recently rated:

Rated by 1

1.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 1.0

1.2

Stratos Ventures Ltd.

 

$$$$$ Helsinki, Europe

top rated funds:

Rated by 34

3.9 4.0 4.0 3.8 4.3

4.0

First Round Capital

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

Rated by 27

3.9 4.2 3.6 3.8 4.3

4.0

RRE Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 15

3.9 4.4 3.9 3.5 4.1

3.9

Wellington Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Munich, Europe

Rated by 19

3.3 4.2 3.9 4.1 3.9

3.9

Leapfrog Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 85

4.7 3.8 3.7 3.2 3.6

3.8

Sequoia Capital

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 26

3.4 3.5 3.3 3.9 4.1

3.6

Clearstone Venture Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Santa Monica, US West

Rated by 22

3.7 3.5 3.8 3.2 3.8

3.6

Altos Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 17

3.2 3.7 4.0 3.7 3.2

3.6

True Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Palo Alto, US West

Rated by 13

3.8 3.5 3.3 3.6 3.8

3.6

Scale Venture Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Foster City, US West

Rated by 12

3.9 3.2 3.2 4.1 3.2

3.5

The Founders Fund

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

Rated by 20

3.5 3.6 3.6 3.1 3.5

3.5

Union Square Ventures

 

$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 14

3.9 3.5 3.5 3.2 3.3

3.5

Morgenthaler Ventures

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 44

3.7 3.4 3.3 3.4 3.9

3.5

Trinity Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 40

3.6 3.6 3.1 3.2 3.5

3.4

Mayfield Fund

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 17

3.2 3.5 3.4 3.6 3.5

3.4

Opus Capital

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 34

3.8 3.0 3.2 3.6 3.4

3.4

Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 20

3.8 3.5 3.1 3.5 3.2

3.4

Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures

 

$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 11

3.9 3.7 2.8 2.7 3.6

3.4

Versant Ventures

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 35

3.6 3.3 3.4 3.1 3.8

3.4

Bessemer Venture Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Larchmont, US East

Rated by 42

3.8 3.3 3.0 3.6 3.4

3.4

New Enterprise Associates

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 30

3.3 3.4 2.8 3.5 3.4

3.3

Polaris Venture Partners, L.P.

 

$$$$$ Waltham, US East

Rated by 30

3.4 3.2 3.0 3.2 3.8

3.3

Spark Capital

 

$$$$$ Boston, US East

Rated by 37

3.8 3.4 3.1 3.4 3.1

3.3

Menlo Ventures

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 21

3.0 3.1 3.6 3.4 3.4

3.3

Levensohn Venture Partners, LLC

Certified

$$$$$ San Francisco, US West

Rated by 14

3.3 3.2 2.8 3.5 3.6

3.3

Sigma Partners

 

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 33

4.1 3.3 2.9 3.0 3.3

3.3

Greylock Partners

Certified

$$$$$ San Mateo, US West

Rated by 32

3.6 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.3

3.3

Foundation Capital

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 26

3.4 3.5 3.0 3.0 3.5

3.3

InterWest Partners

Certified

$$$$$ Menlo Park, US West

Rated by 11

3.8 3.1 3.5 2.7 3.1

3.2

Insight Venture Partners

 

$$$$$ New York, US East

Rated by 24

3.9 3.5 2.7 2.9 3.1

3.2

Index Ventures

Certified

$$$$$ Geneva, Europe

HomeConnectTermsAdviceLettersDiscussLists

Sign-upFor VCsFor MediaFor AdsCEO JobsGet HelpTwitter

VISIT OUR SPONSOR: advertise here

TheFunded.com is hosting a CEO gathering at the Tesla Motors Showroom in Menlo Park this October. Come and socialize over wine and hors d'oeuvres with other CEOs from around the Bay Area and from around the world in the first Connect event. Guests will be treated to a 20 minute detailed walkthrough of the mass production electric sports car, as well as provided with a unique opportunity to test drive the Tesla Roadster, which is not generally available to the public.

Over 100 CEOs have RSVP'ed. Less than fifty invitations remain, so please log in with your Membership account and read the Private portion of this post to reserve a spot today. TheFunded.com would like to thank Fenwick & West for sponsoring the event.

VISIT OUR SPONSOR: advertise here

The declining economy and difficult IPO markets have made it increasingly hard for venture funds to price late stage equity. As a result, less and less late stage deals are getting done.

First, existing investors in late stage companies can not easily lead an internal round without a new investor pricing the round to satisfy the appearance of objectivity among their own investors, the limited partners.

Second, new investors have difficulty pricing later stage deals because evaluating the range exit opportunities is impossible right now. There have been no venture funded IPOs in the last quarter, and traditional public acquirers have seen a dramatic decrease in equity values and an inability to raise debt. Without public comparables or reference M&A deals, pricing equity is a guessing game.

On the other hand, early stage investments are largely based on pursuing market opportunities and owning certain percentages of preferred stock. A strong management team with a good market opportunity can raise capital without problem in today's market.

Your best shot as a late stage company is to conserve capital through cost savings and find a "friendly" to price your deal. Once a price is set, there is plenty of money for investment. The price is the hardest part to get. Any suggestions on some ways to land a "friendly"?

I wasn't there, but these are allegedly notes from a CEO at the recent all-hands meeting (CEOs of all portfolio companies) at Sequoia. Strikes me as a little over-the-top, but then probably better to error on the side of caution in uncertain times.

[SLIDES POSTED BY ANOTHER MEMBER]

I have interacted with Matt for over a year and have finally come around to writing an endorsement, not at all solicited by him. Matt is a Principal at Highland who is getting deals done in the internet/digital media space. He understands disruptive models and seems most interested in cutting edge consumer internet. I recommend him to anyone looking to pitch a thoughtful, honest venture guy that will likely add immediate value and feedback. In my experience, he has proven to be a valuable asset to our company and consistently acts as a sounding board as we think through our business.

VISIT OUR SPONSOR: advertise here

Our experience is primarily with Carl. He's a substantive guy, has been in the trenches. He's lived our life. He will question and push, but he'll make it feel cooperative and supportive. Dan is extremely bright, well connected and will also question and press ... harder and without trying to make you feel good about it.

I found Advantage easy to work with, they funded then basically let us go to work. The deal terms were great

I keep getting notices about their "Bootcamp" on how to pitch to investors. Pretty pricey for startups and I've seen nothing about portfolio companies they've funded.

Has anyone pitched to them?

VISIT OUR SPONSOR: advertise here