Uneasy Bedfellows: Seed Investors and Late Stage Venture Capital

By Keith Teare • Issue #297 • View online

This week The Generalist covered Coatue while Paul Graham Tweeted that he has never read a business plan or a balance sheet. The contrast between the investment stages could not be starker. Are seed and growth investors partners, enemies, or frenemies?

Contents

• Profile of the Week
• Paul Graham’s Week
• Venture Change
• Gambling is Big
• Facebook in Decline
• Essays of the Week
• Startup of the Week
• Tweet of the Week

Editorial

When Paul Graham tweeted that he has never read a business plan or balance sheet we can assume there is some poetic license. But we can also assume he is making a point. And when he follows up by saying that the valuation of a company at the seed stage is not a primary focus when compared to the decision to invest or not it’s clear he has a different point of view to later-stage investors. He quotes potential returns of 1,000x whereas late-stage investors focus on returns above 2–3x.

The Generalist’s profile of Coatue, founded by Phillipe Laffont, emphasizes how…