Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. The average amount per startup has been $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment.

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Startup Funding Equity Invest 109

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

With the advent and growth of crowdfunding over the past few years, many entrepreneurs have predicted the demise of those demanding angel investment groups and venture capital organizations. Have you ever wondered what professional startup investors think about all this? Lack of checks and balances on startup valuations.

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Equity Statistics Platform Entrepreneur 164

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

First, few startups can use that much money today with all the virtual services available and increasingly inexpensive methods of development, prototyping and marketing. A much more rational approach to starting up. Four reasons you should reconsider.

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Startup Invest Summary Resource 120

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2017

Los Angeles-based StartEngine , the equity crowdfunding service run by serial entrepeneur Howard Marks, has chalked up 25 companies raising money on its platform since the start of 2017, according to the company. READ MORE>>.

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Startup Activision Company Companies 124

TechCrunch LA

MAY 25, 2019

Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a newsletter published every Saturday that dives into the week’s most noteworthy venture deals, fundraises, M&A transactions and trends. Let’s take a quick moment to catch up. Haus, like any good consumer startup in 2019, is shipped directly to your door. Fundraising.

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Startup Venture Capital Newsletter Tips 223

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Set expectations accordingly.

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Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million-dollar investment before they even have a business plan. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.

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Startup Funding Organization Incubator 122

socalTECH

JANUARY 3, 2019

San Diego- and Baltimore-based private equity investor JMI Equity is the lead backer of a developer of artificial intelligence software for the healthcare industry this morning. The funding was led by JMI Equity, and also included Health Enterprise Partners (HEP) and Health Velocity Capital (HVC). READ MORE>>.

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Equity Artificial Inteligence Software Enterprise Partners 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. Obviously, these companies still need money to get started, or finance growth, just like a for-profit company. What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)?

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Equity Startup Technical Review Organization 94

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2020

The name “investment bank” somehow always sounded like a place where I could deposit my investments, and maybe even earn a little interest. Then I learned that these banks really negotiate investments and collect fees on the transactions, sort of like commercial banks do with loans to businesses. Very confusing.

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Invest Entrepreneur Venture Capital Funding 144

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? Understand where they were in terms of being able to pay or was this equity-only (sweat equity only).

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CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, crowdfunding still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined. With this model, a startup pre-sells their product early, at a cheaper price, in exchange for a pledge.

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Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

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. We actually started the organization in 2013. Melinda Moore: One of the things required to create, build, and scale a company is capital.

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Help Entrepreneur Capital Startup 224

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 29, 2018

Los Angeles is becoming one of the more interesting destinations for startups and the investors that provide money for venture capital firms to place bets on young companies are increasingly starting to take notice.

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SoCal Southern California Los Angeles Startup 271

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

They know from forums such as Shark Tank on TV that asking for either too much or too little will derail credibility in the eyes of the investor, and leave the entrepreneur with no money and a struggling startup. On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million.

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Startup Equity Invest Funding 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

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Startup Ideas Equity Invest 148

TechCrunch LA

MAY 23, 2019

The Los Angeles ecosystem is $76 million stronger today as Fika Ventures , a seed-stage venture capital firm, announces its sophomore investment fund. Fika invests roughly half of its capital exclusively in startups headquartered in LA, with a particular fondness for B2B, enterprise and fintech companies.

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Funding Startup Seed Funding Los Angeles 218

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

New research has found that San Francisco and London have become two of the world’s leading hubs for VC investment into tech solutions that address one or more of the 17 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), more commonly referred to as “Impact Tech” They are followed by Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Shanghai and Beijing.

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Venture Capital Press Invest Research 357

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? Me: When an investor signs a note with a cap they must assume they are willing to pay the cap or why would they invest? Me: So, who was willing to invest in that? I can’t imagine any rational investor would sign up to that. We raised a seed round.

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Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

socalTECH

JANUARY 25, 2018

Venice, California-based venture capital investor Fifth Wall says it has made a $135M investment in San Francisco-based real estate sales startup Opendoor , as part of a combined equity and debt funding. Fifth Wall's LPs include CBRE, Equity Residential, Hines, Host Hotels & Resorts, Lennar, Macerich, and Prologis.

