Top all-time · #1736
Seth Levine
Personal blog · sethlevine.comstartupsbusiness
Seth Levine writes SETH LEVINE's VC ADVENTURE, a personal blog at sethlevine.com about startups and business. Since 2008, 42 different Hacker News readers have linked it 79 times, most often “Seth Levine's VC Adventure: Failure”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-09-01, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (9) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Seth Levine's venture capital posts on startup option pricing and 409A discounts, venture return data, convertible debt, and how to get into venture capital.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 9 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Seth Levine's VC Adventure: Failure2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2008-02-19
- The Optimal Portfolio Strategy for a Venture Fund2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-04-16
- How to Get a Job in Venture Capital2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-02-21
- The Profit Imperative2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2016-02-10
- Venture Outcomes Are Even More Skewed Than You Think2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-10-03
- /archives/2018/08/whats-a-fair-409a-discount.html2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-04-01
- Has convertible debt won? And if it has, is that a good thing?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2010-08-30
What Hacker News says?
It's generally bad for the company as a whole. Liquidity erodes the 409A discount[1], which then makes other grants (either future or existing, one way or another) less valuable. This is a pretty classic case of local vs. global optima, like in the prisoner's dilemma. If you're interested in startups, I'd look for founders who 1) give you the maximum exercise window (10 years with ISO->NSO conversion if you leave),…
Comment linking /archives/2018/08/whats-a-fair-409a-discount.html
on “Carta doing unsolicited tender offer outreach to their customers' investors”Submitted Beware of Asshole VCs as a story · 92 points
HN discussionGraham's statement about the possible bias of First Round is unfounded. This was not any sort of a real study like Graham thinks and First Round clearly notes that. When the returns are as skewed as they are in venture capital ( http://www.sethlevine.com/archives/2014/08/venture-outcomes-... ), a small sample size and a simple analysis won't do. First Round even excluded their investment in Uber because it would ske…
Comment linking /archives/2014/08/venture-outcomes-are-even-more-skewed-than-you-think.html
on “A Way to Detect Bias”Submitted Investors think they’re more impactful than they are as a story · 71 points
HN discussionHe said or fit into a pattern, not and . I once heard an older, well-known investor and entrepreneur in the Boston area tell a room full of students that a startup he's most likely to invest in is one whose founding team includes an IIT graduate. Earlier this month, Foundry Group VC Seth Levine said he felt "surprised" being pitched by a group of guys in their late 40s and 50s ( http://www.sethlevine.com/wp/2011/10/…
Comment linking /wp/2011/10/is-there-age-bias-in-vc-investing
on “Arrington, Race, and Silicon Valley”Submitted Apple’s secret iPhone lock-in feature? as a story · 36 points
HN discussion> It’s a bit hard to give one number for the returns as if they are factual. The reality is these investments are illiquid and it’s hard to pinpoint the exact outcome She should be using the standard way funds (and angels) observe non-liquid valuations on a quarterly basis [1] Briefly speaking, if the company hasn't raised any new funds in the last 12 months from 'sophisticated investors' (in which case the valuatio…
Comment linking /archives/2014/08/venture-outcomes-are-even-more-skewed-than-you-think.html
on “Real-Life Angel Investing Returns 2012–2016”Submitted IRR is a vanity metric for VC Funds as a story · 35 points
HN discussionIf the company goes bust convertible debt is worth nothing, like equity. Not entirely true. Convertible debt is subordinated debt, which means that you don't get the first choice of pickings in bankruptcy court. But you are a creditor, and so there is a possibility of getting some money returned from bankruptcy proceedings. Where's the upside? Convertible debt seems like a strictly worse investment than stock. Paul…
Comment linking /wp/2010/08/has-convertible-debt-won-and-if-it-has-is-that-a-good-thing
on “High Resolution Fundraising”Submitted I’m getting sick of the bullshit. as a story · 16 points
HN discussionThis gets to a more fundamental question. Is what you're building a product or a feature. More on that (not from me) here: https://www.sethlevine.com/archives/2017/10/the-feature-prod...
Comment linking /archives/2017/10/the-feature-product-company-continuum.html
on “Distribution vs. Innovation”Submitted Has convertible debt won? And if it has, is that a good thing? as a story · 9 points
HN discussionGood point, but properly priced ISOs should have a discount of about 2/3rd the value of the preferred stock (as determined by the previous Series-* funding round) at the time of grant. So even if the valuation hasn't changed, most peoples' options should still mint a pretty penny if they were priced according to typical practice. I don't know anything about Uber. For reference, "What’s a Fair 409A Discount?": https:…
Comment linking /archives/2018/08/whats-a-fair-409a-discount.html
on “Ask HN: How much did you make from your startup's IPO?”Submitted Oppose HB 1192 – The “Software Tax” as a story · 9 points
HN discussion- nl · 2010-11-04
http://www.sethlevine.com/wp/2008/04/how-to-get-a-job-in-ven... http://www.sethlevine.com/wp/2005/05/how-to-become-a-venture...
Comment linking /wp/2005/05/how-to-become-a-venture-capitalist
on “Ask HN: The Road to Becoming an Angel or VC” Submitted Pricing models, the freemium myth and why you may not be charging enough as a story · 7 points
HN discussionNot much content. The posts it points to and the one it points to after that have more. http://www.theconvergingnetwork.com/2008/02/fail-early-fail.... http://www.sethlevine.com/blog/archives/2008/02/failure.php
Comment linking /blog/archives/2008/02/failure.php
on “Feld Thoughts: It's Better to Fail Quickly”Submitted Downsides of a White Hot Economy as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted Pricing models,the freemium myth and why you may not be charging enough as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Optimal Portfolio Strategy for a Venture Fund as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Ok Color. How about solving the more basic (and important) problem with photos? as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Have less funding than your competitors? Good as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted The real bubble | Seth Levine as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted $5k to pitch your business? Who falls for this? as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted VC Fund Returns Are More Skewed Than You Think as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Organizational Scaling as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Shifting from a product company to a sales/marketing company (2013) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted The complexity of raising Series A as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Seed Signaling Problem That’s Not Being Talked About as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted How long should your “trial” period run? as a story · 3 points
HN discussion
