Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). I was telling him that it was much easier when I started because there were fewer deals, life was less public and somehow the world seemed to be spinning more slowly. Web Summit.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 27, 2013

I’ve started a recent series on PR at startups since I get asked for advice on this topic so often. The start of this series was, Should Your Startup Announce Funding ? After that a meme developed amongst many startups (and the advisors that coached them) that, “TechCrunch didn’t matter.

Blogging 309

Blogging Journal Press Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Start networking smarter and smaller.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Tips Marketing Entrepreneur 103

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Launchpad LA today announces it will accept applications for its third class of Los Angeles-based tech startups. We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. This education will continue.

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But for some strange reason they make you file your progress on fund raising, which is the widely picked up by the press. And why I woke up at 4.50am. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur?

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Berkonomics

MARCH 2, 2017

As an early stage investor, the first test for me is whether “my” entrepreneur is flexible in both the plan and execution of his or her vision (since from experience almost everything about a business plan changes over time), and whether s/he, no matter what age or experience, is coachable. Doctoral theses have been written on this subject.

Coach 120

Coach Entrepreneur Press Ideas 120

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 28, 2014

Maverick Angels--which was founded by the late John Dilts --was one of a number of angel investment groups active in making investments in local startups, and functioned both as a place to find potential investors--as well as equally serving as a social club for the investors themselves.

Tech Coast Angels 173

Tech Coast Angels Angel Press Coach 173

Tech.Co

JULY 12, 2017

In a press release The Disney Accelerator highlights the success of Sphero and announced: “They have a multi-property lineup for this year including the App-enabled Ultimate Lightning McQueen, the voice interactive Spider-Man, and more.”. Meet the 11 startups for 2017: Ambidio. Courtesy of Sphero & Disney.

Artificial Inteligence 108

Artificial Inteligence Startup Entertainment Press 108

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2013

Entrepreneurs need to listen to constructive criticism, but ignore negative vibes and complainers at all costs. If you are a complainer, and you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur, think again. The world of an entrepreneur is tough, unpredictable, and fraught with risk. Deadlines pile up. Transfer responsibility.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Press Coach 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

Even if you don’t have “direct&# sales I would tell you that “everything is a sale&# including fund raising, hiring, getting press and doing business development. Evangelical sales – Understanding startup sales people and process. Here is my recommended approach. Reminds me of Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

Sales 346

Sales Startup Technical Review Customer 346

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2015

If an entrepreneur can’t build a culture of excitement and commitment at a startup, the chances of long-term success are negligible. As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked what you can do to build the right culture. Entrepreneurs who are too busy for people never get the culture they envision.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Training 102

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

Working with early-stage teams : coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, rolling up sleeves: 9/10. “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs. ” So it’s now March 2014 – 5 years since I started investing. Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. Since then? None have exited.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. I found some help from marketing coach David Newman’s new book “ Do It!

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2013

These days, I seem to often hear from entrepreneurs who are struggling to find a mentor, or complaining about their lack of effectiveness. Most entrepreneurs view a mentor as someone older and more experienced who takes the time to personally give guidance, advice, and takes an emotional investment in your success. Marty Zwilling.

Mentor 102

Mentor Startup Coach Entrepreneur 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2012

Entrepreneurs need to listen to constructive criticism, but ignore negative vibes and complainers at all costs. If you are a complainer, and you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur, think again. The world of an entrepreneur is tough, unpredictable, and fraught with risk. Deadlines pile up. Transfer responsibility.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Press Coach 104

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. start-ups are overvalued.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. start-ups are overvalued.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about “ the politics of startups ” in which I asserted that all companies have politics, which in its purest sense is just about understanding human psychology. A co-founder who started by working hard but gets sucked into the tech party circuit and has more interest in socialize than building cool s**t.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. As You Start to Mature. There are just as many bad entrepreneurs who do bad things.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

They suffered in trying to live up to public perceptions and the demands to continue their successes. Entrepreneurs could learn about loneliness of success: nobody talks about. The road is littered with startups that shined bright before burning out. But needed to be seen. Mark Suster (@msuster) July 19, 2015.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Start networking smarter and smaller.

