3

Foundation Capital

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$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 34

3.4 3.5 3.2 3.2 3.4

3.3

InterWest Partners

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$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 14

3.6 3.5 3.5 2.8 3.4

3.3

Meritage Funds

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$$$$$ Denver, US West

Rated by 47

3.5 3.5 3.0 3.0 3.2

3.2

Mayfield Fund

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 27

3.4 3.4 3.3 2.7 3.2

3.2

Union Square Ventures

 

$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 39

3.0 3.5 3.3 3.0 3.4

3.2

Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

Rated by 10

2.6 3.4 3.6 3.2 2.9

3.2

Palomar Ventures

 

$$$$$ Santa Monica, US West

Rated by 40

2.8 3.2 3.5 3.3 3.4

3.2

Shasta Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 31

3.1 3.1 2.9 3.2 3.4

3.2

BlueRun Ventures

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$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 33

2.9 3.3 3.4 3.3 3.2

3.2

Opus Capital

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$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 15

3.2 2.7 3.9 3.3 3.1

3.2

Kepha Partners

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$$$$$ Waltham, US East

Rated by 10

3.6 3.5 3.2 2.2 3.5

3.2

Sequoia Capital Israel

 

$$$$$ Oceanos Hotel, ..., ME / Africa

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Sutter Hill Ventures

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$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

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3.4 3.4 3.3 2.6 3.2

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Emergence Capital Partners

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$$$$$ San Mateo, US West

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3.5 3.4 3.6 3.0 2.4

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Balderton (Benchmark EU)

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$$$$$ London, Europe

Rated by 50

3.5 2.7 3.1 3.2 2.9

3.1

Draper Fisher Jurvetson

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$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 28

3.1 2.8 2.8 3.3 3.3

3.1

Flybridge Capital Partners

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$$$$$ Boston, US East

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3.4 3.2 3.5 2.8 2.4

3.1

Trident Capital

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$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 43

3.8 3.1 2.8 3.2 2.7

3.1

Accel Partners

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$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 26

3.3 3.1 2.9 3.2 3.0

3.1

Sigma Partners

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 37

3.3 3.0 3.0 2.9 3.1

3.1

Charles River Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 12

3.1 3.1 3.5 2.6 2.8

3.0

SoftTech VC

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$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 13

3.3 2.9 3.7 2.1 2.8

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New York Angels

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$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 26

3.1 2.9 3.0 2.9 3.0

3.0

Madrona Venture Group

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$$$$$ Seattle, US West

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They say that VCs are "pattern matchers". Now after a couple of identical (bad) experiences during our current fund raising round, I think I see a pattern worth sharing.

Here's the story line:

-- Junior partner at mid-tier firm hears about deal, gets really excited, makes boastish claims about the speed at which they can get a deal done and makes strong enough claims about valuation that it's hard to say no to spending time

-- Junior partner researches the hell out of the deal, sucks down a lot of company time with questions, models, reference calls, etc.

-- Full partner meeting. Junior partner hasn't done his homework with the partnership to sell the deal. Senior partners start raising a series of questions and objections.

-- Junior partner, back on his heels, scrambles around to respond to all of the new objections, while assuring that the deal will still get done and a term sheet is just days away. Sucks down a bunch more company time. Objections are mostly silly and easy to overcome, and should have been handled before the full partner meeting.

-- As each objection is overcome, a new one appears from the big bag of silly objections. Objection overcome yet again.

-- Once this game has run its course, one final objection appears, this time, the objection that can not be overcome: "We just don't feel good about on the management team. No specific issue, just can't get comfortable." This the first time that this objection was raised. And there's no way to overcome this objection. No term sheet after all. (Interestingly, in our case, NOT the same member of the team each time.)

As I reflect on these these two experiences, it is pretty clear what happened. The deal was dead by the time we walked out of the full partnership meeting. The junior partner had not properly sold the deal, and they didn't have the juice with their senior colleagues to get to the finish line.

But of course, the junior partner can't admit to any of this. It has to be the company's *fault* that the deal came off the tracks. So instead of a simple, "No, we're not going to be able to go forward," they reach into that good ol' big bag of silly objections. The management team is on their game, and so the objections are easily overcome.

After a few cycles of this, the junior partner realizes that he can't save face on the back of a factual objection, so he ultimately retreats into the vague ad hominem objection that can not be overcome.

So beware. Junior partner" Questioning his juice" All powerful senior partner stomping on the deal" Think twice before you spend any more time on a process to get to that elusive term sheet that is still coming. If they won't give you a simple "no", give THEM a simple "no".