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. Entrepreneurshit.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Berkonomics

APRIL 8, 2021

That compares with a reported 330 million for Twitter which had a nine-year head start and so much more free press from famous users over the years. It was as much in reaction to my getting blank stares from entrepreneurs when I asked the above question as it was for me to better understand the problem itself. Here is my list.

Sites 156

Sites Product Social Network Press 156

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago. They present a convincing story that every entrepreneur has the same potential, but most get sidetracked and bogged down by their technology, competitors, and internal organization.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. We were based in London.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

I have blogged about some of the downside consequences of the changes and the private information I have says the consequences are much worse than is reported in the press since few people publicly talk about. Does he blog about venture capital and try to advise entrepreneurs? How founders get screwed on convertible notes. You betcha.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. This post was prompted by an email exchange I had with a young entrepreneur. I was interested in learning more.

Startup 360

Startup Venture Capital Invest Slides 360

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

This happens because many CEOs are passionate, market-driven people who are constantly trying to launch new products, win contracts, get press, hire staff and woo VCs. It’s the nature of most entrepreneurs, honestly. Another thing entrepreneurs f**k up? The full financial details and metrics were in the deck.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2018

Most aspiring entrepreneurs are convinced that the strength of their initial idea somehow defines them as a leader, as well as the success potential of their derivative business. It takes leadership ability, as well as a good idea, to make a successful entrepreneur, and great leaders evolve from key leadership decisions along the way.

Ideas 66

Ideas Entrepreneur Framework Tips 66

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. But the most important metric has been the deep and lasting relationships that have been built with startups and also between senior executives.

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Social media is so pervasive in today’s world that every entrepreneur believes instinctively that they know how to use it for their startup. Your plan should include a well-designed web site, events, press releases, and search engine marketing (SEM). Don’t forget the metrics and analytics. Only then can you determine your ROI.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Startup Tips 108

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Yet the best and the strongest founders are able to overcome the stresses, the self-doubt, the sacrifices and the risks and they press on with optimism every day anyways. Good press and industry mojo wasn’t enough to overcome the financial metrics of the business and the offers came in at more like $10 million. It was not.

Startup 417

Startup Course Venture Capital Writing 417

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2017

Many business executives and entrepreneurs I know are convinced that business success is all about having the right solution for the right price. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Thus most investors I know claim to invest in the person, rather than the product.

Software Review 57

Software Review Technical Review Startup Press 57

socalTECH

JANUARY 24, 2011

In that market, there are literally no ROI metrics. The best metrics are estimated impressions. That's why we have done things like a recent campaign for Ray Kurzweil's documentary, Transcendant Man, where we helped with press materials, and posters, and publications, putting our QR code on those items.

Startup 220

Startup West Hollywood Metrics Entertainment 220

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 11, 2015

As much of the coverage in the press this morning acknowledges it’s rare for a partner to leave from one firm to another. In this capacity I can tell any entrepreneurs raising early-stage capital that I would have Matt on my short list if I were raising. He’s one of the truly nice guys in venture: buttoned-up and prepared.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Gogii Course Activity 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2019

In the popular press, it’s easy to find articles that will convince you that companies with a good culture, such as Google, do it by lavishing perks and benefits , including some combination of free meals, trips and parties, financial bonuses, gyms, and a dog-friendly environment.

Competition 76

Competition Coach Case Study Statistics 76

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Subjective warrants – I also see warrants given out without hard metrics. Large companies can be strange sometimes.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

Yet these same entrepreneurs often quickly get set in their ways, and find themselves resisting changes to their own business, and begin to fear further customer change in their domain. Don’t assume a simple press release will be enough. Pick metrics to measure change implementation and results.

Press 56

Press Tool Metrics Startup 56

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

Granularity and Consistency of Startup Metrics - SoCal CTO , March 11, 2010 Tim Berry has a great post on Why I Hate Those Huge Market Numbers tells us that he doesn’t like to see business plans with multi-billion market numbers used as the basis for projections. How do you get press and the blogosphere talking about your product?

Startup 150

Startup Software Review Competition SoCal 150

socalTECH

JUNE 11, 2018

I think one metric I've heard, that the Writer's Guild of America's script registry sees around 50,000 screenplay registrations a year. We've really just been focused on growing organically, and have done very little press, with virtually no marketing to date. How big of a market is this, size wise? How is Coverfly backed, financially?

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Hollywood Platform Competition 100

InfoChachkie

MAY 22, 2012

The same should be true of an entrepreneur who is attempting to secure money from sophisticated investors. Step 1: The Person, Not The Firm – As Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson make clear in their book Venture Deals , entrepreneurs should identify specific venture partners, rather than target firms as a whole. It’s not.”

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Capital Research Customer 236

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Like any entrepreneur, we had the idea that there should be local capital, supporting the local ecosystem. In this case, a $20M, $30M, or $40M exit is a very meaningful return for an investor group and for the entrepreneur. They've got some nice metrics behind them. How do you recommend that entrepreneurs approach you?

Southern California 153

Southern California Startup Palomar Rustic Canyon 153

InfoChachkie

APRIL 7, 2010

These spurious partnerships had no substance and were initiated for the sole purpose of sending out a press release. Despite the pathetic nature of Barney deals, the big purple dinosaur offered sound business advice to entrepreneurs in a TV episode entitled, “Sharing means caring.” Tags: Entrepreneur Partnerships The Fringe.

Resource 154

Resource Paramount Press Metrics 154

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

Not the successful companies themselves but the entire b t culture of swash-buckling startups who define themselves by hitting some magical $1 billion valuation number and the financiers who back them irrespective of metrics that justify it. 10 years from now people will be embarrassed to say unicorn. Many won’t.

Technical Advisors 150

Technical Advisors Startup Writing Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. Jody didn’t exactly have an easy time fund raising because he’s not one of the prototypical Silicon Valley funded entrepreneurs.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2014

This was a chance to blow open the story on their companies, to address a room full of potential investors, mentors, partners, customers, and press. After the event, we caught up, Parker Thompson , Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) charged with leading Batch 8. Honestly though, it was anything but. First, A Look Inside 500 Startups.

Startup 111

Startup Mobile Commerce Education 111

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 17, 2010

Our metrics show that when people watch chips, they increase their tendency to want to watch that feature length film. We had gotten some good press from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Mashable, and NewTeeVee, and then when we went to TechCrunch Disrupt we placed in the top 5. more) READ MORE>>.

Startup 190

Startup Los Angeles Content Hollywood 190

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

The movie, “The Social Network” might have had more of an impact on creating future entrepreneurs than any other event of the past 5 years. Contrary to some press reporting, the boom in startups, the creation of accelerators and seed funds as well as the deserved popularity of AngelList do not signal doom for our industry.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

InfoChachkie

MARCH 2, 2010

During the early 1980’s, the popular press discovered baseball card collecting and began to publish articles touting sports memorabilia as a great “investment”. as well as old-world pricing, such as cost-per-thousand views, which was based upon print advertising metrics. But Our Hobby Is Different…. Copyright © 2007-10 by J.

Pricing 138

Pricing Advertising Marketing Startup 138