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. The reality is that as a result of two major trends the costs of starting a technology startup went down massively. So What Impact Did the Drop in Tech Founding Costs Have on VC?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2016

What they don’t realize is that about half the investment deals fail to close at this stage, including mergers and acquisitions , during the due-diligence process. The same is true of Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank investments you see on TV. Undisclosed skill gaps or agendas can stall your investment.

Technical Review 55

Technical Review Help Innocal Startup 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. Yet as an active angel investor, I still get this question on a regular basis, so I’ll try to outline the considerations in common-sense terms. For a nonprofit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising.

Funding 130

Funding Equity Technical Review Organization 130

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Last year at this time, SpotOn was on the brink of announcing a $60 million Series C funding round at a $625 million valuation. Advisors Douglas Merritt, CEO of Splunk, and Mike Scarpelli, CFO of Snowflake, also made individual investments as angels. With the new capital, SpotOn has raised $628 million since its inception.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

Berkonomics

JANUARY 14, 2021

If you seek funds from an organized investment group such as an angel fund, venture capital entity, or even an investment club, the first thing you want to do is to find one person to buy into your vision, become excited by your enthusiasm and be willing to become the internal champion for your fund-raising effort.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review Tech Coast Angels Summary Email 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2021

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Rose, according to his classic book, “ Angel Investing.” Neither does David S.

Funding 144

Funding Startup .Net Invest 144

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

The Tech Coast Angels announced this morning that it has had a first close on its Angel Capital Entrepreneurial (ACE) Fund 1, the firm's new early-stage investment fund. The fund--which has been in the works since last year--is aimed at making it easier for the TCA to move quickly to invest in companies.

Tech Coast Angels 165

Tech Coast Angels Angel Funding Technical Review 165

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

Josh Kaplan and Dee Murthy, both founder and co-CEO of the Los Angeles–based company, started Ghost in 2021 after previously working together at Four Five Group, a men’s apparel business. Ghost is not alone in developing technology focused on inventory. Last week, Syrup Tech raised $6.3 Syrup Tech bags $6.3M

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

Construction tech startups are poised to shake up a $1.3-trillion-dollar As more people spent time at home last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the startup saw its contract revenue spike by 5x, Wu says. For now, Eano is operating in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, with plans to expand to Seattle and Houston this year.

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Software Review 185

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. Wait, didn’t you just raise a fund? Was it hard to raise the fund?

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

The dinner parties now are filled with self-righteous angel investors bragging about how many deals they are in on. They have marked-up paper gains propped up by an over excited venture capital market that has validated their investments. Logic tells me the following: It is hard to make money angel investing.

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than angel investors or professional investors (VCs). In fact, most investors “require” that you already have some investment from friends and family before they will even step up to the plate.

Invest 135

Invest Technical Review Startup Ideas 135

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Thus investing in startups should always be approached as a low odds game.

Invest 111

Invest Angel Funding Startup 111

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

million in capital to build out its operations in 4 cities: New York City , Los Angeles , Chicago and Washington D.C. So how did a company that provides storage grow so fast (we’ll exit 2017 with 10’s of millions in recurring revenue), why is it so defensible and is it really a tech startup? years of software development.

Technical Review 268

Technical Review Funding Software Review Artificial Inteligence 268

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. This post is for those who want to raise angel money. Very few people fund individuals. Team: You need a team.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

We thought today for our interview, that we'd get an update on the angel investment environment here in Southern California from Scott Sangster , the incoming President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Tech Coast Angels , the biggest angel investment group in Southern California.

Tech Coast Angels 182

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 182

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 27, 2020

The 29 year-old CEO has, indeed, built a decentralized ghost kitchen — and managed to convince Softbank’s latest Vision Fund to invest in a $120 million round for that the company announced today. In some ways, Nextbite couldn’t exist without Ordermark’s delivery aggregation technology.

Funding 263

Funding Los Angeles Technical Review Training 263

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Venture Capital is a tricky industry. Far from it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” Another firm funded them. We simply aren’t part of the story and shouldn’t pretend to be.

Snapchat 214

Snapchat Invest Technical Review Dollar Shave Club 214

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

Earlier this week, the Tech Coast Angels , the largest and most active organized angel group in Southern California, announced a new effort to create an angel group network, which will share and syndicate deals between groups--current the TCA, Golden Seeds, and Band of Angels.

Technical Review 145

Technical Review Networking Angel Tech Coast Angels 145

Berkonomics

JUNE 26, 2014

Angel investors, particularly those in organized angel groups, are typically former entrepreneurs who have had successful liquidity events in their pasts, or executives of companies who’ve retired with the funds from their stock options. So how an angel responds to your pitch depends upon his or her background.

