Blog > Startup Valuation

Pre-seed Round Explained for Early-Stage Startup Founders

The pre-seed stage is also referred to as the Angel round stage. But what does pre-seed mean? Who invests in pre-seed rounds and at what valuations? How do you raise a successful pre-seed round? This is exactly what this post is going to discuss.

Posted by Shaun Gold | August 25, 2025

How to value a startup: 9 best methods for 2025

This guide will answer your questions about startup valuation. Learn how to determine a valuation that makes sense for you and your future investors, including a step-by-step method and 16 valuation benchmarks.

Posted by Stéphane Nasser | August 25, 2025

Jonathan Hakakian: From Building Startups at University to Backing 50+ Startups & $200M+ Exits

This is episode 20 of The OpenVC Podcast. In this episode, Jonathan Hakakian, Managing Partner at SoundBoard Venture Fund, shares his journey from entrepreneur to VC and how he’s backed 50+ startups, including Jump (acquired by Uber for $200M+). He dives into how he identifies overlooked investment opportunities, the importance of strong investor-founder relationships, and key lessons from scaling high-growth startup

Posted by Harrison Faull Jonathan Hakakian | March 16, 2025

How to negotiate with VCs

Here are some not-so-obvious insights about VCs, their incentives, their goals that will help you get better deals with the investors you choose to work with.

Posted by Steph Mui | February 6, 2025

Co-founder at Twin Path Ventures: John Spindler (& ex co-founder of London Co-Investment Fund)

This is Episode 8 of The OpenVC Podcast. In this episode, John Spindler shares his journey from founder to investor, overseeing £85M+ in investments across 150 startups. With a 60x angel investment win, he breaks down AI startup evaluation, frontier AI opportunities, and key investment strategies.

Posted by Harrison Faull John Spindler | September 18, 2024

How to negotiate a downround

With the market experiencing a sharp slowdown, many companies have to deal with a dark spot in their equity story: a lower valuation than the previous round. In this article, we look at how to deal with this delicate situation.

Posted by Augustin de Cambourg | January 9, 2024

Unicorn Startup 101

The unicorn. A mythical creature that has become a behemoth in the world of startup and venture. This article breaks down the definition of a unicorn startup, the top unicorns by valuation and country, and the new definitions of unicorns that have emerged.

Posted by Shaun Gold | October 18, 2022