Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. One of them is profitability.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

The process for retailers and brands to liquidate excess inventory hasn’t changed very much, if at all, and while some retailers were able to build operational infrastructure to service the off-price channels, it continues to be a constant pain point. Naturally, they started in apparel but are also seeing opportunity in beauty and home goods.

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

InfoChachkie

MAY 18, 2015

When joining a startup, there are seven important questions you should ask in order to answer the question: “What the heck are my stock options worth?”. You just received a job offer from a startup which includes 50,000 stock options. 7. What is the Exercise Price of my initial options? That is wonderful…or is it?

Startup 100

Startup Software Review Pricing Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

They decide to wake up early to read the materials. In town board members also only scan it because they, too, have morning meetings before the board meeting starts. The meeting starts. It probably starts late. If you put up 5 slides on “what should we order for lunch today” the board will spend 30 minutes debating that.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price. So don’t raise money at a cheap price, but don’t get too far ahead of yourself either. Pricing high also takes exit options off the table. But if you do this early (pre VC) then the price points are pretty low. This is wrong.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

There is much talk these days that startup valuations have decreased and may continue to do so and that the amount of time it takes to fund raise may take longer. months for fund raising start to finish and make sure you have at least 6 month’s of cash if it takes longer.

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Many people will write the history on why Ring became an enormously successful company and why it became a real-world unicorn in a world when many startups are anointed that merely on paper. It is an LA-based company that was recently acquired by Amazon, which you can read more about in this incredibly well-researched article.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. but: Something is Still Missing.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

I asked some of the same questions I ask in my Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions and then I get to a very common conversation: Me : Do you have specs? It's the same as when I've created financial models and then have it reviewed by a hard-core CFO, sophisticated investor or similar kind of expert. Founder : Ummm. what do you mean?

Develop 354

Develop Development Technical Review CTO Coach 354

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

The company provides SAT, ACT, and other similar test preparation courses and related software. How did Revolution Prep start? We started in 2000. I had worked as a tutor for Princeton Review, and Jake for Kaplan. We started that in 2002, and it's actually our eight year anniversary, on the 20th of September.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

I started with a Top 10 list for Nivi (at VentureHacks), but I couldn’t cram it into 10 so it became a Top 11 list. There’s one attribute (coming soon) that I need to have in order to write a check but I don’t believe is vital for success. OK, it’s not really my final part.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

We caught up with one of the local teams competing in that competition, VOXearch (www.voxearch.com), to learn more about the prize as well as their specific approach to the competition. Mike Outmesguine: We''re one of about thirty teams left in the challenge, out of more than 300 that signed up last August.

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. Good idea & plan: You must start with a good idea and a PowerPoint deck (my outline is here , scroll down mid way).

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I will write more about this in the next 2 weeks. People get too worked up over the word. But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value. Rational people can disagree and some may argue that today’s prices are rational and under-pinned by economic drivers.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . I wanted to be sure that they felt they knew all of my partners well so they could see why I joined up with them in the first place – they are smart guys who have a 20-year track record of winning. Write things down.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series on Start-up Lessons that I learned from founding two companies. But first I’d like to start with a story. They had a team trained up in Documentum and we certainly had enemies from the inside. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. I HATE LOSING.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2010

But when I read thoughtful pieces on the future of technology I start to imagine where our lives will be in 10 years. Yet 2010 is already showing me how connected our lives and our health are starting to become. Writing down your weight from your scale is obviously a manual process and it’s tedious. We’ll see.

Technical Review 278

Technical Review Software Review Startup SoCal 278

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m inspired by the enthusiasm of the young, emerging startup ecosystem that is here. As I gear up to give a keynote at the annual Seattle 2.0 awards dinner on Thursday night I started reflected on what it would take to “change the trajectory&# for Seattle or for any regional market, really.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

What is it about the content delivery network market which has enabled Santa Monica-based EdgeCast to go from startup to over $100M in revenues in only a few, short years? We caught up with James Segil , the firm's President, to hear the story behind that big growth at the company. We've grown really fast.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

In the startup world, the former happens when a VC makes a bad investment, and the latter occurs when they miss a great opportunity. Thus, while we maintain a healthy degree of optimism, we begin each funding discussion knowing that most nascent startups are not worthy of an investment, until we prove them otherwise. Unicornless.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

It’s unbelievable how often start up founders stifle their company from growing by not knowing how to effectively communicate their brand. In order to prepare for TechCrunch Disrupt 2012 I reviewed company bios via the official site and read taglines that said “cool” rather than what the company does. 1 Pre Planning.

Press 97

Press Startup Technical Review Email 97

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . I wanted to be sure that they felt they knew all of my partners well so they could see why I joined up with them in the first place – they are smart guys who have a 20-year track record of winning. Write things down.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

15desks.com), a new startup focused on the education market. We talked with him on why he decided to head up this startup, and what 15desks is all about. It's started with managing courses and grades, on to a whole array of other services. When you are in college, there's a whole array of things that open up.

Education 124

Education Startup Course Tool 124

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

I’m writing this series because if you better understand how VC firms work you can better target which firms make sense for you to speak with. I’m writing this post to explain to entrepreneurs what you should be thinking about in terms of the VC’s you approach and the size and stage of their funds.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

It was an online community like CompuServe and eventually started offering people dial-up access to the Internet for a monthly fee. Brands didn’t advertise their web pages they advertised “AOL Keywords.&# You couldn’t pick up a magazine in the 96-99 timeframe without seeing AOL Keywords advertised everywhere.

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Startup 318

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

This morning's interview is with San Diego-based Kadonk (www.kadonk.com), a startup which is creating project management tools that work with Microsoft Project. The key here is to provide visibility to everyone along the process--not just at the start, when you put it on the wall, or email the project plan to everyone.

Startup 100

Startup Software Review Technical Review Software 100

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

Ive not found that much use for LinkedIn to help my blogging, but Im starting to think about this. I am in the middle of writing up some of my thoughts on this and will post about it and let you know. We have been using LinkedIn for both sourcing recruits and reviewing backgrounds for recruits. Maybe this meme will help.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

No one wakes up and says to themselves, “I need to buy that product I have never heard of before.” Affiliates invest the up-front marketing expenses required to attract customers. Ideally, such ads should clearly articulate the value proposition including the price. Unattributed – There is no such thing as organic customers.

Custom 164

Custom Customer Advertising SEM 164