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Equity compensation, such as Incentive Stock Options (ISOs), has become a cornerstone of the compensation strategy for many startups. While these options offer a range of benefits for both employers and employees, they also come with specific tax obligations and reporting requirements. Enter IRS Form 3921—a critical form that serves as the linchpin for reporting ISO exercises to the Internal Revenue Service. This form not only aids the IRS in ensuring tax compliance but also helps employees keep track of essential information required for their own tax returns. What Is the Purpose of IRS Form 3921? The purpose of IRS Form 3921 is to inform the IRS of the exercise of an incentive stock option (ISO). ISOs are a type of equity compensation that allows employees to purchase company stock at a predetermined price, typically below the fair market value of the stock. When an employee exercises an ISO, they are essentially buying stock from their employer. Form 3921 provides the IRS with information about the ISO exercise, such as the date the option was exercised, the exercise price, and the fair market value of the stock. This information helps the IRS track the number of ISOs that are exercised and the amount of compensation that is received by employees. The IRS uses this information to ensure that employees pay the correct amount of taxes on the appreciation in the value of the stock. If an employee sells the stock within one year of the exercise date, they will owe ordinary income taxes on the entire amount of the appreciation. However, if they hold the stock for at least one year from the date the option was granted and two years from the date the option was exercised, they will only owe capital gains taxes on the appreciation. In addition to informing the IRS of the exercise of an ISO, Form 3921 also serves as a record for the employee. The employee should keep a copy of Form 3921 for their own records so that they can properly report the income on their tax return. Related resource: IRS- About Form 3921, Exercise of an Incentive Stock Option Under Section 422(b) The Difference Between Form 1099B and Form 3921 The main difference between the two forms is that Form 1099-B reports on the sale of stock, while Form 3921 reports on the exercise of an ISO. Form 1099-B is typically filed by the brokerage firm that sold the stock, while Form 3921 is typically filed by the startup that issued the ISO. Form 1099-B is an information return that must be filed by brokers and other financial institutions to report the proceeds of sales and other taxable transactions in securities, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The form provides the IRS with information about the sale, such as the date of the sale, the sale price, and the cost basis. Form 3921 is an information return that must be filed by startups with the IRS when an employee exercises an incentive stock option (ISO). The form provides the IRS with information about the ISO exercise, such as the date the option was exercised, the exercise price, and the fair market value of the stock. “If you sold stock, bonds or other securities through a broker or had a barter exchange transaction (exchanged property or services rather than paying cash), you will likely receive a Form 1099-B. Regardless of whether you had a gain, loss, or broke even, you must report these transactions on your tax return.” HRBlock Related resource: What is a Schedule K-1: A Comprehensive Guide How Does Form 3921 Impact Employees Who Exercise an Incentive Stock Option (ISO)? It provides the IRS with information about the ISO exercise, which the IRS uses to ensure that employees pay the correct amount of taxes on the appreciation in the value of the stock. It serves as a record for the employee, which they can use to properly report the income on their tax return. If an employee sells the stock within one year of the exercise date, they will owe ordinary income taxes on the entire amount of the appreciation. However, if they hold the stock for at least one year from the date the option was granted and two years from the date the option was exercised, they will only owe capital gains taxes on the appreciation. The employee should keep a copy of Form 3921 for their own records so that they can properly report the income on their tax return. When Should a Startup Owner Receive a Form 3921? For startup owners, Form 3921 is their responsibility. Whenever an employee exercises ISOs granted by the startup, the owner must provide them with Form 3921. To ensure timely filing of Form 3921, keep in mind these three crucial deadlines: January 31: The final date to distribute copy B to all employees who exercised their ISOs during the preceding year. February 28: The cut-off for submitting copy A to the IRS via paper forms. March 31: The last date to send copy A to the IRS through electronic submission. What Information Do You Need to Complete the Form? Filling out Form 3921 requires particular attention to details and collecting specific data. It’s crucial to identify the necessary information for startup owners and employees. You can find more information about Form 3921 on the IRS website. For Startup Owners Startup owners provide Form 3921’s data set so they must provide: The name, address, and taxpayer identification number (TIN) of the employee who exercised the ISO. The date the ISO was granted. The exercise price of the ISO. The fair market value of the stock on the date the ISO was exercised. The number of shares of stock that were acquired through the exercise of the ISO. The name and TIN of the company that issued the ISO. The transmitter control code (TCC), if filing electronically. The employee’s email address, if filing electronically. The fair market value of the stock on the date of exercise, if the employee did not hold the stock for at least one year from the date the option was granted and two years from the date the option was exercised. The company’s EIN (Employer Identification Number) The company can obtain the employee’s TIN from the employee’s W-4 form. The company can obtain the fair market value of the stock from the stockbroker or transfer agent. The company can obtain the transmitter control code from the IRS website. The company must file Form 3921 by March 31 of the year following the year in which the ISO was exercised. The company can file Form 3921 electronically or by mail. For Startup Employees Employees do not need to complete Form 3921. This form is filed by the company that issued the incentive stock option (ISO). However, the employee may need to provide some information to the company, such as their taxpayer identification number (TIN). The employee’s TIN can be found on their W-4 form. The company can use this information to complete Form 3921. The employee should also keep a copy of Form 3921 for their own records. This could be helpful if they ever need to file an amended tax return or if the IRS audits them. Do Startups or Employees Owe Taxes on Form 3921? The employee will owe taxes on the difference between the fair market value of the stock on the date the option was exercised and the exercise price when they sell the stock, unless they hold the stock for at least one year from the date the option was granted and two years from the date the option was exercised. In that case, the employee will not owe any taxes on the appreciation in the value of the stock. The startup does not owe any taxes on the exercise of an ISO. However, if the startup later sells the stock that was acquired through the exercise of the ISO, it may owe capital gains taxes on the appreciation in the value of the stock. How to File IRS Form 3921 as a Startup Owner Yearly tax reporting is a ritual, and for those with ISO dealings, Form 3921 is a significant part of this process. Here’s a breakdown: 1. File Copy A Through the IRS Form 3921 can be submitted to the IRS electronically or via traditional mail. Online methods are often more efficient and can offer faster confirmations of receipt. Regardless of your choice, ensure you’re ahead of the filing deadline, which typically aligns with other wage and tax statements. 2. Give Copy B to the Employee This isn’t just a courtesy; it’s a requirement. Distributing Copy B of Form 3921 ensures that employees have the essential data they need to file their taxes correctly. The timeline is tight, with the document typically due to the employee by January 31st of the year following the ISO exercise. 