Comments on: Curtains for the Observer Roles on the Facebook Board? http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080725/curtains-for-the-observer-role-on-the-facebook-board/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:34:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080725/curtains-for-the-observer-role-on-the-facebook-board/#comment-3624 Kara Swisher Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:34:16 +0000 http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=2431#comment-3624 D: Thanks for the history lesson! D:

Thanks for the history lesson!

]]> By: More Facebook executive changes: Mozilla’s Shroepfer joins engineering; Sze and others may be leaving board spots » VentureBeat http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080725/curtains-for-the-observer-role-on-the-facebook-board/#comment-3609 More Facebook executive changes: Mozilla’s Shroepfer joins engineering; Sze and others may be leaving board spots » VentureBeat Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:22:27 +0000 http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=2431#comment-3609 [...] along the lines of “we don’t respond to rumors and speculation,” Kara Swisher found more sources and says it’s not just Sze leaving — maybe — but also the other [...] [...] along the lines of “we don’t respond to rumors and speculation,” Kara Swisher found more sources and says it’s not just Sze leaving — maybe — but also the other [...]

]]> By: dave mcclure http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080725/curtains-for-the-observer-role-on-the-facebook-board/#comment-3590 dave mcclure Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:01:53 +0000 http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=2431#comment-3590 <i>"...Greylock Partners David Sze ... and Paul Madera of Meritech Capital Partners, both of whom are <b>early</b> Facebook investors."</i> ok, maybe i'm nit-picking here, but $27.5M Series B investment on a rumored <b>~$500-550M pre-money valuation</b> isn't exactly what i think of as an "early" investor. in fact, you'd be stretching to even call Accel's $10M Series A on $100M pre "early". Peter Thiel writing a $500K check was early, the rest of those folks were followers. i know it's accepted protocol for VCs who do anything shy of $100M mezzanine deals to call themselves "early-stage investors", but that's hogwash. let's be serious: early investing is when crazy-ass angels like me take a flyer on a company and write them a check before they've even got a product out the door, or when a VC puts down $1-2M on someone they think is smart, before they've demonstrated significant growth or revenue. typically the angel deals are done at pre-money <$1-3M, or VC deals at pre-money <$5-7M. by definition, if the company has a pre-money valuation north of $10-25M, or is raising a Series B round, it sure as hell ain't early. btw, the more interesting back-story on the Greylock-Facebook round is that David Sze "passed" on the earlier Series A deal when Accel put $10M in on a $100M pre, but then he had the <b>courage / balls</b> a year later to swallow his pride, change his mind, and jump in on the B round higher valuation. whether or not Facebook is worth $5B or $15B, that decision was probably a savvy one. for his quote about passing on the earlier deal, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/technology/19venture.html?ex=1185595200 “…Greylock Partners David Sze … and Paul Madera of Meritech Capital Partners, both of whom are early Facebook investors.”

ok, maybe i’m nit-picking here, but $27.5M Series B investment on a rumored ~$500-550M pre-money valuation isn’t exactly what i think of as an “early” investor. in fact, you’d be stretching to even call Accel’s $10M Series A on $100M pre “early”. Peter Thiel writing a $500K check was early, the rest of those folks were followers.

i know it’s accepted protocol for VCs who do anything shy of $100M mezzanine deals to call themselves “early-stage investors”, but that’s hogwash.

let’s be serious: early investing is when crazy-ass angels like me take a flyer on a company and write them a check before they’ve even got a product out the door, or when a VC puts down $1-2M on someone they think is smart, before they’ve demonstrated significant growth or revenue. typically the angel deals are done at pre-money <$1-3M, or VC deals at pre-money <$5-7M.

by definition, if the company has a pre-money valuation north of $10-25M, or is raising a Series B round, it sure as hell ain’t early.

btw, the more interesting back-story on the Greylock-Facebook round is that David Sze “passed” on the earlier Series A deal when Accel put $10M in on a $100M pre, but then he had the courage / balls a year later to swallow his pride, change his mind, and jump in on the B round higher valuation. whether or not Facebook is worth $5B or $15B, that decision was probably a savvy one.

for his quote about passing on the earlier deal, see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05.....1185595200

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