Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. In reality, crowdfunding has become a major startup funding vehicle, expected to reach $3.62

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 19, 2011

Mark Suster , the highly visible venture capitalist blogger at GRP Partners, has invested in UK-based TreeHouse , an online, video-focused site for helping users learn web design and development. Suster, in announcing the deal on his blog, did not say if his firm, GRP Partners, participated in the round. The deal was worth $600,000.

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SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. The collapse of the IPO market and dysfunctional math in the venture capital community has stacked the odds against you. 10 Blogging Tips. Here’s why.

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Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She hasn’t raised any venture capital. Tracy is knowledgeable enough to talk tech and swap design & product stories with other founders, but she realized early that networking amongst this group and reading and writing in their journals would not bring her more customers. She did her first tech startup after the age of 30.

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Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

socalTECH

OCTOBER 19, 2011

Los Angeles-based GRP Partners , has invested in UK-based TreeHouse , an online, video-focused site for helping users learn web design and development. GRP's investment was led by Mark Suster, who announced the deal on his blog. The deal was worth $600,000. READ MORE>>.

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Invest GRP Partners Web Design Blogging 100

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 30, 2013

Amplify’s close mentoring is by design. Amplify provides seed stage capital to the tune of $50,000 to $150,000 in companies with a viable product that are demonstrating some degree of traction. Amplify’s portfolio companies are schooled on every challenge they need to master in order to achieve success.

Web Design 103

Web Design Social Media Seed Funding Design 103

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. You need a polished, tested concept, not just an idea.

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Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Why Every Entrepreneur Should Write and 9 Tips To Get Started - OnStartups , September 27, 2010 "The best part of blogging is the people you will meet"- Hugh MacLeod repeating wisdom from Loic Lemeur to me at the Big Pink at 2 am in South Beach after the Future of Web Apps 2008. Kanye West. Some have made the model work.

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Startup Product Technology Venture Capital 191

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Today Upfront Ventures is announcing that we’ve backed Rebecca Kantar ’s startup Imbellus , a company designed to assess human potential and ultimately change the way we teach children. We led a $4 million investment along with Thrive Capital, GLG and Sound Ventures. was sufficient for the jobs that existed in the industrial economy.

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Design Ideas Startup Writing 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

Well, the venture capital industry has changed a lot in the past 20 years … and we have too. VC has operated as an “old boys club”, with access to capital often requiring entrance through an elite university engineering department in one of two cities. What’s up with that? Upfront seemed to fit the bill.

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Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

Xconomy

JANUARY 9, 2019

The Boston company, which counts diabetes drug giants Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY ) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO ) among its investors and partners, says the capital will support Phase 3 studies of its device this year, and if all goes well, an application for FDA approval. Beta Bionics’s device is designed to mimic the role of.

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Study Design Capital Startup 87

Xconomy

FEBRUARY 28, 2020

A trial is designed, conducted according to that design, and then results are analyzed. In recent years, regulators have showed openness to clinical trial designs intended to make drug testing more efficient. Clinical trials have historically hewn to a rigid format. Making changes in the midst of the study was a no-no.

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News Design Study Examples 89

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

I’m generally not a believer in too much PR until you have a product built or at least well designed. This is somewhat changing in the world of crowd funding where people actually raise money so that they can build products but at a minimum your product design ought to be complete and ready to execute. Just don’t spam people.

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Press Startup Writing Training 319

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 3, 2010

This was really a fun week at TWiVC because we decided to have an entrepreneur come and talk about raising capital rather than having a VC come on. Raised angel money from Rob Lord, Reid Hoffman, Benchmark Capital and others. Current round: $8.1mm in Series C by S3 Ventures (lead), Adams Capital Mgmt, Triangle Peak Partners.

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Venture Capital Startup Design S3 214

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

Cincinnati, like many startup communities in the US over the past 5 years, has revitalized important regions in its urban core, created accelerators, built co-working facilities, pooled together angel capital, attracted VCs, involved educational institutions and solicited the help of important corporations in a more cohesive ecosystem.

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Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

Xconomy

MARCH 20, 2018

Mythic , which last year unveiled its novel computer chip designed for artificial intelligence, announced today that it has raised $40 million in a Series B fundraising round led by the venture capital arm of Japanese telecom and tech giant SoftBank.

Artificial Inteligence 77

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Venture Capital Software Review 77

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

International team with development in a country known for building great games and tech companies plus leadership in our home court of LA, one of the monetization capitals of the country. It is what Seriously was designed to do. So this was definitely an introduction I was going to take. Get more cash even before end proof.