3. Keep Copy C for Startup Records In the world of business, documentation is king. Keeping Copy C of Form 3921 is not just good practice but vital for tax compliance. If the IRS ever comes knocking with an audit in tow, you’ll be grateful you retained these records. What Happens if You Miss the Filing Deadline? Oversights happen, but missing the Form 3921 deadline can be costly. Penalties can accrue, and these, over time, can become substantial financial burdens. If you realize you’ve missed the deadline, it’s crucial to act promptly: submit the form as soon as possible and consult a tax professional regarding any penalties and potential relief. The amount of the penalty will depend on how late you file the form and whether you have a history of filing late. The IRS may impose a penalty of up to $25 per day for each day that Form 3921 is late, up to a maximum of $15,000. The penalty will be reduced if you can show that the late filing was due to reasonable cause. In addition to the penalty, the IRS may also assess interest on any taxes that are due as a result of the late filing of Form 3921. The interest rate is currently 6% per year. To avoid the penalties for late filing of Form 3921, it is important to file the form on time. If you are unable to file the form on time, you should contact the IRS as soon as possible to request an extension. Resources Understand the difference between ISOs and NSOs here. IRS- About Form 3921, Exercise of an Incentive Stock Option Under Section 422(b) Copy of Form 3921 Instructions for Forms 3921 and 3922 Learn everything you need to know about accounting for your startup here. Dive into valuable business startup resources here. Visible Can Help Your Startup Stay In-the-Know Understanding and managing the intricacies of Form 3921 can be overwhelming, but Visible is happy to help navigate this and more! Leveraging tools and platforms, like Visible, can streamline processes, and let startups focus on what they do best: innovating and growing. See all the ways we help founders with free access to Visible for 14 days: https://app.visible.vc/create-account

We can all agree that first impressions matter. Onboarding a new investment into your VC firm’s community is a key step in setting up the investor <> company relationship for success. Join us Tuesday, August 29th for a discussion with two leaders in VC Operations, Steph Jones from Forum Ventures and Amelia Zack from M13, on how to set up effective portfolio company onboarding processes at your VC firm. This webinar is designed for people working in VC operations who want to improve the way they engage with their portfolio companies post-investment. Discussion topics: Defining the company onboarding process for your firm and why it matters Welcoming companies into your community Connecting companies to resources Setting expectations about portfolio data collection Q&A

VC Audit Definition Before we address best practices it's important to define what the VC audit entails. A VC audit is when a Venture Capital firm enlists a third-party auditor to evaluate its financial compliance. The auditor will review key fund documentation alongside recent portfolio performance to ensure the firm's valuations are accurate. Which VC Firms Require an Audit On August 23, 2023 the SEC approved new rules for private fund advisers. The changes will require all SEC-registered private fund advisers to have an annual audit regardless of size. Prior to this change, some funds were considered exempt but it was still common for VCs to conduct an audit to help better position the firm for future fundraising from potential LPs who want to see audited financials. Purpose of an Audit The purpose of a VC audit can be summarized in three parts: Ensure the fund’s General Partner(s) are operating in accordance with the fund’s LPA and that the financials reflect compliance Confirm the fund’s valuations of portfolio companies and the fund’s ownership position in them Give LPs confidence that a neutral third party validates the fund’s financial statements and assessment of its own success General VC Audit Timeline Audits are typically conducted on an annual basis using end-of-year figures. The audit process typically starts in the final month of the calendar year and wraps up during the first quarter of the calendar year. Although audits only happen once per year, it’s important to maintain clean records of things like company valuations, company financial metrics, fund expenses, capital calls, and other transactions throughout the year. Continual hygiene of fund records translates into a smoother audit process at the end of the year. Here's a general timeline for the VC audit process: Q1 - Q4 - Collect portfolio company KPI's and monitor valuation changes Q4 - Establish audit timeline with fund admin and auditor. Additionally, the pre-audit process should kick off so auditors have a chance to understand a firm's operations. Q1 - In January, firms should be doing year-end valuations and closing their books. During this month fund managers should also be reviewing the books before sending the final figures to an auditor. During January or February, the audit process officially begins. Q2 - April 30 is the official audit deadline but extensions to the deadline can be requested. For more audit best practices check this webinar co-hosted with Visible and Weaver -- How to Prepare for Your Fund Audit. How to Prepare for a VC Audit Choosing an Audit Firm This is an important step in setting yourself up for audit success. When choosing an auditor it's important to choose a service provider who specializes and understands the nuances of Venture Capital. Otherwise, you risk spending time during the audit process having to teach your auditor about your industry. You can do this by checking out their website and if they have published resources on Venture Capital then this is a great indication that they have knowledge of your industry. You should also ask the team you'll be directly working with whether they have experience in the VC industry. If you're an emerging manager and expect to need hand-holding during the audit process, make sure you choose an auditor who is open for ad-hoc questions. During the diligence process, you should ask the auditor about their policy for asking questions and if there is an additional charge. Related Resource: Five Simple Steps Key Venture Capital Staff Can Take to Support a Successful Audit Establishing a Valuation Policy It's a great idea to establish a valuation policy before your first audit. This policy outlines how your firm will justify its portfolio company valuations under different circumstances. Related resource: Establishing a Valuation Policy Preparing the Required Documents and Information While not a comprehensive list, here are some of the items that funds will likely be asked to provide to auditors: Limited Partnership Agreement Financial statements Fully signed deal documentation Invoices to prove the firm is charging LPs for permitted expenses Transaction records (capital calls, distributions, bank balances) Updated ownership positions in each company (cap tables) Proof of valuation calculations/policies Portfolio company contacts (name and email address) Portfolio company financials (year-end) Portfolio company financing documents from most recent rounds Portfolio company balance sheets Portfolio company revenue reports An established valuation policy Pro Tip: Ensure you are sending your auditor the fully executed (signed) version of the documents. Doing this will help cut down time during the audit process and help firms save money. Hustle Fund reminds investors in this article Fund Audit 101 – Everything You Need To Know that it’s the job of the VC to provide this information to auditors and that the required documentation can change from year to year. It can be helpful to ask your auditor to provide quarterly updates about what they will be asking for during the annual audit. Related Resource: 8 Questions to Ask Before Auditing Your First Venture Capital Fund Monitoring Portfolio Companies Using Visible One of the most time-consuming parts of the audit process is the back and forth that can occur when auditors need more evidence on how the VC firm arrived at company valuation figures. To justify valuations, it's important to have key information from your portfolio companies at the ready. Check out the list below to see what you need to have on file. Portfolio monitoring audit checklist: Revenue budget vs actual Cash on hand Burn rate Company performance vs business plan Details about the last round of financing Visible equips investors with a founder-friendly way to ask for key audit information from portfolio companies. Visible's Request feature allows for any custom metric, qualitative question, files, properties, and more. This streamlined approach to data collection helps VC firms keep up-to-date and accurate records about their portfolio companies throughout the year — leading to a smoother audit process. Check out an Example Request in Visible. More than 400+ VCs use Visible to streamline their portfolio monitoring and reporting.

