Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I even prefer to fund entrepreneurs who have experience some level of set-backs in their careers or startups because I think it brings a humility to decision-making that I find healthy. In London when founders failed they were ostracized in the press and culturally I believe it became harder to raise capital.

Startup 261

Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

Entrepreneurs could learn about loneliness of success: nobody talks about. He suffered publicly as the press called his wife fat and begged people at concerts to be kinder to his wife. Success can be lonely because it is only a heartbeat away from failure and the press love a rise-and-fall story. But needed to be seen.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. I will write more about this in the next 2 weeks. I suppose I should have imagined that this line would get more press than all other comments combined. I believe that. Fair enough. That’s fine.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

I’m sitting at my computer now at 9.00pm writing this – which is an hour earlier than I normally write (there are about 8 women at my kitchen table having a book club (aka excuse to drink wine & gossip so I’m locked in another room writing. It sure wasn’t when I was a first-time entrepreneur.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

She was everything I was looking for in an entrepreneur to back. Kara on one side of the table showing me market sizes, competitive dynamics, product roadmaps, pricing plans for physical products with COGS and gross margins. She helps write press releases. So, Mark, enough entrepreneur love. As are her partners.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

Only naive people believe that but for inexperienced entrepreneurs you can be fooled into the narrative by the press who sometimes write stories without the actual data. We’ve just been biased by our narrower view from “people like us” and the tech press who are in our same demographic. PHONE CALLS.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. In the original version of his post, Andy writes. The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs. Get to the entrepreneurs earlier next time.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

I pointed to several Economist articles I had read that mapped historical prices of real estate for 400 years and how on average property values grow at no more 1.5% above inflation yet in many markets in the US & Europe prices were rising at 10-25% per year. We jockey to make sure the press release has our names on it.

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? Of course when you think about it it’s kind of obvious but when people make snap judgments about information they hear about companies or read about in the press they often don’t take the time to start to consider the details. The VC-backed businesses sometimes “blow up.”

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is the second article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). lots of brand names piling on) can lead to group think and price creep. Lead investors and follow investors can both win equally but in each case you know why you personally are writing the check.

Invest 288

Invest Angel Web 2.0 SEO 288

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. Product is simply about defining a physical good or service that would be valued by consumers of the product more than existing alternatives based on functionality, quality and/or price.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you’re raising a round where a new lead investor would invest $5 million the VC fund must have no less than $100 million and if you’re looking for them to write $15–20 million as the lead their fund realistically should be at least $400 million. Remember, I was an entrepreneur for 10 years before a VC).

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Yet a critical mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is that they hand over too much control to their third-parties. We had the final terms of our agreement fairly well boxed in within a range of about 5-7% on price and within 30 days on move-in date. I obviously preferred the lowest price and I wanted the latest move-in date.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Big thank you to Darius Vasefi , of EyeOnJewels for the write up. o Huge on PR, “Be Everywhere” is his motto – fly to NY, proactively everywhere he could get press. People want to invest in people they trust – once you’ve made money for someone you can always go back, and even get better pricing. combination of factors –.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

We try to hire people who we believe will be upfront and respectful of entrepreneurs and know that it’s far easier to judge ones decisions on the outside than it actually is to have to make the tough decisions inside of a startup every day. Empowerment is hard for most startup entrepreneurs. I wanted to just write.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

There have been a lot of entrepreneurs here in software and other industries, and interestingly enough there seem to be more self-funded, bootstrapped firms here, rather than those looking for venture capital to get off the group. We have a very unique capability in scalability, but at an agreeable price point. READ MORE>>.

Networking 214

Networking IBM IBM Pacific Palisades 214

Jason Nazar

JANUARY 14, 2009

Referring Traffic / Press. Referring Traffic / Press - The web is interconnected, and traffic flows among sites that interlink. The type of sites that might link into you are blogs, traditional press online, forums or bulleting boards, or content rich sites that are focused on a similar topic. Search Engines. Social Media.

Web 62

Web Social Media Content Sites 62

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. Passionate Entrepreneurs & Ambassadors. You need to have passionate tech entrepreneurs who want to build businesses locally.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

Nobody commits, nobody wants to set a price, nobody wants to stick their neck out then BOOM! Many entrepreneurs let the early rejections get to them and it’s normal because when you hear “no” you think “what’s wrong with me!?” When you read about the funding in the press it sounds like it was a walk in the park. Happy raising.

Press 232

Press Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 232

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

This sometimes frustrates entrepreneurs who just want to “get back to running the business.&# But if you understand it you’ll see that it is perfectly rational and it should also influence how you form relationships with investors. For this reason I tell entrepreneurs the following: Meet your potential investors early.

Invest 411

Invest Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 411

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

It’s always fun chatting with Jason because he’s knowledgeable about the market, quick on topics and pushes me to talk more about VC / entrepreneur issues. We’re staring to get the hang of how to divide the show up into talking about deals but also talking about issues for entrepreneurs during funding. Short answer: no.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Redpoint 285

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Think about this: The investment banks and trading houses across the globe have invested billions of dollars in computing equipment and staff in order to process news that affects stock prices milliseconds before the rest of the market can process & transact on this same information. I can’t put it in writing but I won’t stop it.”

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307