Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “what’s it like being a VC?&# I’ve been a VC for nearly 3 years now. I always start my answer to this question with, “you’d have to be a pretty big baby to complain about being a VC.&# And the VC job has plenty of admin and minutiae.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. But take prompts from the VC.

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Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

To see the video of This Week in VC click on this link. What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures).

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Google Web Sites 225

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 2, 2021

“ We were targeted to a small number of very premier customers. Maestro is at the forefront of redefining the relationship of content owners and creators with their viewers. The pandemic also helped as artists who were cut off from their audiences began to explore alternative ways to reach fans — and make money.

Tool 315

Tool Commerce .Net Entertainment 315

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 11, 2011

I recently had the pleasure of spending an hour with Jon Steinberg, president of Buzzfeed , a company who focuses on helping media companies make their content go viral. We also talked about why Jon decided to leave Google to become an EIR at a VC firm (Polaris) – minute 33. Or creating quizzes or games with your content.

Buzzfeed 354

Buzzfeed Content Tips Blogging 354

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

This episode of This Week in Venture Capital featured Michael Montgomery, president of Montgomery & Co. You have to be selected to present and it is typically reserved for companies that have already raised early-stage capital and are well into revenue growth. Should you use investment banks to raise venture capital?

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. “Why do founders want to take the VCs’ money? .” After all, growth equals high valuations and loads of venture capital!

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 3, 2010

This was really a fun week at TWiVC because we decided to have an entrepreneur come and talk about raising capital rather than having a VC come on. In particular I tried to do most of the “entrepreneur advice on VC” up front so that if you don’t want to watch our views on the deals you don’t have to. OTHER DEALS: 1.

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Venture Capital Startup Design S3 214

TechCrunch LA

MAY 25, 2019

Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a newsletter published every Saturday that dives into the week’s most noteworthy venture deals, fundraises, M&A transactions and trends. Or Haus , launching this summer, an all-natural apéritif distilled from grapes that has a lower alcohol content than most hard liquors.

Startup 223

Startup Venture Capital Newsletter Tips 223

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

The funding was led by JJ Capital, a Chinese venture capital firm. The startup--which is based in Pasadena, but has 90 percent of its customers from China--said the funding will help to fund its editorial content intiiatives and expand operations. 55Haitao wa founded by Alan Gu, who is the company's CEO.

Pasadena 100

Pasadena Guide Commerce Venture Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know. Thank you. (if

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Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 28, 2018

Founded by a former Pixar and DreamWorks animator, Rex Grignon, Nimble launched in 2014 and has raised just under $10 million from investors including the UCLA VC Fund and New Enterprise Associates, according to Crunchbase. “That worldwide reach is very important,” Grignon said.

Hollywood 254

Hollywood Cloud Computing Netflix Google 254

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

You need a great concept in which you will build something that is truly unique and that will be valued by your customers. I only say that because after years as a VC I can always tell when my peer group invested in something because “it seemed like it would make money” versus when they invested out of passion.

Venture Capital 373

Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2014

A number of startups have tried to make sharing of premium clips more available to users, but none have yet managed to convince studios and other content creators to allow for widespread clipping and sharing of that content. Mauhan Zonozzy: We allow audiences to take bite size snips of premium content. Who are your customers?

Content 113

Content Los Angeles Seed Funding Hollywood 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 10, 2010

RealGravity said it provides an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of online video content and advertising. The company also provides an ad server and content management system for its customers, which include NBC Universal Sports, Howcast, Vibe.com, the Tribune Company, and others. READ MORE>>.

SoCalTech 140

SoCalTech Hollywood Content Venture Capital 140

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

kind of like a board for a VC firm). We do lunch where everybody has a casual conversation followed by 6 hours of content and discussion. Whenever I’ve faced my toughest moments or biggest decisions as a VC firm, having trust with my LPs and vice versa goes a long way. Sometimes boards are misaligned due to incentives.

Startup 269

Startup Venture Capital Layoffs Resource 269

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

As an entrepreneur, I understand your passion when pitching your solution to investors and customers, but passion alone won’t make one more technology pitch stand out above all the rest. Good relationships are the primary basis for trust in business, leading to supportive investors, loyal customers, and effective partnerships.

Startup 145

Startup Competition Customer Custom 145

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Check the content of the investor’s website, and pay particular attention to the source of funds. Conduct a routine credit and background check.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2010

Patrick Kennedy: Sidebar is a company that was founded to bring consumers personalized content, focused on mobile delivery of that content. I joined about a year ago--a bunch of us did--and looked at where Sidebar was as it was gearing up for a full consumer launch of its personalized content portal. What is Sidebar all about?

Content 189

Content Screening Mobile Customer 189

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

If you are approaching a recognized venture capital group, or even an accredited angel investor, a non-disclosure agreement is counter-productive. The content of a non-disclosure agreement should be kept simple and straightforward, with a minimum of legalese. In most cases, a term of two to five years should be adequate.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Ideas Sample 101

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2016

Why would a VC do that? Now here is the important thing for you to understand — many of my target customers — entrepreneurs between ages 21–35 — are on Snapchat! And virtually none of my competitors — VCs between the ages of 35–55 — quite understand (or have the desire) to put out content on this media channel.

