Venture capital – The Musings of the Big Red Car

The Venture Capital Winter of 2023

Big Red Car — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 11:36:02 +0000

If you are a startup seeking to raise venture capital, if you are a funded startup seeking to raise a follow on round of venture capital, know this — the Venture Capital Winter of 2023 is upon you. In evaluating this graph read carefully, this is funding currently being raised, not the amount of money […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car The Venture Capital Winter of 2023 The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

Venture Capital’s New Best Friend — Securities And Exchange Commission

Big Red Car — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:13:45 +0000

Today the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a marriage of their oversight and a squirming, virginal reluctant bride — the Venture Capital industry. Clearly, this is a shotgun marriage and there will be no honeymoon. The VC industry will protest it is rape, but you decide. “Shots fired!” As Ronald Reagan said, “The top nine most […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car Venture Capital’s New Best Friend — Securities And Exchange Commission The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

Saints, Sinners, Losers, and Winners

Big Red Car — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 17:46:51 +0000

In the venture capital world, there is always a lot of information about the big wins of VC firms, but what of the losers? Or the deals they passed on they came to regret? One firm recently put out a public announcement of the deals they passed on that turned out to be truly missed […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car Saints, Sinners, Losers, and Winners The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

Interviewing Venture Capitalists

Big Red Car — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 17:46:50 +0000

The other day I had a conversation with a CEO who was strapping on his kneepads and polishing up his tin cup to hit the fundraising circuit. He is not a complete novitiate, but neither could he write the book on the subject. He was a good student, smarter than a Shih Tzu — which […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car Interviewing Venture Capitalists The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

Volcker 2.0 And Venture Capital

Big Red Car — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 14:31:32 +0000

Whilst you were quarantining and attending to the vicissitudes of life, the banking world was undergoing some incredible changes to its regulatory environment. Last Thursday, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (and the US Securities and Exchange Commission in a tangential manner) agreed to changes […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car Volcker 2.0 And Venture Capital The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

Kickstarter Union — Woke Or A Joke?

Big Red Car — Sun, 12 Jan 2020 00:41:56 +0000

It was 79F yesterday in the ATX and 46F this morning. We’ll see 60F by the afternoon. Winter is brutal in Austin By God Texas, y’all. Brutal. So, I have been reading up on efforts to create unions at tech firms — talking to you Kickstarter, Uber, Google. While I used “Kickstarter” as the click […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car Kickstarter Union — Woke Or A Joke? The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

The We Work Fallout

Big Red Car — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 05:57:15 +0000

We Work was symptomatic of venture capital funded companies that tiptoed to the public markets with no profits to feed the beast. In the case of We Work, the market finally woke up and said, “Hey, you don’t even have a plan to become profitable. Get outta here.” We Work was further punished for the […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car The We Work Fallout The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

Tumblr Tumbled

Big Red Car — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 20:33:58 +0000

It is obligatory to write something about Tumblr in the blogosphere or “they” will hack your site, and crash it. The Big Red Car doesn’t want that to happen, so here goes. It is a curious case, this Tumblr story. With apologies to Charlie Dickens. “It was the best of times, it was the worst […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car Tumblr Tumbled The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

Venture Capital Data

Big Red Car — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 17:04:15 +0000

In working with startup CEOs one of the most important discussion points is raising money. To be able to effectively understand the market for venture capital, one has to do a bit of study on the subject. Luckily, there are a number of great sources out there. One of them is PitchBook which publishes something […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car Venture Capital Data The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%

The Money Divide

Big Red Car — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 20:36:26 +0000

Love may make the world go around, but it is money that pays for the trip. The world is divided between those who consume money (my tribe) and those who provide the money. Amongst competing tribal loyalties are the classic American entrepreneur (consumer) and the venture capitalist (provider). Entrepreneurs propose an idea that requires a […]

This post first appeared at The Musings of the Big Red Car
Big Red Car The Money Divide The Musings of the Big Red Car %%BLODDESCLINK%%