What is TVPI In simple terms, ‘Total Value to Paid In’, also known as TVPI, communicates how much a VC fund is worth on paper compared to how much money Limited Partners (LPs) have put into the fund. To calculate TVPI you take the total distributions paid back to the LPs (realized gains) and add it to the residual value of the investments in the fund (unrealized gains) and then divide the value by how much Limited Partners have contributed to a fund. It’s important to remember that LPs do not contribute all their committed capital to a fund all at once but rather over time it is ‘called’ by the General Partner for specific reasons such as a new investment. Related Resource: Fund Performance Metrics 101 (and why they matter to LPs) Why does TVPI matter in VC TVPI is one of the earliest indicators current and prospective LP’s will use to measure the performance of a VC fund. It’s essentially communicating whether the fund’s performance is heading in the right direction. In other words, it demonstrates whether the value of investments have increased or decreased. Any TVPI value greater than 1x means that the fund’s value has grown over time. LPs use TVPI to compare the performance of funds against each other. The greater the TVPI, the greater the increase in the value of the fund. To better understand TVPI benchmarks check out Pitchbook’s Benchmark Report as of Q4 2022. Visible empowers investors to visualize, share, and communicate their most important fund metrics in flexible dashboards. TVPI within the current market context According to Hustle Fund, TVPI is the metric that investors are currently feeling squeamish about reporting to potential Limited Partners in today’s tough market conditions. The reason TVPI is low for many funds right now is because their portfolio companies are having a hard time fundraising. If portfolio companies are raising priced rounds at all, the increase in company valuations are marginal or even lower than before (when this occurs it’s called a Down Round). This means investors are not likely to be marking up any of their investments, causing TVPI to remain the same or even decrease with down rounds. Whether your TVPI has gone up or down in the last quarter, it’s important to maintain transparent communication with LPs in both good times and the bad. Check out Visible’s LP Update Template Library to inspire better communication with your LPs this quarter. Using Visible to track and visualize fund metrics With Visible investors can keep track of over 30+ fund metrics including: TVPI RVPI DPI IRR Multiple And more Fund metrics can be visualized in Visible's flexible dashboards alongside text, properties, variance charts, and portfolio metric data. Over 400+ VCs use Visible to streamline their portfolio monitoring and reporting.

Many Venture Capital firms struggle to efficiently collect updates from their portfolio companies and turn the data into meaningful insights for their firm and Limited Partners. It’s usually a painful process consisting of messy Google Sheets or Excel file templates being sent to companies. Then, someone at the VC firm is responsible for the painful task of tracking down companies and convincing them to send the metric template back to the investor. The end result is typically an unreliable master sheet that isn’t accessible or easy to digest for the rest of the firm. Visible has helped over 350+ VC firms streamline the way they collect, analyze, and report on their portfolio and fund performance. Keep reading to learn how. Streamlining Portfolio Data Collection To set up a more efficient portfolio data collection process at your firm make sure you: Don't require companies to manage another login Visible’s data Requests are delivered directly to your companies’ email inboxes and the secure-linked base form ensures there is no friction in the data-sharing process. Maintain founder privacy Visible supports over 3.5k founders on our platform and the consistent feedback we hear is founders do not want their investors to have direct access to their data sources. Founders prefer to have control over what and when their data is shared with investors. Customize which information you request from companies Visible allows investors to create any custom metric, qualitative question, yes/no response, multiple choice, and more. This provides investors with the flexibility to use Visible for more than just financial reporting but also impact or diversity reporting and end-of-year audit preparation. Related resource: Portfolio Monitoring Tips for Venture Capital Investors Related resource: Which Metrics Should I Collect from My Portfolio Companies Easy Ways to Analyze VC Portfolio Data While having up-to-date, accurate investment data is important, being able to extract and communicate insights about your portfolio data is when it really becomes valuable. Visible supports three different types of dashboards to help you analyze your portfolio data more easily. Flexible portfolio company dashboards — Visualize KPI’s by choosing from 9 different chart types and combine with rich text and company properties. These dashboards are a great fit to help facilitate more robust internal portfolio review meetings. Portfolio metric dashboards — This dashboard allows you to compare performance across your entire portfolio and easily identify your top performers and the companies who may need additional support. Fund analytics dashboards — This flexible dashboard lets investors control how they want to visualize and analyze their fund performance metrics. Choose from over 30+ fund metrics and auto calculated insights and easily add them to your shareable dashboard. View an example of all three types of dashboards by downloading the resource below. Sharing Portfolio Updates with Limited Partners It’s important to remember that while Limited Partners are primarily focused on financial returns they also care about insights. VC firms who empower their Limited Partners with updates about sector trends and high-level insight into portfolio company performance are setting themselves up to be both trusted and valuable long-term partners to their investors. LP Update Template Library — Visible makes it easy for firms to make engaging communication with Limited Partners a habit by providing free and open-source Update templates. Want to feature your LP Update template in out library? Get in touch! Tear Sheets — Tear Sheets or One Pagers can be a great way to provide high-level updates about portfolio companies to your LPs. Visible’s tear sheet template solution helps VC firms create reporting with ease by merging information and data into beautiful charts that are automatically kept up to date. View Tear Sheet examples to inspire your next reporting. Related resource: Tear Sheets 101 (and how to build one in Visible) Visible supports 400+ funds around the world streamline the portfolio data collection, analysis, and reporting process.

