Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

This is something I think entrepreneurs don’t totally understand and it’s worthwhile they do. My view: “Spending any time or energy trying to game the ‘definition’ of your round of fund raising is a total waste. Nobody cares. No VC will be so naive as not to see straight through it. .”

Seed Funding 399

Seed Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 399

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 2, 2009

Friday, June 5, 2009 -- Maverick Boot Camp for Entrepreneurs. Many entrepreneurs have promising business plans, but are not skilled in how to present their ideas to investors. Do you have a great business idea but are not quite ready to present to angel investors? See [link] (more).

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Training Ideas Design 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

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. VC’s often talk about this term as in the total amount of funds EVER raised by that VC. What is a VC fund? What is total assets under management? -

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

SoCal Tech Calendar

JANUARY 29, 2009

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 -- Entrepreneur Mentoring Session. Entretech is launching Nitro a new program designed to "Get more companies funded in Greater Los Angeles." The size of the event will be kept small, to focus on just one or two entrepeneurs/researchers at a time.

Mentor 100

Mentor Entrepreneur Research Resource 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 8, 2009

Thursday, June 11, 2009 -- Legal Issues for the Entrepreneur. As any entrepreneur can tell you, getting your start-up out of the gates can be tricky.especially when it comes to legal issues. Entrepreneurs face challenges and risks as they transform their concepts and ideas into thriving businesses. See [link] (more).

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur OCTANE Startup Ideas 100

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Very few people fund individuals. In most cases if you can’t get a prototype done you’re probably not an entrepreneur. Professional angels / former entrepreneurs / seed funds – In Silicon Valley there are people like Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Mike Maples and many more. Team: You need a team.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

VC funding. We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor over funding until we get huge payouts and ring the bell for more funding until we attract every non-VC on the planet to invest in startups until it crashes and we start the cycle all over again none the wiser. I see it in many young pups.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. I’m not a doomsday guy, but just believe that we won’t see a V shaped recovery, which could make VC funding more difficult for tech start-ups (don’t shoot the messenger!).

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

SoCal Tech Calendar

JANUARY 16, 2009

Thursday, January 22, 2009 -- "How to Win the Funding Game" TCVN. While entrepreneurs spend countless hours defining their market and their customers, they tend not to develop deep expertise when it comes to raising capital.

TCVN 100

TCVN Funding Entrepreneur Tool 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2013

Convetro , the online advertising targeting and optimization technology developer headed by serial entrepreneur Jeff Zwelling, has raised $5M in a Series B funding round, the company said this morning. The firm said the funding came from Bessemer Venture Partners and DAG Ventures, and will go towards sales and marketing.

Santa Monica 147

Santa Monica Advertising Equity Entrepreneur 147

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 -- The Workshop: Get Funded in One Day (Dealmaker LA). Brought to you by the team who produces Startonomics and Dealmaker LA, this hands-on "workshop-style" event will allow entrepreneurs to drill down on the key issues we face when laying the foundation to build and fund their company.

Rustic Canyon 100

Rustic Canyon MyLife GRP Partners Funding 100

socalTECH

OCTOBER 9, 2019

There's a new opportunity in clean technology investments, according to venture capitalist Aaron Fyke , the head of a new, Pasadena-based venture capital investment fund, Thin Line Capital (www.thinlinecapital.com). Talk about the new firm and the new fund? Cleantech had an enormous rise and fall between 20006 and 2009.

Invest 113

Invest Capital Venture Capital Idealab 113

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

It was 2009 and it was terribly difficult to get any financing (if you can remember a time like that!) and I thought if we brought the community together for common purpose we could create more of a sense of community to help new entrepreneurs get funded, assemble teams, raise profiles and help with biz dev, product, etc.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

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. Most top tier VCs return about 3x invested capital and outlier funds (the best of a vintage) might return 6-8x. Yet their next fund had Facebook in it.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

socalTECH

DECEMBER 15, 2010

Manhattan Beach-based Morphlabs , the provider of software for managing private and public cloud infrastructure, has raised $1M in funding from a strategic partner, the firm said this week. Morphlabs said that BroadBand Tower has been using its platform since late 2009. Morphlabs is headed by serial entrepreneur Winston Damarillo.

