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. I learned to avoid unnecessary conferences, avoid non-essential costs and strive for at least a neutral EBITDA if for no other reason than nobody was interested in giving us any more money.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Ryan compares the many emerging startup incubators, accelerators, and mentorship programs to NCAA Football Conferences. So the writers block consensus was to write about LA startup incubators and mentorship organizations (2x as many votes as the other proposed topics). LAunchpaLA (the SEC). READ MORE>>.

Conference 124

Conference Incubator Startup Writing 124

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. But Tracy did what entrepreneurs do. Sam is the managing director of Launchpad LA and we were about to pick our 2012 class of entrepreneurs. In the first 5 minutes you’ll realize that she’s a classic entrepreneur. More on that later. That may soon change.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Be accessible on social media, write a blog or articles for industry publications, and participate in conference panels and speaking engagements. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

One of the hardest things for most entrepreneurs to know is how hard to push in situations where people tell you “no.” ” But then again most entrepreneurs fail. I’d say less than 20% of of entrepreneurs fit into that bucket. Do you think that every conference organizer will promptly meet your needs?

Venture Capital 389

Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Be accessible on social media, write a blog or articles for industry publications, and participate in conference panels and speaking engagements. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

On why you should be an entrepreneur, “A lot of people do what they have to do. As a teenager he experimented with writing & producing his own rap music and received a lot of feedback from elders that he had a talent with words. You want to get yourself to a position where you can do what you want to do&# (Chamillionaire).

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. When my friend and the father of LA’s tech startup community Bill Gross first demonstrated his company GoTo.com (renamed Overture) on stage at a TED conference he was actually booed (True story. for $565 million to Excite.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2023

Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Provide a unique point of view. People don’t follow followers or repeaters.

Social Media 94

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 94

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

A couple of years ago an entrepreneur had requested a meeting with me to present his business. As the day approached I noticed that there was a conference in LA that I wanted to attend. The day before the conference I thought about rescheduling this meeting but then thought, “oh, well. Let me give you an example.

Conference 369

Conference Startup Century City Email 369

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2013

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network through all available channels, like business-oriented social networks online (LinkedIn), local business organizations (Chamber of Commerce), and events or conferences in your domain.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Social Network 108

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

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2021

In my experience, many entrepreneurs rely too much on the perspective of a trusted advisor, or try to emulate a competitor who is getting attention. The challenge is how to develop that self-leadership in every aspiring entrepreneur and business professional role. Celebrate every small success to build team confidence.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Course Satisfaction Guide 132

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 2, 2015

It’s a big conference and all big conferences charge money, make money and serve a diverse set of needs. I even wrote about my experiences attending Web Summit , something I rarely ever write about. I hate attending big conference. So what will you get out of Web Summit or any big conference?

Web 150

Web Conference Technical Review Class 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

This is a very common scenario when entrepreneurs pitch VCs and frankly is a very common scenario when VCs try to raise money from LPs. At night I had a group dinner where I met 6 new entrepreneurs and hung out with some old friends from law firms, banks and other VC funds. What do I do now?

Software Review 381

Software Review Startup Email Conference 381

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 4, 2016

Modern-society is also littered with over-networkers and over-introducers and professional conference attendees. I try to steer entrepreneurs away from over-introducers and I often find myself wanting to be careful about them becoming an investor in companies I back. Focus is almost always the right answer.

Innocal 255

Innocal Conference Help Study 255

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2020

Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Provide a unique point of view. People don’t follow followers or repeaters.

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 126

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

That’s why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great “idea” person. Aspiring entrepreneurs are often impatient in rolling out the business, assuming the hard work was finalizing the idea, and that if you build it, customers will come. A full plan may be no more than 20 pages.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

Five-and-a-half years ago I first met Chamillionaire at a tech conference in LA. After seeing Chamillionaire interact with several entrepreneurs both at events and as an investor I started introducing him to startups in an advisory capacity. I saw him on stage at the event talking about how he used social media to engage audiences.

Conference 150

Conference Slides Social Media Summary 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Conferences. Now, I’m pretty on the record that being an entrepreneur is about being great at The Do. How do VCs break out of group think when they are shuttling from one board meeting to the next, from one conference to the other and talking with all the same people? Board Meetings. Startups Are for Doers.