Managing company equity is a crucial part of a founder’s job duty. In the early days of building a business, chances are there will be countless advisors, investors, peers, etc. that help a business. However, most early stage businesses do not have the cashflow to compensate every advisor along the way. Founders need to get crafty with how they compensate their earliest advisors and experts — enter: advisory shares. We always recommend consulting a lawyer before taking further action on advisory shares. Learn more about advisory shares and how you can leverage them for your business below: What Are Advisory Shares? As put by the team at Investopedia, “One common class of stock is advisory shares. Also known as advisor shares, this type of stock is given to business advisors in exchange for their insight and expertise. Often, the advisors who receive this type of stock options reward are company founders or high-level executives. Advisor shares typically vest monthly over a 1-2 year period on a schedule with no cliff and 100% single-trigger acceleration.” Advisor Shares vs. Regular Shares (or Equity) Advisor shares come in different shapes and sizes. There is not a technical definition of advisor shares but is rather any form of equity in a business. Learn more about the characteristics of advisory shares below: Characteristics of Advisory Shares As mentioned above, advisor shares typically vest monthly over a 1-2 year period with no cliff. Advisory shares are typically granted as stock options but not every company grants their shares in the same way. This generally comes in the form of Non-Qualified Stock Options (NSOs). Related Read: The Main Difference Between ISOs and NSOs How Do Advisory Shares Work? While advisory shares can take on different forms, they typically can be boiled down to a few similarities. Of course, these can change depending on your business. Exchanged for advice or expertise Typically offered as NSO stock options Follow a shorter vesting schedule Learn more about how advisory shares typically work below: Implement a Startup Advisor Agreement As put by the team at HubSpot, “A startup advisor agreement is a contract between a startup and its advisor. This agreement outlines the terms of the relationship, including the responsibilities of each party and the compensation the advisor will receive.” There are countless advisor agreement templates online to get you started. The Founder Institute offers a free template called the FAST Agreement. Determine the Vesting Schedule As advisor shares are for advisors that offered their expertise, they are typically granted on a shorter vesting schedule because their value is given over a shorter amount of time. This is typically a 1 or 2 year vesting schedule (as opposed to the 4 year vesting schedule traditionally used for startup employees). Benefits of Advisory Shares Advisory shares come with their own set of pros and cons. Properly maintaining and distributing equity is a critical role of a startup founder so understand the benefits, and drawbacks, of offering advisory shares is a must. Related Resource: 7 Essential Business Startup Resources Learn more about the benefits of offering startup advisory shares below: Access to Real Experts When setting out to build a business, chances are most founders lack expertise in certain areas when it comes to building a business or in their market. However, most early-stage companies are typically strapped for cash and are unable to afford the defacto experts in the space. With advisor shares, startup founders can attract real experts to get guidance and strategic support in the early days in return for shares in the business. Related Resource: Seed Funding for Startups 101: A Complete Guide Better Network Credibility If hiring the right advisor, chances are they will be able to help beyond strategic advice or their expertise. They will be able to expose your business to their network and will be able to make introductions to new business opportunities, partnerships, investors, and potential hires. Cost-Effective Compensation As we previously mentioned, most businesses that benefit most from advisors are unable to offer them a salary or cash compensation. With advisor shares, startup founders are able to offer shares as compensation and conserve thei cash to help with scaling their business and headcount. Drawbacks of Advisory Shares Of course, offering advisor shares is not for everyone. While there are benefits to offering advisor shares, there are certainly drawbacks as well. Weighing the pros and cons and determining what is right for your business is ultimately up to you. We always recommend consulting with a lawyer or counsel when determining how to compensate advisors. Diluted Ownership The biggest drawback for most founders will be the diluted ownership. By offering shares to advisors, you will be diluting the ownership of yourself and existing shareholders. As advisors are fully vested in 1-2 years, they will potentially not be invested in future success as other stakeholders and could be costly when taking into account the diluted ownership. Potential Conflicts of Interest Advisors might not have the same motivators and incentives as your employees and other shareholders. As their ownership is generally a smaller % and their shares vest early, they are potentially not as incentivized for the growth of your company as employees and larger % owners will be. Getting in front of these conversations and making sure you have a good read on any potential advisors before bringing them onboard is a good first step to mitigate potential conflicts. Extra Stakeholder to Manage Chances are most advisors are helping other companies as well. This means that their attention is divided and you will need to ensure you are getting enough value to warrant dilution. This also means that you are responsible for managing a relationship and communication with another stakeholder in your business — what can be burdensome on some founders. The 2 Variations of Advisory Shares Advisory shares are generally offered in 2 variations — restricted stock awards and stock options. Learn more about each option and what they mean below: Restricted Stock Awards As put by the team at Investopedia, “A restricted stock award is similar to an RSU in a number of ways, except for the fact that the award also comes with voting rights. This is because the employee owns the stock immediately once it is awarded. Generally, an RSU represents stock, but in some cases, an employee can elect to receive the cash value of the RSU in lieu of a stock award. This is not the case for restricted stock awards, which cannot be redeemed for cash.” Stock Options As we mentioned, NSOs (Non-Qualified Stock Options) are commonly used for advisor shares. As put by the team at Investopedia, “A non-qualified stock option (NSO) is a type of employee stock option wherein you pay ordinary income tax on the difference between the grant price and the price at which you exercise the option… Non-qualified stock options require payment of income tax of the grant price minus the price of the exercised option.” Who Gets to Issue Advisory Shares? Issuing advisory shares is typically reserved for the founder or CEO of a company. Having a decision-making process and gameplan when issuing advisory shares is important. This might mean offering no shares at all, having an allocated amount of advisor shares from the get go, or something inbetween. Making sure your board of directors and other key stakeholders are on board is crucial to make sure that interest and strategy stays aligned for all stakeholders. How Many Shares Should You Give a Startup Advisor? Managing the balance between sufficient incentives and managing equity dilution is crucial for any business. Determining the number of shares to offer an advisor is subjective to the founder and advisor. When determining the number, a couple of things to keep in mind include: Advisor’s experience Time commitment Expected contribution As put by the team at Silicon Valley Bank, “An advisor may receive between 0.25% and 1% of shares, depending on the stage of the startup and the nature of the advice provided. There are ways to structure such compensation that ensures founders get value for those shares and still retain the flexibility to replace advisors, all without losing equity.” Let Visible Help You Streamline the Investment Management Process Use Visible to manage every part of your fundraising funnel with investor updates, fundraising pipelines, pitch deck sharing, and data rooms. Raise capital, update investors, and engage your team from a single platform. Try Visible free for 14 days. Related resource: Navigating the World of QSBS: Tax Benefits and Eligibility Criteria Explained

In the first half of 2023, Visible remained dedicated to helping our community of 350+ investors streamline the way they collect, analyze, and report on their portfolio data. We saw the slowdown in Venture Capital activity during the first part of the year translate into an increased need for accurate and up-to-date portfolio insights that can easily be shared internally and with stakeholders. Both Venture Capital investors and their Limited Partners are relying on data-informed insights more than ever before to guide their next steps. To best support our investors, we focused on making updates to three core functions of our portfolio monitoring and reporting platform during the first half of 2023: Keep reading to learn about some of the specific updates made to our platform during the last six months. Changes to Getting Data into Visible These product updates allow investors to more easily collect budget vs actuals KPI’s and send reminder emails to all their companies at once. Send bulk one-off reminders to all companies (learn more) Ask for up to six future and historical custom KPI’s (learn more) View and edit company metrics in dynamic time periods Changes to Visualizing, Analyzing, and Sharing Portfolio Insights With these changes, users can more easily identify quick insights about their portfolio performance and share it with their team and LPs. Extract quick insights about your portfolio with Portfolio Metric Dashboards (learn more) Applying a custom dashboard template to all companies (learn more) Build a flexible One Pager template for LP reporting (learn more) Uplevel your data visualizations by adding color gradients to your charts (learn more) Share your portfolio company dashboards via a link and choose to password-protect them (learn more) Learn more about analyzing portfolio data with custom dashboards in Visible. Changes to Investment Data Tracking The following updates allow investors to track all their key investment data and fund metrics within Visible. This gives investors real-time control over updating, visualizing, and sharing their fund performance. Convert Convertible Notes to equity with ease (learn more) Track follow-on rounds you don’t participate in (learn more) Choose a custom exchange rate for investment round details (learn more) Capture all your core fund metrics in Visible (learn more) Track and visualize IRR at the fund and company level (learn more) Visualize auto-calculating fund metrics (learn more) Ready to improve your firm’s portfolio monitoring and reporting processes?

