Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2012

I had this ethical dilemma pop up on one of the first deals I even did as a VC. The company agreed on a price but felt it was a bit lower than they had hoped for. But it was early 2009 and not many companies were getting new financings at all so I thought they should take the deal. The night started harmless enough.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

I will argue that when the dust settles, although we will have fewer firms, each type well end up more focused on traditional stage segments that cater to the core competencies of that firm. When I built my first company starting in 1999 it cost $2.5 million in infrastructure just to get started and another $2.5 Enter Amazon.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

Even though the Initial Public Offering (IPO) alternative for a successful startup seems to be coming back into vogue, it is still extremely rare. companies made the IPO transition in 2009, out of thousands of startups. Only about a dozen U.S. Loss of control. Don’t be driven by greed to the wrong alternative. Marty Zwilling.

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TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Opendoor has opened the door, so to speak, for startups to apply their technical expertise in search, marketplaces and audience segmentation to rethink the very antiquated and analogue world of property. All are previous investors from the startup’s last round, a $16.55 million Series A also led by QED.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

This is a theme that comes up in one the most influential business books for me of the past decade, The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb where he talks about the role that luck plays in business success. If you’re a tech startup person I know you know what I mean. I started blogging 2 years ago. And so it goes with startups.

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2013

There''s been a revolution in the last few years with the dropping price and increasing accessibility of 3D printers--those devices which let you print practically anything using just your own personal computer, 3D software, and a special printer. Erik Adams: I actually started in the dry cleaning business. What is Deka Sounds?

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

We spoke with Jim Franklin , the firm's CEO, to hear more about how the company went from an accelerator startup at TechStars just a few years ago, to now more than 100 employees spread across offices in Boulder; Colorado, Anaheim, California; Frankfurt; London, and elsewhere, to tackle the problems of transactional email.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. Volume has no doubt picked up at active firms. There is a lot of pent-up demand. This is one book-end of the cycle.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

I saw a few friends politely suggesting that “now was a great stock buying opportunity” meaning that given the stock market is off by 10% it was a great chance to buy and lock in presumably low prices before the market rises again. If the next 30 days stays calm then investment will pick up. I’m not so sure.

Marketing 150

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

Over the years I’ve written extensively about the downsides of convertible notes for startups such as here , here and here. ” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note. Size of my check.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. Seed funds now represent 67% of all funds being created now, which is up 100% from 6 years ago. The “big boom” in startup financing started around March 2009?—?more more than 5 years ago?—?and

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. Good idea & plan: You must start with a good idea and a PowerPoint deck (my outline is here , scroll down mid way).

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

I would argue that the shut-down of September 2009 was equally severe yet there are signs that this “VC Ice Age” has begun to thaw. The rest of this post series deals with the reasons why VC froze up in the first place, why investments have heated up recently and why the future of VC funding at the current pace is not certain.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2007

Its interesting to think about how universities might want to have their staff better aligned with moving ideas from the lab to start-ups. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Monday, March 12, 2007 MyShape Article - Analyst Misses the Point The NY Times did a piece today on MyShape, a start-up in Pasadena - Log in Your Measurements, and the Clothes May Fit. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

My friend Ethan Anderson put it best to me after the panel, “You probably shouldn’t have been up there. I wrote about it here (mostly starting at point 7) and Chris Dixon wrote a great post about it here. So in the past we needed VC to really get a startup going. I said almost nothing in the 30 minutes.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2017

We also started offering Factory Tour Workshops to entrepreneurs, with nearly 100 applying for the pilots. Local startup DAQRI started shipping their Smart Glasses this fall, finally making AR in the workplace seem ready for prime time. Check out the entertaining video here.) in August. .

USC 113

USC Startup News Entrepreneur 113

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

2009 has been the worst year for M&A in a decade. Projected IPOs for 2009 are an embarrassing 10 total deals, down from 86 just 2 years ago (it was 265 in the go-go years of 99-00) but at least up from 6 in 2008. Q4) the number of buyers expecting to pick up activity would be greater than 80%.

Venture Capital 241

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

This company was started by Victoria Duff (who many of us know from back in the late 90s), Phillis Lane (who I have known for quite a few years) and Jon Bukosky. Hopefully this is a sign of a new kind of ecosystem where there will be the possiblity of creating good start-ups that are not a classic VC kind of play.

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 Where LinkedIn Works for Me Ive been a long time user of LinkedIn , but only recently have started getting the benefits I always expected. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO.

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SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

I asked some of the same questions I ask in my Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions and then I get to a very common conversation: Me : Do you have specs? In fact, let me provide an important warning: If you create these documents, don't have input from a technical resource, take it to a development shop and they provide you a price.

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 About this Blog Ive been thinking about doing a blog with my thoughts on technology and whats happening in the Los Angeles area technology scene for a while, but it was Ben Kuos recent start of a blog that inspired me to actually go ahead and do it. Thanks Ben.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? . ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2007

He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? . ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2007

As I look at more and more start-ups predicated on viral growth, and at the use of social marketing, its becoming simultaneously easier to understand some aspects of viral growth and still a gap in understanding whats going to be that "hook" that will grab people at the end of the day. Why did MySpace win?

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? . ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 13, 2007

He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? . ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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Xconomy

OCTOBER 6, 2016

Before getting out on the open road, however, the company wants to show its self-driving system can clean up a mess in aisle 3 at Jimbo’s. As an independent startup backed by the corporate venture arm of Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM ), Brain Corp. began life in 2009 with a lofty goal of reverse-engineering the human brain.

Product 106

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 28, 2007

He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? . ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

Ive personally been involved in the start-up world in Los Angeles for about 15 years, and have had the opportunity to work on many early-stage companies (e.g., He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? .

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 27, 2007

Some items from the pod cast: 100,000 - babies born as a result of relationships started on eHarmony 15M registered 1% of marriages in US this year resulting from eHarmony I dont know if these are true, but still, the impact of the vision of the original founders Neil Clark Warren and Greg Forgatch is amazing.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 5, 2007

One of his companies - Gluecode - was sold to IBM for a pretty good price. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? .

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2007

He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? . ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

He tells us: If you’re starting a new internet company, its important to know who your audience is, and to make sure that you don’t let your own experience and that of other Time Poor people guide you wrong. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? . ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO?

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

Paul Kedrosky made the case for “naive optimism&# being an important part of startup success. I know that in late 2010 it’s not as popular to say this because we’re in the era of “super angels&# and feel-good startups. got picked up early without raising a lot of VC.

Invest 284

Invest Angel Venture Capital Startup 284

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 10, 2012

Insteegram is a startup that allows you to create amazing and unique t-shirts using your own Instagram photos. Ed Park was one of the first 100k users of Instagram back in early 2009. Park had a screen-printing business in 2004, starting with his own $4,000 investment. Now that’s awesome! They can easily squeeze us out.”

Startup 98

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