Deal Sheet’s Post

Today is our 20th Issue of Deal Sheet. That means Zachary Ginsburg and I have now shared 2-6 curated SPV investment opportunities a week for 20 weeks in a row. We were not entirely sure what to expect when we set out to launch Deal Sheet and curate deals for LPs every single week. A lot of deals to be responsible to share weekly, right? We had high confidence in our ability to source but also work with and support many of the other great syndicate leads in the ecosystem (that we’ve met, worked with, and co-syndicated deals with over the past 5-6 years). We’ve been fortunate to spotlight pre-seed through pre-IPO investment opportunities from over 20 different syndicate leads who all bring differentiated and unique deal flow. It’s a great feeling to have now completed this 20 weeks in a row (despite soooo much more to accomplish). I only see Deal Sheet getting better going forward and I truly believe this. I believe this is a win for Syndicate leads who can access additional capital and high-intent, quality LPs (in a tough environment). I believe it is a win for our customers who can now access more curated deal flow, and at discounted carry (10% vs. 20%) providing additional upside for LPs who are active in the ecosystem. A massive thank you to the many syndicate leads who have worked with us and our early customers! ♥️♥️♥️ Cheers to the next 100 weeks of curated deals!

Good post and we have a similar approach and check size at Cascade Seed Fund. Definitely believe standard terms at fair valuation for the earliest outside capital is critical for startup success. We leverage National Venture Capital Association docs for that standardization on priced rounds and to keep transaction costs in check

We typically invest $250k into pre-seed rounds which implies that we don't / can't lead deals - just follow-on. But the truth is that sometimes we MUST lead a deal for the round to come together at all. The most common scenario is where there's a bunch of investor interest (and even commitments) in a company but everyone is waiting for the elusive lead investor to materialize. The lead typically sets the terms of the round, does the due diligence and issues a term sheet and closing timeline. While that may seem like a heavy lift, at the pre-seed, we mostly use Safes and we don't take board seats so it's really not much different from when we follow-on. The market is wonky and investors are more hesitant than ever to set terms - the upshot being that rounds can drag on for months. I'd rather see founders building and selling than distracted with fundraising for an extended period of time. In fact, just last week we decided to lead a round and we have another two in the pipeline. So, if you're an investor who can lead, you should consider it 🙌🏽

It is amazing how many Series B extension rounds I am seeing. Most of these deals are "ventury" in nature - meaning: 1) Burned a boat load of cash 2) Took coastal VC capital The rounds I am seeing are convertible notes weird conversion metrics or some type of warrant booster. The problem is that even if the budget gets hit- the valuation caps still reflect at 10-12x NTM ARR. The things investors will do to not write down their book.

Final call for Cohort 6 members and Venture Cooperative alumni: join us at 12:30PM ET today to discuss Leading Deals 🤓 We will dive into term sheets, pro-forma cap tables, valuations, considerations for co-investor groups, and deal syndication materials. If you have any suggestions for topics to add, share below or DM us 📨

Dear Founders, A handshake isn’t the deal-sealer, it used to be ,also just because you’ve signed a term sheet doesn’t mean that the VC will invest or that you can compell them to invest. A credit alert is the best way the deal is sealed in today’s market. Always remember you cannot stop fundraising just because you’ve signed a term sheet. I’ve seen investors back out of a deal trying to renegotiate terms after signing term sheets. By continuing to talk to other investors and fielding offers, you can put pressure on the investor to close the deal quickly and ensure they don’t change terms on you.

SPAC Feed: Webull’s $7bn listing deal shows Spac madness is not entirely over  Financial Times Source: Webull’s bn listing deal shows Spac madness… - https://lnkd.in/eus3uvrH #SPACs #SPACNews #SPAC #IPO #markets #news #capitalmarkets #trends #goingpublic #finance #business

Behind the Scenes  →  Managing ~5,000 Investors/LPs Syndicate leads can deploy tens of millions or hundreds of millions of capital via SPVs BUT it doesn't come without lots of management when working with thousands of investors. Obviously, there are tons of LP questions and topics you will need to address when running hundreds of deals. Here's some of the topics/questions that keep syndicate leads busy: -Portfolio company updates -Questions about a deal (when LPs are evaluating) -Trying to get into a deal late i.e. in closing or allocation is firmed up -Wanting to cancel an investment into a deal -Asking about liquidity timeline/expectation -Company shut down details -Distributions questions post exit, IPO, company buy back -Path to profitability -Understanding how much capital is committed to a deal (to better predict SPV setup costs) -Confirmation on existing VCs that are following on or not -How much personal capital we are putting in -Our take on why we like a deal -Sometimes not a question, just feedback on why they think a deal we are running sucks What are other popular questions/topics I missed? Zachary Ginsburg, Elana Gold, Amr Al-Shihabi, Drew Austin, Morgan Schwanke, David Yakobovitch, Matt Wilson, MBA, Jeroen Bertrams, Colin Gardiner, Tyler Knight, Ben Zises, Chad Fox, Ohad Gliksman, Stephen Hays, Ali Jamal, Cindy Bi, Joe Tonnos, Jed N., Sam Awrabi

With the sheer volume of deals that end up falling through, it takes sheer volume of dealflow to actually close more deals. ... Yes, you can rely on networking and referrals to come across deals - but is it enough? You might've closed 1 or 2 deals last year. But if your goal is 3-5 this year, then it's not gonna cut it. ... You can't control the output of dealflow from your existing network! You're just playing the waiting game and relying on luck. If you're actually serious about getting more deals closed, you gotta do more. Take control of your own luck! ... How do investment banks and massive private equity firms close over 5 or even 10 deals per year? They've got their own proprietary deal sourcing systems in place. ... If you're ready to level up, let's talk about how we can build you your own proprietary deal sourcing system to blow up your dealflow ASAP. DM's are open ✌️ 👑👑👑👑👑 #mergersandacquisitions #businessacquisition #buyabusiness #dealsourcing #Acquisition #PrivateEquity #businessbrokerage #businessbroker #investmentbanking

The Deal Flow Xchange is a platform designed with one purpose: to make sourcing large amounts of capital easier for everyone. Why DFX: Capital Providers are the ones that approach a deal, as opposed to the status quo of Founders and Deal Representatives reaching out to hundreds of investors and lenders. Flipping this equation: A. Saves Founders and Deal Representatives significant time and money as they do not need to waste months tracking down capital providers and chasing dead ends B. Saves Capital Providers significant time because they are not inundated with pitch decks formatted 1,000 different ways, most of which are not a fit for what they are looking to provide capital to. DFX is built as the new social media platform of private capital, replacing the usual social media feed of thoughts and feelings with a constant stream of deal flow for capital providers to engage with. We give your deals a place to live and a place to network with the right Capital Providers. #dfx #dealflowxchange #investors #lenders #capital #privatecapital #