A recent poll of VCs shows that some of the primary reasons investors collect financial data from portfolio companies is to improve their post-investment support (66%) and inform future investment decisions (44%). To do this well, investors need to be able to analyze their portfolio company data through an advanced financial lens so they can extract actionable insights that lead to improved fund performance. We recently sat down for a conversation on Leveraging Portfolio Analysis to Improve your Fund’s IRR with Kristian Marquez, CFA. Kristian is the CEO of FinStrat Management and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder since 2004. The webinar was designed for people working in Venture Capital who want to level up the way they understand and analyze their portfolio companies’ financial performance data. Topics Discussed: The WHY behind surfacing portfolio insights Where to find benchmark data and how to use it Top 4 performance indicators, what they mean, and how to calculate them Using dashboards in Visible to evaluate portfolio company performance Tips for moving from analysis to action

What is VC Portfolio Management? Portfolio Management in Venture Capital is a process used by VC investors with the ultimate goal of protecting and increasing the value of their investments. Proper portfolio management is a cumulation of intelligent decision-making, information analysis, and resource commitment all aimed at achieving the value increase and stability in a range of investments. Portfolio Management within the VC context generally consists of the following: Market Research and Oversight Venture capitalists need to be extremely savvy and up-to-date with the most relevant and real-time information about the industries they investment in. Typically, VC firms specialize in a particular type of investment (pre-seed, seed, later stage, etc) and sometimes they are industry specific (B2B Saas, B2C, EnviroTech, FemTech). Therefore, the portfolio that a VC is managing may encompass many different industries. Investors should aim to understand the most up-to-date research on how each industry and market is growing and changing. This helps investors make smart initial investment decisions, inform follow-up funding decisions, and appropriately advise on timely exit strategies. Risk Profiling VC investing is a risky business. However, a clear understanding of how long it will take to gain a return on an investment is critical for investors and goes hand in hand with market research when setting up a portfolio management strategy. VCs need to profile the level of risk of each investment with an informed understanding how long it will likely take to get their initial investment back (typically 3-7 years) and how likely they are to 10x their investment. The balance of quick return with high potential is critical to consider when managing new investments in a VC portfolio. Exit Strategies As a VC is first making an investment, they typically write into their investment strategy how they hope to exit the business. This plan includes identifying exit targets and appropriate negotiation engagements in best and worst-case scenarios for the business. Strategies might be mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, or public offerings. An ideal exit strategy is important to outline as a part of a portfolio management strategy. This helps investors better mitigate risk and understand the potential outcomes and value of a portfolio. Related resource: What is Acquihiring? A Comprehensive Guide for Founders How Exactly Does Portfolio Management Work? More experienced venture capitalists will use their past experiences to determine patterns in investment strategies and the most effective way to interpret different potential investment outcome scenarios. Ultimately, portfolio management in Venture Capital comes down to understanding the delicate balance of qualitative and quantitative information about the investments in a portfolio. Portfolio management internally within a VC fund consists of market research and oversight, risk profiling, and formulating numerous potential exit strategies. In order to work through these steps, a VC will need updated information from their portfolio companies on a regular basis. VCs are looking for a mix of metrics and qualitative data from their portfolio. If you’re a VC looking to streamline the way you collect data from your portfolio companies, check out What Metrics Should I Be Collecting from my Portfolio Companies. Collecting Portfolio Data in Visible 70% of the 350+ funds using Visible are requesting data from companies on a quarterly basis. Learn more about portfolio monitoring in Visible. Check out an Example Request in Visible. Portfolio Management Metrics Of course, there are metrics that are commonly tracked amongst VC portfolio companies to help VCs stay on top of their portfolio performance. A couple of the key metrics and areas we generally see VCs focused on: Financials and cash position A VC wants the honest truth about how their companies are positioned financially. They will want to know metrics such as Cash Balance, Burn Rate, Runway, and Gross Profit. Investors may also ask for the forecast for these metrics. This information helps a VC determine whether they’re likely to reserve cash for a follow-up investment in a company and what a potential exit strategy might be. Related Resources: Which Metrics Should I Collect from My Portfolio Companies? True North KPIs Depending on the type of business a company is operating, their ‘True North’ KPIs will differ. A company’s true north KPIs should be the key performance indicators that are guiding the business every single day. Beyond revenue goals, examples of other KPIs could be active users, a customer net promoter score, active customers, or average contract value. These KPIs will help a VC determine how the company is performing versus sector benchmarks. Related Resources: Startup Metrics You Need to Monitor Ownership and Cap Table Data If a VC is looking to make a new investment, an important component they will consider for their portfolio management is how much ownership they will have in the company. A founder seeking investment should be transparent about what percent of the company is available in exchange for investment (if any) and how much is already taken. In addition to a clear ownership breakdown, a company should share information about its securities (stock options etc..). This information will be extremely relevant as the VC determines how to structure a potential investment deal. Portfolio Management Qualitative Information Collecting the metrics and quantitative data is only part of the portfolio management process. We also see investors collect a number of different qualitative fields to help them better understand how a company is performing. A couple of examples below: Wins from the Previous Period Founders shouldn’t be shy. Companies should be sure to highlight their most recent, and impressive wins as a company. This will energize and excite a VC who is determining which of their current companies they may want to make a follow-on investment into. Investors will also likely use this information when deciding whether to introduce a company to a potential follow-on investor. When investors make intros to other investors, they’re putting their social capital on the line. Companies who have instilled confidence in their current investors are more likely to get intros to follow on funders. The VC Advantage Venture capitalists take portfolio management so seriously because they of course want to see their portfolio investments succeed and make money. Therefore, outside of putting down the initial investment, venture capitalists usually incorporate many other touchpoints and opportunities to help their investments succeed. Outside of the fiscal advantage VC investments provide, a close relationship with investors and VCs can be a competitive advantage that makes or breaks a company. Ultimately, VCs want to help their portfolio companies because it helps them. In addition to actively monitoring the metric performance of their portfolio, VCs want to offer assistance in any way that they can to give their investments a competitive advantage. These competitive advantage points are also a part of a successful portfolio management strategy. VCs help their portfolio companies in a variety of ways: Taking action on metrics – As mentioned above, VCs are continuously monitoring their portfolio investments. VCs analyze their companies’ profits, customer churn, average deal size, and more. An informed VC can provide insights and advice to companies to help them improve their performance metrics. Drawing form experience managing other investments, they will have insight into what works and what to avoid or change in order to succeed.  