The New Funding Landscape

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获得 Y Combinator 的资助。

</td > October 2010 After barely changing at all for decades, the startup funding business is now in what could, at least by comparison, be called turmoil.

</td> 2010 年 10 月 几十年来几乎没有任何变化，创业融资业务现在陷入了至少相比之下可以称为混乱的局面。

At Y Combinator we've seen dramatic changes in the funding environment for startups.

在 Y Combinator，我们看到初创公司融资环境发生了巨大变化。

Fortunately one of them is much higher

幸运的是其中一个要高得多

valuations.

估值。

The trends we've been seeing are probably not YC-specific.

我们看到的趋势可能不是 YC 特有的。

I wish I could say they were, but the main cause is probably just that we see trends first—partly because the startups we fund are very plugged into the Valley and are quick to take advantage of anything new, and partly because we fund so many that we have enough data points to see patterns clearly.

我希望我能说是的，但主要原因可能只是我们首先看到趋势——部分是因为我们资助的初创公司非常融入硅谷，并且很快就能利用任何新事物，部分是因为我们资助的初创公司太多，以至于我们有足够的数据点来清楚地看到模式。

What we're seeing now, everyone's probably going to be seeing in

我们现在所看到的，每个人可能都会看到

the next couple years.

未来几年。

So I'm going to explain what we're seeing, and what that will mean for you if you try to raise money.

因此，我将解释我们所看到的情况，以及如果您尝试筹集资金，这对您意味着什么。

Super-Angels Let me start by describing what the world of startup funding used to look like.

超级天使 让我首先描述一下初创企业融资的世界曾经是什么样子。

There used to be two sharply differentiated types of investors: angels and venture capitalists.

曾经有两种截然不同的投资者类型：天使投资家和风险投资家。

Angels are individual rich people who invest small amounts of their own money, while VCs

天使投资人是指用自己的少量资金进行投资的个人富人，而风险投资人则是

are employees of funds that invest large amounts of other people's.

是投资他人大量资金的基金的雇员。

For decades there were just those two types of investors, but now a third type has appeared halfway between them: the so-called super-angels.

几十年来，只有这两种类型的投资者，但现在出现了介于两者之间的第三种类型：所谓的超级天使。

[ 1 ] And VCs have been provoked by their arrival into making a lot of angel-style investments themselves.

[1] 风险投资公司也因他们的到来而自行进行了大量天使式投资。

So the previously sharp line between angels and VCs has become hopelessly blurred.

因此，天使投资人和风险投资人之间先前清晰的界限已经变得无可救药地模糊。

There used to be a no man's land between angels and VCs.

天使和风险投资人之间曾经有一个无人区。

Angels

天使

would invest $20k to $50k apiece, and VCs usually a million or more.

每人会投资 2 万到 5 万美元，风投通常投资 100 万或更多。

So an angel round meant a collection of angel investments that combined to maybe $200k, and a VC round meant a series A round in which a single VC fund (or occasionally two) invested $1-5 million.

因此，天使轮意味着天使投资的集合，总金额可能为 20 万美元，而风险投资轮意味着 A 轮，其中单个风险投资基金（或偶尔两个）投资 1-500 万美元。

The no man's land between angels and VCs was a very inconvenient one for startups, because it coincided with the amount many wanted to raise.

天使投资人和风险投资人之间的无人地带对于初创公司来说是非常不方便的，因为它与许多人想要筹集的金额相吻合。

Most startups coming out of Demo Day wanted to raise

演示日结束后，大多数初创公司都希望筹集资金

around $400k.

大约 40 万美元。

But it was a pain to stitch together that much out of angel investments, and most VCs weren't interested in investments so small.

但从天使投资中拼凑出这么多资金是一件很痛苦的事情，而且大多数风险投资公司对这么小的投资不感兴趣。

That's the fundamental reason the super-angels have appeared.

这就是超级天使出现的根本原因。

They're responding to the market.

他们正在对市场做出反应。

The arrival of a new type of investor is big news for startups, because there used to be only two and they rarely competed with one another.

新型投资者的到来对初创企业来说是个大新闻，因为过去只有两种投资者，而且很少相互竞争。

Super-angels compete with both angels and VCs.

超级天使与天使和风险投资人竞争。

That's

那是

going to change the rules about how to raise money.

将改变有关如何筹集资金的规则。

I don't know yet what the new rules will be, but it looks like most of the changes will be for the better.

我还不知道新规则是什么，但看起来大部分变化都会变得更好。

A super-angel has some of the qualities of an angel, and some of the qualities of a VC.

超级天使既有天使的一些品质，也有VC的一些品质。

They're usually individuals, like angels.

他们通常是独立的个体，就像天使一样。

In fact many of the current super-angels were initially angels of the classic type.

事实上，现在的许多超级天使最初都是经典类型的天使。

But like VCs, they invest other people's money.

但与风险投资一样，他们也用别人的钱进行投资。

This allows them to invest larger amounts than angels: a typical super-angel investment is currently about $100k.

这使得他们能够比天使投资更大的金额：目前典型的超级天使投资约为 10 万美元。

They make investment decisions quickly, like angels.

他们像天使一样迅速做出投资决策。

And they make a lot more investments per partner than VCs—up to 10 times as many.

他们为每个合作伙伴进行的投资比风险投资多得多，最多可达 10 倍。

The fact that super-angels invest other people's money makes them doubly alarming to VCs.

超级天使投资其他人的钱这一事实让风险投资家倍感震惊。

They don't just compete for startups; they also compete for investors.

他们不只是为了初创公司而竞争；他们还争夺投资者。

What super-angels really are is a new

超级天使真正是什么？

form of fast-moving, lightweight VC fund.

快速流动、轻量级风险投资基金的形式。

And those of us in the technology world know what usually happens when something comes along that can be described in terms like that.

我们这些身处技术世界的人都知道，当出现可以用这样的术语描述的事情时通常会发生什么。

Usually it's the replacement.

一般都是换的。

Will it be?

会吗？

As of now, few of the startups that take money from super-angels are ruling out taking VC money.

截至目前，很少有从超级天使投资的初创公司排除接受风险投资的可能性。

They're just postponing it.

他们只是推迟而已。

But that's still a problem for VCs.

但这对于风险投资来说仍然是一个问题。

Some of the startups that

一些初创公司

postpone raising VC money may do so well on the angel money they raise that they never bother to raise more.

推迟筹集风险投资资金可能会在他们筹集的天使资金上表现得很好，以至于他们不再费心筹集更多资金。

And those who do raise VC rounds will be able to get higher valuations when they do.

那些确实筹集了风险投资资金的人将能够获得更高的估值。

If the best startups get 10x higher valuations when they raise series A rounds, that would cut VCs' returns from winners at least tenfold.

如果最好的初创公司在 A 轮融资时获得高出 10 倍的估值，那么风险投资公司从获胜者那里获得的回报将至少减少十倍。

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