Angel 191

Angel Technical Review Coach Entrepreneur 191

socalTECH

JULY 21, 2010

Watson , a member of the San Diego Tech Coast Angels , who was found dead in June. According to authorities, Kent Thomas Keigwin , age 59, has been charged by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office with the murder of Watson, who had been found by fellow angel investors when he failed to show for a meeting.

Tech Coast Angels 145

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel San Diego 145

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Venture and angel investing has long been considered a man''s world--with domination of the industry, executives, financiers, and others by men, with only a few exceptions. Eva Helene Yazhari: It''s a program for budding angel investors, and female angel investors. How does that investment process work?

Angel 276

Angel Invest Mentor Technical Review 276

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 10, 2020

In response to VCs’ sudden rush to invest in more Black founders , Black venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have penned a bunch of advice on the best way to tap into talent. It held a city-based internship program with Los Angeles, which connects students to venture capital firms in the area. Among the strategies?

Equity 220

Equity Technical Review Venture Capital Blogging 220

socalTECH

MAY 26, 2009

Last week's angel investment report by the Angel Capital Association reported that investments by angel investors dropped nine percent in 2008, with a hefty percentage of angel investors--40 percent--expecting this year will be a down year. What isn't appealing to angel investors right now?

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Invest Tech Coast Angels Westlake Village 100

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. ” Climate resiliency . Given the steady drumbeat of climate disasters that hit the U.S.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

socalTECH

JANUARY 5, 2021

Every year, we feature the year end reflections of founders, CEOs, investors, sposors, and others in Southern California's high tech community. As you may recall the Alliance's mission is to elevate the region as a global leader in innovation, technology & entrepreneurship. We've been posting these throughout the next two weeks.

Southern California 202

Southern California SoCal Technical Review Startup 202

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2017

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Rose, according to his latest book, “ Angel Investing.” Neither does David S.

Startup 76

Startup Angel Funding .Net 76

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

For example, Bill Gates founded and grew Microsoft, and Michael Dell built a great technology company, both with no outside funding until they went successful enough to go public years later and sell shares to common stockholders. Many times friends and family have been broken by failed investments.

Funding 107

Funding Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital 107

Berkonomics

JUNE 19, 2014

If you seek funds from an organized investment group such as an angel fund, venture capital entity, or even an investment club, the first thing you want to do is to find one person to buy into your vision, become excited by your enthusiasm and be willing to become the internal champion for your fund-raising effort.

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Tech Coast Angels Summary Email 207

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Companies that have leveraged technology to make the procurement and delivery of food more accessible to more people have been seeing a big surge of business this year, as millions of consumers are encouraged (or outright mandated, due to Covid-19) to socially distance or want to avoid the crowds of physical shopping and eating excursions.

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Responding to Elizabeth Warren’s call to regulate and break up some of the nation’s largest technology companies, the venture capitalists that invest in technology companies are advising the presidential hopeful to move slowly and not break anything. This too shall pass.” — Balaji S. ”

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Startup Chief Technology Officer Social Media 144

socalTECH

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Earlier this week, Good Growth Capital (www.goodgrowthvc.com) announced it has started looking at investments in Southern California, adding Krisztina Holly as West Coast Venture Partner for the firm. What kinds of areas does the fund make investments in? It looks like there's some link to MIT with the fund?

Southern California 124

Southern California Capital Technical Review Startup 124

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

billion in investments, according to the Q3 analysis of venture capital deals by socalTECH.com. According to an analysis of socalTECH's proprietary database of venture capital deals, venture investors invested slightly more than the $966M in Q3 of 2009, but less than the $1.6 billion invested in Q2.

Southern California 196

Southern California Invest Westlake Village SoCal 196

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions for 2019 from Southern California's technology industry. My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 7, 2019

Thursday, June 13, 2019 -- Orange County FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop. Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in Orange County, we're throwing an exclusive PitchFest speed dating event where you will be pitching to over 20 investors one-on-one! We're doing it again!

Orange County 100

Orange County Venture Capital Angel Tech Coast Angels 100

InfoChachkie

MARCH 18, 2013

In order to extract value beyond your Angel investors' cash, you must first assess three important parameters: (i) the relative strength of their personal brand, (ii) their ability to add operational value, and (iii) the amount of care and feeding they will demand from you. Four Common Angel Archetypes.

Angel 217

Angel Technical Review RSS Entrepreneur 217