Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2023

Here is my edited summary of their ten principles, which I like and may convince you that you don’t need a business plan at all, or at the very least will help you write a better one later: A new venture is a means, not an end. Build and use social capital. Social capital is people and connections.

Startup 142

Startup Capital Resource Research 142

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary.

Summary 55

Summary Writing Competition Metrics 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2020

Here is my edited summary of their ten principles, which I like and may convince you that you don’t need a business plan at all, or at the very least will help you write a better one later: A new venture is a means, not an end. Build and use social capital. Social capital is people and connections.

Startup 143

Startup Capital Resource Research 143

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

There has been much discussion in the past few years of the changing structure of the venture capital industry. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). 15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Here is my summary of some major considerations that every entrepreneur needs to evaluate against the cost and effort to attract equity investors: Completing a grant application is real work. Otherwise find an inexpensive class on grant writing. Of course, nothing is really free in the business world.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2018

Here is my edited summary of their ten principles, which I like and may convince you that you don’t need a business plan at all, or at the very least will help you write a better one later: A new venture is a means, not an end. Build and use social capital. Social capital is people and connections.

Startup 94

Startup Capital Resource Research 94

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. I’m not sure I really even need to write this at length because Nivi absolutely nailed the topic in his article “ The Option Pool Shuffle.&#. Thus the “true&# pre-money is only $2.4

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2017

of all Statistics are Made Up ” My summary is an example I use often: when I consumed reports from Goldman Sachs about the future predictions of mobile phone penetration for a report I was working on for a client I would call the analyst to ask how she calculated her data because I wanted to be sure of my conclusions.

Venture Capital 182

Venture Capital Statistics Writing Report 182

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. One of them is profitability.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Or read the quick, informative summary below the image! What better than to have capital from somebody who has actually done it in the trenches? Matt’s commitment to re-investing in tech startups is reminiscent to this great Fred Wilson post of “recycling capital. &#. Here’s a summary of our interview.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. The idea that the course asks students to write public blog posts is a testament to its more modern teaching style. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. In Summary.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2016

Here is my edited summary of their ten principles, which I like and may convince you that you don’t need a business plan at all, or at the very least will help you write a better one later: A new venture is a means, not an end. Build and use social capital. Social capital is people and connections.

Startup 68

Startup Capital Resource Entrepreneur 68

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2017

I found a good summary of these attributes in a recent book, “ The Old School Advantage ,” by an expert on interpersonal communication, J. You can also establish authority by writing and public speaking. Facebook initially capitalized on exclusivity by allowing only Harvard students to join their social network.

Social Media 58

Social Media Customer Custom Entrepreneur 58

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. The key to getting money is that the people writing the check trust you. Most people are lazy. How much to raise?

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

Short summary of my posts: 1. It’s just that he’s a “super seed&# investor in a firm, Founder Collective , that I really respect (and with whom I’ve done two deals and hope to do a third) and I’m a partner in a venture capital firm, GRP Partners. Knowing What the Seed Funding Policy of your VC is.

Seed Funding 298

Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

In the original version of his post, Andy writes. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.” According to FLAG Capital there are 100 active VCs (as defined by making at least $1 million in VC per quarter for 4 consecutive quarters).

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. For simplicity I’ll assume you’ve raised some money from angels or seed investors and you’re either raising an A round or a B round of venture capital. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. It pains me to see the typical (and predictable) responses on Twitter, “VCs want prices to drop!” ” “Sure, prices are dropping.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

Summary notes, as always, provide below. It was a pleasure to write them myself. He said it was better than the Yellow Pages because he would provide pricing transparency. His impact has even helped a small country gain admission to the United Nations. All of that are in this week’s episode of This Week in VC.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Mike Yavonditte is the founder of the “super hot&# Hashable , a startup out of NYC that has been described as a “ Mint.com for Social Capital ” Mike sold his previous company, Quigo , to Aol for $340 Million. The video can be watched here , but there is a most excellent summary below provided by John Excley. Thank you, John.

Google 302

Google Startup Advertising Acquisition 302