Venture capital investors often signal valuable information to other investors through their investment decisions and level of participation in funding rounds. This signaling can influence whether other investors choose to participate. Seed investors typically make faster decisions with less paperwork than later stage investors. The level of participation from existing investors can signal whether a startup is worth further investment. Social proof from other investors is a rational factor in investment decisions.

1. ✌
VC signaling in seed rounds
Venture Hacks

2. Outline: VC signaling in seed rounds
1. VC signaling in seed rounds
2. Chris Dixon bio
3. Mark Suster bio
4. Naval Ravikant bio
5. 3 guests, 3 different types of funds
6. What stages of investment does a startup
go through?
7. The $ amount in a round changes based on
the public markets
8. Seed investors make decisions quicker and
ask for less control with simpler
documents
9. The cast of characters you run into when
you're raising money
10. What is VC signaling?

3. Outline: VC signaling in seed rounds
11. VC signaling is when insiders convey
information through their actions
12. Investors aren't the only insiders who can
signal
13. VC signaling is the action or lack of
action of people who have information you
don't have
14. Investment decisions are often influenced
by social proof and momentum
15. Social proof short-circuits investment
decisions
16. Social proof is rational
17. How do investors transmit signals?
18. Typical investor signals
19. When signaling matters

4. Outline: VC signaling in seed rounds
20. All VCs talk to each other — you can't keep them
apart
21. If you hear 5-6 people passed, you're predisposed
not to like it
22. 4 types of investor signals
23. In the good old days, supportive investors would
always do their pro rata
24. Supportive investors still tend to do their pro
rata in the Series B
25. Funds can establish norms and stick to them
26. Does GRP have a follow-on policy?
27. Do early stage funds do selective follow-on
rounds?
28. There's a difference between focused seed stage
investing by VCs and shotgun seed investing by
VCs
29. Don't give VCs contractual options on your next
round

5. Outline: VC signaling in seed rounds
30. Taking office space can also be a signal
31. If my existing investors don't want to
invest, how do I talk my way out of it?
32. Does a VC work against you in the Series A if
they don't buy enough of the company in the
seed round?
33. What are the pros of taking seed money from a
VC?
34. Anything I missed that I should have brought
up?
35. How to take an option-style investment from a
VC
36. What's your favorite blog these days?
37. What's your favorite life hack these days?
38. Get intros to seed investors with AngelList

6. VC signaling in seed rounds

7. Chris Dixon
cdixon.org
@cdixon

8. Mark Suster
bothsidesofthetable.com
@msuster

9. Naval Ravikant
startupboy.com
@naval

10. 3 guests,
3 different types of funds

11. What stages of investment does a
startup go through?

12. The $ amount in a round changes
based on the public markets

13. Seed investors make decisions
quicker and ask for less control
with simpler documents

14. The cast of characters you run
into when you're raising money
- Individual angels
- Individual angels investing OPM
- Seed stage funds
- Multi-stage funds

15. What is VC signaling?

16. VC signaling is when insiders
convey information through
their actions

17. Investors aren't the only
insiders who can signal

18. VC signaling is the action or
lack of action of people who have
information you don't have

19. Investment decisions are often
influenced by social proof
and momentum

20. Social proof short-circuits
investment decisions

21. Social proof is rational

22. How do investors transmit signals?

23. Typical investor signals:
- Lead the round
- Do pro rata
- Do nothing

24. When signaling matters
- 10% company is hitting it out of
the park and signaling doesn't matter
- 80% of the time the company is
middling and signaling *matters*
- 10% of the time the company is a
disaster and signaling doesn't matter

25. All VCs talk to each other — you
can't keep them apart

26. If you hear 5-6 people passed,
you're predisposed not to like it

27. 4 types of investor signals:
- Insider tries to do the whole round
- Do a little more than pro rata
- Do less than pro rata
- Pass

28. In the good old days, supportive
investors would always do their
pro rata

29. Supportive investors still tend to
do their pro rata in the Series B

30. Funds can establish norms and
stick to them

31. Does GRP have a follow-on policy?

32. Do early stage funds do selective
follow-on rounds?

33. There's a difference between
focused seed stage investing by VCs
and shotgun seed investing by VCs

34. Don't give VCs contractual
options on your next round

35. Taking office space can
also be a signal

36. If my existing investors don't
want to invest, how do I talk my
way out of it?

37. Does a VC work against you in the
Series A if they don't buy enough
of the company in the seed round?

38. What are the pros of taking seed
money from a VC?

39. Anything I missed that I should
have brought up?

40. How to take an option-style
investment from a VC

41. What's your favorite
blog these days?

42. What's your favorite life
hack these days?

43. Get intros to seed investors with:
AngelList
venturehacks.com/angellist

44. ✌
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