Category: Venture Capital

The game theory of a bank run, navigating advisor relationships, and bond laddering explained


This post is by MPD from @MPD - Medium


Here’s what’s covered on this week’s episode:

  • The fallout from SVB’s closure.
  • Different strategies founders can keep in mind when deciding on where to keep and invest their cash reserves, including bond laddering.
  • Due to the recent events in banking there has been a lot of crypto activity. Brett breaks it down.
  • Startup Tip of the Week: how to navigate advisor relationships

Links:

Listen via your preferred platform here.

*DISCLAIMER*

Interplay Family Office LLC (“Interplay”) is registered as an investment adviser with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. Information about the qualifications and business practices of Interplay is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov._ Interplay only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Offering of asset management services through Interplay is pursuant to an investment advisory agreement. The views expressed in this podcast/vodcast are subject to change based on market and other conditions. The podcast/vodcast may contain certain statements that may be deemed forward looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates are based upon certain assumptions and should (Read more...)

Banking Madness: A before and after analysis of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, plus what really…


This post is by MPD from @MPD - Medium


Banking Madness: A before and after analysis of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, plus what really happened with Silvergate

In the past week three prominent banks closed their doors. On this week’s episode we break down what’s happening.

Links:

Listen via your preferred platform here.

*DISCLAIMER*

Interplay Family Office LLC (“Interplay”) is registered as an investment adviser with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. Information about the qualifications and business practices of Interplay is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov._ Interplay only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Offering of asset management services through Interplay is pursuant to an investment advisory agreement. The views expressed in this podcast/vodcast are subject to change based on market and other conditions. The podcast/vodcast may contain certain statements that may be deemed forward looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates are based upon certain assumptions and should not be construed as indicative of actual events that will occur. Information communicated during the podcast/vodcast does not involve the rendering of personalized investment advice but is limited to the dissemination of general market information. A professional adviser (Read more...)

Leadership during a crisis


This post is by dunkhippo33 from Elizabeth Yin


Wow. What a week.

I’m sure most of you reading this are in and around startups and already know what I’m referring to. But if not, the most popular bank for startups and VCs called Silicon Valley Bank just went under. They are still getting a final count on what percentage of deposits are not insured, but I’ve seen 97% being floated around. That’s a lot of money potentially gone.

But we’re all tired of hearing about what we think happened or whether a buyer will come along. The much more important thing to talk about is what to do in a crisis situation.

Over-communicate. And then communicate some more.

One of the biggest mistakes I see organizations make during a crisis is their failure to communicate swiftly and with poise. Often organizations want to find all the facts and think about the right words to say. They want to focus on solving the problem.

Unfortunately, this is a big mistake. And it’s a mistake that happens all the time — such as in this crisis with SVB or during COVID or when employee allegations about abuse or harassment emerge, etc. Companies make this mistake over and over again — both big and small companies.

It is important to own your communications and use them to get ahead of a situation that is spiraling downwards. In fact, this is so critical that I’ve spent the last 2 days drafting communications for many of our portfolio companies in figuring (Read more...)

Tax tips for startups, content checkin including our go to sources for news, and indexing against…


This post is by MPD from @MPD - Medium


Tax tips for startups, content checkin including our go to sources for news, and indexing against sandbagging

Tax season is upon us so we decided to bring on a guest from the Interplay ecosystem to help break down some must-knows for startups when navigating the process. The guest is Kate Kelly, CEO and Co-Founder of Chelsea Capital. Chelsea Capital is a financial services company, offering alternative financing, accounting, tax, and fractional CFO services. Kate shares some great tax season tips for startups.

Here’s what’s covered during the other partner meeting segments:

  • Mike and I discuss our current content intake and strategies for consuming news.
  • Chris and I chat about the last round of Q4 earnings and how those earnings stacked up against estimates. We also chat about Foxconn’s announcement to open up new plants in India and what that means for China.

Enjoy.

Links:

Listen via your preferred platform here.

*DISCLAIMER*

Interplay Family Office LLC (“Interplay”) is registered as an investment adviser with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. Information about the qualifications and business practices of Interplay is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov._ Interplay only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Offering of asset management services through Interplay is pursuant to an (Read more...)

