The State of US Tech Funding
The folks at Andreesen Horowitz and Benedict Evans put together this great presentation on The State of US Tech Funding. It is embedded below and a lot of it rings true for what I am seeing.
I also agree strongly with Slide 39, that more smaller rounds are happening
With the companies I advise, I have seen more of them raising a higher quantity of rounds at the so called “seed” stage. The synonyms and nomenclature behind these rounds are also changing. What was before a seed round is now a friends and family round. Some even call these activities genesys rounds, or pre-seed deals. Whatever the language, they are happening more frequently at smaller amounts – to my knowledge.
I also agree that while creating and scaling a software business is getting cheaper, reaching a larger online market is a growing challenge. There are more SaaS tools and mobile marketing programs to use to “make it easier” but these end up adding to the burn of these Companies. I jokingly referred to this trend as a re-distribution of funding via expensed $20, $50, and $100+ monthly SaaS plans happening between each company (no, thats not really happening but it is on a very small scale).
Great presentation to dive into to get a nice comparison between now and then, and to form your own opinion.
Tags: Andreesen Horowitz, Benedict Evans, Venture capital