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.” I believe people generally hate making decisions and especially so when they involve commitments and risks.

Funding 189

Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Venture Capital 189

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Seed investments are down by any measure (funds, deals, dollars) over the past 3 years in deals < $1 million AND in deals between $1–5 million. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture. What gives? The “A Round” of my startup in 1999 was $16.5

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

I’m writing this post to explain to entrepreneurs what you should be thinking about in terms of the VC’s you approach and the size and stage of their funds. VC’s often talk about this term as in the total amount of funds EVER raised by that VC. What is a VC fund? What is total assets under management? -

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 21, 2021

Welcome Tech , which has built a digital platform aimed at immigrants and their families, has raised $35 million in a Series B funding round co-led by TTV Capital, Owl Ventures and SoftBank Group Corp.’s s SB Opportunity Fund. Welcome Tech, which has an office in San Antonio, Texas, raised an $8 million Series A in March of 2020.

Platform 299

Platform Resource Services Capital 299

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

That company was Invoca, which just announced a $20 million fund raise led by Accel. It turns out it actually takes time to build a high-growth business with differentiated intellectual property and roll out large, enterprise-class marketing solutions. So I think it’s now fair to rate me at 9/10 on follow-on fundings.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). 15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. On the surface the narratives have been.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

socalTECH

MARCH 3, 2016

Santa Monica-based Pathmatics , a startup developing analytics software for analyzing the programmatic advertising market, has raised $3M in a Series A funding. BDMI's Sim Blaustein joins the company's baord with the funding. Pathmatics is led by Gabe Gottlieb, and was founded in 2010. READ MORE>>.

Advertising 100

Advertising Bertelsmann Software Santa Monica 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

DECEMBER 3, 2010

Thursday, December 9, 2010 -- If the Venture Model is Broken, Whos Funding All These Startups? Early stage investing is booming and we are finally seeing the kind of exits that show signs of a potential IPO market in our future. Dealmaker Media LA.

GRP Partners 100

GRP Partners Clearstone Funding Startup 100

socalTECH

MARCH 13, 2013

Santa Barbara-based HG Data Company announced this morning that it has raised $2M in a funding round, for its cloud-based, business intelligence database service. Harris was most recently the founder and CEO of NOZA, which he sold to Blackbaud in 2010. READ MORE>>.

Santa Barbara 174

Santa Barbara Web Funding Marketing 174

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

San Diego-based venture capital investor Mission Ventures has re-upped its investment in San Francisco-based Alpine Data Labs , a developer of Hadoop software for the big data market. Greenplum was acquired by EMC in 2010. READ MORE>>. mission ventures alpine data hadoop bigdata venture capital metapa greenplum'

Mission Ventures 170

Mission Ventures Sherman Oaks Venture Capital San Diego 170

socalTECH

DECEMBER 6, 2010

San Diego-based Awarepoint , a developer of enterprise, real-time location systems for the hospital market, has raised $9M in a financing round, the firm has announced. According to Awarepoint, the funding came from Cardinal Partners, Jafco Ventures, and Venrock as well as Silicon Valley Bank. Awarepoint is headed by Jay Deady.

SoCalTech 150

SoCalTech San Diego Report Sales 150

socalTECH

MAY 13, 2010

Los Angeles-based Rubicon Project is reporting today that there was a 25 percent, year-over-year growth in online ad spending, according to the firm's Q1 2010 Online Advertising Market Report. Rubicon is venture backed by Clearstone Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, IDG Ventures and GE/NBC Universal's Peacock Equity Fund.

Clearstone 140

Clearstone Advertising Venture Capital Equity 140

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

There's a lot out there around Customer Development - read Steve Blank : Entrepreneurship as a Science – The Business Model/Customer Development Stack - Steve Blank , October 25, 2010 Checklists for Chaos, The Path to Success - Steve Blank , October 28, 2010 and reading about Lean, MVPs, etc. Size of target market $100M is okay.

Startup 198

Startup Custom Development Sales Writing 198

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

The firm--which the Tech Coast Angels revealed last week that it had funded in 2010--also has the backing of well known angel investor Paige Craig, who also sits on the firms advisory board. No details on the angel funding for LaughStub have been announced. The firm is headed by Scot Richardson. READ MORE>>.

West Hollywood 199

West Hollywood Tech Coast Angels Angel Ticketmaster 199

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 28, 2018

Founded by a former Pixar and DreamWorks animator, Rex Grignon, Nimble launched in 2014 and has raised just under $10 million from investors including the UCLA VC Fund and New Enterprise Associates, according to Crunchbase. “That worldwide reach is very important,” Grignon said.

Hollywood 254

Hollywood Cloud Computing Netflix Google 254

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2011

In the report, Quigley cited the declining amount of venture capital funds raised in recent years (only $12 billion in 2010, versus more than $80 billion in 2000, and $37 billion in 2007); a inordinate amount of that capital going to large, clean technology deals (17% of venture investments in 2010), and an open IPO market, among other factors, as (..)

Venture Capital 160

Venture Capital Capital Clearstone Technical Review 160

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 22, 2012

GraphEffect today unveiled the latest version of its social network for marketers with an open API for developers. GraphEffect is a collaboration platform for social marketers which had only been available to large marketing partners including American Express, Toyota, Estee Lauder, Clorox, and Samsung. Venture Funding.

Social Network 65

Social Network Marketing Networking Social Media 65

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Evolution Robotics was backed by Idealab, and also had raised funding from CMEA Ventures, The Quercus Trust of California, and Vodafone.

Idealab 171

Idealab Pasadena Technology Product 171

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. Great stuff. This post looks at the implementation details of HTML 5 video. Good stuff from Jason.

