Kevin Jurovich

Fifteen years ago, Uber launched. Today, it’s worth $150B. 📈

But it almost didn't happen.

In 2010, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp struggled to raise funds for their ride-hailing idea. They aimed to secure $1.25 million in their seed round—a $10,000 investment back then would now be worth millions.

Not everyone believed in them.

- Mark Cuban passed.
- Gary Vaynerchuk turned them down twice.

A few Angels took the leap, and thank God they did. (see photo).

When Uber went public in 2019 at an $80 billion valuation, their stakes turned into life-changing returns.

This is the reality of startup investing when it works. High risk, high reward.

Uber will forever be remembered as one of the most lucrative venture capital investments of all time.

#startups #venturecapital #investing

The founders of Airbnb had no experience in travel.

The founders of Uber had no experience in transportation.

The founders of SpaceX had no experience in space travel.

The founders of WhatsApp had no experience in messaging.

The founders of Dropbox had no experience in cloud.

The founders of Warby Parker had no experience in eyewear.

The founders of Tesla had no experience in EVs.

The founders of hubble no experience in marketplaces.

Startups are launched by generalist risk-takers and scaled by specialists. Don't ever let a lack of credentials or experience hold you back.

#startups #entrepreneurship

A lot of VC funds say they invest at inception…few actually do.

If you're building at the earliest stage and looking for that first check, these pre-seed VCs actually back founders from day one.

I came across a great list by Nicole DeTommaso here are a few more.

1) Boost VC
2) Outside VC
3) VU Venture Partners
4) Marketplace Capital
5) Gacsym Ventures
6) Treeo VC
7) Baukunst
8) XRC Ventures
9) Underscore VC
10) Outlander VC
11) Forum Ventures
12) Hustle Fund
13) Everywhere Ventures
14) FOVC
15) Geek Ventures
16) Baobab Network 
17) Panache Ventures
18) Riceberg Ventures
19) Don't Quit Ventures
20) Pear VC
21) Wonder Ventures
22) Precursor Ventures
23) Wischoff Ventures
24) Nido Ventures
25) Plug and Play Tech Center
26) Gaingels
27) Amplify.LA
28) Dorm Room Fund
29) MBA Ventures
30) Unshackled Ventures
31) Torch Capital
32) Rally Cap VC
33) Cortado Ventures
34) LvlUp Ventures
35) Ganas Ventures
36) Symphonic Capital
37) Alpaca VC
38) Deciens Capital
39) Afore Capital
40) The Council
41) GoAhead Ventures
42) Barrel Ventures
43) Enzo Ventures
44) Redbud VC
45) Next Wave NYC
46) f7 Ventures
47) Recall Capital
48) Launch Factory
49) Kiplin Capital
50) Better Tomorrow Ventures

Focus on building something people actually want, get a little traction, and the rest will follow. 💙

#startups #venturecapital

How VCs Determine Their Average Check Size 💰✨

We will use a hypothetical $100M fund targeting 20 investments. Let's hop into it.

𝟭.) 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗔):
- Fund size = $100M

𝟮.) 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝘀 (𝗕):
- Management fees = 2% * $100M = $2M/year over 10 years = $20M
- Adjusted Fund Size (A - B) = $100M - $20M = $80M

𝟯.) 𝗜𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗢𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀:
- Follow-On Investment (50% of Fund) = 50% * $100M = $50M
- Remaining Net Amount for Initial Investment = Adjusted Fund Size - Follow-On Investment = $80M - $50M = $30M

𝟰.) 𝗔𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁:
- Average Check Size = Remaining Net Amount / Number of Companies = $30M / 20 = $1.5M

𝟱.) 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗢𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁:
- VC wants to invest $2 in follow-on for every $1 in the initial investment
- Total Follow-On Investment = 20 companies * $1.5M * 2 = $60M
- Adjusted Follow-On Investment (limited by available funds) = $50M

𝟲.) 𝗔𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗢𝗻:
- Average Check Size = Adjusted Follow-On Investment / (Number of Companies * 2) = $50M / (20 * 2) = $1.25M

Boom that's it!

A͟ ͟c͟o͟u͟p͟l͟e͟ ͟o͟f͟ ͟o͟t͟h͟e͟r͟ ͟t͟a͟k͟e͟a͟w͟a͟y͟s͟:͟
- The follow on can be $40M (50% of adjusted Fund-size)
- Follow-on capital typically wouldn't be reserved for all 20 companies
- Fees typically step down after year five or so

This is a solid starting point for understanding how VCs determine their average check size. 🤝

#venturecapital #fundraising #startups

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