Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 24, 2019

Image by Origa via Wikipedia I tell entrepreneurs that Google was an “exception” to all the investment and startup rules, but I’ve always wondered what it takes to be an exception. Sergey, a mathematical wizard, is the arbiter of Google’s technological approach. Google now employs about twenty thousand people.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

But as sweet as that success has been (we invested pre-revenue in a small team) today my even more important news was the further expansion of our partner ranks. He first came to see me in 2008 when we was raising money for his 1st startup – NextMedium. Startup DNA. I’ve known Hamet for 5 years. Media relationships.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2021

Photo by Vanna Phon on Unsplash Customer acquisition is the lifeblood of many startups from e-commerce to gaming to marketplace companies, among others. Most of these startups spend the lion’s share of their marketing budget in today’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Snap, TikTok and so on because?—?no no surprise?—?that’s

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2023

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools).

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socalTECH

JANUARY 13, 2016

The startup, which is behind the "robotic butler" that has been roaming the halls of the Marriott Los Angeles LAX/Century Boulevard has just scored $15M in a funding round, which includes Intel and Google. The company recently deployed its first robot -- nicknamed "Wally"--at the Marriott, to deliver items to guests.

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Tech.Co

JUNE 29, 2021

You know what a startup is, right? Or at least you have an idea of what a startup is like to work in? That is, of course, until the small, ambitious startup is acquired by a larger, more traditional company in its sector, or the small startup goes public with angry shareholders and regulators asking difficult questions.

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TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Responding to Elizabeth Warren’s call to regulate and break up some of the nation’s largest technology companies, the venture capitalists that invest in technology companies are advising the presidential hopeful to move slowly and not break anything. This is not a new model, and it makes no sense,” says Narasin.

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Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

Launching and growing a startup is one of the biggest missions an entrepreneur can undertake. But while competition remains fierce, the advancement and accessibility of smart solutions are making it easy than ever for startups to find their feet. VPN Startup tool: VPN Price: Free Hide.me While Hide.me

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socalTECH

JULY 31, 2018

Santa Monica-based Cred , a new startup which is being incubated and advised by Mike Jones and Science Inc., said this morning that it has launched a new mobile app to help consumer invest and learn about cryptocurrency. The "micro-investing" part of the app rounds everyday purchases--for example, rounding up a $3.55

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. 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. It’s no fun for either side.

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 12, 2012

It looks like Google's YouTube intends to pull at least 60 percent of its programming deals for online content providers, a move that may have a huge impact on Southern California's emerging video content startups. Those companies include Maker Studios , My Damn Channel , Big Frame , DECA , Katalyst , Machinima , ZEFR , and others.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan. Per the words of an old country song, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” If you are losing money on every unit, it’s hard to make it up in volume. Calculate investment amounts and timing.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2022

I tell entrepreneurs that Google was an “exception” to all the investment and startup rules, but I’ve always wondered what it takes to be an exception. Sergey, a mathematical wizard, is the arbiter of Google’s technological approach. Google now employs about 140,000 people. It didn’t disappoint me.

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socalTECH

MARCH 5, 2014

Add another, Southern California company to the exclusive list of billion-dollar plus startups here. Auction.com said this morning that it has raised $50M in a funding from Google Capital, at a $1.2 Auction.com joins SpaceX, Snapchat, and Beats Electronics in the short list of $1 billion plus valuation, venture backed startups here.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2020

For example, you may think that disruptive smartphones were an overnight sensation, but in reality, it took huge investments by several different companies starting in 1992, including IBM, Apple, and Google, before the market really took off in 2007. Innovation doesn’t even require technology.

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

David Carter and Allen Hurff are two startup veterans, who believe they have a new formula to help create early stage, technology companies, through their new "startup studio", Zuma Ventures (www.zumavc.com). We sat down with David and Allen to learn more about how the company wants to change how startups are created.

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014

Google''s YouTube has created a huge upswing in content and media startups-and fortunes--in Los Angeles, with the rise of multi-channel networks. youtube hollywood channel content creator video funding investment' A new effort by YouTube to fund individual content creators-- announcd last week --might further fuel that fire.

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Another, Silicon Valley investor-- Chris Sacca --has his eyes on investments in Los Angeles, saying that his super angel fund, Lowercase Capital , has just hired a full time director in Los Angeles to make investments in local startups. Sacca did not say how large of a fund he is dedicating to Los Angeles investments.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

I think I’ve read Paul Graham’s post on “ Startup = Growth ” three or four times now. “The growth of a successful startup usually has three phases: There’s an initial period of slow or no growth while the startup tries to figure out what it’s doing. I talked about some of that here.

