Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

With the advent and popularity of crowdfunding platforms, including Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as a winning alternative for funding your new venture, I find that many aspiring entrepreneurs are confused about the need to ever seek a professional angel investor. They don’t get excited by early stage research, development, or marketing hype.

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Funding Startup Platform Examples 119

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. However, they have been sending VCs far more investment checks in the last ten years than they’ve gotten back as distributions.

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Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

Gross Burn vs. Net Burn. Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Net burn is the amount of money you are losing per month. I often see companies burning $100,000 per month (net) looking to raise $6-8 million.

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Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2018

Every entrepreneur wants to hear “yes” during the fund-raising process but I would argue that being too risk averse and not pushing hard enough and be willing to hear a “no” is what holds back many people from “yes.” Do they have authority to invest? What I’m looking for in the conversation is: Whom at the firm are you meeting with?

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Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Venture Capital 189

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll ever get I’m about to offer you some fund-raising advice that flies directly in the face of what most conventional wisdom will tell you. Let me start out with my premise: “Data rooms are where fund-raising processes go to die.” I have to back up and give you more context.

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Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Today, one of the companies that is supplying produce and other items both to consumers and other services that are in turn selling food and groceries to them, is announcing a new round of funding as it gears up to take its next step, an IPO. Its opportunity comes in the form of disruption and a gap in the market.

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Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2023

Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Every startup dreams of achieving that milestone, when they can focus more on scaling the business and enjoying their earnings, rather than fighting for another investment infusion. Both have worked.

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Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2012

You have enough in savings to get started, but how and where do you go to find additional funding sources? There is still abundant money available for early stage investment, but many of the rules have changed, as well as the processes for accessing these resources. Email readers, continue here.] Start here, and then move on.

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Funding Entrepreneur Startup Invest 192

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2020

Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Every startup dreams of achieving that milestone, when they can focus more on scaling the business and enjoying their earnings, rather than fighting for another investment infusion. Both have worked.

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Organization Invest Customer Custom 173

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 30, 2019

Nine years after launching its online magazine, and three years after diversifying into the subscription box business , FabFitFun has raised $80 million in a growth round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from its previous investors Upfront Ventures and NEA. .

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Newsletter Los Angeles .Net Platform 212

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management. The Basics The starting point — the 101 — is knowing the difference between gross burn and net burn.

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Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Today, a startup that is doing this in the specific area of distressed property is announcing a round of growth funding to ramp up its team and expand its business. The funding is being led by QED Investors; Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, Navitas Capital, and Prudence Holdings also participated.

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Sales Demand San Diego Funding 282

TechCrunch LA

JULY 22, 2020

When big platforms have carved out large swaths of the delivery market, the best thing for an upstart company to do is to specialize. It’s a strategy that has now netted the company $33 million in financing led by the Silicon Valley-based investment firm Altos Ventures and New York’s Left Lane Capital.

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Services Los Angeles .Net Mobile 187

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. The most common failures are solutions looking for a problem, lack of a defined market, or an inadequate revenue model. Target market. Sales/Marketing.

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Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

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Venture Capital Product Resource Marketing 243

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

Earlier this week, Derek Norton , a long time advisor to the media, Internet, and technology industry in Los Angeles, announced a brand new venture capital fund called Watertower Ventures (www.watertowerventures.com). We sat down with Derek to learn more about the new $5M fund and what it's all about. Tell us about the new fund?

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Invest Funding Capital Startup 145

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

To grow faster businesses need resources in today’s financial period to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year. You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

Until the recession a decade ago, market research indicated that as many as 90 percent of the roughly 20 million American small business owners were motivated more by lifestyle than growth and money. Under all of these, net income flows easily into your personal income. Startup funding comes from personal savings and family.

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Entrepreneur Startup Equity Course 148

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. So the people who invest in VC funds have two problems.

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Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2010

Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, Allen & Company LLC, Jefferies & Company, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel, RBC Capital Markets, Pacific Crest Securities, Raine Securities, and JMP Securities. According to Demand's IPO filing, the firm had a net loss of $6.00M on revenues of $114.0M in the first six months of 2010.

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Demand Media .Net Santa Monica 184

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

Thus, today around 90 percent of successful startups are still acquired by bigger companies versus an IPO, as the safer and preferred method of growth and funding. Thus, there is tremendous pressure to increase current earnings, and little appetite for strategic investments. Violent market swings usually hit public companies first.

