socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Raising capital for a female-led startup can be very diffiult--which is what Justine Lassoff and Melinda Moore found out when they started their own company, LovingEco, in Los Angeles. What is TuesdayNights? After we sold that company, we look at each other, and decided to become part of the solution.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? Me: At what price? Him: But when I raised my first round we didn’t know how to price the company. What proof points? Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. We raised a seed round.

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Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

But often, entrepreneurs turn to others for initial capital. Describing that capital using the phrase “friends, family and fools,” or “FFF,” has become as common as to be trite. What if some past investors don’t meet that standard? Does issuing a PPM insulate the company? So, what is the problem?

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Company Companies Invest Entrepreneur 156

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Our interview this morning is with Kelly Perdew of Moonshots Capital , a Los Angeles based investment firm that makes seed stage investments in early stage companies�and in particular, for this Veterans Day, in companies founded by military veterans. into 22 companies over the last twenty four months.

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Capital Startup Invest Training 223

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Here’s overall what you need to know. Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. I often see companies burning $100,000 per month (net) looking to raise $6-8 million.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venture capital is not an asset class” or “venture capital has performed terribly.” That’s a shame because many of these people missed out on what will be a few great VC vintages. Thus is a key point.

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Venture Capital Capital Startup Writing 362

TechEmpower

JULY 31, 2023

What does the business do? These two questions/answers can help define the early proof points for your company. If your numbers work out, then scaling becomes a question of capital. Next, define what you need from a metrics and reporting standpoint. A : Activation - What % have a "happy" initial experience?

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Metrics Startup Slides Technical Review 260

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2023

Begin with a perspective on improving the current market reality without needing to disrupt what is. This means flipping your mental script from rebuilding current platforms to envision what could be, by creating new realities, changing the environment, or creating an additional world with different actions.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

This morning's interview is with Kevin O'Connor , a longtime investor and serial entrepreneur, who is now running venture capital investment firm ScOp Venture Capital. Kevin sold his last company, Santa Barbara-based Graphiq, in July of 2017 to Amazon, but has a long history of successful companies, including founding DoubleClick.

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TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 25, 2019

And it’s why the company has raised $7 million in financing led by Casa Verde Capital — the investment firm launched by legendary cannabis aficionado, Calvin Broadus (AKA Snoop Dogg). To build the company’s first product, Mancheril looked to his co-founder’s Pablo Borquez-Schwarzbeck and Benjamin Dusastre.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. After a decade on the job I’ve started to speak more openly when newer industry colleagues now ask me what I’ve learned. The role of VC is sparring partner.

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Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Santa Monica-based venture investor March Capital Partners (www.marchcp.com) announced last week that it has raised a second fund, worth $300M. To learn about the new fund, we sat down with Jamie Montgomery , one of the fund's co-founders, to hear about March Capital's strategy and the new fund. We started March Capital in late 2013.

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Funding Capital Artificial Inteligence Startup 160

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

The summit is now associated with March Capital Partners (www.marchcp.com). What's your role at March Capital? What's your role at March Capital? Meredith Finn: I joined March Capital at the beginning of the year. How did you end up joining March Capital?

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Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Leonardo DiCaprio is making a significant commitment to the Los Angeles-based investment firm, Struck Capital , as part of the actor’s commitment to building LA into a tech development powerhouse. DiCaprio has already made a number of investments in startup companies that have done very well for the Academy Award-winning actor.

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Capital Funding Los Angeles Invest 188

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. We drew this conclusion after a meeting we had with Morgan Stanley where they showed us historical 15 & 20 year valuation trends and we all discussed what we thought this meant.

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Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. What happened? How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? Until we weren’t.

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Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? What Has Changed in Financing? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued? Of course we can’t. By definition?—?I’m

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that many of you have your most creative ideas for your company’s first big bang , but often get bogged down with details as the company grows. Send the message often that you want to hear what people really think, and they won’t be punished for disagreement or taking a risk.

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Company Companies Ideas Mentor 148

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2020

Today, we share the thoughts of Peter Cowen , Managing Director of Sutton Capital Partners (www.suttoncapitalpartners.com). Socaltech has partnered with Sutton Capital Partners with their Recurring Revenue Conference for several yars. What was the biggest news for you/your company this year?

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2016

Many first-time founders seek advice when thinking about what ideas would be great for a startup company and receive the wrong advice that you need to focus on a billion-dollar idea. So what should you do? I advise founders to focus on what I call “basecamp,” which is the first level of success or validation at a startup.

