SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

I have been through many months with them but because of lack of funds, I spent lot of time doing non-technical work for first 4-5 months, spending time with them on putting pitches for investors, cash flows, budgets, writing business plans, product prototype setups etc. Likely this greatly affects cash vs. equity.

CTO 167

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 167

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 18, 2011

I have been through many months with them but because of lack of funds, I spent lot of time doing non-technical work for first 4-5 months, spending time with them on putting pitches for investors, cash flows, budgets, writing business plans, product prototype setups etc. Likely this greatly affects cash vs. equity.

CTO 150

CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity 150

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2020

Santa Monica-based private equity investor Clearlake Capital said this morning that one of its portfolio companies, Provation Medical , has acquired MD-Reports , a provider of electronic medical record (EMR), practice management (PM), and report writing software. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced.

Report 100

Report Capital Santa Monica Writing 100

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

Josh Kaplan and Dee Murthy, both founder and co-CEO of the Los Angeles–based company, started Ghost in 2021 after previously working together at Four Five Group, a men’s apparel business. million in new funding for its predictive inventory recommendation platform, joining other similar companies, including Zippedi and Inventa.

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 19, 2017

I discovered the power of ownership early in my management career, establishing an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), once popular as incentive compensation as well as a tax write-off for corporations and even a way to slowly transfer ownership of a company from the founders to the employees. Yes, sometimes the news is not good.

Slides 243

Slides News Equity Writing 243

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

I started my first company in 1999 and was admittedly swept up in all of this: Magazine covers, fancy conferences, artificial valuations and easy money. Between 2006–2008 I sold both companies that I had started and became a VC. Starting in 2009 I began writing checks consistently, year-in and year-out.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. I often answer the same way … * “First, yes, nearly every corner of our market is over-valued. By definition?—?I’m dot-com bonanza.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2023

That’s why angel and equity investors are so sought after by entrepreneurs. Here are some tips and rules of thumb to improve your odds and help you understand when a bank loan or line of credit is possible, and how to get it: Write a good business plan first. Marty Zwilling<

Startup 117

Startup Equity Sites Funding 117

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. Another common “failure to start” situation I see is one where the “idea person” insists that the idea is 90% of the value (and 90% of the equity). Startup decisions only get harder later, never easier.

Equity 91

Equity Startup CTO Hire CTO Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2023

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. With a bit of humor, he provides some serious guidelines for struggling career professionals looking to move up, and new entrepreneurs looking to build a company. Work-life balance is not about equity, but about escape.

Startup 106

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 106

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization. Mostly, no.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

The Facebook parent-company saw its stock price get bludgeoned after a bad earnings report showcased that Apple’s ad-blocking changes are shaving billions off its books and the company’s crown jewel — the Facebook platform — has stopped growing and actually shrank this quarter.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

Berkonomics

MAY 22, 2014

Bill Payne has been actively involved in angel investing since 1980, funding over 50 companies and mentoring over 100 more. The sale of equity in private companies is regulated by the Securities Act of 1933, which requires that the company either register with the SEC or meet one of several exemptions (Regulation D).

Writing 199

Writing Invest Entrepreneur Equity 199

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

That means writing down and signing the terms of the agreement, after making sure everyone understands them. Loans are a safer option than equity. Offering debt is better than offering direct equity, especially in early stages when you have no valuation for setting equity percentages. Be professional about it.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Equity Venture Capital 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Sometimes these will ask for 5%-15% of your equity for their support services. Companies at this stage must have a large market, good traction, and be focused on scaling infrastructure and market adoption.

Startup 122

Startup Funding Organization Incubator 122

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

This time by the efforts of Adeo Ressi to introduce a new kind of structure called “ convertible equity.” My initial reaction to Adeo when we spoke was that while it may have solved some issues (debt versus equity) it didn’t solve the ones that I’ve been warning entrepreneurs about most loudly.

