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What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

Gross Burn vs. Net Burn. Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Net burn is the amount of money you are losing per month. I often see companies burning $100,000 per month (net) looking to raise $6-8 million.

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Why The Media Has Been Wrong About YouTube Networks

Both Sides of the Table

For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. Selling at smaller retailers will net you fewer customers and higher margins.

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What Makes an Entrepreneur? Cojones (7/11)

Both Sides of the Table

But when I’m looking to write my check I need to look in the eyes of the captain — the maestro who brings the whole orchestra together. If this idea was so big then why would they risk not being first to market, not building defensible IP for the sake of a few hundred thousand dollars extra in lock-up money at a big company?

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Should Startups Focus on Profitability or Not?

Both Sides of the Table

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!” If you spent the 3 years perfecting some hugely differentiated technology IP that may also be different. One of them is profitability.

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Roping in the Legal Eagles

InfoChachkie

Just as you would not ask your family physician to perform a coronary bypass, do not ask your corporate lawyer to help you write your patent application. The money you pay your IP lawyer should be judiciously spent, but you should not attempt to save money by working with someone without the appropriate experience in your technical domain.

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Why Lawsuits Are On the Rise at Startups and What To Do About It

Both Sides of the Table

As I write these words I already imagine my next deposition in which I’m asked to read this out loud. This also happens out of “startup weekends” where it’s unclear who contributed to the IP and where many people don’t continue with the idea beyond the first 30 days. *. Lawsuits. It is insanely common.

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The Long-Term Value of Loyalty

Both Sides of the Table

I didn’t mean to be so insulting and I didn’t mean for the net to be cast so wide that many people wondered whether I was talking about them when I was speaking of “job hoppers.&# I learned a lot from reading the comments. No rule is ever absolute no matter how it sounds when one writes a blog.

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