Hiring decisions – VC partners are often ex-founders who have successfully built and exited one ore more companies. They are experienced in hiring founding teams and can help advise what roles are the most critical to higher first. Additionally, VCs networks are deep and wide. A founder may have the chance to hire a seasoned CFO or CMO through an intro from a VC. Hiring the right people is critical to the success of early stage companies and leaning on a VC partner to do so may allow a founder to access talent that wouldn’t have otherwise been interested in their company. (Relevant resource: 5 Ways to Help Your Portfolio Companies Find Talent) Fundraising assistance – Fundraising is exhausting but necessary as companies aim to quickly scale their business. After partnering with a VC for an early round, investors want to ensure the right investment partners come onboard for later rounds. If a company is on track to succeed, leaning on existing VC relationships to find additional investors is a smart idea. An existing VC will want to work with other firms or angels they get along with or align with ideologically and will often go above and beyond to help you make new connections and raise a new round of funding. (Relevant resource: How to share your fundraising pipeline with your current investors) Strategic product decisions – With a close eye on the market, a VC can be a good sounding board for what pivots or iterations to make to a company’s product. It’s easy for founders to get stuck in a silo, only focusing on the details of their product. A VC can provide helpful advice on what decisions to make that better keep in mind the market and competitors, even providing tough love on what product decisions might not be right.  Related Resources: How to Lead a Portfolio Review Meeting for VC’s How Visible Can Help Investors of all stages are using Visible to streamline their portfolio monitoring and reporting processes. Visible helps investors streamline the way they collect data from their founders on a regular basis and provides data visualization and reporting tools.  Over 400+ Venture Capital investors are using Visible to streamline their portfolio monitoring and reporting. Learn more.

What is Portfolio Monitoring Portfolio monitoring in the context of Venture Capital is the process of tracking the performance of investments in a venture fund. The primary focus of portfolio monitoring is tracking the financial metrics of a company but it also includes monitoring key operational changes, fluctuations in companies’ valuations, and trends in the respective company’s market or industry. We recently asked 50+ investors to choose their top three reasons for collecting structured data as a part of their portfolio monitoring processes. You can find a summary of the results below — Top three reasons investors take portfolio monitoring seriously: Investors want to better understand how their companies are performing in general Investors want to provide better support to companies Investors need to provide updates to Limited Partners How to Monitor Venture Capital Portfolio Companies Investors struggle to monitor their portfolio companies effectively because if they hear from companies at all, it’s in a format that is unstructured and in a frequency that is unpredictable. This makes it extremely difficult for investors to have an accurate data set from which they can draw meaningful insights or share updates with their Limited Partners. Investors who effectively monitor their portfolio companies have a process in place to collect structured updates from their companies on a regular basis — from day one. In the early days of a fund when there are typically less than 10 companies, this can look like sending an Excel file or Google Sheet template to portfolio companies via email and asking them to complete it and send it back. It’s important to have a reporting process in place from day one because the more time that passes, the harder it can be to change portfolio company behavior when it comes to reporting. As a fund’s portfolio grows, this process becomes cumbersome and investors often find they are wasting time chasing companies, trying to keep track of which companies have responded and which haven’t, and collating numerous templates into a master portfolio data file. Visible helps over 400+ investors streamline the way they collect, analyze, and report on their portfolio data. What Metrics to Track for VC Portfolio Companies To monitor the performance of portfolio companies it’s crucial to track the right metrics across all your companies. The most common metrics to track include: Revenue Cash Balance Monthly Net Burn Rate Runway Net Income Headcount Read more about which metrics to collect from portfolio companies and why. Based on data from the 400+ funds using Visible, most investors are asking for their companies to report 8 metrics and 1-2 qualitative questions on a quarterly basis. Learn more about VC Portfolio Data Collection Best Practices in our guide. VC Portfolio Monitoring Template Visible provides investors with a streamlined, founder-friendly way to collect structured data from portfolio companies on a regular basis. The solution in Visible that empowers investors to easily collect KPIs is called a Request. Visible allows investors to build custom data Requests that support: Automated email reminders to reduce chasing companies Assigning custom metrics to certain companies Sending a Request to multiple points of contact Asking for budget vs actuals Secure linked-based forms for companies Portfolio companies reporting in multiple currencies Check out an Example Request in Visible. Portfolio Monitoring Tips for Venture Capital Investors Set expectations early on. Consider outlining your reporting requirements in a side letter Have a process in place to collect data from day one — it’s harder to change reporting behavior change later on Incorporate reporting expectations into your onboarding process Check out this Guide to Onboarding New Companies into Your VC Portfolio. Communicate the why to portfolio companies. Explain how responses will help inform portfolio support Explain which data will be shared with LPs and which is just for internal processing Explain how it will be used to inform follow on investment decisions Make your data Requests founder-friendly. Don’t ask for more than 5-8 metrics Use metric definitions to reduce back-and-forth Send your Request at the same time every period Make sure you have the right points of contact at the company Don’t make your companies create an account if they don’t want to Turning Your Portfolio Data into Meaningful Insights After going through the effort to collect structured data from portfolio companies the next important step is turning into important insights that can be shared with your team and eventually your Limited Partners. Visible has a suite of tools to help with portfolio data analysis including Robust, flexible dashboards that can be used for Internal Portfolio Review meetings Portfolio metric dashboards to help with cross-portfolio insights Tools to slice and dice your portfolio data by custom segments Over 400+ Venture Capital investors are using Visible to streamline their portfolio monitoring and reporting.

