With GrepBeat Godfather/The Friday Nooner co-host Joe Colopy on vacation, Bull City Venture Partners’ Jason Caplain slipped into the virtual co-host chair this week alongside Pete. Angel investor Jan Davis joins later in the episode, sharing some insight into the local angel scene and becoming the first person to be a The Friday Nooner guest two weeks in a row. (There were some unfortunate, if entertaining, technical difficulties last week.)
The Friday Nooner will take a short hiatus for the month of July, so this is an episode you’ll want to relish!
Here are some of the highlights:
- A recent trend in the venture industry that both Caplain and Davis mentioned is how valuations are skyrocketing. New funds springing up in the area coupled with more outside private equity firms showing interest in local companies is creating an increasingly competitive market, which is boosting valuations, Caplain said. (6:30)
- Caplain shares that 90% of BCVP’s investments are in seed- and early-stage companies. Although those definitions can be ambiguous, BCVP specifically defines their targets as either pre-revenue/pre-product (seed) or about $25,000-$250,000 in monthly revenue (early-stage). What Caplain said he won’t share is his workout routine or how much exactly BCVP netted from its investment in Spoonflower after Shutterfly just acquired Spoonflower for $200M. (13:30).
- After showing off her “Pete” magnet, Davis (who also recently served as a Greppys judge) agreed with Caplain’s earlier comments about rising valuations. She also argued that there is such a thing as too high of a valuation—even from an entrepreneur’s perspective—and she warns companies against being too greedy and not paying attention to other important deal terms like liquidation preferences. (28:00)
- Before taking some digs at GrepBeat newsletter coverage, Caplain shares how early on as a venture capitalist, he tended to include a lot of “bells and whistles” in term sheets, but he has since learned that keeping it short and simple is often a fairer route to take. (29:00)
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