Berkonomics

MAY 22, 2014

Bill Payne has been actively involved in angel investing since 1980, funding over 50 companies and mentoring over 100 more. In most cases, those entrepreneurs choosing to raise capital using PPMs retain specialists (many of whom are lawyers) to write their PPMs – a rather expensive undertaking. By Bill Payne.

Writing 199

Writing Invest Entrepreneur Equity 199

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

Based on my own experience as a mentor and angel investor, I find that as many as ninety percent of startups fail in the first five years, despite their best efforts. By far, the majority of new businesses I know are self-funding (bootstrapped) from your own savings and prior assets. Pick a name, location, and marketing strategy early.

Social Media 98

Social Media Metrics Media Tool 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans take too much time, are inaccurate, and rarely add value. Most of these scenarios involve attracting outside investors, strategic partners, or key team members: You are the team and you don’t need outside funding.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Seed deals, for example, are easier to get funded than a late-stage deal for obvious reasons. But there are some deals that will get funded even though not necessarily seed: If you’re in an anointed category that will serve a post Covid-19 world well. It may take much longer to close deals than you’d like. In a word: Yes.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2011

Those programs--epitomized by YCombinator in the Bay Area, and TechStars in Boulder, Colorado--attract newly minted entrepreneurs with a mixture of cash and mentoring, and a program which rapidly takes ideas and turns them into viable, executing businesses. Those mentors are not just Bruce and I, although we are full time on this.

Startup 221

Startup Mentor Southern California Incubator 221

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

My goal in the interview overall was to capture more of the personal side of Fred since so much of his investment thesis and portfolio work already comes out in his blog. Fred has of course been a public mentor to us all with his market-defining terminology that he popularized including “freemium” and “mobile first.”

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

Huddlewoo a live video platform set to launch early 2013 to give people the ability to access extraordinary people for one-on-one conversations and mentoring. His main company Providence Holdings has invested in real estate and several small businesses. Any funding yet? We caught up with the CEO William Zell. That’s cool!

Mentor 94

Mentor Platform Social Network Chief Technology Officer 94

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

He’s an incredibly smart investor and somebody that I actually consider to be a mentor to myself. For all the things he’s likely known for, he probably hasn’t yet built a strong relationship as an early stage venture investor (he invests often in later-stage deals where he is very respected). You have a big fund.

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy is knowledgeable enough to talk tech and swap design & product stories with other founders, but she realized early that networking amongst this group and reading and writing in their journals would not bring her more customers. Once off the ground she could attract mentors from her industry.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined some time ago from a funding perspective. Funding or rollout stage.

Organization 93

Organization Startup Incubator Ideas 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Customer Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2013

The entrepreneur’s tendency to be in a huge hurry to obtain the funding can end up being disastrous, and play into the hands of these less scrupulous investors. As long as somebody recognizes their million dollar idea and writes them a check, the source really doesn''t matter. The mentoring offer always sounds good up front.

Angel 105

Angel Writing Startup Invest 105

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like the BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this Forbes article. You need funding, and plan to get it from friends and family.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). What's the theme of your investments? Ryan Blair: The theme around the fund is pretty simple.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2012

The entrepreneur’s tendency to be in a huge hurry to obtain the funding can end up being disastrous, and play into the hands of these less scrupulous investors. As long as somebody recognizes their million dollar idea and writes them a check, the source really doesn't matter. The mentoring offer always sounds good up front.

Angel 112

Angel Entrepreneur Writing Invest 112

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

Men have dominated the world of investment. There were only 22% women who invested in 2012. Natalia Oberti Noguera is on a mission to help change the demographic of investment with her Pipeline Fellowship. TechZulu speaks with Natalia about Pipeline Foundation and her goals to change the face of business and investment.

Mentor 84

Mentor Invest Entrepreneur Startup 84

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

In the original version of his post, Andy writes. Most top tier VCs return about 3x invested capital and outlier funds (the best of a vintage) might return 6-8x. But the larger funds usually have lower returns because they are often investing bigger dollars at later stages with less risk and therefore lower returns.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

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. They could chat about it with their peers or mentors.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Based on my experience as an angel investor and a mentor to dozens of entrepreneurs, having no business plan is the quickest way to define yourself as just a dreamer, or at best a hobbyist. Yet I continue to get funding requests that never mention any specific plans or costs to be associated with these elements.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

socalTECH

JULY 13, 2009

GRP has just recently closed on a new $200M fund, and Mark has been one of the more active venture capitalists in the Los Angeles area in recent months. It looks like GRP has been making lots of early stage investments lately--can you talk a little bit about your investment preferences and what you are looking at nowadays?

GRP Partners 157

GRP Partners Southern California Santa Barbara Rustic Canyon 157

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund Angel investing in most parts of the country remains a relatively informal and unstructured process. Professional angel investing takes time, knowledge, skills and resources. Professional angel investing takes time, knowledge, skills and resources. By Joseph A.

Entrepreneur 83

Entrepreneur Mentor Invest Angel 83

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 3, 2010

The entrepreneur’s tendency to be in a huge hurry to obtain the funding can end up being disastrous, and play into the hands of these less scrupulous investors. As long as somebody recognizes their million dollar idea and writes them a check, the source really doesn't matter. The mentoring offer always sounds good up front.

Angel 97

Angel Writing Invest Startup 97

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Get connected to the right mentors and your business may catapult to the next level. I figured if Matt was on the verge of bankruptcy and one mentor changed his trajectory, what if we had a formalized, community-wide program? Big thank you to Darius Vasefi , of EyeOnJewels for the write up. The answer? Something so simple.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Of the 80 companies that have completed the program since its 2007 inception, 49 have received funding, 8 have been acquired and 8 have ceased operations. At one level it’s a terrible return on time investment, but on another level, it’s a really positive one. Writing a book is very different from writing a blog.

Venture Capital 224

Venture Capital Writing Entrepreneur Blogging 224

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

You join teams that got good write-ups on TechCrunch, have great VCs, have star CEO’s, whatever. Our founder, Yves Sisteron, was my mentor and board member at my first startup. Writing a book will be fun. “Getting the band back together” doesn’t stop for me with just our fund. You REALLY know.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2010

They are likely to be able to get grants to fund development for you in strategic focus areas, like alternative energy sources, that would otherwise cost you many thousands of dollars.< Other engineering departments at ASU often provide grad students to build prototypes, and even venture funding for certain projects.

Help 94

Help Startup Mentor Incubator 94

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” Both are massively funding other LA tech companies through what Fred Wilson once defined as “recycled capital.”

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2019

Image via Wikipedia As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing.

Entrepreneur 87

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Guide 87

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2017

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing.

Company 97

Company Companies Entrepreneur Customer 97

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. “My Brad on blogging.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2012

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Media Customer Custom 126

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2013

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing.

Startup 116

Startup Entrepreneur Customer Custom 116

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

A huge shout out to Ricky Wong of NYCSteals for helping me with the write-up. Seth’s interest in helping others grew out of his lack of having a mentor. He was drawn to Stanford by the people ecosystem- access to professors and mentors. Seth also spoke about not accepting investment until after gaining traction.

Startup 286

Startup Venture Capital Web Ideas 286

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

The second is that they are usually very experienced operators that can mentor the founding team. I think when you choose an independent board member you should be thinking about somebody who can mentor you. I really like it when independent directors write a check into the company. But if they could even write $2,500?—?money

Startup 187

Startup Writing Venture Capital Oracle 187