Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Today I’m handing her the largest A-round check I’ve ever written as a VC as we lead her $10 million A-Round at uBeam. As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. We hired IP specialists to review prior art.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

VC's love to talk about their successes. Yet most VC's bury their failures under six feet of denial. In the startup world, the former happens when a VC makes a bad investment, and the latter occurs when they miss a great opportunity. Tech Diligence - Consider The Source. However, they seldom acknowledge their mistakes.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

Hello friends, and welcome back to Week in Review ! I’ve been writing quite a bit about crypto lately, and this week I dug into a particularly interesting facet of the industry called DAOs. Last week, we talked about about the “de-stonkifying” of the market. ” my colleague Aisha notes.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

You race back to the office to tell everybody how well it went and you wait for the follow-up call to have a partners’ meeting or talk about term sheets or at least dip into due diligence. This is a very common scenario when entrepreneurs pitch VCs and frankly is a very common scenario when VCs try to raise money from LPs.

Software Review 381

Software Review Startup Email Conference 381

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

This is why investors really like SaaS software companies where you have recurring revenue and your largest customer accounts for < 5% of your revenue and your renewals rates are > 90%. Many software companies have > 80% gross margins which is why they are more valuable than say traditional retailers or consumer product companies.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. If you are outside internet software we are not going to invest. Is that when it became big? This time frame – 2005/2006 – web 2.0

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

Or as I picked up from Bruce Dunlevie at Benchmark Capital (who I’m told took the quote from elsewhere). I plan to write a whole separate blog post about this quote because it’s always stuck with me. I wanted to write a follow up post because it was such an important lesson for me and so eye opening.

Startup 247

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Writing 247

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The vast majority of those are nowhere up to modern codes. “From the invention of the semiconductor to the creation of the Internet, new engines of economic growth have emerged due to public investments that support research, commercialization, and strong supply chains,” the White House wrote. ” Climate resiliency .

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

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!” Do you imagine eventually raising VC and trying to build a faster growing company?” One of them is profitability. Not necessarily.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

On Losing in VC. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. There are other great VC’s in SoCal and there is always the allure of the NorCal guys flying down and talking about how they invested in Google, Facebook, Yahoo! Write things down. We helped the write out their requirements for a system.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

On Losing in VC. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. There are other great VC’s in SoCal and there is always the allure of the NorCal guys flying down and talking about how they invested in Google, Facebook, Yahoo! Write things down. We helped the write out their requirements for a system.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. I’m a software guy so I’m sure there are cases where building isn’t feasible. They might be as hard as raising VC. The key to getting money is that the people writing the check trust you. Product : You should build a product or a prototype.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

Kind of like a law firm (or VC firm) with four partners but shortened to just two, people dropped off his second two words. I’ve wanted to write a blog post called “Mobile Second” for a long time to make this point more forcefully. Try writing long reviews of a restaurant. They do both well.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

We have almost a thousand bloggers who are writing reviews about the products we offer, and we also review them from our own point of view, to help support parents decisions and learning about products in the real world. So, I reached out to this VC I mentioned, who sent him an email.

Software Review 200

Software Review Commerce Startup Sites 200

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

The company provides SAT, ACT, and other similar test preparation courses and related software. I had worked as a tutor for Princeton Review, and Jake for Kaplan. We thought, we could put out a better product than Kaplan or Princeton Review, which would be more compelling, and also would tie in a strong social mission.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2011

I recommend you first review Dharmesh’s article and then listen to Naval’s thoughts. Venture Hacks is educating entrepreneurs on the game theory of how to raise venture capital. These days, thanks to code and community, we can productize almost any process done by humans. AngelList is the productization of that.

Startup 273

Startup Software Review Summary Technical Review 273

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

I’ve been meaning to write this post since September of last year when Brad Feld first wrote about the The Founders Visa Movement. I commented briefly on his blog and made a mental note to write a blog post. At the time he granted me permission to write about his story. We then moved our Chief Software Architect over.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Startup High Tech Software Review 282

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

As I have pointed out in previous posts , 91% of VCs surveyed believe prices are declining (30% believe substantially) and 77% believe that funding will take longer than it has in the past. If they’re only 1 of 5 they might rather just take the write off. And recaps hurt founders so often people just avoid doing them.

