Venture Capitalists

Molly Alter wears a lot of hats. She’s a mocumentary filmmaker working on a project about an alternate reality where charades is big business. She’s a caesar salad connoisseur and…

How filming a cappella concerts and dance recitals led Northzone’s newest partner Molly Alter to a career in VC

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! Last week was a holiday in the United States, so news was a bit lighter than normal. But there was still fintech-related items to report, including…

Should venture capitalists be held accountable when startups screw up?

When Urvashi Barooah applied to MBA programs in 2015, she focused her applications around her dream of becoming a venture capitalist. She got rejected from every school, and was told…

How Urvashi Barooah broke into venture after everyone told her she couldn’t

Featured Article

Blank Street cracked the code on making coffee shops attractive to VC

Blank Street’s focus on efficiency appeals to venture capitalists but time will tell if its approach draws in long-term customers.

Blank Street cracked the code on making coffee shops attractive to VC

Venture capitalists are still bullish on crypto and continuing to look at decentralized finance (DeFi) as a promising opportunity.

DeFi startups need to experiment with new use cases and build solutions, investors say

FTX’s downfall will heighten the need for regulation but also pique the interest of VCs looking to invest in DeFi, according to Framework Ventures’ Michael Anderson.

Framework Ventures co-founder says DeFi gives hope following FTX collapse

Tofino Capital, a venture capital firm targeting early-stage startups in emerging markets, has launched its $10 million fund. It is announcing the first close of this fund at $5 million…

Tofino Capital reaches first close of $10M fund to back startups in frontier markets

The Chicago-based firm prides itself on being unique from other venture capital firms.

New Stack Ventures raises second fund focused on Silicon Valley outsiders

Colombia is riding some tailwinds that have occurred over the past couple of years in Latin America as investment has poured into the region.

Marathon Ventures injects more capital into Colombia’s startup ecosystem

It’s always been a slight puzzle why AngelList never really properly took off in Europe, especially when, a few years ago, there was such a dearth of funding options for…

Vauban, an AngelList-like platform for VCs and angels to run and raise funds, closes $6.3m

Kara Penn is the mother of four daughters and owner of Mission Spark, a management and strategy consulting company. And now, thanks to Hustle Fund, she is also an angel…

Hustle Fund wants to help spawn a new generation of angel investors

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Why is GoCardless COO Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas pivoting to become a full-time VC?

Index Ventures, a London- and San Francisco-headquartered venture capital firm that primarily invests in Europe and the U.S., recently announced its latest partner. Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas, currently COO of London-based fintech GoCardless and previously the chief product officer of Skyscanner, will join Index in January. Gonzalez-Cadenas is a seasoned entrepreneur and…

Why is GoCardless COO Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas pivoting to become a full-time VC?

Ten years ago a group of young tech founders in Moscow decided to get an apartment together, at Shmitovskiy Lane 16. In time, the ecosystem around the group swelled to…

S16 Angel Fund launches a community of founders to invest in other founders

As part of Disrupt 2020 we wanted to look at the contrasting positions of both early and later-stage investing in Europe. Who better to unpack this subject than two highly…

Caroline Brochado and Sophia Bendz on the boom in Europe’s early and growth-stage startups

Fundraising for a startup is a notoriously stressful process. Much ink has been spilled dissecting every aspect of what works when pitching a venture capitalist, and there are countless “tips”…

Why founders should care where their VCs get their money

As the Chinese economy has boomed in the last decade, millions of people have entered the middle class. And the Chinese aren’t just getting wealthier, they’re getting fitter. China, it…

VCs are betting on the great Chinese fitness boom
Venture

Questions you need to ask your VC

Most entrepreneurs focus on the hard economics of the deal when they negotiate with investors: percentage ownership, valuation, preferences and other terms. Those things are all important — but so…

Questions you need to ask your VC

One of the most oft-repeated quotes about investing goes something like this: Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. While Warren Buffett may not have…

The investor psychology and why VCs aren’t immune

How did you get into venture capital? And why did you decide on that versus another startup? These are two questions aspiring VCs often ask. While I usually hop on…

From Uber driver to venture capitalist

To most entrepreneurs, the road to venture capital financing is littered with criticism and rejection. Ranging from “limited traction” to “that’s a hard space,” VCs have an entire vocabulary of…

What Entrepreneurs Need To Know About Their VCs And How To Identify Red Flags

When yesterday, the keyboard developer Swiftkey was reported to be acquired by Microsoft for $250 million — about 10 times what it raised from investors — it seemed just another success in a…

Index Ventures Has A New, $550 Million Fund, And A New Partner

A common rule of thumb among early stage VCs is to reserve 2–3X dollars for every $1 initially invested in a startup. This is in order to maintain ownership levels…

Buy/Hold/Sell In Venture Capital

Five Hard Things That Great VCs Do

One of the hard things about being a VC today: You must give entrepreneurs more than just capital. In my experience as a founder and sometime investor, here are five…

Five Hard Things That Great VCs Do

Strategies For VCs To Increase Startup Success Odds

Editor’s note: David Teten is a partner with ff Venture Capital and founder and chairman of Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York.. Lots of venture capitalists claim to add value…

Strategies For VCs To Increase Startup Success Odds

Editor’s note: Erik Rannala is co-founder and managing partner of MuckerLab. Much has been written about the Series A crunch that is facing entrepreneurs and their investors. Those who believe the…

Riding On The Wings Of Angels, VCs Avoid The So-Called Series A Crunch

At a very fundamental level, the venture capital business is being reshaped. Speaking to a crowd at the Grind work space in New York last week, Fred Wilson addressed this…

How To Appeal To Investors: Top VCs Reveal The Anatomy Of A Successful Entrepreneur