Pricing 150

Pricing Acquisition Customer Custom 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

But knowing the right people and knowing a market only works well for angel investors in bullish tech markets in which IPO’s happen quickly (97-99) or where larger companies are actively scooping up little tiny companies at sub $50 million valuations to drive innovation (05-08, 10-?). Obviously I agree. It’s hard to say.

Invest 284

Invest Angel Venture Capital Startup 284

socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2011

The firm said it has bolstered its staff in Texas by more than 75 since August of 2010, including executive staff, finance, sales, and marketing. Fonality is venture backed by Azure Capital Partners, DFJ Growth Fund, Intel Capital, and MHS Capital Partners. READ MORE>>.

Los Angeles 168

Los Angeles Angel IP Software Development 168

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 17, 2010

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 -- Greater Los Angeles Finance Network Group. Come join us in a compelling discussion about the state of the current debt markets. The debt markets have contracted and may be warming up again. Companies are receiving debt financing and the funds are being used for growth and acquisition.

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles Networking Angel Acquisition 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 24, 2010

Irvine-based Brand Affinity Technologies , the latest startup headed by Ryan and Chad Steelberg, announced today that it has raised $20M in a Series C funding round. Other investors also include the CGI Opportunity Fund II, the investment vehicle of the Ueberroth Family. BAT operates a celebrity endorsement and marketing firm.

Technology 150

Technology Miramar Venture Capital Google 150

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 29, 2012

Total merger and acquisition deal volume in 2011 increased 24% from 2010, with over 16,000 transactions aggregating to $1.1 Multiples for middle market companies remained relatively strong in 2011, at an average of 8.2x Wednesday, April 4, 2012 -- ACG 101's Annual MandA Update. trillion in value.

ACG 113

ACG Santa Barbara Ventura Equity 113

socalTECH

DECEMBER 31, 2018

Amazon has razor thin profits compared to their revenue but Bezos doesn't care he just wants growth and world domination and has a market cap of $763B. The biggest news was the continued bullish market now coming on ten years even though historical cycles show markets don't usually last more than 7-8 years.

Southern California 100

Southern California News Class Writing 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 25, 2010

The firm--which has been running its own series of reports on the online advertising market--attributed the increase in CPMs to holiday ad spending, as well as interesting in celebrity news topics. Rubicon said it expects 2010 to be a "strong year" for digital advertising. READ MORE>>.

Clearstone 113

Clearstone Advertising News Equity 113

SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 7, 2010

Thursday, May 13, 2010 -- Traction in Sales. Funded yet? And you wont be until you generate a sales and marketing machine to demonstrate real traction and the ability to sell your products and services. Traction in Sales is the Game Today!

Sales 100

Sales TCVN Startup Funding 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 31, 2011

According to the White House, the President's new budget proposes making permanent the elimination of capital gains taxes on key investments in small businesses, which was passed as a temporary provision in 2010 as part of the Small Business Jobs Act. That effort is aimed at spurring entrepreneurship and funding for startups.

Startup 140

Startup Education Invest Capital 140

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

The new collection includes six galleries of invites, greetings, and thank you notes inspired by DKNY's Fall 2010 collection. Gold was SVP Marketing and Content at MySpace, and Cocodot is venture backed by Anthem Ventures, the Mailroom Fund, and Rincon Venture Partners. READ MORE>>.

Evite 150

Evite Anthem Hollywood Design 150

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Njoku in April this year closed an $8m funding investment round from Tiger Global and another $2m from a Swedish firm, Kinnevik and still he says more is yet to come. iROKO Partners was launched in December 2010. Tell us about funding rounds you have had? However building Iroko Partners was not a walk in the park.

Netflix 82

Netflix Marketing Technical Review Content 82

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

The VC industry has different segments in it that have different fund sizes, different investment amounts and different risk / return expectations. We need people at all stages of the funding lifecycle and not just VCs. We need venture debt, factoring companies and public markets. That’s a good thing. We all know that.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 -- Waterproofing a new business model: H2O Audio is Learning to Swim within its Means. From its fast start out the gates, H2O Audio hit the deep underwater diving market and quickly found its niche. MIT Enterprise Forum SD. By 2008, H2O Audio had hit the wall. See [link] (more).

Enterprise Forum 100

Enterprise Forum Patents Marketing Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

While many of my friends bragged about their 5 condos in Florida I kept talking about how the real estate market was in a bubble – their gains an illusion. above inflation yet in many markets in the US & Europe prices were rising at 10-25% per year. “Yeah, but there is a shortage of supply.

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

socalTECH

OCTOBER 7, 2010

The University of Southern California and wealthy engineer Fariborz Maseeh , now a hedge fund manager in Newport Beach, is announcing this week a $1M endowment, which will fund an annual, $50,000 prize for a business plan competition for the school's engineering students. affiliated event focused on spreading innovative ideas.

USC 214

USC Southern California SoCalTech Competition 214

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

Proficio, a Carlsbad, CA-based startup providing cybersecurity protection services for middle market companies, has raised $12 million in an investment round led by Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors. The Los Angeles-based private equity firm provided funding from its Kayne Partners Fund Group, which invests in high-growth technology businesses.

Equity 40

Equity Los Angeles Invest Networking 40

socalTECH

MARCH 17, 2016

There has been a lot of worry recently in the high tech industry and from venture investors about "headwinds" in the technology market, particularly with valuations of "unicorn" companies dropping, investors shying away from investing in rounds, and even employees looking for safer jobs.

Southern California 100

Southern California Cornerstone OnDemand Technical Review SoCal 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

I began asking around who the likely investors were for such a market. At the time almost nobody had heard of the following funds: FirstRound Capital, TrueVentures, Floodgate and SoftTech. In this short 90-second clip Jeff discusses “Investor / Market Fit” How VCs Think About Funding.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Cloud Computing 150