Venture Capital 400

Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

InfoChachkie

JUNE 27, 2011

I recently answered the question “ What are good ways to raise your children to be entrepreneurs? ” My response was brief and straightforward, which is common of popular Quora answers (as discussed in How To Write An Effective Quora Answer ). Every entrepreneur is faced with making something out of nothing.

Entrepreneur 270

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Resource 270

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

For starters some funds are small and thus while they put $750k into your company to own 10% of your company they might not be able to write another $2 million if you then raise a $20 million round (10%). Much of this historically didn’t matter to entrepreneurs. Why prorata rights are becoming a bigger deal to angels.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2011

It’s the entrepreneur’s equivalent of “ 10,000 hours.&#. If you wait until you need to fill somebody in a roll you’re losing valuable time as an entrepreneur. Help them write other stories. One day they’ll write yours. unless you’re a conference ho … then it’s too much ).

Startup 410

Startup Writing Press Venture Capital 410

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2014

This blog started from a series of conversations I found myself having over and over again with founders and eventually decided I should just start writing them.It I see founders who think they can be at every conference, advise multiple companies, do side investments in angel deals, leave the office at 6pm and have a balance life.

Competition 394

Competition Startup Writing Marketing 394

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

I had a chance to discuss AngelList Syndicates with Naval at Michael Kim’s Cendana LP/VC conference on a panel with Naval, Roger Ehrenberg (IA Ventures) and Mike Brown, Jr. It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. Bowery Capital).

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

And there’s conferences. Oh, the conferences. Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo! If an accelerator is writing you they’re also writing 25 other VCs. Web Summit.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. I plan to write about it early next year when we’re all through. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? There is a difference between a Conference Ho and a successful entrepreneur.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

As a business advisor, I listen to many of you entrepreneurs talking about achieving your dreams, but too few of you have structured that dream, and can express it in a set of specific goals, with a timeline for getting there. Stop talking and writing, and start executing the plan. Populate each step with actions required for success.

Writing 139

Writing Startup Summary Activity 139

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 11, 2010

And when I have time I try to write back. It’s the entrepreneur who’s buddy is a lawyer who wants an intro to you and who doesn’t think about whether it makes sense to ask you whether you want an intro before sending it. Or I’m at BOD meetings or conferences. I get those more often than you think.

Email 265

Email Startup Writing Blogging 265

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

In the aftermath of the recent pandemic, which caused many businesses to close, a new raft of business workers and entrepreneurs are deciding to pursue their own dreams of being a new business owner, and controlling your own destiny. Pundits in Latino countries quickly pointed out that the name, ‘no va’ means ‘does not go’ in Spanish.

Social Media 98

Social Media Metrics Media Tool 98

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network through all available channels, like business-oriented social networks online (LinkedIn), local business organizations (Chamber of Commerce), and events or conferences in your domain.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Social Network 96

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

If you’ve got the skills to be a strong entrepreneur then it shouldn’t be too difficult to find people who know a partner at a VC firm and if you can build relationship with them you can get introduced. Most entrepreneurs (and VCs raising from LPs) think this means progress. Entrepreneur : “Sure. Some people find this elitist?—?I

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 16, 2010

A couple of years ago an entrepreneur had requested a meeting with me to present his business. As the day approached I noticed that there was a conference in LA that I wanted to attend. The day before the conference I thought about rescheduling this meeting but then thought, “oh, well. Let me give you an example.

Startup 346

Startup Conference Century City Email 346

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

There are large sums of money to be invested and if investors can get comfortable with “downside protections” they’ll still write checks. I spoke about that more in this deck that I wrote for the SaaStr conference in early March 2020. Not anywhere nearly as hard as being an entrepreneur. It’s hard being a VC right now.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. ” An angle can be, Starbucks is piloting this product in 500 stores; or.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

I get paid (well) for interesting people to come in and tell me how they want to change the world – Being an entrepreneur is like having blinders on. At least for the best entrepreneurs. Some people do the conference circuit too much, get involved in lots of side projects and attend every entrepreneur dinner.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

He has it on stage, too, at conferences. I told him only 2 weeks ago when we were in London together that I wanted to write a blog post that has been in my head for 2 years. Many through history became entrepreneurs precisely because they were unemployable. My pal Dave has blogger Tourette’s. He can’t help himself: He’s Dave.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309