Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. What is perhaps different from other regions is that we have large indigenous aerospace industry and a big high-tech import/export trade as opposed to a lot of software companies. “There’s something going on in LA.”

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

socalTECH

JULY 7, 2010

One complaint we sometimes hear from venture capitalists visiting Southern California for the first time, is the difficulty of finding experienced entrepreneurs and executives. socalTECH.com has mined its proprietary database of high tech companies and entrepreneurs and identified just a few of the repeat entrepreneurs to watch in the region.

Southern California 228

Southern California Entrepreneur SoCal Mahalo 228

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

And she didn’t start her company in Northern California. Tracy built her company, Recycled Media , out of necessity. She drove her company to profitability before paying herself a modest salary. She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. She put all of her savings into her company. More on that later.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2012

Sara focuses upon another side of small business financing not typically considered in the angel and venture world, financing from sources for companies that will probably never be attractive to those niches. . So, you’ve been thinking about starting your own firm for the past ten years. Your business plan is ready.

Funding 192

Funding Entrepreneur Startup Invest 192

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor). It’s an option, even though an expensive one.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 18, 2019

Launched by the music and cultural impresario with more hustle than hustle and his business partner Jason Geder, the new collaborative investment strategy focused on tech startups will allow high net worth individuals to participate in deals. Live streaming studio, Culture Genesis, launches its first show, the quiz-based Trivia Mob.

Invest 187

Invest Los Angeles Resource Venture Capital 187

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

Marc Andreessen kicked off another great debate on Twitter last night , one that I’ve been talking about incessantly in private circles for the past 2-3 years – what actually IS the definition of a seed vs. A-round. This is something I think entrepreneurs don’t totally understand and it’s worthwhile they do.

Seed Funding 399

Seed Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 399

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2014

Entrepreneurs are all about firsts, and the most important is you making a great first impression – on investors, customers, new team members, and strategic partners. Most entrepreneurs have spent months, and hours of hard work, preparing the necessary business plans, executive presentations, and financial models to impress investors.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur .Net Google Research 106

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 18, 2012

As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, serial entrepreneur and noted venture capitalist Mark Suster recently shared his advice with a large crowd of emerging entrepreneurs. In the last six weeks, I have been pitched by five entrepreneurs under 20. free weekly Infochachkie articles! The youngest was 15.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Startup Conference Santa Barbara 272

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2013

For most entrepreneurs, their current business is not where they intend to stay until they die. The challenge is how to know and exit gracefully when the right time has come, without trauma to either the company or themselves. Don’t shackle yourself to the past. Keep good company. Aging despots. Comeback kids. Take risks.

Entrepreneur 91

Entrepreneur Startup Tips .Net 91

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2009

“You are forty, out of a job, a newlywed, your wife is expecting a baby, you don’t own your own home, you have no specialized qualifications, the only company you ever launched went bankrupt and you have just been sentenced to one year in jail.”. Hint: He was an entrepreneur. The same is true of entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Startup 153

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 22, 2016

We had a spirited discussion regarding a number of issues related to blowing past $10M in annual recurring SaaS revenue, in front of a sold-out crowd of about 400 entrepreneurs. Ara went on to note that ServiceTitan has been experiencing negative churn, netting 120% annual revenue growth from existing customers.

Custom 100

Custom Customer Cornerstone OnDemand Metrics 100

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

As I thought about the characteristics that comprise a great program, I identified five criteria that a prospective entrepreneurial student can use to evaluate the efficacy of a collegiate entrepreneur curriculum. Ask: What percentage of the startup-oriented classes are taught by accomplished entrepreneurs?

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Class Patents 100

InfoChachkie

JULY 18, 2011

Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham and Marcia Brown’s Stone Soup , the seemingly innocuous board game Monopoly has played a pivotal role in the edification of several generations of entrepreneurs. This conveys the healthy message that business success is not binary – a company can thrive without driving its competitors into bankruptcy.

Entrepreneur 216

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Paramount 216

socalTECH

JULY 21, 2014

We spoke with Scott Painter , CEO and founder of the company--and already a successful serial entrepreneurs--about the journey from startup to public company, lessons learned, and his advice to CEOS who might be thinking about an IPO for their own company. Congratulations on the IPO. Scott Painter: It''s interesting.

Truecar 209

Truecar Entrepreneur Southern California .Net 209

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Entrepreneurs who experience promising initial success also play a similar game. A similar experience occurred at a cloud computing company where I acted as an addVisor. The company was approached by a Big Dumb Company (BDC) who made a nominal acquisition offer within months of the company’s founding.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Acquisition Pricing 124

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Entrepreneurs who experience promising initial success also play a similar game. A similar experience occurred at a cloud computing company where I acted as an addVisor. The company was approached by a Big Dumb Company (BDC) who made a nominal acquisition offer within months of the company’s founding.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Acquisition Pricing .Net 124

InfoChachkie

MARCH 16, 2010

However, in many cases, acquiring companies behave in a less rational manner than Mr. Jackson. Citrix politely approached us, told us they had an interest in acquiring our company and then asked us, “How much?”. Our response was that there was no “price” as our company was not for sale. We were not rude nor indignant.

Company 160

Company Companies Pricing Santa Barbara 160

InfoChachkie

MARCH 5, 2012

In the past year, the number of startup accelerators and incubators across the US has grown faster than expansion league baseball. We are actually giving the companies money, rather than taking money from them. But it’s people that tend to be entrepreneurs who are early on their company and entrepreneurial arc.

