The presented chart outlines a historical tracking of VC valuations by funding stage from 2015 to the present day. There are some noticeable trends and insights to uncover with this view, from the post-COVID influx of capital into VC markets, to the current slowdown from the uncertain macroeconomic conditions, and high-interest rate environment.
Starting at early-stage financings, the story through the late 2010s into the COVID-era was the ascension of valuation multiples. Through 2018, early-stage multiples were tracking close to mid and late-stage rounds. However, 2019 saw a spike to 23.8x, an 83% increase on the prior year, which was especially notable, as the other financing stages were relatively unchanged. Early-stage multiples reached their peak in 2022, at 37.5x, while interest rates were increasing. 2023 saw the result of these changes, decreasing 21% to 29.6x. While 2024 has not produced as big of a decline, multiples have eroded another 9%, to 26.9x. It will be interesting to monitor if the incoming interest rate cuts will return early-stage financing multiples to 2022 figures, or if the risk associated with early-stage companies will keep these metrics in line with historical numbers.
Mid-stage financings have had a similar trajectory to that of early-stage until the current year. In 2024, mid-stage financing multiples have decreased significantly, by 54% to 15.0x. While we can attribute this decrease to the difficult macroeconomic conditions, we would expect these figures to rebound through the end of 2024, and into next year to be in tighter proximity to the other stages, as the historical performance has indicated.
Late-stage funding is the only stage that has seen an increase in valuation multiples in 2024. Historically, this stage has seen less volatility (outside of the 110% spike in 2021) as mature firms typically have established financial performance and will not be as exposed to headwinds compared to early and mid-stage firms, allowing them to maintain strong valuations.
To learn more about Sampford Advisors, check out their website: www.sampfordadvisors.com
Whether you’re a sales superstar, in-demand consultant, busy recruiter, or someone who simply needs to schedule a lot of meetings, one thing’s for sure—you’ve probably booked a lot of them over the past two years.
Hybrid work has forced the majority of our meetings online, and while we appreciate being able to wear sweatpants during normal work hours, the time-consuming ballet that is sharing your availability, finding a time to meet, and adding it to your calendar isn’t quite as enjoyable.
Speaking with everyone from solopreneurs to seasoned professionals, it seems like a lot of people find meeting scheduling software either costly, impersonal, or just plain boring. And Calendly and other alternatives don’t always cut it.
We hear you.
Everyone is different, and so is how they work. Making good first impressions is important, and you shouldn’t have to pay a premium for them or basic customizations and integrations with your meeting booking system.
Nook Calendar’s meeting proposal feature is already used by tons of high-performing teams for selecting and proposing meeting times outside of their organization.
Now, we’re making things even easier by letting you build personal pages with shareable calendar-booking links, right in Nook Calendar. Add them to your LinkedIn profile, email signature, website, or messages when finding a time to meet.
We think it’s the best meeting scheduling software out there, and we’re excited for you to give it a try, so let’s get started.
Here’s How to Set Up a Personal Booking Page in Nook Calendar
First off, if you’re new to Nook Calendar—hello! (If you’re already a Nook user, you can skip ahead.)
You’re going to start by syncing your calendar—either from Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook—and entering your work email address.
Once you approve any necessary permissions, you’ll set up your People Bar. Search for any connections and add the people you interact with the most when scheduling meetings.
From there, you can add any additional calendars you want to see (add your personal one, if you like, to further prevent any overlaps when scheduling meetings), integrate with Zoom (so you can launch calls straight from your calendar), and choose your preferred display setting—select Match OS, Light Mode, or Dark Mode.
Launch Nook Calendar, and you’re ready to set up your online meeting scheduler.
Now, the fun begins
You’re going to start by claiming your unique URL for sharing your meeting availability page.
Your first name appears by default, but really, it can be anything. We recommend using your full name (e.g., /john-smith).
(You can always change your URL in the future, as long as it’s still available.)
From there, you want to complete your profile.
Your profile pic is automatically pulled in from your Microsoft or GCal account.
But you can add your name, job title, welcome message, and links to social media profiles or professional website, so guests know a bit more about you when booking a meeting.
Then, you can start setting your weekly availability.
Nook Calendar defaults to traditional time blocks—9–12 a.m. and 1–5 p.m. These are the hours someone can book a meeting from your personal page. Adjust them based on your availability.
Your timezone is automatically set to your local time, but you can change it if you primarily work with people in a different timezone and it’s better to visualize that when setting your availability.
Choose which calendar you want to accept meetings in—it can only be booked in one, but Nook Calendar will automatically reference your availability in other calendars you’ve synced to prevent double-bookings when someone schedules a meeting.
Now, it’s time to set up some paramaters.
You can set up your preferred meeting duration in either 15, 30, 45-minute or one-hour increments (or a custom time).
You can also add buffer time to give yourself a break between meetings, or set a lead time of up to 24 hours, so no one can book any last-minute meetings.
And you’re all set! You can preview what the page will look like, then share it with contacts or add it to your LinkedIn profile (we suggest adding it as a secondary URL), email signature, and anywhere else you do business.
Once someone books time in your calendar, you’ll receive an email and get a notification in the Pulse.
If you ever need to make any changes, you can access your personal meeting page in the bottom of the Magic Panel and make any adjustments—either to your weekly availability or personal information.
You can also remove your availability by simply creating events in Nook Calendar and marking them as Busy to block off time and prevent any bookings.
Nook Calendar’s new personal pages for sharing meeting availability are available on Web, iOS, and Android.
If you have any questions or thoughts, we’d love to hear them. Hit us up in our Slack Community or contact us through Support.
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