Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. Today you have funders focused exclusively on “Day 0” startups or ones that aren’t even created yet. By definition?—?I’m HP Style) are dead.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. People often ask me why I started blogging. It really started simply enough. Struggling to come up with enough topics?

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. Should SaaS companies trade at a 24x Enterprise Value (EV) to Next Twelve Month (NTM) Revenue multiple as they did in November 2021? By 2021 we had to write a $3.5m

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. The Basics The starting point — the 101 — is knowing the difference between gross burn and net burn. You start from the basics, which is if you raise $2.5

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

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

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

When you set up a board it is often initially a combination of the founders and the early investors. It can start 2–1 founders to investors and then sometimes moves to 3–2 but sometime around the A, B or C round the idea of “independent” directors comes up. I will also outline how to select them and incentivize them.

Startup 187

Startup Writing Venture Capital Oracle 187

InfoChachkie

MARCH 4, 2013

Business Lessons From The Dark Side Of The Moon. • Obtain Customer Feedback Before You Release Your Product - Musicians spend their entire youth writing songs and performing them in front of live audiences, which ensures that their initial album is validated by their fans before they enter the recording studio. Any time will do."

Startup 269

Startup Cloud Computing RSS Writing 269

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Most are sitting on large portfolios of private companies that are raising money now or will need to do so in the future and they know that they’re up against some headwinds. The Motive for Speaking Up. ” “Mark has a vested interest in talking down valuations of startups.” So prices start dropping.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 28, 2013

Join us for a special evening with InfoWorld’s Dave Linthicum as he delves into global enterprise software trends with some of LA’s most successful SaaS and cloud computing companies. The opportunities cloud computing and SaaS afford management. Paths to SaaS and cloud computing that will work for your enterprise. Scott Kriz.

SaaS 92

SaaS Cloud Computing CIO Web 92

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

if you listen you’ll pick up much more than my quick notes below). We discussed why in Q4 you will see large renegotiations of SaaS contracts and increased churn rates. We talked about what startup CEOs should do in these situations and how to think about these renegotiations. A seed company hasn’t ramped up its cost base.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

I wrote my version here and Scott wrote an excellent write-up of his views here. We both agree that the later-stage valuations are being driven up to a point that feels irrationally priced [he uses b-round SaaS valuations as an example and I am willing to be even more broad based]. Startup Lessons' And we ended.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital SaaS Writing Funding 309

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. I know this stuff cold now.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

I would love to see Tara follow up with blog posts on: why she believes this is the case & what we can do about it. The truth is I have been thinking a lot about the topic, I just haven’t been writing about it. We need to start encouraging it in our youth. AWS helped lower the cost of starting a company by 90%.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Blogging 341

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

As a VC with scores of startups in our portfolio we have ringside seats to many, many fund raising processes plus I had to raise money across about 5 different rounds of capital as an entrepreneur so I’ve developed some thought on the process that I hope can be helpful to some of you before you start. Below is the outline Upfront.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 30 Startup Posts in June 2010 Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March The following are the top items based on social signals.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2011

So I’m not suggesting to startups that you define bad market positions to get noticed. Repetition, repetition, repetition – You need to take every opportunity to ram home your key messages with people so they really start to remember your unique market positioning. It is simple and easily explained. Is it good policy?

Startup 289

Startup Press Software Marketing 289

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I really want to start my journeys only with people with whom I want to work closely with for the next 5-7 years or more. If I were an entrepreneur in that space I think I would seek them out as a starting point because their interest seems authentic. Whenever somebody has a car startup I send it straight his way.

Venture Capital 373

Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

The Valley has obsessed with a quick up-and-to-right momentum story because we were thought to live in “winner take most” markets. But markets have changed and I think investors, founders and experienced executives who want to join later-stage startups can all benefit from playing the long game. It literally drove FOMO.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 363

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

One of the questions we discussed is, “How much capital should a startup raise?” In his words, [in some instances] “because lots of capital is available, the company takes on the capital and that ends up resulting in no constraints on decision making and so the company decides to do five things in stead of just one.”

