A VC Glossary for Your Investor Meetings

This is typically done in the early stages of a company’s life, when a valuation is more difficult to complete and investing carries higher risk. Refers to a “cap” placed on investor notes in a round of financing. Entrepreneurs and investors agree to place a cap on the valuation of the company where notes turn to equity. This means investors will own a certain percentage of a company relative to that cap when the company raises another round of funding. Uncapped rounds are generally more favorable to an entrepreneur/startup. A fund created to invest in private equity or venture capital funds. This entity is often referred to as a Limited Partner to the venture capital funds. The document outlining the key terms of a proposed investment, and will likely refer to the cap table, anti-dilution, liquidation preference, pre/post money valuations, etc. A signed term sheet does not constitute an investment, but rather outlines how to proceed should both parties agree on the terms.

A technique which involves the development of a basic version of a new product that aims to satisfy its early adopters. The product is then developed with further features only after considering feedback from initial users. An accelerator is an organization or program that offers advice, mentorship and resources to help small businesses grow. Bonds whose coupons change every quarter or every six months in line with the development of the respective reference interest rates. An efficient, fully-tradable tax-transparent vehicle for property investment. The commission charged by the distribution unit to the investor upon redemption of units. The market on which new securities are launched and enter into circulation. MiFID is an EU Directive that came into force on 1 November 2007 across the European Economic Area . It aims to harmonise financial markets across the EU to create a consistent approach to the regulation of financial markets. MiFID brought about changes in scope, details and evidential requirements.

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Middle market buyouts (also known as mid-market buyouts) are those where the target companies are middle market companies. A merger is the voluntary combination of two companies to form a new entity. A management buyout is a leveraged buyout where the management team leads the buyout process or is a major force behind the buyout. Interest on capital was treated merely as a particular case under the general theory of price. The Spanish troops did not care to venture past a block of buildings in which were the offices and stores of a British firm. Williams Act of 1968An amendment of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 that regulates tender offers and other takeover related actions such as larger share purchases.

Of course, this dictionary is not a complete representative of all the words and phrases found in legal clauses, obscure securities laws, and terms of art. But we hope this resource serves as a springboard for founders, aspiring investors, journalists, and the merely curious to learn more. We argue that venture capital could not develop to the levels already reached without a dedicated and public market for knowledge-intensive property rights. A pre-arranged financing package offered to potential acquirers that includes all the details of a lending package. The name comes from the fact that the financing details are stapled to the back of the acquisition term sheet. The first stage of venture capital investment, before early stage. An investment strategy that involves restructuring a company’s debt and equity mixture. When a private investor purchases stock in a public company .

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Investors at this stage focus on the founder because, in most instances, the startup has an incomplete team, wrong product and strategy. These firms also depend on a professional network of M&A lawyers, investment bankers, entrepreneurs, LPs and more. These are individuals they work with in the startup ecosystem. Because there are few top investment opportunities, VCs competes among themselves to get a seat at the table of such financing rounds. Actually, such highly sought-out rounds are usually led by elite firms like Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins. Therefore few elite firms that the fund has can manage to bring in the biggest return while the long tail brings average return rate. On the other hand, VCs don’t need these documents or collateral when gauging the value of an early-stage startup. Instead, they evaluate early startups using other metrics such as the founding team, market size estimates and the product.

Crypto lending is the process of depositing cryptocurrency that is lent out to borrowers in return for regular interest payments. Seasoned investor Eva Yazhari debunks the misconception that impact investing is philanthropy by another name. Securities transactions are conducted through The Forbes Securities Group, LLC (“FSG”), a member of FINRA and SIPC. Check the background of this Broker-Dealer and its registered investment professionals on FINRA’s BrokerCheck. Sign up to receive helpful industry news and insights from the Forbes M+A team via email. Unsecured debt.Unsecured debt is debt that is not secured by collateral owned by the company. Debt that is secured has priority in payments over unsecured debt in the event of the borrower’s bankruptcy. Net debt is an element of the equation for Enterprise Value. Net debt is interest-bearing debt less cash and equivalents.

Startup Ecosystem Development – Purposely investing time and resources into bolstering startup founders and companies to facilitate the creation of new jobs and economic prosperity. Senior debt has priority over other types of debt, including subordinated debt and unsecured debt. Senior debt is typically secured by all of a company’s assets. The “return on investment” or “ROI” is the gain or loss on an investment, expressed as a percentage. Organizational expenses are the expenses incurred by the fund in forming the fund and the GP and marketing the fund. These expenses include legal, accounting, printing, travel and other fees and expenses, and can exceed $1 million for large funds. An “interim return” is any return calculated before a fund is liquidated and ceases to exist. The calculation of a fund’s interim returnassumesthat the residual value of a fund at the time the return is calculated is a cash flow back to the LP.

With each sale or redemption of units of foreign funds, the interest accrued until that date is taxed . The sale or redemption of units before the end of the fund’s financial year thus no longer allows investors to make tax-free gains. A style of fund management that aims to construct a portfolio to provide the same return as that of a chosen market index. This can be achieved on a full replication or sampling basis or via synthetic replication. Full replication https://www.beaxy.com/exchange/btc-usd/ involves buying all the stocks in the index in the same proportions in which they make up the index. Sampling means using statistical methods to choose an appropriate portfolio to best match index performance. Illiquid assets are those assets that cannot be easily bought, sold or converted into cash. It may often be impossible to convert the asset to cash until the end of the life of the asset. Illiquid funds are those that take time for investors to trade.