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Startup Report IBM IBM 98

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. Look at the size of the market, and the growth projections for your sector. If you have no better info, use 5x as the multiple.

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Startup Invest Patents Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund As I outlined last week, trophy angel investors are always looking for trophy entrepreneurs. In many areas, not enough entrepreneurs meet the criteria, so it’s still a buyer’s market. It consists of eight major criteria, which we call the “Eight P’s for Successful Funding”. Proposition.

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Funding Startup Entrepreneur Activity 106

socalTECH

APRIL 13, 2020

Our interview today is with Greg Martin , co-founder of LiquidStock (www.liquidstock.com), an investment fund which offers up a way for employees of private companies to exercise their stock options before an IPO or acquisition. Greg Martin: I raised a fund called LiquidStock, with three partners. Tell us what you're up to now?

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Startup Paramount Invest Capital 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

Clearstone currently invests out of a $200 million fund based in LA with offices in Menlo Park and in India. Segment One: Jim’s background and Clearstone’s investment strategy. Segment Three: “VC Deals Funded this Week”. the funding and market coverage. Segment Two: “Deal of the Week”.

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Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 27, 2014

Entrepreneurs typically embrace celebrity investments, while most sophisticated investors prefer to avoid famous entertainment or sports personalities on the cap table. In instances when the celebrity''s brand is aligned with the target market, such as Kim Kardashian''s promotion of ShoeDazzle, this approach works.

Entrepreneur 193

Entrepreneur Technical Review Hollywood Southern California 193

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

If you want the full SlideShare deck with many slides not in either post it’s in this link –> The LA Tech Market. ” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.”

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Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

If you are looking for funding and customers for your new business, you need to identify your “unique selling proposition” (USP) right up front, in 30 seconds or less, to differentiate yourself in today’s information overload. Another investment barrier is good social solutions which appeal only to people with little money.

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.Net Examples Customer Custom 73

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. Look at the size of the market, and the growth projections for your sector. If you have no better info, use 5x as the multiple.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Patents Outsource Development 98

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

To grow faster businesses need resources in today to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year. They don’t want high burn rates but they will never fund slow growth. million to fund operations in their first year of operations. They raised $5 million in venture capital to fund growth. Not necessarily.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2019

Today around 90 percent of successful startups are still acquired by bigger companies, as the safer and preferred method of growth and funding. The reasons are a lot more complex than the meltdown of key investment banks in the US a few years ago, so don’t expect a big change in the numbers soon, even with recent stock market rallies.

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Startup Technical Review Report IBM 84

socalTECH

DECEMBER 4, 2008

CalPERS, the California pension fund which is a major limited partner in venture capital funds here, apparently sold its stake in Palomar Ventures III, L.P. CalPERS has been selling funds on the secondary market as it seeks to pare down its holdings. sometime earlier this year.

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Palomar .Net Venture Capital Equity 100

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2011

Value Prop Twitter Style : AngelList is the productization of raising startup funding. 5) Rincon Venture Partners recently invested in The Resumator , which we identified via AngelList. The core business we have built on is taking out-of-market startups and introducing them to investors. For his exact quotes, watch the video.

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Startup Software Review Summary Technical Review 273

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Not an investment philosophy “ I understand the sentiment of this post and it’s how I view AngelList (like email), but I feel like it loses a nuance about AngelList. Since I invest in lines, not dots , I worry about the rushed decision-making and over-hyping of deals. AngelList is a great way to market your deal.

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Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 29, 2016

Too bad, as the initial funding round has increased over 4,000 times in value, making a $250,000 investment worth more than $1,100,000,000. Two hundred and fifty thousand would have netted my firm more than one billion dollars. However, passing on a killer investment is not the worst error an investor can make.

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Venture Capital Email Invest Services 100

InfoChachkie

JULY 11, 2011

In the past, venture debt was often viewed as a funding vehicle of last resort. The nature of the company’s business model requires it to fund certain costs before it is paid by its customers. Thus, even though the company is cash flow positive, its growth is constrained by the amount of payables it can fund. welcome back.

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Equity Startup Invest Funding 235

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Both have worked.Google reached $1 billion in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $400 billion. Every startup dreams of achieving that milestone, when they can focus more on scaling the business and enjoying their earnings rather than fighting for another investment infusion.

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