Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was speaking recently to the team at NuOrder , an LA-based company we’re an investor in about “realism in startups” — an impromptu talk I have given to any of our portfolio companies who ask. I answered in the same way I always do so I thought I’d just write it publicly. “I I work with a few computer vision companies.

Invest 254

Invest Writing Pricing Metrics 254

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. should companies do spreadsheets / plan / have a hypothesis for success? how do you handle internal company morale? 3:35 The real entrepreneurs come out during a down economy.

Social Media 301

Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

In a funding round with 1 or 2 VCs and 15-20 angels or 4-6 seed funds if you gave every investor you financial information and performance metrics your proprietary information would increase in its probability of leaking out. We are doing what we do – writing larger checks and playing an active role at the company.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2011

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entree for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. then you can start writing a recipe. All the investment money in the world won’t make your company succeed, if you have the wrong team.

Entrepreneur 91

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Metrics 91

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product." If you do build the MVP and show it to them, they will ask you about your metrics. They really want metrics, not a product.

Metrics 264

Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2019

Even if it’s only a few PowerPoint slides or typed paragraphs, writing something down is the first step toward making it real. Always write in the future tense, what you will do, and name yourself as the key person responsible. Set target date milestones and metrics to gauge progress.

Ideas 99

Ideas Slides Writing Startup 99

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

When you raise money from investors you produce information that you are told they want and care about: A fund-raising deck that articulates your company strategy, plans, team, market, competitors and so forth. Most entrepreneurs (and VCs raising from LPs) think this means progress. against a broad range of similar companies.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

It’s a hard topic to write about because it’s almost an accepted norm that total transparency is good. You took the risk to start your company. They told you, “Yeah, man, I’ll gladly write the first $250,000. I worked with a startup CEO who decided he wanted to sell his company. CEO transparency.

Startup 417

Startup Course Venture Capital Writing 417

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2015

One obvious alternative is to become an entrepreneur. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle. In fact, Mehta focuses on a special class of entrepreneurs that he calls disruptors. Then write them down. Be prepared to experiment.

Satisfaction 57

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Writing Startup 57

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. There is an inherent value that any company has. I acknowledged this in the article.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

This has led VC & entrepreneur bloggers alike to similar conclusions: start raising capital early and be careful about having too high of a burn rate because that lessens the amount of runway you have until you need more cash. But the hardest question to actually answer is, “What is the right burn rate for your company?”

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2015

The good news is that recent big company financial woes and layoffs have generated a flood of candidates with real experience seeking positions at startups. Too many entrepreneurs naively believe that candidates with lofty titles from a larger company can easily do the same job for their startups.

Startup 99

Startup Mentor Layoffs News 99

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

The other thing that struck me, is because it is only men, they tend to write with lots of testosterone. Their writing style, even for a mainstream publication, is they write with lots of testosterone. They write about the transmission, the brakes, and the suspension, and that creeps into all of their evaluations of cars.

Truecar 204

Truecar Writing Edmunds Sites 204

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

I recently got together with Aaron Shechet and an early stage startup to discuss the direction the company might want to take. I feel too many people are discouraging, and as a result, too many entrepreneurs are discouraged and give up. We also represent a few larger companies with international issues. That's great.

Startup 150

Startup SEO Pepperdine Blogging 150

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 30, 2012

Months of submissions and the amazing help from our judges , the Spotlight is shinning down on awesome companies that were born right out of Southern California. And now without further ado I present the Spotlight: LA Tech Winter Companies: Spotlight Companies. We write and create our own content for the game.

CalTech 91

CalTech Company Companies Idealab 91

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2012

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entree for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. then you can start writing a recipe. All the investment money in the world won’t make your company succeed, if you have the wrong team.

