InfoChachkie

JUNE 23, 2014

Absent a human gatekeeper, you can capture a busy individual''s attention by crafting a compelling and pithy email subject line, voicemail message, Tweet, Quora or Facebook message. Review the company''s press releases, the recipient''s LinkedIn profile, etc. Some people are phone centric, while others reply primarily on email.

Networking 241

Networking Software Review Email Press 241

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Handling different media formats. Marty Zwilling.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2009

This is part of my series on How to Raise VC but could equally be filed under Startup Advice more generally. He started the call by telling me he had exciting news. Entrepreneurs get so used to friends and family congratulating them on their press coverage that they forget sometimes that this isn’t real.

Venture Capital 291

Venture Capital Press News Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 22, 2014

It’s a fantastic startup that has had a amazing impact on society. It’s not just about people like me who can (and do) turn up in nearly any city in the US and immediately book a ride. They were a little too fierce in their competitive practices against Lyft to sign up drivers. Is Uber evil? That’s silly.

Press 418

Press Journal Startup Competition 418

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

If you follow the tech media you would be subject to a lot of narrative biases that are completely off base – and this includes the value of email and phone calls. I’m sure you’ve heard the meme that “email is dead” – if fact if you Google it you’ll find a long list of articles that will mislead you.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

You can watch/listen to how John and Kyle turned their email newsletter into an international bestseller in the following 9-minute excerpt from John''s recent talk at UC Santa Barbara. Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

It’s apropos because there is so much noise these days with email, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web shows, etc. If I check Twitter it’s usually because I’m waiting for a meeting to start and I never write posts during the day. They could start to form an opinion. I enjoy that. Are these signal or noise? .&#

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

So what are Rob’s secret hacks that he didn’t spill in his blog post? . Email updates frequently. And as Rob points out – if you email members with short updates more frequently they are more up to speed when you do need them to weigh in. Make your emails actionable. Rob is an over communicator.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

We all know that funding markets have changed for startups. I have blogged about some of the downside consequences of the changes and the private information I have says the consequences are much worse than is reported in the press since few people publicly talk about. How founders get screwed on convertible notes. You betcha.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

I see it on email even more. Brunson’s short and to-the-point blog post, “ It’s Called Networking, Not Using.” ” In it he talked about how he gets daily emails asking for intros to Oprah (he does a lot of work with her) and his advice. It’s why I wrote the blog post on 50 Coffee Meetings.

Venture Capital 407

Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. Oh, and Demo charges the startups $18,000. It got me thinking, which for me is always the sign of a good blog post. Too many startup execs place too much emphasis on the big stage launch. I’ve heard many startup CEO’s (and VCs!)

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

On August 23rd, 2013 I had an email intro from my good friend and trusted source Jeff Berman who only sends me stuff when it is somebody he respects (ie a strong filter vs. those who send casual intros). Andrew & Petri posed a question to me, “If Walt Disney were starting his company today, what kind of company would he build?”

Funding 373

Funding Technical Review Startup Screening 373

Berkonomics

MAY 23, 2019

Email readers, continue here…] One great way to define your story is with a word picture in which you associate yourself with a person or company that is recognized in a positive way and helps you tell your story more easily. (See “Manage Your Mantra” two weeks earlier in this blog.) How do you define yourself?

Mentor 120

Mentor Statistics Press Blogging 120

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 16, 2013

Article after article points out that Los Angeles is on its way to becoming one of the most robust startup communities in the United States. It is meant to bring everyone together so that they can learn, network and leave with the sense that they now belong to a family of entrepreneurs, all trying to make LA a startup hub.

Rustic Canyon 74

Rustic Canyon Startup Los Angeles Class 74

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March There was some really great content in June. It shows a lack of interest.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2009

I wanted to also post the series here to have it as a resource on my blog for future entrepreneurs who stop by. It’s the person who never gives up – who never accepts “no&# for an answer. If you’re already running a startup you know all this. If you haven’t spent time over there you should.

Entrepreneur 338

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Google 338

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. In my post “ Measure twice, cut once ” I’ve outlined how to plan before you start raising. Should You Start with Your “Safety Schools?”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. The world has changed much since I started my first company in 1999. Tim started to change our processes. Tim encouraged us to set up a blog and start talking openly about what we were doing as a company and inviting comments.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 1, 2012

It might seem like a stretch to draw a connection between an Olympic swimmer and life at a startup, but bear with me. Being the most successful Olympic athlete in history (and arguably the most successful single athlete) requires a freakish amount of natural talent, backed up by consistent hard work. Sounds like a startup, right?