We last updated our brand identity in October 2020. Since then, Visible founders have gone from sending 8,000 investor updates per month to over 75,000 — we also launched Visible Pitch Decks and Data Rooms. We’ve learned first hand that building a startup is difficult. Most founders take a major risk to invest their time, money, and careers to build something. At Visible, we want to better celebrate the thousands of founders doing the difficult. We’ve been on the sidelines watching these founders grow while our own team, product, and organization has grown. In order to reflect these efforts, we are excited to roll out our new brand direction that supports this new phase for Visible Putting Visible Founders First In order to put founders first with everything we do at Visible, we wanted to showcase their individual stories and experiences across our marketing efforts. You will notice individual founder headshots, stories, and quotes across the website. Data and Stories to Help the Next Set of Founders Thousands of founders use Visible every month to update their current investors, share their pitch decks, build their data rooms, and manage their fundraising efforts. In order to help the next generation of founders using Visible, we want to highlight the first-hand data and best practices we’ve uncovered. Color, Gradients, and a New Font to Bring Life to Our Brand While difficult, building a startup should be lively. In order to better recognize the highs of building a startup and align with our guiding principles we wanted to refresh our brand. Logo Our logo is staying and is the anchor to our brand. The Visible logomark is made from 3 overlapping, equilateral triangles. Each triangle is slightly transparent, allowing the mark to interact with other design elements. These triangles represent human relationships and the connection between founders and investors. Brighter colors & gradients Our black isn’t going away either, but are using the same color palette from our application to bridge the gap between our product and brand. You will see brighter, more vibrant colors in our product screens to bring those metrics to life. We have also added gradients across our website to enhance some elements like our product screens and call attention to our informational graphs. Bridging the Product & Go to Market Gap We wanted to bring the same sleek and modern feel from our product to our marketing efforts. In order to do so we’ve changed our serif font to a san serif font. Across our website, you will notice product screens that show our product in a more realistic approach.

Collecting updates from portfolio companies on a regular basis is an important part of running smooth operations at a VC firm. Well-organized, accurate, up-to-date portfolio data helps investors provide better support to companies, make data-informed investment decisions, streamline the audit process, demonstrate credibility during the fundraising process, and more. However, collecting data from portfolio companies on a regular basis can also be a time-consuming, arduous process, especially if you’re not implementing best practices. On Tuesday, June 20th Visible held a product webinar covering tips for streamlining the reporting process for you and your portfolio companies. This webinar is designed for any VC looking to upskill their portfolio monitoring processes. Current Visible customers will benefit from a deep dive into recent product updates related to Visible’s Request feature. Topics Discussed: The top 6 most common metrics to collect from companies How to collect budgets and actuals in Visible Using formulas so you can ask for less data [Product Walk-through] Highlighting recent product updates Reviewing examples of different types of Portfolio requests

Render Capital is a $30M early-stage VC fund with offices in Kentucky and Indiana. Led by Patrick Henshaw, Render has invested in 50+ companies as a part of its mission to create a robust and thriving regional economy where entrepreneurs see the Midwest and South as a place they can find appropriate risk capital necessary for them to start and grow. For this case study, Visible interviewed Render Capital’s Operating Partner Mike Shepard. Customer Story: How Render Capital Uses Visible to Streamline Fund Reporting Watch the video below to learn why Render chose Visible to streamline their portfolio monitoring and reporting processes. Prefer to read? Keep scrolling to read a paraphrased summary of Mike’s responses. Q: How were you collecting data prior to using Visible? Prior to Visible, Render was doing very little to collect data from companies because it was too time-consuming to do it via email and the process wasn’t very organized. Q: What factors led you to choosing Visible? We looked at other software to help with our fund management and the options seemed cumbersome, the relationships were tricky, and it seemed like it was actually going to be more work. I wanted to find a solution that let me pair our fund management alongside our own metrics so we could do our own reporting by creating dashboards and sharing those with LPs. We also liked that Visible helped collect reporting from our companies on a regular basis. Q: What was the onboarding with Visible like? I filled out a spreadsheet with our company and investment data. I prefer to be hands-on so the next step was just figuring out how to set up my own LP Update templates and reports. Visible was available to answer all my questions and the team was open to our feedback. “It feels like we’re your only customer which is what you’re supposed to do.” – Mike Shephard, Operating Partner at Render Capital Q: What has been the result of using Visible The results have been great. I created an LP Update template which we consider a marketing extension of our brand. To get this to look nice outside of Visible, in Excel, would have taken me a lot of time. I can use the template I created in Visible over and over again and it automatically updates. Our LPs are also really happy with the direction of our reporting and what we’re producing. We are getting our LPs the information that they want and need in a format that they can easily digest. Over 350+ VC funds are using Visible to streamline their portfolio monitoring and reporting.

