Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

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Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.

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Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As noted in Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Pitch Their Ideas To Venture Capitalists , most sophisticated investors place their bets on people rather than opportunities.

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Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 5, 2019

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 -- San Diego FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop. At this San Diego Event, we will be showcasing some of the newest early-stage venture funds and angel groups in the San Diego area! We're doing it again! All of the Investors will get your company description and contact info!

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San Diego Venture Capital Angel Summary 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 7, 2019

Thursday, June 13, 2019 -- Orange County FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop. At this OC Event, we will be showcasing some of the newest early-stage venture funds and angel groups in the San Diego area! We're doing it again! All of the Investors will get your company description and contact info!

Orange County 100

Orange County Venture Capital Angel Tech Coast Angels 100

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. I wrote the summary notes in this blog post. I funded them 8 weeks later.

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Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Based on the final report for 2012 from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), it may appear that IPOs are back as a viable startup exit strategy. For the full year 2012, venture-backed initial public offerings raised $21.5 Identify the right people in the right venture firms.

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Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 101

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

Had a great chat with Jim Armstrong who is a General Partner at Clearstone Venture Partners today on TWiVC. It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. Some summary notes are below.

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Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back. Sure, there is always some seed funding (10% of overall deal flow), but you can bet that this money goes to entrepreneurs who have been there before and won. Back to VCs, Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still the most active.

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Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 93

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. But VC is like congress. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.”

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

VCs strangely never seem to weigh in on other VC funds. As an entrepreneur I never really knew what to make of VC return data. Here’s what I know: Most entrepreneurs I know would love to work with A16Z. Upfront Ventures has partnered with Andreessen Horowitz on several deals. Can that really work?”

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Venture Capital Invest Funding Competition 264

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Do they bet on the entrepreneur (jockey) or the business idea and plan (the horse)? If you are looking for money, this question will certainly come up in one form or another when you approach professional or organized angel or VC investors. Early stage investors have been arguing over this for years. This is serious stuff.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Ideas Summary 120

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Do they bet on the entrepreneur (jockey) or the business idea and plan (the horse)? If you are looking for money, this question will certainly come up in one form or another when you approach professional or organized angel or VC investors. Early stage investors have been arguing over this for years. This is serious stuff.

Venture Capital 120

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Ideas Summary 120

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. And for some strange reason entrepreneurs didn’t share this information. I just want to figure out what a fair valuation is.&# I figured all the VC’s talked so we should.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I use George Bush vs. Al Gore as allegory and I’ve been using it with entrepreneurs for years to sink in a simple point about how to communicate with the market. Most Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs I know are more like Al Gore. In a VC pitch this type of messaging will do just fine. It is election season.

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Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. As a summary, crowdfunding today can mean any one of the following five quite different models: Rewards model.

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Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Do they bet on the entrepreneur (jockey) or the business idea and plan (the horse)? My answer always varies as I examine each deal, sometimes deferring and passing on an investment because of an uneasy feeling about the entrepreneur, even if the business plan seems able to capture the market. This is serious stuff.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Summary Incubator 240

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.

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Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 29, 2016

GOAT just announced it raised $5 million in venture capital led by our friends at Matrix Partners. It’s a Chanukkah story where 18 months of venture capital funding ends up lasting more than 4 years and where against all odds the underdog succeeds. On the surface that sounds unremarkable — fundings happen daily.

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Venture Capital Summary Writing Funding 199

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. Successful entrepreneurs get the job done quickly, without breaking the bank. Martin Zwilling

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Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Or if you’re a VC raising from LPs you have to list all of your deals, your investment value, your carrying value, your multiples, your IRRs, TVPIs, DPIs, etc along with net cashflows plus your previous LPAs. So what does a VC do when he or she isn’t ready to say “no” or perhaps might like to talk with you in a year but not now?

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Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2023

One of the biggest myths I have found in the entrepreneur community is that every startup needs one or more outside investors for credibility and success, and perhaps is even entitled to at least one. Searching LinkedIn, for example, is a must for contemporary entrepreneurs. But don’t wait for them to contact you.

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Statistics Entrepreneur Funding Social Media 98

InfoChachkie

JUNE 27, 2011

I recently answered the question “ What are good ways to raise your children to be entrepreneurs? ” I believe that you cannot teach someone to be an entrepreneur, but that you can teach entrepreneurs. Plot Summary. Every entrepreneur is faced with making something out of nothing.

Entrepreneur 270

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Resource 270

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

One of the biggest myths I have found in the entrepreneur community is that every startup needs one or more outside investors for credibility and success, and perhaps is even entitled to at least one. Searching LinkedIn, for example, is a must for contemporary entrepreneurs. But don’t wait for them to contact you.

Funding 173

Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. First Round Capital receives about 2500 submissions each year.

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Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

and I thought if we brought the community together for common purpose we could create more of a sense of community to help new entrepreneurs get funded, assemble teams, raise profiles and help with biz dev, product, etc. Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me.

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Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

He and I once took different sides of an debate about whether “VC signaling&# in early-stage deals is a serious problem or not. He is the CEO of Hunch , company that I believe is solving a very big problem that I have been telling entrepreneurs needs to be solved for the past 2 years.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 23, 2012

This is one of the best episodes of This Week in VC for a long time. And they invest n select VC funds. Here’s the summary and on YouTube the links to skip right to these moments is below the actual video. 4:45 How do young entrepreneurs begin to work with a company like yours? That they own Reddit? Watch: [link].

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Media Company Companies Venture Capital 285

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Or, as always, summary notes available below. Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. But, in fact, I would rather have an executive summary than a pitch deck. Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2014

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market-research data. Successful entrepreneurs get the job done quickly, without breaking the bank.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Statistics Research 97

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2015

Last night I wrote a post about how the fall in the stock market over a 3-day period may affect the venture capital markets. If you’re an entrepreneur or VC who wants somebody else’s view on that you should read it. Mostly because VCs want to wait to see if a “new reality” has set in.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Summary 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

The bad news is that it’s still a jungle fight for survival for entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics, with over 80 percent not having access to bank loans or venture capital. The best entrepreneurs work on making better time management a top objective. Talent – Every startup needs talents to give the company value.

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Startup News Framework Outsource 112

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There has been much discussion about VCs doing seed funding in the past year. I’ve written about it myself (Is VC Seed Funding Dead?) and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). Short summary of my posts: 1. There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2.

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Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&# Getting a meeting with a prominent angel or VC is difficult enough. Some advice on how to do that was covered in this link – Getting Access to a VC. If you haven’t read how to build VC relationships and demonstrate traction make sure to read it.

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Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. Successful entrepreneurs get the job done quickly, without breaking the bank. Martin Zwilling.

Marketing 157

Marketing Statistics Research Report 157

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. Why Shouldn’t Most Services Businesses Raise VC? It may be the right answer for you.

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Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

Greycroft is Alan’s venture capital firm that recently raised its second fund ($130 million) with offices in both New York and LA. I’ve been to similar events with First Round Capital and True Ventures. Entrepreneurs always walk away with new relationships, knowledge, deal discussions and enthusiasm.

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Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279