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These may give investors preemptive rights to purchase new stock at the offering price. LP – Limited Partner LPA – Limited Partnership Agreement LS – Life sciences. OT – Other (i.e. investor type, sector, stage of development). In finance, the term pipeline refers to a series of steps that a company must take to reach a long-term goal. For private equity firms, the acquisition pipeline refers to a series of companies that they have identified as potential acquisition targets. A type of private equity investment in relatively mature companies that are looking for primary capital to expand and improve operations or enter new markets to accelerate the growth of the business. Professional equity co-invested with the entrepreneur to fund an early stage (seed and start-up) or expansion venture. Offsetting the high risk the investor takes is the expectation of higher-than-average return on the investment. A financing round is a type of securities offering wherein a company receives capital from investors in exchange for equity, as a loan, or in some other financial arrangement.

DisbursementThe investments by funds into their portfolio companies. The actual dollar amount flowing from a private equity fund or funds to a company in a given transaction. Conversion RightsRights by which preferred stock “converts” into common stock. Usually, one has this right at any time after making an investment.

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This number can vary from all pre-money outstanding shares (on a non-converted and non-diluted basis) to only the preferred shares issued in the previous round. The narrower the base, the larger the effect of the new price and the more favourable the clause is to the protected investors. Broad-based weighted average — a system used in connection with anti-dilution protection. Investor A’s preferred stock is re-priced to a weighted average of investor A’s price and investor B’s price. On the other hand, startups prefer VC because it finances their operations without a debt burden.

In the investment fund business, the composition of a fund’s assets. Read more about bitcoin in usd here. Perpetual bonds make regular interest payments, but never redeem the principal amount; to get back the capital invested in such bonds, investors must sell them on an exchange. Securities with maturities of no more than one year which are traded on the money market. The classic money market instruments in Switzerland are domestic bills of exchange, treasury bills and treasury notes. Key foreign investments include commercial paper and certificates of deposit. At UBS, investment funds which invest in bonds with a maturity of 3-5 years. The current value of a property, assessed by independent experts, which would be obtained were the property to be sold in a conscientious manner at the time of the valuation. Valuations are generally carried out once a year in accordance with the valuation method used by the fund management company. An investment fund established under Luxembourg law and managed by a management company domiciled in Luxembourg.

An incubator is a non-profit or for-profit organization that helps startups develop their business idea into a self-sufficient business. Incubators often provide services such as office space, mentoring, and access to investors. Term sheet — a document summarising the basic terms and conditions under which investors are prepared to make a potential investment in a company. Tag-along right — the right of an investor to include his shares in any sale by another shareholder at the same price and under the same terms and conditions which apply to such other shareholder. Stock Appreciation Rights — rights, usually granted to employees, to receive a bonus equal to the appreciation in the company’s shares over a specified period. Registration — the process whereby shares of a company are registered with the relevant authorities in preparation for a sale of the shares to the public. Piggyback right — the right of an investor to follow in the process to have shares registered. In the case of piggyback rights, this process is initiated and controlled by others. Consequently, the investor cannot force the company to go public.

The most common exemption from registration is called “Regulation D.” See also Registration. A “trade sale” occurs when a company is sold to another operating company which is in the same or a related industry or sector. Compare this to a sale of a company to a financial buyer, such as a private equity firm. A term sheet is a document that describes the primary terms of a transaction. Term sheets are commonly used in venture capital transactions, but are also used in other transactions, such as buyouts, mergers & acquisitions and more.

OPM almost never comes without strings attached, which usually take the form of ownership equity and some level of control over company management. A list of investors in a startup including the names of shareholders, number of shares held, percentage ownership, and which classes of stock are owned by whom. The most junior people at a venture capital firm, usually a recent college graduate. The primary role of analysts is to network and serve as the venture firm’s “boots on the ground” in an intelligence-gathering capacity. Analysts are also tasked with performing preliminary screening, business analysis, and market research. It has required new intermediation forms, involving new organizations such as venture capital and new, dedicated private and public financial markets. When a general partner sells equity in an asset and returns capital to its limited partners. The investor that makes the largest investment in a venture capital round. As the primary financier of the round, the lead investor determines the valuation of the company.

Today, we can’t deny that startups have found a special space in the business ecosystem. They have become such an important part that our daily vocabulary is now full of startup-related words like venture capital, seed funding, venture capitalists, aggregator, etc. The term sheet is what both startups and VCs use when defining the condition of investment. The nonbinding agreement contains valuation, liquidation preference and pro-rata rights. As a result of this financing model, startups have accelerated growth because they concentrate on growing the company as opposed to paying debts.

• Cumulative DividendsDividends that accrue at a fixed rate until paid are “Cumulative Dividends” which are payments to shareholders made with respect to an investor’s Preferred Stock.
• Deal FlowThe measure of the number of potential investments that a fund reviews in any given period.
• It’s the acquisition of another company using borrowed money.
• Examples of Life Sciences-focused infrastructure include top research hospitals and R&D corporate labs.
• While every founder should hire a good lawyer, it never hurts to know the most important ones yourself.