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

I have been watching ProductPlan for several years, as the founders are both friends and pillars of the Santa Barbara Startup Community. Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2015

I write about sales often both because it’s the lifeblood of any organization and because in my experience it is the area in which more startups are least experienced or inclined. I also write and talk about it frequently because raising capital is a part of sales and this is important for entrepreneurs to understand.

Sales 150

Sales Startup Venture Capital Funding 150

Tech.Co

MARCH 1, 2018

And while that cliché has been said about everything in the Lone Star state for years, it rings particularly true for the hottest startups showcasing their big innovations at SXSW Startup Night 2018 presented by the Kauffman Foundation and TechCo. Beast Mode is taking on a new meaning in the startup world.

Startup 79

Startup Mentor Platform Help 79

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. Oh, and Demo charges the startups $18,000. Too many startup execs place too much emphasis on the big stage launch. I’ve heard many startup CEO’s (and VCs!) It started socially. Robert’s article is worth reading.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. My starting salary was $27,000. I can’t make this up. I have published many of these PR Tips before. ” F**k.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. In the end it will be up to you to figure out what to do. Traditional software vs. SaaS. Nothing blows up great opportunities faster than founders who are constantly fighting. Most VCs are book smart. Past Success?

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

Of course that website isn’t completely up to date but it’s a great resource for seeing the overall picture. 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. But let me start with some data.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. Either way, don’t assume that the entire room is up to speed on your company. tip: write it down when asked / parked). Congratulations.

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2013

Every time I think to write a post about this I figure the most recent board meeting I’ve attended will think it’s about them so I don’t bother. So I’m going to write a series of board meetings posts unrelated to anybody or maybe an amalgamation of them all. Startup Advice'

Writing 337

Writing Venture Capital Help SaaS 337

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2016

What's the difference between pitching your startup on television, versus pitching your startup in real life? And how do you best take advantage of a TV audience to promote your startup? Hatched recently started into its second season. I think the best entry level position is starting in investment banking.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Competition 100

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor over funding until we get huge payouts and ring the bell for more funding until we attract every non-VC on the planet to invest in startups until it crashes and we start the cycle all over again none the wiser. the more money you give a startup the faster they grow.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 11, 2013

You’re a startup. I’m largely talking about whether to use an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) or a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and to some extent, how much to rely on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers or write your own application components. Most SaaS providers deliver end-user applications on-demand, as a service.

SaaS 90

SaaS Framework Resource Google 90

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

The mistake entrepreneurs make is either writing a lengthy email (everybody has too much email so it will get skimmed / not digested) or not having a deck which means the VC can’t quickly determine his or her fit as a potential investor. The key is WHAT you send. I recommend sub 10MB. You’ll get more value out of the meeting that way?

Venture Capital 261

Venture Capital Slides Email Startup 261

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2017

How did you start the company? Our web security seemed a niche solution for Etsy, but then it turned out that the entire industry started moving to this new style of application development. How it is you were at Etsy, and ended up here in Southern California? It's an interesting back story. Let's talk about your funding.

Web 138

Web Startup Southern California Software 138

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Mountain View-based Wrike , a developer of enterprise work management software, said on Monday that it has opened up a new office in San Diego, and plans to hire 150 people in the location. Wrike said the new jobs in the location will be in sales and customer service.

San Diego 100

San Diego Writing Software Sales 100

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 15, 2012

Prior to starting PublishThis, I was the General Manager for Edmunds.com, the automotive site here in Santa Monica. I ran that between 2001 and 2008, and then left to start what has become PublishThis. What we found, was we were trying to get really specific content that matched up with a much granular level of topics.

Web 237

Web Newsletter Content Startup 237

socalTECH

JUNE 30, 2009

FreedomSpeaks is a startup developing a business around connecting people with information about their political representatives, and also enabling organizations and others to do the same. We caught up with Jason and Kurt to hear more about the company. What's the story behind the company and how it started? Jason Kiesel: Yes.

Startup 100

Startup Writing Southern California Email 100

Steve Reich

JUNE 6, 2012

The stories are everywhere…VCs and Angel groups are passe’–the cool kids are raising money from “Super Angels” Just go talk to a friendly millionaire, and he/she will simply write a check to finance your “A” round. The ones that can (and will) write a seven-figure check are rare.

Angel 55

Angel Writing SaaS Startup 55