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

We helped the write out their requirements for a system. Two weeks after winning the deal and well into implementation planning we released a new version of our software. How could a company like ours be so callous as not to support their software (even one more than 4 years out of date)? we would support 6.0

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I spoke about how Amazon Web Services deserves far more credit for the last 5 years of innovation than it gets credit for and how I believe they spawned the micro-VC category. I said that I felt that Micro-VCs were the most important change in our industry. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. I believe that.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

It says that selling an airplane ticket for $500 and getting paid a $5 fees by the airlines (1% gross margin) is not the same thing as selling $500 of software that you built (>90% gross margin). The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

I’m writing this post to make sure you’re all on that same playing field. Fortunately I was mostly a technology consultant, which meant that I coded computers, designed databases and planned system integration projects. He said, literally, I sh*t you not, “well, my report was due and I didn’t have much time.

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

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. When I first met the team in San Diego they had only been working on their software for 5 months. And the progress since my first product review is also great. Another example.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

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. . * Im constantly frustrated by conversations that take place in discussion groups that cant cross the border into the blog world.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

I’m very pleased today to announce that I invested, on behalf of GRP Partners, in Burstly alongside Rincon Venture Partners , an early stage VC in Southern California whith whom we love to work (and were our co-investors on RingRevenue ). I’ll explain in detail below. What does it do?

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2010

It makes no sense to meet in August or December due to travel schedules of most investors. For the record, this is not a secret, coded messages to companies for which I am on the board! VC’s Want to Help! Most VC’s want to help. So help your VC’s help you. Running the “Agile&# Board.

Startup 301

Startup Venture Capital Software Review Email 301

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

This is a story of one of the risks of venture capital. But some companies have entrepreneurs that seem talented on paper, are in a space that seems interesting to investors and are able to raise venture capital early in the company’s existence. 2 weeks later and we may never have raised any more VC.

Startup 299

Startup Venture Capital Technical Review Training 299

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

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. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due. But I didn’t write it for you; I wrote it for myself.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I need to take some VC meetings. But it did take Brad as a public spokesman, consummate networker and successful VC to help create legitimacy to let David’s ideas flourish. When you think about the success that is Silicon Valley, the unfair advantage is not just the huge amounts of available venture capital.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2015

BTW – if anybody at Twitter reads this you need to fix your “embed Tweet” code because as you’ll see from above it doesn’t properly embed when you have a quoted Tweet. **. I just write. I told her I need “20 minutes” to write a blog post. Keep on writing. HSzvQK63th. Ezra asked.

Blogging 150

Blogging Writing Email Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

No rule is ever absolute no matter how it sounds when one writes a blog. My company had raised venture capital in April 2001 but we were told that there may never be any more coming. But in these years I learned how to sell software – necessity is the mother of all invention. I never built Google.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Frank Addante

JULY 30, 2007

► August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? StrongMail Systems (Digital Messsaging Infrastructure Software) Status: VC-backed (Sequoia Capital, Globespan and Evercore) Lesson: Trust your gut. ► July (1) ► June (3) ► May (5) the Rubicon Project The Journey Startup 6.0: Zondigo, Inc.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Outsource Development Advertising 40

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

. - Journalists don’t know enough about your company before the show, don’t have time for proper research, and you will be competing for their time afterward with 49+ other companies that want them to write about you. - Do not equate that with them giving you glowing reviews – you have to earn that.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

You can write this as a narrative in 3–5 key bullet points. Create a Short Strategy / Discussion Deck Create a 5–10 page presentation in your favorite presentation software on any key issues you are grappling with. Some members probably want most of the board meeting to be a review of financial information.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

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. Hardware + Software The world is filled with investors who will tell you, “We don’t do hardware.”

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

I’ll write that post one day – it is a very interesting story. What results must you have in order to raise venture capital or garner good press coverage that helps drive customer acquisition (and also more funding!)? million, a live product that was featured in iTunes and has gotten rave reviews. ON SUCCESS.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

If the recruiting manager’s job consisted solely of reviewing your resume it would be an easy task. VC Pitch Decks. The great thing about the VC pitch deck is that you can have 30 slides. I would then have as many pages of analysis as required to show the detailes of my review. I review many products every week.

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Slides Software Review Blogging Venture Capital 346