Startup 354

Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

That’s why angel and equity investors are so sought after by entrepreneurs. Here are some tips and rules of thumb to improve your odds and help you understand when a bank loan or line of credit is possible, and how to get it: Write a good business plan first. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 172

Startup Equity Sites Tips 172

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2017

When I hear executives and professionals in larger businesses talking about their dream of going out on their own to start a new company, I always cringe. They and I never realized how hard it is to break the big-company habits and conventions. Professionals get dependent on big company perks. I have been there and done that.

Company 58

Company Companies Startup Training 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. With a bit of humor, he provides some serious guidelines for struggling career professionals looking to move up, and new entrepreneurs looking to build a company. Work-life balance is not about equity, but about escape.

Startup 153

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 153

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

Board work does involve a lot of conflict at moments throughout the company. Sometimes conflict comes because a company isn’t hitting its expected targets and investors vs. executives have different views in the causes or the consequences of under-performance.

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

A company like Moe will help legitimize the industry,” Bernstein tells TechCrunch. “I The company was co-founded by Eric Wei, a former product manager at Instagram who focused on the creator and influencer side of the business. Podfund , for example, writes checks sized between $25,000 to $50,000 to emerging podcasters.

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Sometimes these will ask for 5%-15% of your equity for their support services. Companies at this stage must have a large market, good traction, and be focused on scaling infrastructure and market adoption.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 6, 2014

Defensible Claims - Some companies take pride in the number of patents they own. Provisional Protection - Most US high-tech companies begin the utility patent process by filing a provisional patent application. Equity Pay - Some attorneys will accept a portion of their initial fees in the form of equity.

IP 210

IP Patents Journal Equity 210

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The first check I wrote was just over 10 years ago into a company called Invoca who just announced a new $56 million in funding led by Scott Hilleboe at HIG Growth Partners. Ownership Matters At Upfront we focus our energy on fewer companies where we take meaningful ownership and we continue to invest throughout the lifecycle of the company.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I promised I would write this post with some thoughts and ideas on the topic. Here are some ideas: In your company or other companies. Find the developers in your current company and other companies that you can get inside. Here's an example of that kind of email. The good news is that likely is not what they want.

CTO Hire 211

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2022

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, costs, and tasks you don’t like. I’ll put in the money, if you put in the sweat equity.” This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 140

Startup Satisfaction Writing Entrepreneur 140

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. What are related products/companies? I'm looking for free (equity only) development, should I contact you? Who's the customer?

CTO Hire 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2018

I’ve had this at times in dealing with big companies like Facebook and Apple where we realized that going against the machine was going to be counter-productive. Back when I ran my first company I fought a lot. This also applies to internal company decisions. This sucks because even when you feel “wronged”?—?there

Startup 199

Startup Writing Demand Equity 199

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. What are related products/companies? I'm looking for free (equity only) development, should I contact you? Who's the customer?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

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

Berkonomics

JUNE 2, 2010

But how about awarding stock options to all employees? . Tech companies, particularly early stage and startups, still award options aggressively. Obviously for the appropriate individuals, a bonus program aligned to the department’s goals is appropriate. Email readers continue here.] Yes, sometimes the news is not good.

Slides 216

Slides News Equity Writing 216

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

When should you start a company? What company should you start? When should you join a company? Anyone who has worked in a large company further knows that timing a product launch or a new marketing strategy has more to do with internal politics than reading market forces. When should a VC invest?

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Every investor in your startup, even friends and family, normally expects a share of your company (equity), which means your return for all your effort goes down quickly. This is at least double the time required for most equity investments, and may be a delay you can’t afford in keeping up with the market and your competitors.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. Another common “failure to start” situation I see is one where the “idea person” insists that the idea is 90% of the value (and 90% of the equity). Startup decisions only get harder later, never easier.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity CTO Hire 101

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

That means writing down and signing the terms of the agreement, after making sure everyone understands them. Loans are a safer option than equity. Offering debt is better than offering direct equity, especially in early stages when you have no valuation for setting equity percentages. Be professional about it.

Startup 97

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 97