Loading...

Clarity

James Haft

New York, New York

Founder:
www.PALcapital.com
www.PALgenesis.com
www.StartupHub.nyc
www.Condo.com
www.NXTPLabs.com

Advisor to more than 20 startups and Internet businesses. Mentor at www.TechStars.com and accelerators on 5 continents.

I help founders and CEOs develop and execute strategies to build equity value and create liquidity.

www.Angel.co/JamesHaft www.LinkedIn.com/in/jameshaft

Founder PALcapital.com, PALgenesis. Com, Condo.com, Houses.com & Properties.com. Founder of Largest Accelerator in LatAm.

$8.33/min

9 Calls

16 Reviews

34 minutes
Avg. call

Fundraising Start-ups Real Estate Mentoring New Business Development E-commerce Emerging Markets Gaming Mergers & Acquisitions Internet Entrepreneur

Call me to talk about

Funding and M&A

M&A and Funding advice. We have advised over 100 companies in M&A and funding transactions.

Startups, M&A, Internet Businesses

See:

www.linkedin.com/in/jameshaft
www.angel.co/jameshaft
www.PALcapital.com
www.PALgenesis.com
www.NXTPLabs.com

http://www.PALcapital.com

International Startups Seeking to Come to USA

www.NXTPLabs.com
www.PALgenesis.com

http://www.PALcapital.com

Answers 13
Reviews 16

Answers

James Haft answered

When fundraising, should you state an equity percentage in exchange for the $ amount you are asking for?

Yes. Otherwise you risk setting false expectations for the investor. You can always accept negotiations.

Exceptions include the investor you might want at any valuation to gain benefits over the investment by the party to whom you are addressing.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Fundraising

angel investing

Venture Capital

James Haft answered

A question an entrepreneur gets asked from an investor is "How much are you raising?". Should the entrepreneur always know the exact amount?

you should approach this question from the result you are seeking to achieve. Funds should be raised in quantum units which achieve the goal of raising the equity valuation of the company to set up the next funding target or to achieve break-even/profitability goals.

This is not a one size fits all question...

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Fundraising

angel investing

Seed Capital

James Haft answered

Are promissory note installments considered capital gains? I'm selling my website and would love insight on the financial details.

Yo are talking apples and oranges. Capital gains are related to your basis not the form of payment. If you are a cash basis taxpayer, you pay taxes when you receive cash beyond your basis. We can help you with structure.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Accounting

Mergers & Acquisitions

Tax Law

James Haft answered

I have a billion dollar idea that could potentially remove UBER from the market. How do I select the right partner to make this happen?

Build a working version of the app and apply it to a test market. While you are in motion toward the creation of the app and the business, you will find that the connections you need to make to be successful will become apparent and available.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Venture Capital

Partnership Development

Entrepreneurship

James Haft answered

Is it unusual for a founder to seek to cash out some equity as part of a fundraising round?

Possible, but potential deal killer. You need to be careful to wait for the appropriate moment to bring up this request and, then, only if you have leverage in the negotiation.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Fundraising

Raising capital

angel investing

James Haft answered

To raise or not to raise?

The most important factor is to find a financial partner or investor who shares your objectives. There are VCs that are not afraid of management changes and who are seeking 2 to 4 year exits. The key is how you find your investor and the deal you set with them.

Another alternative is to find and groom a CEO to grow the company and hand over the reigns before seeking the funding. This way you position yourself more as a Chariman or non-executive director and can possibly have your cake and eat it,too.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Fundraising

James Haft answered

We will be going for Angel funding soon. We are a B2B SAAS company with a couple of customers. How can we improve our pitch?

Hi. We coach pitches.

Check out:

http://www.palcapital.com/blog/2010/12/3/the-art-of-the-start.html

Use this video as a starting point. Refine your pitch and then give us a call, if you want to finalize the pitch with us.

We can also help you establish a preliminary list of investors for your business.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

angel investing

Fundraising

Venture Funding

James Haft answered

How do I value my startup for acquisition?

There are many factors in determining the correct strategy. It would be impossible for anyone to give you meaningful advice in a one post answer.

You need to analyze your position and the position of the acquirer, as well as the market in general before making decisions.

The focus of our business is representing early stage digital startups in M&A transactions with larger companies. The most common case is a smaller company with an app or widget which promises to return value on a per user basis and an acquirer with a larger user base that can more efficiently monetize the app/widget/platform.

We specialize in representing US, European and LatAm-based companies in discussions with US and International buyers. I am the co-founder of the largest Internet business accelerator in LatAm (www.NXTPLabs.com) and have successfully represented the seller in 8 such transactions in the past 24 months.

