Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture. What gives?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. ” Climate resiliency . Given the steady drumbeat of climate disasters that hit the U.S.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 23, 2021

Meatable has a long road ahead of it, because, as Gates acknowledged in his interview with MIT Technology Review (ed. These products don’t get at the full potential for cellular technology according to Daan Luining, Meatable’s chief technology officer. ” For Meatable right now, price remains an issue.

Chief Technology Officer 261

Chief Technology Officer Technical Review Software Review Product 261

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2021

Here is my list of key principles for creating and capitalizing on a balanced focus as a business professional or an entrepreneur: Start by marketing your vision and purpose. Too many entrepreneurs I know start by highlighting their new technology , and assume that it will sell itself. Every balanced leader does marketing early.

Technical Review 133

Technical Review Satisfaction Metrics Startup 133

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

The process for retailers and brands to liquidate excess inventory hasn’t changed very much, if at all, and while some retailers were able to build operational infrastructure to service the off-price channels, it continues to be a constant pain point. Ghost is not alone in developing technology focused on inventory.

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). We feature a prominent speaker at every event.

Venture Capital 241

Venture Capital Technical Review Southern California Company 241

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. on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price. This is wrong.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

He hired his co-founder and CTO Adam LeVasseur who set out to build systems to allow you to see all of your storage items in a beautiful app but also to build tech for logistics, driver management, customer service, billing and so forth. After 9 months it was time to raise seed capital and go test drive our new software and processes.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire Startup 380

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

In a bid to prevent the damage from those plumbing failures and also help save water, Los Angeles-based Flo Technologies (www.meetflo.com) has developed a water monitoring device and shutoff valve for your home, which is connected to your smartphone and its own app. Plumbers are not exactly known for their adoption of high tech products.

Technical Review 113

Technical Review Technology Startup Artificial Inteligence 113

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. In fact, if you add the capital flows of the past ten years, there have been just shy of $50 billion in net cash outlays.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

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

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

You get to have interesting conversations with founders and review business plans and then see how these businesses evolve over the years. But if you raise at too high a price you make it harder to raise next round. One thing that comes with being a venture capitalist is you see hundreds and hundreds of businesses.

Software Review 242

Software Review Technical Review Pricing Metrics 242

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

I pointed to several Economist articles I had read that mapped historical prices of real estate for 400 years and how on average property values grow at no more 1.5% above inflation yet in many markets in the US & Europe prices were rising at 10-25% per year. And it’s driving up prices beyond their inherent value.

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” I hear tons of ideas for early-stage apps. Another firm funded them. That’s a benefit for us as a local VC.

Snapchat 214

Snapchat Invest Technical Review Dollar Shave Club 214

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2015

It wins through better distribution, logistics, inventory management, warehousing, customer support, merchandising, cross-selling and ultimately on price & scale. And let’s say this – they use zero technology today and I have yet to meet a single person who loves their self-storage provider. And here’s the thing.

Ideas 150

Ideas Startup Technical Review Pricing 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

We were trying to optimize around a few criteria: price, size of round, number of syndicate partners and, of course, terms. My co-founder and other management team members wanted us to hold off and see whether we could get the deal done at a higher price. It quickly became impossible to raise venture capital. I was resolute.

Venture Capital 301

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Technical Advisors 301

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

socalTECH

MAY 26, 2009

Last week's angel investment report by the Angel Capital Association reported that investments by angel investors dropped nine percent in 2008, with a hefty percentage of angel investors--40 percent--expecting this year will be a down year. Tags: angel investment capital venture. What isn't appealing to angel investors right now?

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Invest Tech Coast Angels Westlake Village 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

Much has changed in the past four months of the technology startup world and how outsiders value the business. And when prices are dropping on a VCs existing companies in market, there is a substantial reduction in FOMO (fear of missing out) for new deals, which means that investors take their time in making investment decisions.

Startup 150

Startup Pricing Venture Capital Statistics 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. You can be pissed off, but I don’t set prices. That’s stupid.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. What price? I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. It makes it extraordinarily hard to raise the next round of capital.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. As an early-stage VC I love this phase. were more distributed.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Custom Customer 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Thus founders seeking funding for a good cause or a new technology often seize on grants from universities, government agencies and philanthropic organizations as free money to solve their problems. After months of preparation, you should expect another six to nine months for reviews and funding cycles. Technology is not enough.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

As I’m generally a believer in ‘pricing rounds’ I initially didn’t agree with the premise of the post. Investors who commit early deserve to have a lower price. You mean to tell me that guy deserves the same price as somebody who invests six months later? Photo credit: D. Blanchard/O’Reilly Media.

Venture Capital 286

Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review Startup 286

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

Who else can provide context if your portfolio isn’t growing as quickly as your peer group, if they believe you paid too high a price on a deal, if they question your due diligence in a given situation or whatever critique they might offer? You need to embrace that there are good actors out there and bad actors.

Custom 341

Custom Customer Venture Capital Software Review 341

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. Prorata investments rights given investors the right to invest in your future fund-raising rounds and maintain their ownership % in your company as your company grows and raises more capital.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Andrew Erskine has developed his legal career along with the rise of the tech startup scene in Los Angeles. On LA’s startup scene: “Andrew provides the same level of effort, expertise and professionalism when I was a pre-seed company with no capital as he did when we had raised $100 million.” Hey, are there skeletons in the closet?

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Startup Los Angeles Santa Monica 141

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value. Rational people can disagree and some may argue that today’s prices are rational and under-pinned by economic drivers. All of that might be true, but the 2006 price might still be over-valued. That’s fine.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due. These are probably the two sites where I've posted the most reviews. One out of ten of Americans are out of work.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

But VC is an “illiquid asset&# so funds didn’t disappear quickly - In 2000/01 the stock market quickly adjusted punishing investors in the NASDAQ and in individual public technology stocks. After all, most people don’t understand that “venture capital is a get rich slowly&# scheme.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. What price? I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. What kind of deals should I be doing? What stage? I attended events.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

InfoChachkie

MARCH 18, 2013

In such instances, take their money and work diligently to convert them into a disengaged investor. Painfully Diligent Investors. If an Angel's diligence focuses on a checklist of legal and administrative issues, you are likely dealing with a Clueless Investor.

Angel 217

Angel Technical Review RSS Entrepreneur 217

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

My partnership was pretty bearish and scratched our heads a bit at price tags. The following is a 2-week graph of the end-of-week price of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) in Autumn 2008. Let’s review all of our existing investments. Not just tech companies but industrials, too. We need some visibility.

Marketing 305

Marketing Venture Capital Funding Technical Review 305

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off. Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. Internet scale.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

In the Ad Tech world PS revenue often means providing “media services” as a value-add to using your product. This might mean helping customers buy traffic, arb’ing deals, helping with RTB pricing or trading, etc. Frankly, you’re going to need to drop price a bit anyways. rollout support. configuration.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software Services Company 321

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

I understand this instinct for more capital and I have two very different personal experiences: In my first company we raised an A-round of $16.5 The larger the round, the higher the price, the harder the next hurdle is to hit But the bigger point I want to make is what happens when the coffers are depleted and you need more money?

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money. Now the price is closer to $100, if you are willing to do the work yourself.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104