About The Artemis Fund The Artemis Fund is on a mission to diversify the face of wealth. Founded in 2019 in Houston Texas, the firm is led by General Partners Diana Murakhovskaya, Leslie Goldman, and Stephanie Campbell. Their team of five invests at the seed stage and leverages their conviction that the future of financial services and commerce will be written by diverse entrepreneurs. The Artemis Fund has invested in 20 disruptive fintech, e-commerce tech, and care-tech companies founded and led by women. The Artemis Fund joined Visible in April 2021 with the primary objective of streamlining the way they collect both core financial metrics and impact metrics from their growing portfolio. For two years in a row now, The Artemis Fund has turned their metrics into a data-driven impact report using Visible’s portfolio monitoring tools. Unexpected Benefits of Creating Impact Reports Juliette Richert from The Artemis Fund shared the objective of their impact reports has broadened over time — reaping more benefits than they originally intended. Impact is integral to The Artemis Fund’s investment thesis so there was always a desire to measure their impact; however, the primary objective of publishing their first impact report in 2021 was for fundraising from future LPs. Needing data to back up the narrative of your portfolio’s performance to LP’s is something we commonly hear from investors using Visible. Over time, the team at Artemis realized the companies they were investing in were having an outsized impact on the communities they are serving. Juliette shared their “portfolio companies are very focused on their end users.” The Artemis team worked with their founders to identify which impact metrics are most integral to their businesses and then Artemis began tracking them using Visible’s portfolio monitoring tools. This larger ripple effect is a major driver behind Artemis’ work and so the team was excited to have actual metrics to back up their investment strategy. The Artemis Fund’s 2022 impact report clearly communciates their thesis and the narrative behind their portfolio companies’ performance, both of which are made more compelling because they’re backed up by data. This year they distributed their impact report to their wider network. The unexpected result was that it has become a valuable marketing tool for their fund for not just potential investors but it’s helped attract more founders to their deal pipeline as well. Artemis’ report clearly demonstrates that they’re not just paying lip service to investing and supporting female founders — they’re actually executing against their values and have the data to prove it. “Using Visible streamlines the way we collect and digest metrics, helping us understand the health of our portfolio and address potential issues proactively.” — Juliette Richert, The Artemis Fund Choosing Which Impact Metrics to Track The first step of creating Artemis’ Impact Report was choosing which metrics to track from their portfolio companies and setting up a data Request in Visible. Check out an Example Portfolio Data Request in Visible. The Artemis Fund created 35+ custom metrics in Visible, some of which were collected from all companies, and the rest were assigned to specific companies based on the business model or sector. Headcount Metrics Artemis collects these metrics from all companies on an annual basis. FTE Headcount PTE/Contractor Headcount Diverse Headcount # Female Headcount # Custom Impact Metrics Artemis assigns these metrics to specific companies in VIsible and collects them on an annual basis. The list below is not comprehensive. CO2 Saved (Assigned to portfolio company DressX) Families Served (Assigned to portfolio company Hello Divorce) Musicians Served (Assigned to portfolio company Green Room) Financial Metrics Artemis collects these metrics on a monthly basis from all companies. The list below is not comprehensive. Cash Burn Cash Balance Revenue Expected Runway Total Funding The Artemis Fund Collected Annual Impact Metrics with a 94% Response Rate Using Visible Aggregating Impact Data into a Report Next, The Artemis Fund aggregated their portfolio data within Visible using the Portfolio Metric Dashboard which provides quick insights such as the total, minimum, maximum, median for any metric. The portfolio-wide metrics Artemis included in their report are Revenue & Capital for SMBs, Number of Families Served, and Number of Jobs created. This year, instead of providing an overview of each company they chose to highlight specific companies in the form of a case study in their impact report. The result is a more digestible yet compelling report that certainly helps LPs and founders understand the type of companies Artemis’ chooses to back. The entire compiled report is 17 slides. The Artemis Fund’s deck is hosted on Visible’s deck feature which allows them to distribute the deck via a shareable link and gives them control over their branding, email gating, password protection and more. View the full impact report here. Visible helps 350+ funds streamline the way they collect and analyze portfolio data.

The world of Venture Capital is full of jargon and acronyms that can make the industry seem intimidating. When it comes to Venture Capital metrics, it’s important to have at least a high-level understanding of what they mean so that you can contribute meaningfully to team discussions and evaluate investment performance accurately. This post breaks down common VC investment metrics that you’ll likely come across in venture. Related resource: The Only Financial Ratios Cheat Sheet You’ll Ever Need VC Fund Performance Metrics Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC): The current value of the fund as it relates to how much has been invested. Related resource: Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC): What It Is and How to Calculate It Distributions per Paid-in-Capital (DPI): The amount of money returned to Limited Partners, relative to how much capital Limited Partners have given the fund. Residual Value per Paid-in-Capital (RVPI): The ratio of the current value of all remaining (non-exited) investments compared to the total capital contributed by Limited Partners to date. Gross Total Value to Paid-in-Capital (TVPI): The overall value of the fund relative to the total amount of capital paid into the fund to date. Internal Rate of Return (IRR): The expected annualized return a fund will generate based on a series of cash flows taking into consideration the time value of money. (Read more about IRR for VC’s) Visible lets investors track and visualize over 30+ investment metrics in custom dashboards. You may also like → Venture Capital Metrics 101 (and why they matter to LP’s) Fund Operations Metrics Management Fees: A fee commonly paid annually by the fund to cover things like General Partner compensation, insurance, and travel. This is typically 2% of committed capital. Escrow: Capital temporarily held by a third party until a particular condition has been met. Typically occurs as a part of paying distributions to Limited Partners. Expenses: Money used to complete investments by the fund, such as legal costs, and other ongoing operational expenses of the fund, such as an annual audit. Carried Interest: The amount of money returned to the General Partners of a fund after a liquidity event such as when a portfolio company gets acquired. Carried interest is typically 20% of profits, although it can vary depending on a GP’s track record and management fee. Distributions: The transfer of cash or securities from a venture capital fund to its investors, called Limited Partners, after the fund exits its position in one of the companies. Typically 80% of distributions are returned to LPs. The timing of fund distributions varies from fund to fund. You may also like → Venture Capital Fee Economics Valuation Metrics Fair Market Value (FMV): The value of an investment at a certain point in time. The most common trigger for a change in the FMV is when there is a company raises a subsequent priced round and a new company valuation is established. Realized FMV: The value of an investment that has actually been realized through a liquidity event such as an acquisition. Unrealized FMV: The perceived value of an investment that has not yet been realized through a liquidity event. You may also like → 25 Limited Partners Backing Venture Capital Funds + What They Look For Capital Metrics Total Invested: The total amount of capital invested in portfolio companies. This includes initial capital and follow-on capital. Committed Capital: The amount of money a Limited Partner promises to a venture capital fund. Capital Called: The capital called from Limited Partners. Typically capital is called on an as needed basis before making a new investment. Capital Remaining: Capital remaining in a fund that is yet to be invested into companies. Also referred to as ‘dry powder’ and unspent cash. Uncalled Capital: Capital that has been committed by Limited Partners but not yet called by the fund. Track & Visualize Your Fund Metrics in Visible Visible lets investors track and visualize over 30+ investment metrics in custom dashboards. Additional VC Metrics Supported in Visible Visible auto-calculates common investment calculations so investors can more easily understand and communicate their fund performance. Total Number of Investments: A sum total of investments made into individual companies. Average Investment Amount: The average check size for all investments out of a fund. Total Number of Exits: The number of companies that have exited the portfolio. % of Fund Deployed: The ratio of capital deployed compared to the total committed fund size. % of Fund Called: The ratio of capital called compared to the fund size. Follow On Capital Deployed: The amount of capital deployed into existing companies in the portfolio. Total Portfolio Company Capital Raised: The total amount a portfolio company has raised. Follow on Capital Raised: The combined amount all companies in the fund have raised. Visible supports over 30+ investment metrics and unlimited custom KPI’s for portfolio monitoring.