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Invest Venice Equity Venture Capital 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2023

The name “investment bank” somehow always sounded like a place where I could deposit my investments, and maybe even earn a little interest. Then I learned that these banks really negotiate investments and collect fees on the transactions, sort of like commercial banks do with loans to businesses. Very confusing.

Funding 72

Funding Startup Invest Venture Capital 72

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

socalTECH

MAY 29, 2018

Los Angeles-based GoGuardian , a startup which develops Chromebook management software for schools, disclosed last week that it has raised a majority round of private equity from Sumeru Equity Partners. Size of the investment were not announced. GoGuardian is led by founder and CEO Advait Shinde. READ MORE>>.

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Equity Los Angeles Invest Software 100

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 21, 2019

Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week’s noteworthy news pertaining to startups and venture capital. Before I jump into today’s topic, let’s catch up a bit. Last week, I profiled an e-commerce startup Part & Parcel. Startup Spotlight: Landline.

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Services Startup Venture Capital Redpoint 207

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Funding 125

Funding Startup Ideas Equity 125

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels. Personally visit another startup funded by this investor. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

socalTECH

JUNE 29, 2017

Those local funds are on top of a massive injection of funding from out of area venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, and strategic investors. Investment interests: Consumer Internet, eCommerce, enterprise software, cloud computing, financial technology, advertising technology. Core Innovation Capital.

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Southern California Venture Capital Artificial Inteligence Capital 178

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

They know from forums such as Shark Tank on TV that asking for either too much or too little will derail credibility in the eyes of the investor, and leave the entrepreneur with no money and a struggling startup. On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million.

Funding 121

Funding Startup Equity Invest 121

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan. Per the words of an old country song, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” If you are losing money on every unit, it’s hard to make it up in volume. Calculate investment amounts and timing.

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Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

JMI Equity , a private equity investor which has one of its two offices in La Jolla, is the lead investor in HackerRank , a startup which operates an online platform to help companies identify and evaluate technical talent. Suken Vakil of JMI Equity joins the company's board as a result of the funding. in funding.

Equity 113

Equity Funding Platform Capital 113

socalTECH

JULY 13, 2020

--who is based in Los Angeles--has launched a brand new startup accelerator called Product Club , which is aiming itself at accelerating a small class of product-focused startups. The new accelerator said it will invest $100K in three companies, taking 5 percent equity, and run its accelerator entirely remote.

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Product Startup Class Venture Capital 113

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 29, 2018

Los Angeles is becoming one of the more interesting destinations for startups and the investors that provide money for venture capital firms to place bets on young companies are increasingly starting to take notice.

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SoCal Southern California Los Angeles Startup 217

Tech Coast Venture Network

APRIL 22, 2010

Virgina Lorimor There are several options for financing a start-up business that tend to follow a natural course in a business’ development: Personal Investment. This is where all entrepreneurs have to start. Often, this also involves a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) if you’re a home owner with equity.

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Startup Tech Coast Angels TCVN Incubator 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

Los Angeles-based e-commerce software developer Assembly has joined the ranks of the local unicorn startups, according to the company, after getting a "significant capital injection" from Advent International. The company did not say how much Advent International invested in the company.

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Invest Commerce Software Development Los Angeles 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

There has long been a big debate about the best approach to starting a new business. Some argue the only way to start is to drop everything and jump in with both feet, while others recommend an overlapped approach to the lifestyle, including not quitting your day job until you have revenue and a proven business model.

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Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction News 128

Xconomy

MAY 2, 2019

A new venture capital firm, which in November marked its launch by raising a $53 million-plus fund to invest in startups, has made its first investment.

Equity 93

Equity Venture Capital Software San Diego 93

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2018

Carlsbad-based NextWave Ventures , a venture capital investor which focuses on commercializing early stage technology, said it has launched a new artificial intelligence start, Apical Technology. Size of the investment in Apical Technology was not announced. The startup was founded by Ron St. Onge and Jim St.

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Artificial Inteligence Technology Startup Venture Capital 124