TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Responding to Elizabeth Warren’s call to regulate and break up some of the nation’s largest technology companies, the venture capitalists that invest in technology companies are advising the presidential hopeful to move slowly and not break anything. As a whole, venture capitalists viewing the policy were underwhelmed.

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Startup Chief Technology Officer Social Media 144

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Universities have the links you need to patent attorneys, prototyping companies, investment groups, as well as a wealth of peer talent to round out your team and share the work. Write a business plan and pitch deck for learning. Build a web site and incorporate while in school.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

Burstly, a Santa Monica based company, provides an open and free ad management platform that helps mobile application developers better monetize their inventory. As I naturally get asked all the time why we invested in Company A or Company B, I thought I’d just put forth my thesis in writing.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA , which I wrote about previously. Having a good sales methodology can help you ensure your company runs more disciplined campaigns and focuses scarce resources on your best opportunities. The first post covered the topic of “P” or pain.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. When should you start a company? What company should you start? When should you join a company? Start writing down predictions about people, companies, and markets. When should a VC invest?

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2014

This week I wrote about obsessive and competitive founders and how this forms the basis of what I look for when I invest. Back then there was no “cloud” so we had to plow money into hardware, software licenses and web hosting. In fact, my salary never caught up with my pre startup salary across 2 companies and 8 years.

Startup 409

Startup Invest Venture Capital Writing 409

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 15, 2012

I was the proud owner of a Psion, founded by the company Bill Gates once famously said he feared more than any other. Yet their business was disrupted entirely by email because a small company called Research in Motion came out with a device that did email flawlessly – the Blackberry. I used it to browse the web.

Email 386

Email Startup Marketing Competition 386

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2011

In the case of SmartyPants Vitamins (www.wearesmartypants.com), it's at the core of the company. However, I saw that the people building traditional products were still not familiar with the social web. All of our competitors are focused on being on shelves, and they don't get the web in any meaningful way.

Web 225

Web Social Media SEO Media 225

socalTECH

MARCH 2, 2020

The other nice thing about that, is as things are happening on the same computer, there is no server code to write. It's really simple to write an application, compared to the complexity of an application that is multi-user. Are Android and iOS then your competition? What are the biggest challenges for your company?

Platform 168

Platform Startup Examples Web 168

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). Think of web vs. mobile. Most VCs are book smart.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2008

We caught up with both Anne and John to learn more about the company. In their case, people write their scripts on a web site, and when they're done, they can submit them to contests with a single click. What kind of writing and writers are you targeting? We are trying to keep it competitive.

Writing 209

Writing Hollywood Startup Sites 209

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 2, 2009

Twitter, by contrast, started as an open platform where people let anybody see what they were writing. People write their thoughts knowing that anybody else can see them. Are people giving you feature requests, complaining about your service or comparing you to the competition? So why is this important for businesses?

Social Network 235

Social Network Writing Tool Startup 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Albert Wenger from Union Square Ventures wrote a great post the other day that reminded me I’ve been meaning to write about this topic. In general, we seem to be building too many positive re-enforcement systems on the web. I called a bunch of portfolio companies and asked them to check it out.

Startup 313

Startup Press Writing News 313

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

We talked with Noah about how the company grew out of a business plan competition at the University of Southern California, his recent funding from the Maverick Angels, as well as how the firm hopes to stand out among a crowded list of comparison shopping sites. How did the company start? So, we decided to go out and do it.

USC 207

USC CPC Sites Startup 207

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2012

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Skip the acronyms, history of the company, and the disruptive technology behind your solution.

Summary 97

Summary Writing Competition Sample 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

socalTECH

JUNE 30, 2009

We caught up with Jason and Kurt to hear more about the company. What's the story behind the company and how it started? I am someone who likes to interact with my Representatives and Senators, by way of writing letters, emailing, and what not. What really differentiates us from our competition is the data set we have.

Startup 100

Startup Writing Southern California Email 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Skip the acronyms, history of the company, and the disruptive technology behind your solution.

Summary 90

Summary Writing Competition Sample 90

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven''t earned a dime of revenue. However, this town is also full of very profitable, growing, and revenue generating companies-- which have for the most part been below the radar.

