article thumbnail

Announcing a Deal I’ve Wanted to Talk About for a Year

Both Sides of the Table

I first met Ethan in 2005. He had an idea for a startup that would help consumers better book service jobs and would take on Service Magic, which he believed had a business model that could be disrupted. I was preparing to move back to the US from London after 11 years abroad. The company was called Red Beacon.

CTO Coach 359
article thumbnail

How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

Both Sides of the Table

So when Sam Rosen came to me with the idea of disrupting storage with a product that is priced cheaper than existing incumbents and he could build a product that is a better service I was intrigued. But that’s harder to build in 2016 than it was in say 2005. The top 5 players combined control less than 25% of the market.

Startup 150
article thumbnail

This Week in VC Episode 6 with @Jason Calacanis: Best One Yet

Both Sides of the Table

Invidi – Provider of addressable television advertising and marketing services to cable, satellite and telco-delivered television carriers. Klarna – Klarna provides a service that allows consumers to purchase via invoices or on account (store credit) from online merchants.