Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is the third article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on my background. I think being knowledgeable about your sector can be important.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Private equity investment firm Blackstone said Friday that it is expanding its university entrepreneurship program, Blackstone LaunchPad , to Southern California. blackstone launchpad student entrepreneurship program ucla southern california entrepreneur startup business' READ MORE>>.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2013

is already well above the dot.com bubble of 15 years ago, although we have slipped a bit this year from the high point of 320 new entrepreneurs out of 100,000 adults in 2011. Thus a record number of entrepreneurs (and employees) are getting rich. Social media is a boon for entrepreneurs and startups.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

The speaks to the continued confidence in the venture capital markets and as I had predicted some time ago the VC markets right now are a great place to invest – especially relative to other places to put one’s money. Our last fund we raised was in 2012 and we began investing it in April of 2012. But that’s it.

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SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 About this Blog Ive been thinking about doing a blog with my thoughts on technology and whats happening in the Los Angeles area technology scene for a while, but it was Ben Kuos recent start of a blog that inspired me to actually go ahead and do it. Thanks Ben.

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socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2015

Earlier this week, Los Angeles-based CrossCut Ventures (www.crosscutventures.com) announced its third, venture capital fund--a continuation of an investment theme very much centered around the growth of Southern California, and in particular, the Silicon Beach startup ecosystem. Tell us about your new fund?

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Southern California Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

By now you will likely have read Andy Dunn’s scathing post about Venture Capitalists in which he decries the industry’s masses. After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. billion in returns.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. I spoke about a lot of things during the keynote. 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. If you are interested the Vimeo is here.

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Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

I spent my first year developing proprietary deal flow and learning the business and then the Sept 2008 / Lehman Bros collapse / financial meltdown happened. I remain a huge supporter and am very proud of our accomplishments and hugely optimistic about our future. I have done 6 VC investments – all within the past 20 months.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

We have previously raised funds in 1996 ($200 million), 2000 ($400 million) and 2008/9 ($200 million). If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. Why should investors know all the tricks of the trade while first-time entrepreneurs operated at a disadvantage?

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Since 2008, the desire for profits has trumped passion in 54 percent of new startups, according to a recent study. Being called a lifestyle entrepreneur should be a point of pride, not an insult. Of course, even lifestyle entrepreneurs want to be happy, and want their business to be “successful.” Cobb and M.

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socalTECH

MAY 25, 2016

Santa Monica-based March Capital Partners (www.marchcp.com) has just announced a brand new, $240M venture investment fund, led by longtime venture investing veterans Jim Armstrong, Sumant Mandal, Gregory Milken and Jamie Montgomery. What is the investment focus for this fund? It's all about the entrepreneur.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

As of today, I will have published an article here for entrepreneurs and startups every day for the last 1001 days, since I started Startup Professionals Musings near the close of 2008. Here are ten key messages that I would like to leave you with: I continue to gain respect for entrepreneurs. I’m sure you know what I mean.

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InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

VC's love to talk about their successes. In the startup world, the former happens when a VC makes a bad investment, and the latter occurs when they miss a great opportunity. For us, it’s OK if we miss a great deal once in a while, so long as the companies we DO invest in generate outstanding returns. Unicornless. > -jeff.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Friday, March 9, 2007 Map of VC Investments Found this Map of 2006 VC Investments post. Product Manager Entrepreneur Mark Geller SEO for Startups Startup Version 1.0 Some very interesting graphics including this heat map: Very cool visualization tool! in Computer Science.

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socalTECH

JUNE 27, 2013

We caught up with Mark Suster , one of Upfront''s General Partners and a well known blogger and technology personality, the new fund, and how his blogging is now driving the firm''s investment activity. Tell us about the new fund? Obviously, we feel great about that. Our 2008 fund is also performing incredibly strong.

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Funding Venture Capital Los Angeles Social Media 196

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

What do you get when you combine 7 panelist plus one moderator on to a stage for 30 minutes to talk about a serious topic? There are real changes in the venture capital industry and it would have been fun to talk about them. If given a chance here’s what I would have talked about: 1. Answer: Not much. It’s a shame.

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Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

” I found myself nodding through all of it with quotes like, “Seed investing is the status symbol of Silicon Valley,” said Sam Altman. One of my favorite entrepreneur-Twitterer weighed in, “You want to keep tapping into their collective intelligence so you keep saying ‘Thank you for the feedback’ and they keep sending it,” Ms.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008.