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Funding Technical Review Startup Screening 373

Xconomy

JUNE 23, 2020

Reneo Pharmaceuticals has encouraging results from an early trial of a compound it is advancing for rare diseases characterized by impaired mitochondria—our cells’ energy generators—and the company says it is now designing a large global study of its drug candidate.

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San Diego Study Design Develop 127

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

In his blog he says, “I responded that I thought it was stupid. Creative – we’re a place of writers, directors, producers, musicians, costume designers, make-up artists, graphic artists, 3D modelers. They designed the next gen UI for the film The Minority Report. Think about venture capital.

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Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles Woodland Hills 304

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 like the quick summary notes, please check out Adam’s blog on tech, entrepreneurship & VC as a thank you. If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should.

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Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 5, 2011

What do you think of the design elements? When commenting please state if you have specific skills in visual design, copy or similar. I wanted to be whimsical and have a blog as cool as Spark Capital. What you’d like to see added, removed or changed. What text resonates? Navigation? I would embrace it.

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UCSD Invest Startup Design 260

Xconomy

AUGUST 10, 2016

“It’s not that often in a VC career you get to work with teams you’re sure will be featured in documentaries about how major industries changed,” wrote Matt Ocko of Data Collective Venture Capital , which joined DFJ in Nervana’s initial venture funding. “We In the 2-1/2 years since it was founded, Nervana raised roughly $25 million. (In

Artificial Inteligence 40

Artificial Inteligence San Diego Framework Venture Capital 40

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. You could just outspend. Tesla is not. It's a great talk.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

This week it announced plans to add another contraceptive contender to its lineup with an agreement to acquire Microchips Biotech, an MIT spinout that—with the backing of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others—has been working to design an. Read more » Reprints | Share: UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS.

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San Diego Design Activity Company 110

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. Blogs weren’t popularized yet so it was an oddity for me to read the founder of a software company spewing out advice.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

This continues my series of posts: Top 30 Startup Posts for July 2010 Top 30 Startup Posts in June 2010 Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March Here they are: How to Minimize Politics in Your Company - Ben's Blog , August 24, 2010 “Who the f@#k you think you f$&kin’ with.

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Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Add a blog to give yourself a voice, show your expertise, but skip the sales pitch. Your plan should include a well-designed web site, events, press releases, and search engine marketing (SEM). Create an integrated conventional marketing and social media strategy. Companies have to communicate, rather than just pontificate.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Startup Tips 108

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. I believe that over capitalizing companies too early often favors the VC.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Jason Nazar

MARCH 22, 2011

1 of a product up and running in a few months weeks getting thousands of users for next to no capital, in Los Angeles many folks will take over a year and spend a million dollars just to get a beta product ready. He just pounded out design and code for a few weeks and got Plancast up on the web and users adopting his product right away.

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Company Companies Startup Twiistup 111

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Social video sharing platform Viddy has not been doing well as of late, even though it had struck a chord with loyal consumers and had a raised a significant amount of capital to see it grow. According to JJ Aguhob in a blog post , “As a startup, we knew we needed to evolve. We began prototyping new, progressive experiences.

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Snapchat Blogging Competition Media 73

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. I eventually stumbled on to the best source of high-quality deal flow imaginable – blogging. It makes it extraordinarily hard to raise the next round of capital. The process of raising capital IS part of running a business. What stage?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 30, 2013

Amplify’s close mentoring is by design. Amplify provides seed stage capital to the tune of $50,000 to $150,000 in companies with a viable product that are demonstrating some degree of traction. Amplify’s portfolio companies are schooled on every challenge they need to master in order to achieve success.

Web Design 40

Web Design Social Media Seed Funding Design 40

Xconomy

MARCH 28, 2019

It’s seeking to commercialize a nickel-sized patch that’s designed to gauge blood-glucose level and take other measurements when the device is applied to the skin. Founders Jared Tagney and Joshua Windmiller, who met while in grad school at UC San Diego, started the company in 2012 as Electrozyme. The San Diego startup.

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San Diego Study Research Design 103

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

How To Land a Job at Google (or elsewhere) - FairSoftware's Blog , November 9, 2010 It’s been 11 years now that the obvious hit me: the best way to land a job is to do the job , not talk about it. Competing To Win Deals - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , November 7, 2010 The venture capital business is highly competitive.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

They have a related post: Designing startup metrics to drive successful behavior | For Entrepreneurs , but I think that looking at my Startup Metrics post provides a bit broader set of metrics to consider. A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , February 18, 2010 Great post from Fred Wilson that questions a common metric – unique visitors.

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