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

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

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 5, 2019

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 -- San Diego FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop. Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in San Diego, 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! See [link] (more)

San Diego 100

San Diego Venture Capital Angel Summary 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2013

Surf Air ($2.6M, Los Angeles, subscription aircraft service). Southern California's Most Popular Tech Stories. LaunchpadLA Opens Up Spring Applications. Ignyta ($6M, San Diego, personalized medicine). Independa ($5M, San Diego, software for senior independence). AwarePoint ($4M, San Diego, real time patient location systems).

Southern California 168

Southern California Technical Review SoCal San Diego 168

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As such, the primary goal of your executive summary is to open the door to an in-person meeting. Entrepreneurs routinely seek my advice regarding their executive summaries.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Peter Pham, of Los Angeles technology studio/incubator Science Inc., Los Angeles MiniTime debuted its service this week to help families find reviews and information for their family vacation. SpaceX tests its Grasshoppper, vertical takeoff and landing technology earlier this month. with Mario Andretti.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Santa Barbara Software Review Activision 157

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. At an angel round you can get away with no market validation.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). We feature a prominent speaker at every event.

Venture Capital 241

Venture Capital Technical Review Southern California Company 241

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

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? As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture.

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” ” The punch line from this post was “angel yourself.” I’m just pointing out that it’s not for most people.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. According to the Angel Capital Association , at least 300,000 people have made angel investments in the last two years, totaling $24 billion in the U.S.

Angel 65

Angel Startup Technical Review Social Media 65

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). Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools: Don’t be afraid to ask, carefully.

Invest 135

Invest Technical Review Startup Ideas 135

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. are eliminated during due diligence. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee).

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.” Too much detail at first contact is just as much of a turnoff as no information.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

Chris Dixon is one of my favorite people in tech and writes one of the few blogs I read religiously. If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should. I think you’ll really enjoy this video , but as always I have summary notes for those with less time.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. are eliminated during due diligence. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee).

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

When the early teams: angels, lowercase capital & first round capital funded Uber they had no idea it would be one of the most revolutionary ideas of our time. Periodically we do portfolio reviews to evaluate whether we have enough diversified risk across the fund. It was an early and smart bet. 6SensorLabs.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. But the biggest changes in our industry have been driven by technical changes themselves to which we are just observers and fortunate beneficiaries. From a technology perspective our journey is nowhere near over.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2014

Some get stuck in a rut and get run over by competitors with new technology, like Eastman Kodak, and others get pushed into a crisis, like Apple did, before they reinvent themselves into a new market. Use that same technical and business expertise that served you well on this startup to find the next opportunity.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Summary 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.” Too much detail at first contact is just as much of a turnoff as no information.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2017

Some investors are all about making money, while others care more about changing the world, advancing technology, or curing a disease that has ravaged their family. Generally, as a new business advisor, I recommend advance preparation of an executive summary, a pitch deck, short business plan, and lots of practice and passion.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Equity Capital Entrepreneur 88

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Or, as always, summary notes available below. My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. Brad on blogging.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

I think you'll enjoy hearing him, but if you're in a rush check out the summary notes below. In the early 80’s he left academia to work on venture capital investing with Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies. Josh and Howard began co-investing as angels and in 2005 they started a $10 million fund. and Half.com. and Half.com.

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an Angel investor. I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.” business business plan entrepreneur investor technology' Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2011

I recommend you first review Dharmesh’s article and then listen to Naval’s thoughts. What follows is a summary which paraphrases Naval’s responses. Late last year, there were more high-quality, seed-stage startups in New York than there was an Angel community to support them.”. For his exact quotes, watch the video.

Startup 273

Startup Software Review Summary Technical Review 273

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2014

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). Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools: Don’t be afraid to ask, carefully.

Startup 106

Startup Funding Technical Review Ideas 106

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.” Too much detail at first contact is just as much of a turnoff as no information.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. So it makes me laugh to this day when I talk with a journalist or potential investor in the company and they ask flippantly, “How is MakeSpace a technology company?”

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2013

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). Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools: Don’t be afraid to ask, carefully.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Ideas 109

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

Reviewing financial & operational performance. By now you have many smart people around your board but probably people who don’t totally understand the nuances of your employees, customers, sales reps, marketing messages, technology challenges, competitors and strategic choices. Mentorship. As You Start to Mature.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.” Too much detail at first contact is just as much of a turnoff as no information.

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

People said this about Ring (which went from startup to selling to Amazon > $1 billion in around 5 years), Facebook, YouTube, Airbnb, Uber, Twitter, Instagram and many other great behemoths of the technology industry. Does it surprise you that the fastest-growing “unicorn” was launched in Los Angeles and not San Francisco?

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2012

For example, if your startup is building a high-tech software product, a dream team of advisors would be a former CEO or high-level exec in another software company, a former software marketing executive, and a former financial executive.

Startup 95

Startup Technical Review Software Review High Tech 95

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2011

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). Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools: Don’t be afraid to ask, carefully.

Startup 98

Startup Technical Review Ideas Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2014

Unfocused entrepreneurs boast that their new technology will generate multiple disruptive products for consumers as well as enterprises around the world. Focus means starting with a problem that is painful, rather than a technology, and showing how you can solve that problem better than anyone else. Solve one problem really well.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Competition Technical Review Oracle 103

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2012

They are your route to angel money. People need access to angels and VCs. But all too frequently people send angels & VCs too many unqualified intros. It’s best if you send a deck so that the investor can review it for a fit before the introduction takes place. In Summary. Your entrée to sales meetings.

Email 359

Email Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 359

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2011

For example, if your startup is building a high-tech software product, a dream team of advisors would be a former CEO or high-level exec in another software company, a former software marketing executive, and a former financial executive.

Startup 95

Startup Technical Review Software Review High Tech 95