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TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 27, 2020

Los Angeles was always more than a one-industry town, even when it comes to technology startups, as media and entertainment (and social networking) were always the big draws in Tinseltown. Fastly is also setting up a $50 million retention pool of restricted stock units to give out to Signal Sciences employees. Morgan Stanley & Co.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2021

As an angel investor to startups, I’m still surprised to find entrepreneurs who expect investors to give them money, and assume no strings attached. Angel and venture capital money always comes with ownership and management implications, starting with the obvious ones outlined in the term sheet for the deal.

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 26, 2015

Los Angeles-based PeerStreet said this morning that it has launched a brand new, online real estate loan marketplace, which is aimed at accredited investors interested in real estate investments. The company said it already has funded more than $35M in real estate loans, across 78 properties, during its pre-launch phase. READ MORE>>.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Most of what I think about startup communities came from mentorship by Brad Feld through hours of private discussion and debate.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community. There was no monetary reward for those who participated (and Startup Boost does not take fees or equity from the companies that we help). Yet they turned-out each and every week of our six-week programs.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

When the masses start all running one way without questioning “why?&# – and when it defies any logic I can figure out in my head – I call bullshit. They have marked-up paper gains propped up by an over excited venture capital market that has validated their investments. “ Question Authority.&#.

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TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 7, 2018

Investors are pouring millions into the creation of a network of shared kitchens, storage facilities, and pickup counters that established chains and new food entrepreneurs can access to cut down on overhead and quickly spin up new concepts in fast food and casual dining. Other deep pocketed companies have also stepped into the fray.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2022

Most social media outlets don’t require a subscription charge, but they certainly always require an investment, sometimes large, in people, in technology, your reputation, and your time. As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. Find the right tools to analyze the ROI. Marty Zwilling.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

If you want the whole deck you can find it on SlideShare but I’ve written up a short summary with commentary below. Yes, VC / Startup Funding is up Massively If you look at how much VC firms have raised from Limited Partners (LPs) over the past 2 decades you’ll see that we’ve returned to a level that we haven’t seen since 1999.

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TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 16, 2020

Over their longtime personal and professional relationship, the two Los Angeles-based serial entrepreneurs have invested in each other’s companies and investment firms, but never worked together until now. We’re seeing a lot more companies that are starting up now as a result of a [the pandemic],” said Norton.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. Almost anyone can start a company today on a shoestring budget, following these cost-cutting recommendations: Establish a solid legal structure for your business.

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socalTECH

MAY 2, 2013

However, the newest venture capital fund in the area TenOneTen Ventures (tenoneten.net), headed up by David Waxman and Gil Elbaz, is hoping to change that, by focusing its efforts on technology-focused startups here. Explain what kinds of investments TenOneTen makes or hopes to make? How did the new fund come about?

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socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2013

In a sign of the growth of the Silicon Beach technology world, last year, Google moved its headquarters out of a space on Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica, and into a new fancy headquarters space in Venice. Walter Grieves: Our goal is to bring together universities, startups, and investors in one place. It's up to the community.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2013

The number of startups getting seed funding in 2012 jumped by 65% over the previous year to a total of 1749, according to a recent report by CB Insights. Seed investments” are early stage financings (typically less than $1.5 This is great evidence that the recession drag on funding new startups is behind us. Stay alert.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I had just left Salesforce.com where I was VP, Products, after they had acquired my second startup. VC is a long-term business Some businesses are overnight successes but few of them really move immediately up and to the right. We have invested in every round and as a result our ownership has actually gone up over time.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

Paul Kedrosky made the case for “naive optimism&# being an important part of startup success. I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on the skills I’ve developed in my career. got picked up early without raising a lot of VC. Always have been.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2010

What do Google Analytics and print newspapers have in common? I’ve been using Chartbeat for over a month now to track performance of my blog and I find myself looking at Google Analytics much less these days. In fact, I’m surprised by how antiquated Google Analytics feels. Basically, it rocks! It’s addictive.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

Brad wrote up his answer here – you should read it because it’s very instructive for how I believe communities ought to think about naming conventions. I recommend that you start by writing down the attributes you would want people to think about when they think about your brand. This is the list I would start with.

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