The Ledger
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Stanton: LP diversity statements inversely correlate with actual diverse manager investments
“And in my experience and several other people I know, we found an inverse relationship between the LPs who are very public about funding diverse managers and those who do so”
Stanton turned down Juul CMO role, calling the company ridiculous
“So Jewel is a ridiculous company. They had approached me while I was working at Color, and Color, as you know, is a health tech company trying to help people stay healthy by understanding their genetics and predispositions to things like cancer, and a recruite…”
Stanton: Seed valuations reaching $10M–$30M pre-product are unjustifiably high
“As you know, too, valuations in venture right now are just unjustifiably high. And it's so difficult to invest in a company that is pre-product, pre-revenue, basically zero data, valued between 10 and twenty million dollars. I've seen some seeds in the thirty …”
Stanton: Female-led YC startups valued under $15M, male-led up to $37M
“What I found was that the female-led companies at YC that I met with were valued less than fifteen million. The male-led companies were valued much higher, as high as thirty-seven million.”
Stanton: Early-stage founders should include specialized micro-funds over mega funds
“I do think it's better for a lot of founders at the earliest stages to have at least one or two of these micro funds who specialize in this stage or in a particular sector and who truly care that can roll up their sleeves and add value to the teams and be part…”
Stanton: Venture check sizes should fit fund size, not ownership targets
“Bottom line, like, if you have conviction on the team, you should write the check, and you should right-size it for your fund, not necessarily your ownership target.”
Hashtag Angels and Carta study finds women hold only 9% of equity
“When we partnered with Carta to measure the gap on the cap table, aka the gap table, we found that only nine percent of equity value goes towards women, and that's looking at over 6000 companies, 15,000 founders, 180,000 employees”
Stanton: Less than 3% of VC funding goes to all-female founder teams
“Less than three percent of funding goes to all female founding teams.”
Stanton: Lowercase Capital Is One of the Top-Performing Funds Ever
“Lowercase Capital became one of the, if not the top-performing fund of all time”
Stanton: Small angel checks are easy, but seed funds get squeezed
“I think almost anyone can come in for a friendly 25 to 50,000 dollar check, but in the most competitive deals, you often get squeezed as a fund manager.”
Stanton: Large Institutional LPs Rarely Commit Early to First-Time Funds
“Most institutions that have AUMs exceeding, say, two billion dollars are probably unlikely to invest in you early on, but they take a long time to get to know you, so start that clock early.”
Stanton outlines $25M Moxxie fund strategy and target deployment criteria
“It's a twenty-five million dollar fund. I'm looking to invest half of the capital and reserve the second half for follow-ons. Only investing in seed, so pre-seed, seed, seed plus, what have you, basically anything before the A. Open-minded with respect to sect…”
Stanton: Hashtag Angels Backed 120 Startups, 40 Personally
“Over the course of about five years, we collectively had invested in about a 120 companies. I had personally invested in 40”