James McClure’s Post

💵📊 Avid Ventures has launched its second early-stage fund closing $87 million. This brings the total capital raised by the company to over $165 million. The Avid Fund II will back exceptional founders building transformative software and fintech companies from Seed to Series B stages. 📈 The VC firm welcomed new institutional investors, including The Mellon Foundation, Hall Capital Partners LLC, Vintage Investment Partners, UJA-Federation of New York, Soka University of America, and CM Wealth Advisors, among others. Returning Fund I investors include Foundry, General Catalyst, and multi-billion dollar philanthropic family offices. It was also backed by leading investors and executives such as Brian Singerman (Partner, Founders Fund), Rob Hayes (Partner, First Round), and Susan Sobbott (former multi-decade American Express leader). 🤖 Read more here: https://shorturl.at/PExRv Addie Lerner Daniel Simon Nicky Goulimis #tech #funding #news #VC #technology #investment #innovation

The J-curve is brutal for early-stage investors, and almost nobody talks about it. Here's what actually happens when you start angel investing: Your portfolio immediately goes down in value. For years. Sometimes 5-7 years. Then, if you've invested well, it shoots up dramatically. That's the J-curve. The reality is that in years 1-3, about 20-30% of your companies will fail completely. Another 40-50% will struggle. Maybe 10-20% will show real promise. But here's what's fascinating: By year 5, you can typically identify your breakout winners. They're the ones raising larger rounds at significantly higher valuations. They're hitting real revenue milestones. Their founders are executing relentlessly. The secret most experienced angels know? Double down on these winners. When you spot a rocket ship, get on board again if you can. The math is simple but counterintuitive: Your initial portfolio might have 20-30 companies, but 90% of your returns will likely come from 2-3 of them. Time horizon expectations? Think 7-10 years minimum. If you're not comfortable with your money being illiquid for a decade, angel investing probably isn't for you. The biggest mistake new angels make is getting discouraged in years 2-4 when everything looks terrible. That's exactly when you need to stay the course. Remember: The J in J-curve stands for "Just keep going." ----- 💡 Exhort Ventures is a syndicate of 200+ Limited Partners (LPs). We invest in early-stage technology companies and venture capital funds. Check us out to learn more. ----- #angelinvesting #venturecapital #founders #jcurve

𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹’𝘀 𝗕𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗲 🤫 Venture capital has a glamorous reputation, but the truth is, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵. The culprit? 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Many VCs chase the latest trends as part of the herd, but with their ability to manage only a few portfolio companies, this lack of diversification leads to extreme volatility and disappointing returns. The myth of venture capital success often hinges on a few unicorns that make headlines, but the reality for most funds is far less rosy. The focus on the hottest sectors, driven by herd behavior, creates a volatile landscape where consistent growth is hard to achieve.

Following up on my previous post. Another thing people often get wrong about angel investing is viewing it like being a VC or practice for being a VC. Yes, you can do that if you plan on having a career in VC, but if you’re just trying to get exposure to the venture asset class, you should be thinking like an LP (limited partner), not a VC managing/general partner. A VC’s job is to make direct investments and concentrate bets. An LP’s job is to build a diverse portfolio and manage risk. A VC fund may have 30-50 companies in its portfolio over the life of the fund, which is why most funds don’t beat the market. Their job is to swing for the fences every time. This is not an appropriate LP strategy. An LP should have exposure to several times that number of companies. To put it in perspective, a 100-company portfolio is still very concentrated in terms of early stage startups (pre-seed to Series A). I have over 150 companies in my personal portfolio and my goal is at least 500. The easiest way to do this is through syndicates and being an LP in funds that have different theses to make sure you’re not over concentrated in individual deals by investing in multiple funds/syndicates that are all in the same deal. In short, don’t get too excited about one or two deals and blow your wad on a couple checks, and then not be able to write at least 98 more.

Founders have all manner of support to help them get up and running with their businesses. VCs, less so — until now.  Early next year, advisory firm Mountside Ventures is launching Europe’s first VC fundraising accelerator. It’ll take on 15 emerging managers and “help them become better fundraisers”, says Jonathan Hollis, the firm’s managing partner. “It’s not to help investors become better investors; it’s to identify and connect them with relevant LPs.” There are, according to data platform Dealroom, around 2,500 active VCs in Europe; only 275 of those have raised their third fund. #emergingmanagers #investment #VentureCapitalists ##VentureCapitalists #limitedpartners #generalpartners #LPs #GPs

A great program that all entrepreneurs should go through.

#AngelInvesting can be an exciting way to support #innovative #startups, however, it can come with several #risks... https://lnkd.in/d7u7hJuD Visit the #WBS, exclusively on #LinkedIn to #learn more! #entrepreneurs #investors #finance #business

Venture Capital should not be the default path ❌ By design, a tiny number of businesses each year manage to grow fast enough and big enough to make a return for a VC fund. It was originally designed to be a means to an end not a goal in itself. I have met 100s of founders who were fundraising from Venture Capitalists for months and years only to find out they couldn't build their business because they couldn't close their funding round. Not a fan of generalist advice but to all founders, please note that VC funding is not suitable for the majority of founders starting new businesses. Whether its bootstrapping, working capital loans or going to work alongside someone solving the problem you are passionate about, there are many streams that lead to the ocean.

This is a good perspective on angel investing. I don't agree with the investing with accelerators now as the top ones shift all the time with exception of YC. But in general as newbie this is a good view. https://lnkd.in/gFZnkCe7

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