Startup 270

Startup Incubator Doc Mentor 270

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs, I find that I often have to remind them that the world of customers has changed since they started their last business. Most businesses use big data to analyze past transactions for volume and location, but they now need to look deeper. Use analytics to see why customers are buying, as well as what.

Custom 133

Custom Customer Social Media Startup 133

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2014

According to earlier studies from Forbes Insights , many entrepreneurs and small businesses not only feel the lessons learned during the past few years have helped them survive, but the recession also exposed flaws in their business strategies that they were able to fix. 2015 business optimism entrepreneur strategy'

Study 102

Study Entrepreneur .Net Guide 102

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

As discussed in Personal Pitch , entrepreneurs must cultivate the help of Donors during the early days of their adVenture. In most instances, the Donor’s compensation comes from the satisfaction of helping a fellow entrepreneur who is on the front end of her career. Entrepreneurs are action oriented and not highly contemplative.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Help Networking Startup 210

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 3, 2016

After careful planning and working with major institutions of nnovation here, companies, and community leaders, we launched Innovate Pasadena in 2013. We convinced Cross Campus to open a location here, and they just celebrated their first anniversary this past February. They've filled up pretty quickly.

Pasadena 100

Pasadena Orange County Idealab CalTech 100

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 29, 2011

I do not advocate that you perform unnatural acts in an attempt to make your company more advantageous to venture funding. LOCATION: I Wish They All Could Be California Companies. A clear trend over the past 15-years is that many Silicon Valley venture capitalists enjoy investing within driving distance.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Capital Funding Technical Review 233

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

Derek Norton: I just closed on a new fund, worth $5M, which I raised from a group of high net worth, high profile LPs. That's the first time organized, institutional, managed capital is coming into a company, right after friends and family. We help companies do the same kind of thing, except with corporate development.

Invest 145

Invest Funding Capital Startup 145

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2011

Investor in Twitter, Foursquare, DISQUS, and (by Naval’s own admission) “a lot of other companies you have never heard of”. Venture Hacks is educating entrepreneurs on the game theory of how to raise venture capital. When great companies really hit, all the investors want in and there isn’t enough room. Former Founder Epinions.

Startup 273

Startup Software Review Summary Technical Review 273

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

Some of the all-time greatest business deals involve entrepreneurs who viewed the scope of their negotiations in terms of decades, rather than years. Too often, entrepreneurs negotiate deals which consider a relatively short-term time horizon. However, shrewd entrepreneurs look beyond a deal’s near-term impact.

Miramar 100

Miramar .Net Sales Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of someday taking their startup public, and making it a multi-national powerhouse. According to an Ernst & Young report , the number of startups that have gone public in the US over the past decade is down about 75% from the previous decade, to about 10% of startup exits.

Startup 97

Startup Report Entrepreneur Statistics 97

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor).

Venture Capital 174

Venture Capital Invest Class Entrepreneur 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2013

Entrepreneurs are all about firsts, and the most important is you making a great first impression – on investors, customers, new team members, and strategic partners. Most entrepreneurs have spent months, and hours of hard work, preparing the necessary business plans, executive presentations, and financial models to impress investors.

.Net 98

.Net Entrepreneur Google Research 98

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund As I outlined last week, trophy angel investors are always looking for trophy entrepreneurs. In many areas, not enough entrepreneurs meet the criteria, so it’s still a buyer’s market. We see many entrepreneurs who grossly over value their company when attempting to obtain outside investment.

Funding 106

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Activity 106

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

This latest round valued the company in excess of a billion dollars, entering them into the overly-hyped Unicorn Club. In contrast, low-volume, high-conviction investors like Rincon only invests in a handful new companies each year, making it much more costly (in dollars and effort expended) to invest in a loser.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2012

Entrepreneurs are all about firsts, and the most important is you making a great first impression – on investors, customers, new team members, and strategic partners. Most entrepreneurs have spent months, and hours of hard work, preparing the necessary business plans, executive presentations, and financial models to impress investors.

.Net 107

.Net Entrepreneur Google Research 107

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2010

Starting a tech company requires youthful vigor, endurance, freedom from obligations like mortgages, imagination, and an intimate understanding of what’s trendy and hip. The article summarized several findings that I personally found surprising: Technology company founders born in the U.S.

Blogging 93

Blogging Entrepreneur Sample Yahoo 93

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

Whether you are talking to peers, competitors or investors, you as an active entrepreneur will be judged on your familiarity with today’s startup and funding jargon. In that context, I offer you my latest collection of popular investor-to-entrepreneur terms and concepts. Frothy is good for entrepreneurs. Seed-round investment.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Still, as I’ve written in the past, what I love about blogging is the ability to have a public debate where we can all learn. Babak Nivi is one of the most understated, helpful & important people on the entrepreneur / startup scene in NorCal. But it +is+ an anti-entrepreneur stance.&# My view for entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

InfoChachkie

JULY 9, 2013

To the surprise of no one, other than snooty film critics, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey broke Christmas box office records this past weekend. Unlike seeking a position with a big company, you cannot simply scan Craigslist, shotgun your LinkedIn profile and do the interview dance. Tactics For Joining A Startup AdVenture.

Startup 230

Startup Technical Review Tips RSS 230