Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

Let’s say you have built a SaaS company where a large part of the early revenue comes from a few big customers or a large part of the revenue is services based vs. software based. The investor is a customer and they have money to spend but only for a limited number of companies. Let me give you an example.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

There’s one attribute (coming soon) that I need to have in order to write a check but I don’t believe is vital for success. I’ll publish the final post in this series this week and then move on to my next series – sales & marketing. I’ll be covering my PUCCKA sales methodology.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

InfoChachkie

MARCH 4, 2013

By 2012, total sales exceeded 50 million copies and founding band member Roger Waters was cited by Forbes as the second highest paid musician of the year, pulling in $88 million. Pink Floyd recorded DSOTM after a year of writing and performing the material in front of live audiences.

Startup 269

Startup Cloud Computing RSS Writing 269

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

The mistake entrepreneurs make is either writing a lengthy email (everybody has too much email so it will get skimmed / not digested) or not having a deck which means the VC can’t quickly determine his or her fit as a potential investor. The key is WHAT you send. Compelling.

Venture Capital 261

Venture Capital Slides Email Startup 261

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

There is a transition in every company from a “seat of the pants&# kind of entrepreneurial company to a “process driven&# mechanized one. Frankly, I’m much more of the former kind of guy and I tire of the routine process & politics required to succeed in a big company. This seldom works. Ditto the CFO.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management.

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while and was going to use AngelList by Nivi & Naval as the basis for my example and the perfect prompt came yesterday when I read Fred Wilson’s blog post on AngelList. He first worked hard to get him to be an advisor to the company.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

InfoChachkie

MARCH 16, 2015

Dreamforce is the conference for sales and marketing professionals. Hosted by SAAS giant Salesforce, it is more akin to a circus than a professional event. Why am I writing an article about a trade show that occurred nearly four months ago? Thus, the company had a difficult challenge. Good question.

Conference 100

Conference SaaS Ideas Sales 100

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). We’ll see in time.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

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. It's really helpful, particularly for companies who don't get social media.

Startup 100

Startup Writing Southern California Email 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. Yet as obvious as it is to create messaging for your company, many people don’t consider their personal brands.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

socalTECH

JULY 27, 2009

We started the company based on my own personal experience, as everyone these days has a laptop, and everyone has their application out on the cloud. It seems like there are a lot of mobile sales folks who would find your software useful in that case? William Chow: I started the company a couple of years ago. more) READ MORE>>.

SaaS 127

SaaS Web Google Sites 127

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Our profile this morning is with Network Automation , a Los Angeles company competing in the IT automation market. Southern California--despite the lack of huge, name brand firms-- has a significant number of enterprise software companies, of which Network Automation is just one. The traditional way to handle that is to write code.

Networking 214

Networking IBM IBM Pacific Palisades 214

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Seth attended UCSB but dropped out to start a denim company. . We have built SocialStay for scale so I think the ‘chasm’ is both a function of time and sales. 8 ) SocialStay is effectively a B-to-B, SaaS product that requires you to simultaneously speak to several audiences (hotels, travelers, travel sites, etc.).

Startup 233

Startup Design Mobile Social Network 233

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2015

I write about sales often both because it’s the lifeblood of any organization and because in my experience it is the area in which more startups are least experienced or inclined. I also write and talk about it frequently because raising capital is a part of sales and this is important for entrepreneurs to understand.

Sales 150

Sales Startup Venture Capital Funding 150

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

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

It has historically been the case that VCs would rather fund the promise of 100x in a company with almost no revenue than the reality of a company growing at 50% but doing $20+ million in sales. Goliath” mythology take on the titans of industry and wins. This “overnight success” was first financed in 2004.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 363

Tech.Co

MARCH 1, 2018

What you’ll also find is that of the 25 companies, our founders represent an inclusive group with 40 percent female, 52 percent minority and 12 percent veteran founders from 14 states and 5 countries. Once uploaded, the company safeguards the data in their secure cloud. AdWallet (Albuquerque, NM). That’s the concept behind AdWallet.

Startup 79

Startup Mentor Platform Help 79

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

As a starting point there comes a time where investors have piled millions of dollars into a company and while they don’t want to control it, they also want a degree of independence in decision-making that comes when you have somebody who wasn’t a founder that is on the board of directors. you can build that with your personal peer network.

Startup 187

Startup Writing Venture Capital Oracle 187

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. They are an open-source & SaaS provider of eCommerce solutions. Do you have sales productivity software? Absofuckinglutely.

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2013

These outside board members spend most of the board meeting trying to reacquaint themselves with the company’s business and critical issues. Every time I think to write a post about this I figure the most recent board meeting I’ve attended will think it’s about them so I don’t bother. Ineffecient Board Meeting.

Writing 337

Writing Venture Capital Help SaaS 337

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 40

Web Design Social Media Seed Funding Design 40

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. This is true whether your at a sales meeting or at a VC firm. Either way, don’t assume that the entire room is up to speed on your company.

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. When you are selected you share the stage with 49 other companies (in the case of TechCrunch50. Most people pay attention to the first 5 companies. By company 22 it’s hard to remember what any of them did. Many other great companies are not. -

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2011

In case you don’t know, “the “9-9-9 plan” would replace all current taxes (including the payroll tax , capital gains tax , and the estate tax ) with 9% business transaction tax; 9% personal income tax rate, and a 9% federal sales tax.” I do advocate: 1. ” What does that even mean?

Startup 289

Startup Press Software Marketing 289

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Many of our job postings for Engineering positions describe the company as a place “where the word ‘millions’ is used frequently and in many contexts&#. SaaS 101: 7 Simple Lessons From Inside HubSpot - OnStartups , July 19, 2010 It’s been a little over 4 years since I officially launched my internet marketing software company , HubSpot.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217