Snapchat 200

Snapchat Blogging Venture Capital Writing 200

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2021

You continually get frustrated with your team members, customers, vendors, and partners. You never have the time and resources for International expansion, acquisitions, venture capital investors, or going public. It’s very frustrating. All the constituents have their own agenda.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 174

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

In 2004 / 2005 I was starting to get intrigued with user-generated content. I decided well if I am going to be investing in this stuff at least I need to understand what it’s like to have a blog, to be generating content, and it was quite interesting at the very, very beginning.“. Brad’s start in Venture Capital.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

I don’t think any serious VC or angel thought it was “collusion.&# I just had this chat last night with a friend / VC who I respect. A large percentage of my inbound email is what I consider “customer service&# and I dedicate as much time as I can to that. Is VC being disrupted by AngelList?

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

This applies to both founders and to VC’s that work with them. As a CEO you never stop needing to go on sales calls (or to work the phones in telesales or customer support) and ceasing to do this as your company grows because you’re focusing on investors, recruiting, PR or whatever is a mistake. A quick example.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

If you are approaching a recognized venture capital group, or even an accredited angel investor, a non-disclosure agreement is counter-productive. The content of a non-disclosure agreement should be kept simple and straightforward, with a minimum of legalese. In most cases, a term of two to five years should be adequate.

Ideas 159

Ideas Tips Technical Review Patents 159

socalTECH

JANUARY 25, 2011

Playcast said the new round was led by MK Capital, and also included Israeli venture capital firm JVP, Xenia Venture Capital, and C.Mer Industries. The firm said that Gadi Tirosh of JVP and Yair Landau of MK Capital are joining the firm's board as part of the funding.

THQ 157

THQ Activision Venture Capital Los Angeles 157

Xconomy

MAY 16, 2018

CEO Gerry Widmer said Wednesday the San Diego-based company is expanding its workforce and extending its Web content management system (WCMS) to international customers. After establishing a partnership with the Google Cloud Platform, Zesty.io founder Randy Apuzzo at the end of 2017.

Google 49

Google San Diego SaaS Capital 49

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

Having street smarts with no inspirational ability to build teams can yield a great small business but will be difficult to scale into a large VC-backed business. So we as VCs search for entrepreneurs/founders who have the whole package or as much of it as possible. In the book they profile how VC worked in the early days (60s / 70s).

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital CTO Hire 293

socalTECH

APRIL 5, 2017

And, even more impressively, it's now seeing more than $100M in annual revenues--without ever having taken any institutional or venture capital. We spoke with CEO Bryan Cheung to learn more about LifeRay, and how it grew from a church basement and open source to $100M+ in revenues, without ever taking outside capital.

Diamond Bar 169

Diamond Bar Customer Custom Organization 169

socalTECH

JULY 21, 2011

The firm's software-as-a-service creates video advertising for local business customers, using a network of 4,000 videographers for generating content. PixelFish said the funding will go towards sales, marketing, and technology. READ MORE>>.

Torrance 213

Torrance Advertising Content Sales 213

socalTECH

JULY 7, 2010

Here are eight Southern California companies and the experienced, successful entrepreneurs heading up their efforts, who haven't had any problems finding investors--or customers--for their firms. Getting lots of notice--and controversy--at Demand Media for its use of writers to create content specifically to attract web traffic.

Southern California 228

Southern California Entrepreneur SoCal Mahalo 228

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Check the content of the investor’s website, and pay particular attention to the source of funds. Conduct a routine credit and background check.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Funding Innocal Offshore 124

socalTECH

OCTOBER 6, 2017

We're the official mobile app for whatever our customer is. We have exclusive content, including videos that people can download in the app itself to watch, and if you're at an away game, you can even listen to your own announcer and turn down the audio when you are watching TV. What do your apps do? How did you get into this?

Mobile 162

Mobile Platform El Segundo UCLA 162

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2016

Maintaining current content is costly and time-consuming. If you don’t engage users with comprehensive and valid content the moment they enter your site, they are not likely to return. The solution is to incent local users to keep the content fresh and abundant, which requires that they see real value in the result.

Advertising 63

Advertising Content Social Media Satisfaction 63

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 21, 2021

Big banks rush to back Greenwood, Killer Mike’s Atlanta-based digital bank for underrepresented customers. Gardiner Garrard, co-founder and partner, TTV Capital, points out that the Hispanic market represents the largest minority cohort in the U.S., And at the same time, they have been building targeted content.

Platform 299

Platform Resource Services Capital 299

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

So it was my great pleasure to host Chamillionaire on This Week in VC this week talking marketing, entrepreneurship, old media and, of course, music. Customer Feedback - Chamillionaire regularly seeks public feedback from his fan base. Raising Capital – The VC equivalent for musicians is getting signed by a major label.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356