Startup 184

Startup RSS SaaS Press 184

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I just had to line up behind him. Because my wife is a superstar she published them all on a blog here along with much other wonderful type-A mom advice. But before I sent it I had made 10 private phone calls, sent emails & built support. We then started talking about Dave McClure. I know this guy is a money maker.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Southern California has had its share of new startup accelerators launch in the last few months, however, few people here have actually experienced an accelerator firsthand. Alex Benzer: I'm actually building two startups. SocialEngine is four years old, and that's the startup we applied to TechStars with.

Startup 242

Startup CTO Coach Blogging Social Media 242

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

He’s done several startups and is a board member of the Technology Council of Southern California (which is where I met him originally). A typical day starts with email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Yammer checks/updates. A typical day starts with email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Yammer checks/updates.

Acquisition 170

Acquisition Customer Custom Ideas 170

socalTECH

MAY 24, 2011

Southern California--and particularly, Los Angeles--has always been a center of the music business, which makes it unsurprising that there are many, music-focused startups which end up starting here. I then was recruited into a Silicon Valley startup, backed by Kleiner Perkins. Vic Caretti: It's rather diverse.

Social Media 241

Social Media Startup Sites Advertising 241

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 25, 2011

A year ago I invested, along with Dana Settle at Greycroft Partners , in a startup company called Maker Studios. And anybody who follows this blog knows that I believe television disruption has already begun and it is more likely to resemble Internet content than streaming long-form content to our living rooms. Sound familiar?

Carson 291

Carson Content Press Los Angeles 291

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2016

Yes, I want to scream at the media who gave Trump so much free press and created false equivalencies between his misdeed and misstatements and Clintons. And I want to blame Clinton for using that damn email server but of course I know if it weren’t that it would just have been something else. This is MY blog. We have no choice.

Blogging 267

Blogging Course Venture Capital Media 267

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

Serial entrepreneur, venture investor and startup accelerator pioneer Brad Feld has notoriously mocked traditional marketing throughout his career. For a long time, I had a line which was, ‘Whenever I hear the word marketing, it makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth.’”. We have never done a press release.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2011

I always start my annual trip on my own with a bit of an East Coast tour to do business meetings with other investors and startups and meet my family at BWI on a Saturday. This year was no exception so leading up to my vacation I spent time meeting people in Philadelphia. My son is addicted to Mario Bros. So we postponed.

Startup 299

Startup Training Course Email 299

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

If you don’t know David he’s the guy who will be running TechStars New York starting in January. One of the things we were chatting about was how many first-time entrepreneurs have grown up digital natives so have a really good intuitive feel for technology & design but don’t yet have the business basics down.

Startup 315

Startup Help Class Sales 315

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m inspired by the enthusiasm of the young, emerging startup ecosystem that is here. As I gear up to give a keynote at the annual Seattle 2.0 awards dinner on Thursday night I started reflected on what it would take to “change the trajectory&# for Seattle or for any regional market, really.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2017

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Handling different media formats. Marty Zwilling.

Media 55

Media Social Media Startup Training 55

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 12, 2009

This past week has had an interesting confluence of events that's led me to conclude that I want to start doing a lot of visible networking among the tech / web crowd here in Los Angeles. I really enjoy his blog and I can't wait to mix it up with him some more on the value of Hollywood money / connections.

Networking 150

Networking Blogging Social Media VentureNet 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

It’s why I always work hard to find images for my blog posts & why all of my keynote presentations are visual rather than bullet points with words. This applies equally to VCs, startups & big company executives. When I write a blog post I often see the words before I write them. So I thought I would.

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch ran my article yesterday as a guest post but I wanted to have a copy here for anybody who missed it and for future readers of this blog. Mine started this way … I started my first company in the “go-go years&# of the Internet: 1999. We had a $40 million round lined up to close in the Autumn of 2000.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Every so often I find myself caught up in a really hectic 3-4 week schedule where it seems like I float endlessly betweens meetings. I get sucked up in “Do” mode. Startups Are for Doers. But getting caught up in the doing can often leave you directionless. Do you find yourself too much in email mode?

Venture Capital 400

Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

I never implied that startups are all great and job hoppers are all at fault. No rule is ever absolute no matter how it sounds when one writes a blog. Most of what I learned about operating startups I learned from the really tough years at my first company from 2001-2003. Yes, I know that many employers are bad.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 28, 2012

The first-ever Silicon Beach Fest attracted more than 2,000 attendees from LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, New York, Toronto, and London to celebrate LA startups and entertainment with panels, parties, pitch fests, hackathon, and beach games: volleyball, basketball and surfing lessons in Santa Monica and Venice on June 21-23, 2012.

Hollywood 67

Hollywood Technical Review Startup Rustic Canyon 67

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2016

With just over 50 days until we elect a new president of the US it’s critical for the interests of yourself and your fellow citizens that more of you speak up. Use your blogs, use social media, use the TV media. He then outrageously tried to blame Hillary Clinton for starting the birther movement and claiming that he ended it.

Summary 150

Summary Media Technical Review Startup 150