How to Build & Develop a Venture Capital Firm with Peter Hebert of Lux Capital


This post is by MPD from @MPD - Medium


On this week’s episode we’re going back to our interview roots as we focus solely on a guest interview. For the chat, I sit down with Peter Hebert — Co-Founder & Managing General Partner of Lux Capital — to discuss strategies on how to build and develop a venture capital firm. Lux has been around for a long time and is one of the premier VCs out there so Peter — as usual — shares some great insights. Enjoy!

Links:

Listen via your preferred platform here.

*DISCLAIMER*

Interplay Family Office LLC (“Interplay”) is registered as an investment adviser with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. Information about the qualifications and business practices of Interplay is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov._ Interplay only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Offering of asset management services through Interplay is pursuant to an investment advisory agreement. The views expressed in this podcast/vodcast are subject to change based on market and other conditions. The podcast/vodcast may contain certain statements that may be deemed forward looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates are based upon certain assumptions and should not be (Read more...)

Venture Deals 4e German Edition


This post is by Brad Feld from Brad Feld


There have been many different language translations of Venture Deals since it was first published in 2012. The first German translation of Venture Deals 4e is out, and Florian Kreis did an amazing job.

Florian aimed to modify the book as little as possible, even if the relevant passages did not correspond 100% to German best practices but were still feasible to implement. He believes the structures originally developed in the U.S. have become the international standard and are a great role model for Germany.

However, the challenge in revising the book this way is putting these structures into the context of German law. Sometimes, this required minor changes or simply using the correct language. In other cases, it was a lot more challenging.

Following, in Florian’s words, are several examples of things he had to modify more extensively.


Corporate law: In Germany, most companies in general and most VC-financed companies are structured in the legal form of a “Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung” (GmbH). Larger companies often convert to the “Aktiengesellschaft” (AG) later, especially if they want to go public. Both the GmbH and the AG are corporations. In addition, many GmbH & Co. KG companies exist in Germany. They correspond in their structure roughly to a Limited Liability Company (LLC). GmbH & Co. KG companies have decisive tax disadvantages for startups and are, therefore, rarely used in this area. The GmbH has a great advantage in that it can be structured very flexibly. You can deviate from the (Read more...)

A breakdown of the tech innovation cycle, Tesla’s recall, the importance of customer support, Brett…


This post is by MPD from @MPD - Medium


A breakdown of the tech innovation cycle, Tesla’s recall, the importance of customer support, Brett is back with a state of crypto and blockchain update, and spy balloon madness

Here’s what’s covered on this week’s pod:

  • Tesla’s recall.
  • Predictions on when self-driving cars will be the norm.
  • The process of the tech innovation cycle for sectors and industries.
  • Startup Tip of the Week: The Importance of Customer Support
  • Brett is back with a state of crypto and blockchain update, including an update on the SEC’s stance on staking.
  • Spy balloon madness and US China relations.

Links:

Listen via your preferred platform here.

*DISCLAIMER*

Interplay Family Office LLC (“Interplay”) is registered as an investment adviser with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. Information about the qualifications and business practices of Interplay is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov._ Interplay only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Offering of asset management services through Interplay is pursuant to an investment advisory agreement. The views expressed in this podcast/vodcast are subject to change based on market and other conditions. The podcast/vodcast may contain certain statements that may be deemed forward looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future (Read more...)

VC pace is picking up, messy earnings results, and Startup Tip of the Week: How startups land…


This post is by MPD from @MPD - Medium


VC pace is picking up, messy earnings results, and Startup Tip of the Week: How startups land partnerships Part 2

Here’s what’s covered on this week’s pod:

  • Startup Tip of the Week: How startups land partnerships Part 2
  • Messy corporate earnings results
  • Is the January bump in the economy the start of a trend?
  • A lack of mega rounds
  • The aftermath of January’s job data

Links:

Listen via your preferred platform here.

*DISCLAIMER*

Interplay Family Office LLC (“Interplay”) is registered as an investment adviser with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. Information about the qualifications and business practices of Interplay is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov._ Interplay only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Offering of asset management services through Interplay is pursuant to an investment advisory agreement. The views expressed in this podcast/vodcast are subject to change based on market and other conditions. The podcast/vodcast may contain certain statements that may be deemed forward looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates are based upon certain assumptions and should not be construed as indicative of actual events (Read more...)