The immaturity of companies targeted by VC funds introduces a range of unique elements into the VC investment process. Identifying future unicorns is an art, while structuring an investment to mitigate the investment risk involved is rather a science. We explore these elements in the section that follows.
DEAL SOURCING: Deal sourcing in venture is closely related to the reputation of the VC firm and the partners involved; established and well-known firms will have a regular stream of calls, pitch books and ideas flowing their way. Partners will also attend the various demo days of accelerators or industry conferences to scout for potential targets. When screening investment opportunities, VC investors’ gut-feel about a start-up and its team is a crucial component and often drives the decision to pursue a specific deal. Nevertheless, questions revolving around the entrepreneur, the team’s experience and motivation and the uniqueness, defensibility and scalability of the business model tend to feature prominently in those early discussions.
VALUATION: Determining the valuation of an early-stage investment is a highly subjective process.32 While a company’s current operations and future cash flow forecasts are a key component in establishing its value, so too are the robustness of its team, the strength of the business model and the size of the addressable market. As early-stage companies are typically unprofitable, investors employ multiples of revenue and other key performance indicators to arrive at a “post-money valuation,”33 which also determines the equity split following an investment round. The expected number of future fundraising rounds will also impact valuation, as they will lead to dilution of the equity stakes for both entrepreneurs and past VC investors.
HANDS-ON SUPPORT: Many successful entrepreneurs join VC firms to become early-stage investors themselves. The best VC funds will therefore draw on a strong bench of partners, who not only have an intimate understanding of the challenges faced by their portfolio companies, but also come with their own hard-earned experience to give credible advice. Venture partners mentor management teams, help develop the marketability of a start-up’s product or service, identify and fill holes in its team, and facilitate the development of business processes required to scale up. Venture capitalists are also a key resource for start-ups when raising new rounds of capital, both in shaping the fundraising message and identifying potential investors in their network.
SYNDICATED DEALS: While “club deals”34 are rare in growth equity and buyouts, venture rounds are quite often funded by multiple VCs. Typically, a lead investor will engage with the entrepreneur and founder, conduct due diligence, arrive at a valuation, negotiate terms and commit to funding a portion of the round. Once the lead investor establishes the commercial terms, a group of “followers” will join the round.35 The lead investor will typically invest the largest amount of capital in a round, and will be the one to engage with the start-up post-investment. This type of club investment allows VC funds to diversify their risk and gain access to a wider range of investment opportunities.
Box 2.2
VENTURE CAPITAL TERM SHEETS
Term sheets serve as the main negotiation tool in VC fundraising and, once agreed upon, set out the rights and obligations of investors in a round’s newly created preferred share class. The provisions of the term sheet are then formalized in a share subscription agreement, and in an amended or redrafted shareholders’ agreement plus articles of association of the target company.36
First-time entrepreneurs are well advised to carefully review the terms under negotiation before signing a term sheet, especially as earlier investment rounds set the ground rules for future fundraising, potentially complicating that process. Guidance from an experienced entrepreneur or a friendly venture partner can help overcome the knowledge gap between start-up founders and seasoned VC investors.
The provisions in a term sheet can be divided into economic terms and control terms.
Economic Terms
Economic terms set out the price of shares, the investment amount and the rights and obligations of the newly created preferred share class.
SHARE PRICE AND VALUATION: The first part of the term sheet defines the offer made by the VC in a given round, including the valuation of the company (pre-money), amount of invested capital, number of shares to be issued and price per share. The type of securities to be issued for this round, for example “series B preferred stock,” is clearly defined.
LIQUIDATION PREFERENCE: This clause gives preferred shareholders preference over any distributions received in case of a defined liquidity event, be it an acquisition by a strategic buyer, a merger, an initial public offering (IPO) or the liquidation of the company. Preferred shareholders receive their invested capital back first (and at times a multiple thereof) before any distributions are made to common shareholders. In the case of “participating preferred shares,” preferred shareholders will share the balance of the exit proceeds after the liquidation preference has been satisfied pro rata with common shareholders, on an as-converted basis.
EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN (ESOP): An ESOP sets aside a percentage of shares in the start-up that can be granted to non-founding employees in the form of stock options to attract, reward and retain first-rate talent. A term sheet will stipulate a vesting schedule for these options – a clearly defined timeline for the options to convert into shares – it will also allow the board to force a forfeit of these options under certain circumstances. In addition, the term sheet will clearly define the number of shares reserved for the ESOP, and the strike price, timing and expiration date of the options. Given that ESOPs are a source of dilution for all existing shareholders, both the size and timing of an ESOP need to be carefully considered when planning to raise external funding. Many VCs will require an ESOP of 20 % of the outstanding shares before closing a round.
ANTI-DILUTION: This provision protects earlier investors in the event of a “down-round” (i.e., a round of funding raised at a lower valuation than the previous round). With anti-dilution provision in place, the conversion price of the preferred share class will be adjusted downwards to the level of the new valuation; as a result, shareholders who invested at a higher valuation in earlier rounds will receive additional shares to maintain their ownership stake in the start-up and avoid dilution.
Common shareholders do not have such protective provisions and will be diluted. Anti-dilution clauses come in various degrees of severity, and founders are well advised to be aware of their impact.
CONVERSION RIGHTS: Preferred shareholders may convert at any time to common stock at their sole discretion; the conversion rate – at the outset usually 1:1 of preferred to common – is clearly defined in this clause. Investors will generally be converted from preferred to common shareholders at clearly defined trigger events, typically just prior to a sale or merger. In the event of an IPO, conversion of the preferred stock is usually automatic.
Control Terms
Despite being minority shareholders, venture investors typically request certain control rights to monitor the development of the start-up and influence important decisions.
BOARD REPRESENTATION: VCs will expect to be represented on the board of directors of the investee company. Whether it is one or two board seats with the respective votes or merely an “observer right” depends very much on the dynamics during negotiations. (An in-demand company courted by several venture investors may be able to negotiate lesser representation as a condition of investment.) Founders are well advised to have a clear board plan – defining the number of seats available to venture investors and those assigned to independent directors – before raising their first external round.
PROTECTIVE PROVISIONS: Venture investors usually receive voting rights on an “as-converted” basis equal to that of common shareholders. In addition certain actions may require the consent of the VC or approval of at least 50 %