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Activity Customer Custom Resource 100

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

If you’re an early-stage entrepreneur, technology has served you well. The Case Foundation invests in people and ideas that can change the world. In five short years, they’ve helped build 52 companies, raised 25 million in investments and reached over 2000 founders. “[It] The Case Foundation (Washington, DC).

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Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 140

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2012

In that post I talked about how to select a law-firm for a startup. I told him that our market was absolutely booming and was worthy of a commensurate investment. Invest they have. The whole movement to seed funds / early investments happened for a reason. It was very widely read. It should be: Local; Right-sized; and.

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Venture Capital Startup Los Angeles GRP Partners 299

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. It is clear that he is simply passionate about being a VC and participating in this industry. In 2008 they raised a much larger fund $132.5 and Half.com.

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Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. Clearstone currently invests out of a $200 million fund based in LA with offices in Menlo Park and in India. Segment Two: “Deal of the Week”.

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 1, 2009

For our Insights and Opinions section today, we have an article from Mark Suster of GRP Ventures , who talks about the great "VC Ice Age" triggered in September of 2008, and how it's started to thaw (a little bit). But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary.

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Venture Capital Activity Capital Funding 133

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

I’ve seen friends (and family members) lose much of their savings that way over the years because “Black Swans” happen and in 1987, 2001, 2003 & 2008 (just to name a few from my memory) huge market gyrations caused much financial distress to people seeking short-term gains. So, too, investments.

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Marketing Venture Capital Startup Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

I know many super experienced entrepreneurs who don’t understand the basics of how fund size and age can affect them so I thought it was worth establishing a baseline. It actually wasn’t the point of my post – my point was just to get people thinking about the issues of size and age in the first place.

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Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Invest 265

SoCal Tech Calendar

DECEMBER 1, 2008

Tuesday, December 2, 2008 -- VC OUTLOOK '09: If You Need Funding, You're F%#$*d.Or VCs don't invest in trends they invest in passionate entrepreneurs. Yet many VC's claim they're still investing, and though they may hit the brakes a lot more, their doors will stay open for business. DealMaker Media.

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Venture Capital News Invest Media 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion.

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Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 4, 2017

Portugal was hit hard by the global financial crash of 2008. The city is currently favoured by young entrepreneurs looking to launch their business ideas, thanks to the low cost of living, thriving cultural scene, and the high quality of life. Lisbon to House a Mega Startup Campus.

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Startup Entrepreneur Education Capital 70

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

We thought today for our interview, that we'd get an update on the angel investment environment here in Southern California from Scott Sangster , the incoming President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Tech Coast Angels , the biggest angel investment group in Southern California. It was actually a really good year last year.

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Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 182

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

It in not uncommon to see a VC talk about “total assets under management&# as in “We have $1.5 I’m writing this post to explain to entrepreneurs what you should be thinking about in terms of the VC’s you approach and the size and stage of their funds. What IS relevant about the size of a VC’s fund?

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Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

socalTECH

DECEMBER 31, 2018

Editor's note: As we head into the new year, we've been featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. If you have a venture you believe in and you are showing good growth traction, it's all about growth not profitability.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began. pre-money valuation you certainly would want to exercise your right to continue investing if you had prorata rights. and the bigger funds can’t get in directly.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Eric Greenspan

JULY 3, 2012

It’s simply about a team of dedicated individuals that failed. We failed because the economy has drastically fallen since 2008, particularly in the consumer sector. Since 2008, the company has been forced to lower it’s prices, from $120/hour to $80/hour. Then, we got a verbal yes on a decent capital investment.

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Capital Pricing Press Customer 234

InfoChachkie

JULY 18, 2012

Entrepreneurs are inundated with success stories, but far less is written about ventures that do not succeed. Most entrepreneurs do not have the guts to publicly discuss a venture gone awry. It’s simply about a team of dedicated individuals that failed. Then, we got a verbal yes on a decent capital investment.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 3, 2010

This was really a fun week at TWiVC because we decided to have an entrepreneur come and talk about raising capital rather than having a VC come on. It’s always such a pleasure for me to spend time with Farb because he has all of the enthusiasm and energy you love to see in entrepreneurs. Farb talks about how he did that.

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