Tips 75

Tips Marketing Technical Review Startup 75

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 11, 2013

Silicon Beach Fest is gearing up to showcase the most promising startups and visionaries from across LA’s growing startup entertainment ecosystem. More than 150 speakers include top executives from local accelerators, venture capitalists, entertainment powerhouses, brands, and emerging and established start-ups.

GRP Partners 88

GRP Partners MyLife Dollar Shave Club Santa Monica 88

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. But Mark, many of the great firms are $500 million and up! The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs. And Coach Campbell. billion each, $7.5

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

The new war for platforms has mostly been waged by Andreessen Horowitz who have raised astounding amounts of capital and therefore had the fees to put into providing more services for entrepreneurs. As a starting point you have to realize that investment firms (which a VC is) have management needs.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Platform Startup Resource 150

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 7, 2013

According to SGL, developers can now submit their apps for review and have their press releases and updates distributed on the Stained Glass Labs website, which gives them the quick feedback from other developers and the ability to submit press releases, which are sent to members of the media interested in Google Glass and wearable technologies.

Google 87

Google Technical Review Press Software Review 87

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

Having time to think about “leadership” at most startups feels like a luxury. The reality of most startups is about survival. If people don’t know the mission there is no way to achieve the objective and you end up with a team pulling in 100 different directions – even if only by small amounts.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 18, 2010

Full press release with more details is here. We will be selecting 10 startup companies to participate. Find the best and brightest next generation of entrepreneurs and help them to be more successful. When we started I told everybody we would run the organization as a startup itself. The rest is history.

Technical Review 259

Technical Review Venture Capital Southern California Tech Coast Angels 259

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2012

These days, I seem to often hear from entrepreneurs who are struggling to find a mentor, or complaining about their lack of effectiveness. Most entrepreneurs view a mentor as someone older and more experienced who takes the time to personally give guidance, advice, and takes an emotional investment in your success.

Mentor 94

Mentor Coach Entrepreneur Press 94

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2017

Many business executives and entrepreneurs I know are convinced that business success is all about having the right solution for the right price. His 30 years of business and coaching experience bring credibility to his perspective. Start looking for what is right in a person or business situation, instead of looking for what is wrong.

Software Review 57

Software Review Technical Review Startup Press 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2019

In the popular press, it’s easy to find articles that will convince you that companies with a good culture, such as Google, do it by lavishing perks and benefits , including some combination of free meals, trips and parties, financial bonuses, gyms, and a dog-friendly environment. Ongoing culture steps require tuning of measurements.

Competition 76

Competition Coach Case Study Statistics 76

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Yet a critical mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is that they hand over too much control to their third-parties. And a key point is that when it comes down to “negotiations&# you need to turn up your personal heat and dial back the middle man. Let me start with an example. I told my agent. “That’s nuts!

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2010

By Ernst Gemassmer I’ve seen several articles discussing global opportunities for startups, or recommending International expansion for growth. He resides on the West Coast, and has long helped entrepreneurs there, as well as providing turn-around assistance as interim CEO, and International coaching.

High Tech 71

High Tech Outsource Press Coach 71

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2011

By Ernst Gemassmer Expanding into International is both necessary and positive for every company, including startups, but it has some unique challenges, as I have found out personally, like expected “under the table” payments in dealing with other cultures and bureaucracy. The days of a “slap on the wrist” for offenders are gone.

Outsource Development 88

Outsource Development High Tech Outsource Examples 88

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2016

You Need to Find Your Mojo A Chip On Your Shoulder A few years ago I wrote a blog post on entrepreneurs with a chip on their shoulders. A chip on one’s shoulder as in, “F**k the system, it’s broken and I want to fix it” is exactly the energy I look for in entrepreneurs. I think it’s an important read. Everything has gone well to date.

Startup 150

Startup Press Entrepreneur Funding 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

What every entrepreneur needs more than anything else, after they have built an innovative new product or service, is visibility, credibility, and trust by customers, potential employees, and future business partners. Yet, most good business people I know agree, but don’t know where to start.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

Last year I wrote a blog post on entrepreneurs with a chip on their shoulders. A chip on one’s shoulder as in, “F**k the system, it’s broken and I want to fix it” is exactly the energy I look for in entrepreneurs. They often come from the experience of being kicked, rejected, shunned, beat up.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. Start by trying to narrowing the list of total prospective VCs. You’ll never make a great entrepreneur. Tell a friend! Every investor is different.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366