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

As an entrepreneur and startup investor, I have helped create companies which achieved two IPOs which collectively raised over $100 million, as well as two acquisitions which totaled $385 million. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements. 6) Rely On A Public Relations Agency.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

Chris Dixon is one of my favorite people in tech and writes one of the few blogs I read religiously. He is the CEO of Hunch , company that I believe is solving a very big problem that I have been telling entrepreneurs needs to be solved for the past 2 years. I’ve also found him to not be dogmatic either. West Coast”).

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

socalTECH

JUNE 30, 2010

Interested to hear more about how the company came about--and why it has been getting some attention for its efforts--we spoke with Tom Grasty , co-founder of the company. We got lots of traction on the web, and the story was picked up in many places. A few months later, we won the USC New Venture Competition.

Journal 187

Journal USC News Startup 187

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When to get a lawyer - If you plan to be a venture or angel backed technology company (what I mostly write about) the best time to start meeting and getting to know lawyers is long before you ever start your company. Many people start companies arse backwards. Our lives are intertwined.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. I had seen many cycles and decided that since I was going to do it all over again I should write about it. I decided to write about my experience and to be blunt. Tempus Fugit.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

What is it to start up a company, and run it to the brink of shutdown�only to have it acquired and restarted immediately? We caught up with co-founder Joey Flores on the story behind the company's brush with death, and its recent acquisition by You42, which was announced last week. So, we decided to shut down the company.

Software Review 100

Software Review Startup Metrics Content 100

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. No one has heard of you, your company or your solutions. Rationale: A cooperative relationship with a big company will significantly enhance my startup’s chances of success. Grant Exclusivity. Fallacy: Yes.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

It means the “ torso TV ” consumption patterns will be more important than the head or the long tail for the next era of media companies. You should only worry about this if you’re a large, traditional media company with fat margins. TV of the future will not always have linear stories. Harlem Shake. million views).

Startup 380

Startup Media Content Platform 380

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Although the exact sequence of events is a bit unclear, it appears that Hacker News user "lukethomas"(who is unaffiliated with Divshot) was prompted to create the Hacker News post after reading a tweet about the initiation of the company's private beta. Be Yourself - Represent yourself, not the company in your comments.

News 198

News Sites Startup RSS 198

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2017

In this age of information overload, success is all about building a brand that stands out above the competition. Whether you are focused on your professional career, or starting your own company, YOU are the first or only brand that anyone will see and remember. Start a blog and write for industry forums and newsletters.

Startup 55

Startup Organization Newsletter Content 55

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2009

My firm GRP Partners recently funded a young LA based company named Ad.Ly that is an “in-stream advertising&# company currently focused on monetizing Twitter. was the “static&# web. Traditional media companies published their stories on the web. was the 2-way web. That was a kerfuffle too.

Ideas 286

Ideas Advertising Google Technical Review 286

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Skip the acronyms, history of the company, and the disruptive technology behind your solution.

Summary 55

Summary Writing Competition Metrics 55

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 18, 2012

Members can also enhance their expert status by writing informative articles and position themselves as a contact person for other professionals to get information from. The idea for exploreB2B resulted from my own experience in business development for a young consulting company and my brother’s enthusiasm for tech and social media. (Who

Networking 71

Networking Help Social Media Platform 71

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 30, 2013

Amplify’s portfolio companies are schooled on every challenge they need to master in order to achieve success. All the companies that graduate from the accelerator’s program work from the same office and can literally reach out and touch their investors at any time. Jeff looks for these same qualities in the companies he backs.

Web Design 103

Web Design Social Media Seed Funding Design 103

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

This latest round valued the company in excess of a billion dollars, entering them into the overly-hyped Unicorn Club. In contrast, low-volume, high-conviction investors like Rincon only invests in a handful new companies each year, making it much more costly (in dollars and effort expended) to invest in a loser.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2013

Paid search engine ranking (PPC) is buying advertising for your business from Google or another search engine company. It pays only if a customer clicks through AND takes a further action (conversion), such as buying a product or filling out a web form. Campaign setup and ad copy writing. Keyword research and budget forecasting.

Paid Search 90

Paid Search PPC Organization SEO 90