Let me know if you need guidance.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Start-ups

Acquisitions

Business Valuation

James Haft answered

What should I take into consideration when deciding which state to incorporate in?

Delaware's laws are friendly to the company and shareholders and predictable and familiar to investors. Costs are low. For these reasons, this is the most common state of incorporation. Unless you have a compelling other reason, this would be the most logical choice.

Absent regulatory reasons, relating to your industry, there is no reason to incorporate in the state where you are located.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Incorporation

Corporate Law

New Business Development

James Haft answered

What steps do I need to take to get a small venture capital fund ready to accept funds and start making investments?

There is no single set process. It depends upon the type of fund, its objectives and who your investor base will be. the closer to institutional investors and the further from your immediate circle of contacts, the more complex and legalistic the process becomes.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Venture Capital

Investments

Venture Financing

James Haft answered

What are the biggest mistakes startups make?

Underestimating the time, effort, sacrifice and passion required to reach success.

In the end, your success will come from these factors, not from the brilliance of your idea. Most truly successful startups have ideas that seem pretty straight forward in hind-sight....it is the execution and persistence of the founders that creates the success.

Schedule a call • Share • Flag

Start-ups

Reviews

Key information to keep going. Hopefully we somehow we will looking for his advice in the near future.

Jackye Ferreira Source: Clarity

Great call with James. I highly recommend anyone that is looking for insightful and actionable advice to talk to James.

Zach Evanish Source: Clarity

It was great connecting with James. He was generous with his time and connections offering to make an introduction for me. He identified with and validated the difficulties I was trying to overcome and offered really clear simple advice on how to break through.

Terri Ann Daniels Source: Clarity

I worked directly for James at the M&A group at Bear Stearns where I saw him rapidly advance through the firm’s international corporate finance practice, and more recently I joined him as COO for a year at Condo.com where he was Co-Founder. He is a dogged and insightful investment banker who knows how to close an acquisition or a financing. James also has a keen strategic perspective for both large companies and promising start-ups, and he is very skillful at structuring investments and putting companies on the right growth track. I’ve had the privilege to see him in a variety of environments, and his contributions to clients, investors and the people he works with have been very meaningful. I look forward to working with him on many more projects in the future.

Tiran Kiremidjian Source: LinkedIn

James Haft and Pacific Alliance Limited, LLC were enormously valuable to Davnet, Ltd in its strategic expansion and M&A intitiatives. Combining his investment banking experience with his practical business operations acumen, produced insightful counsel, making deal execution and integration successful beyond expectations. James brings energy, expertise, and passion for success to his engagements. I am pleased to recommend James and Pacific Alliance Limited to those who seek independent thinking to assist "connecting the dots."

Robert H.(Hal) Turner Source: LinkedIn

We met James during the NYU Venture Competition, and he's been an incredible source of mentorship ever since. He digs in and takes the time to fully understand the business, and we always find that meetings include a hefty amount of tactical advice, rather than broader opinions. He also has a powerful network, and has made more than a few strong introductions that have helped move the business forward. Great guy to have you on your side!

Nihal Parthasarathi Source: LinkedIn

James is an awesome investor, advisor, and friend. He has a huge breadth of knowledge across many industries and areas of business, and is extremely strategic. Specifically, he has helped me with communication strategy around bringing together a group of investors for one of our funding rounds. He has also made several very valuable introductions for me.

Frederick Cook Source: LinkedIn

Over the last three month James has advised our start up, QuantConnect. I am incredibly grateful for the balanced and wise advice. He is always available, enjoyable to talk to and very insightful.

Jared Broad Source: LinkedIn

After YoQueVos, the company I founded in Buenos Aires, was selected to be a part of TechStars (NXTP Labs), I reached out to James for some advice before meeting with potential investors in NYC. To this day, it was one of the most productive and life-changing hours of my life as an entrepreneur. He was extremely generous with his time as we broke down potential revenue models I hadn't thought of or didn't understand, online advertising strategies, and overall ideas of how to bring my business to the next level. I'm forever grateful to James!

Maria MacDonald Source: LinkedIn

James helped us to prepare our pitch. He really knows about VCs and how to get their attention! I had the chance to pitch him several times and receive a great feedback and advice both on the deck and on our business strategy.

Agustin Badano Source: LinkedIn

The life cycle of a successful entrepreneur usually involves paying forward what you've learned to the next generation of innovators. James has taken that step and made it his passion. I got a very clear sense of his passion for helping startup founders like myself from our first meeting at the Florida Venture Capitol Conference. His experience based advise has been invaluable to me as an entrepreneur. I couldn't recommend him enough as a mentor.

Stonly Baptiste Source: LinkedIn

Member since May 2012