links for 2009-07-29

• The Three Key Fundraising Documents | Mark Peter Davis
  There are a number of materials that you may need to provide an investor during the course of the fundraising process. Three of these documents, however, are ones that nearly every investor will want to see as they each play a critical role in the process of engaging the investor.
• Double Drop: Funding for VCs, Startups Skids
  Now the issues have been laid out in the open. In the second quarter, both venture capital firm fundraising and funding for startups fell sharply, according to industry reports. Funding to VC firms collapsed 82 percent from a year ago as investments in startups dropped 49 percent. In short, the whole system is awry. Just how bad is the problem?

  Venture capitalists received $1.9 billion from limited partners in the second quarter of 2009. Even when the economy was faltering in 2008, the venture community had collected $9.3 billion, according to Thomson Reuters and the NVCA. It’s hit the lowest point since 1996, and one thing can’t be ignored: The recession is hammering the VC industry. Those that have raised new funds in the past year may well focus on their work, but those that haven’t and are under performing LP expectations may soon question their ability to survive in the industry.

  (tags: valuation vc venturecapital Venture firesale)