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Venture Capital Startup Capital Ideas 150

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? They have built 18 companies now, worth billions in value.

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Southern California Capital Technical Review Startup 124

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. But few businesses grow into the sweet spot of $20 million to $30 million in worth to an ultimate buyer without the injection of outside capital.

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TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Two years after the Los Angeles-based fintech startup Dave launched with a suite of money management tools to save consumers from overdraft fees , the company is now worth $1 billion thanks to a nascent banking practice that had investors lining up. “We think the company is quite a bit more valuable than [$1 billion].

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Company Companies Startup Tips 262

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

Thus it is always a question of what you qualify for, and what you are willing to give up, to turn your dream idea into a viable business. These organizations, like Y Combinator , are very popular these days, and are often associated with major universities, community development organizations, or even large companies.

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Startup Capital Equity Funding 106

socalTECH

DECEMBER 31, 2018

This morning's reflections are from Kelly Perdew , managing general partner of at Moonshots Capital (www.moonshotscapital.com). What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? fact, turns out it is much, much harder than raising money for an early stage company. What was the biggest news for your firm in 2018?

Capital 113

Capital Venture Capital News Patents 113

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 2, 2021

The company has already worked with names as diverse as the Golden State Warriors, the Dallas Cowboys, and pop sensation Billy Eilish on embedding its interactive tools into various live events and promotions. But what started in the gaming world quickly spun out as the company slashed prices to $500 per month for its services.

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Tool Commerce .Net Entertainment 315

socalTECH

OCTOBER 9, 2019

There's a new opportunity in clean technology investments, according to venture capitalist Aaron Fyke , the head of a new, Pasadena-based venture capital investment fund, Thin Line Capital (www.thinlinecapital.com). It's the realization that things had changed, and that there was an opportunity again to invest in these companies.

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Invest Capital Venture Capital Idealab 113

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2018

This morning, Moonshots Capital (www.moonshotscapital.com), led by Kelly Perdew and Craig Cummings , announced its first formal fund, a $19M seed stage fund. What we would do, is we would round up ten other angel investors, get $25,000 from each of them, and then roll up our sleeves and help that entrepreneur find venture capital.

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Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 164

socalTECH

JANUARY 3, 2019

As we close out our contributions for the end of 2018, here's Jeb Spencer of TVC Capital. What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? I've always believed in Ronald Reagan's vision of our country as a globally inspiring shining city on the hill, and an optimistic view of what we can all achieve together, not apart.

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Capital Southern California El Segundo SaaS 113

Frank Addante

MAY 21, 2013

What would your company do if you declared a day without email or instant messenger? If you create venues and programs for your most important assets (your team) to exchange information, it will grow your overall intellectual capital. Businesses ran before email. Remember – activity doesn’t equal results.

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Email Technical Support Activity Ideas 96

socalTECH

DECEMBER 2, 2022

Los Angeles-based Bionaut Labs, a company developing microscale robots for treating central nervous system (CNS) diseases and disorders, said this week that it has raised $43.2M The company has now raised $63.2M The company's microrobotics are aimed at treating disease of the brain and central nervous system.

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Venture Capital Los Angeles Capital Funding 113

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

It was only a year ago that many in the Venture Capital industry were predicting that “winter was coming” and to be fair the author of this post was chief amongst them. This past year was also the year that startup boards also got more disciplined about containing burn rates and pushing for companies to be run more pragmatically.

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Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2021

I mostly talk about startups, technology & venture capital. Let me start by explaining what I mean about “mental psyche.” What I never expected of Peloton was how much of the amazing experience was MENTAL as well as physical. It’s amazing what mental coaching can do for a workout. “A Free your mind. Free your body.

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Coach Startup Guide Journal 538

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. I explain in the video what happened in my first company (e.g. This is wrong.

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Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. One example is that they introduced a program where their founders can pool together shares from their company and exchange them for a small portfolio of other First Round Capital companies. I'm a huge fan of this innovation. and Half.com.

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 22, 2011

I first heard the term from Chris Fralic at First Round Capital. Feature, not a company. Whether something is a feature or a company is clearly subjective. And sometimes features (say, Twitter) turn into companies. At minute eight I spoke about group messaging companies as “features, not companies.&#

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Company Companies Gogii Google 295

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

In this three-part series I will explore the ways that the Venture Capital industry has changed over the past 5 years that I would argue are a direct result of changes in the software industry, not the other way around. When I built my first company starting in 1999 it cost $2.5 Open-Source Software & Horizontal Computing.

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Venture Capital Software Capital Startup 334