Startup 96

Startup Writing Metrics Marketing 96

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

We need venture debt, factoring companies and public markets. So what took me $2 million at my first company now takes $20,000. These days that’s not the case and it’s a great outcome for entrepreneurs and for innovation. A new group of investors have clustered around writing earlier-stage, smaller checks.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

I’m continually amazed at the number of entrepreneurs who go for months into a new business without really keeping a formal record of money spent or assets acquired. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. entrepreneur funding hobby investors startup' Marty Zwilling.

Startup 107

Startup Outsource Development Training Outsource 107

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

The minute you try to monetize now they have metrics with which to beat you up and say you’re business has limitations.” The company with no revenue and a $150k burn rate that raised $2.5 Should I write off my $2.5 And I only know one reason companies go out of business – they run out of money.

Venture Capital 412

Venture Capital Startup Funding Snapchat 412

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

Entrepreneurs could learn about loneliness of success: nobody talks about. Every $10 million financing only puts more pressure on the founders to figure out how to hit the metrics to get to the next milestone and every company that raises $25 million puts a ton of pressure on their 10 competitors who haven’t.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

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

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

We caught up with Amos to learn about his new book, and to gain some tips for startup entrepreneurs on how to figure out when you're actually ready to scale your sales team. Amos Schwartzfarb: I have been in and a part of early stage startup companies since the mid 90's, in San Francisco. I didn't really set out to write a book.

Sales 113

Sales Startup Custom Development Framework 113

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

We’ve had just one market since then and it could confuse one into thinking: every deal finds downstream investors, every company good or bad finds a home, you know anything at all about brazil, india, china or even saas sales, ecommerce or analytics (you know all these in a bull market). Too much money too early often f s companies up.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. I like to say to first-time entrepreneurs, picking a VC is more permanent than marriage. Trust your instincts – they will serve you well as an entrepreneur. And many of these people are money managers rather than people like Gus who inspire entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur 297

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. I’m continually amazed at the number of entrepreneurs who go for months into a new business without really keeping a formal record of money spent or assets acquired.

Startup 102

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 102

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 1, 2010

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. I’m continually amazed at the number of entrepreneurs who go for months into a new business without really keeping a formal record of money spent or assets acquired.

Startup 95

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 95

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 12, 2017

And when it’s time to apply to an accelerator, making sure your company is presented in the best way on the application can significantly improve your chances. Admittedly, that last part is an exaggeration but they were bad enough that I am writing this essay in the hopes that you will read it and not make these mistakes.

Tips 70

Tips Startup Statistics Metrics 70

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Innovation and Geography I ran across a post in Read/Write Web - Does Location Matter in Web Innovation? Ive personally been involved in the start-up world in Los Angeles for about 15 years, and have had the opportunity to work on many early-stage companies (e.g.,

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150

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. If you don’t, somebody else WILL!”

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2011

UCLA Anderson really seems to be a hotbed of entrepreneurs nowadays - did you know going into the MBA program you'd be starting your own company? I started a handbag manufacturing company with my mom in Paris, prior to school. Did the experience at Anderson help you with starting the company? Entrepreneurship was my way.

UCLA 256

UCLA Startup Ideas Help 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2013

I’m continually amazed at the number of entrepreneurs who go for months into a new business without really keeping a formal record of money spent or assets acquired. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. Develop your business plan. Product development process.

Outsource Development 92

Outsource Development Training Outsource Metrics 92

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

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

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. It turns out that to build a successful company you ultimately need this strange thing called “revenue” that people don’t just hand you: You need to earn it.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

Working with professional athletes combined with my natural leadership ability and experience in business development makes me uniquely suited to lead a technology company in the health and fitness industry. David Cohen from TechStars, someone I look up to as an entrepreneur, says that they don’t invest in ideas, but teams.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2023

A common challenge faced by every entrepreneur is that they don’t have the bandwidth, interest or skills to do everything that is required to build their startup. Investors worry about a single entrepreneur getting overloaded, disabled or led astray, with no balancing and supporting partner.

Startup 99

Startup High Tech Entrepreneur Writing 99