Manhattan Beach 157

Manhattan Beach Cloud Computing Platform Invest 157

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. companies made the IPO transition in 2009, out of thousands of startups. Even though the Initial Public Offering (IPO) alternative for a successful startup seems to be coming back into vogue, it is still extremely rare.

Startup 94

Startup Entrepreneur Report Summary 94

socalTECH

JANUARY 27, 2010

According to the Tech Coast Angels' Richard Sudek, Chairman of the TCA, the group is looking to hold bi-monthly mixers which will help entrepreneurs connect with its angel investors, after a successful mixer in late 2009. Tags: tech coast angels funding venture capital seed fund. READ MORE>>.

Tech Coast Angels 157

Tech Coast Angels Orange County Seed Funding Santa Barbara 157

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

In other news we announced the closing of $61 million in funding at Maker Studios , which I’ll talk publicly about soon. As more consumers were skipping commercials the idea of authentically integrating brands into media seemed obvious to me and ended up informing a lot of my investments in 2009 and 2010. Startup DNA.

Invest 340

Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. We are experiencing a frenetic time. For investors life is no different.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2010

A few days ago I met a 26 year-old entrepreneur with an attitude that exemplifies what I believe it takes to succeed in this new economy and new world. Most recently, I was selected to be one of seven entrepreneurs for the upcoming reality TV show "Good Fellas Of Baltimore" which centers around businessmen giving back.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Sales 95

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 5, 2009

Thursday, June 11, 2009 -- CONNECT Cleantech Venture Roundtable. Selected entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to present to a group of premier venture capital providers actively funding investments. CONNECT's Cleantech Venture Roundtable will take place on June 11, 2009. See [link] (more).

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Activity Entrepreneur Invest 100

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2017

Wallach on investments out of a new fund, Inevitable Ventures. I tragically lost my mom to cancer, my girlfriend (who I was living with at the time) and I broke up, and then my team and I were laid-off when the market crashed in 2009. Until I was fortunate enough to secure a job with Ron Burkle at the end of 2009.

Invest 157

Invest Startup Hollywood Echo Park 157

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 2, 2009

Thursday, October 8, 2009 -- San Diego 3rd Annual Quick Pitch Competition. Announcing the third annual Quick Pitch competition, showcasing talented entrepreneurs seeking funding. Competition winners will be announced at the conclusion of the evening and presented with 2009 Quick Pitch Awards. See [link] (more).

San Diego 100

San Diego Competition Entrepreneur Invest 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

This morning's interview is with Kevin O'Connor , a longtime investor and serial entrepreneur, who is now running venture capital investment firm ScOp Venture Capital. Is this fund just your own investment fund, or do you have outside LPs? Kevin O'Connor: It's 100 percent our own funds.

Venture Capital 145

Venture Capital Startup Invest Capital 145

SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 21, 2009

Thursday, August 27, 2009 -- TCVN Deal Review. Need to raise funds? Entrepreneurs interested in becoming the market leaders in their industry or anyone interested in seeking equity funding should attend See [link] (more). Is your business "starved" for capital?

TCVN 100

TCVN Equity Entrepreneur Funding 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. ” Stated simply – if you seed funded Uber at $4.5m Why is this?

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

In the old days VCs funded off of a “pre-money” valuation. This was until about 2009 because most the investments in companies came from one, maybe two, sources. In the old days there usually weren’t convertible notes on early-stage deals and there weren’t party rounds with 20 angels or 6 seed funds.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. That company was Invoca, which just announced a $20 million fund raise led by Accel. So I think it’s now fair to rate me at 9/10 on follow-on fundings. I am closing 3 new fundings in April (2 new, 1 follow-on).

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2020

As an investor, innovation is a term I certainly like to hear these days, but many of you entrepreneurs try to take it to the next level, by claiming to have a “ disruptive innovation.” The disruptive technologies in electric vehicles and artificial intelligence have taken even longer to see any dramatic payback.

Startup 129

Startup Artificial Inteligence Examples Google 129

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 19, 2009

Thursday, June 25, 2009 -- TCVN: Calling on Angels. This month's forum will feature two institutional angels and two entrepreneurs who have been funded by angels one funded by Tech Coast Angels and the other by individual angels. Let's approach some angels. But, what are they looking for in a company? Are you ready?

TCVN 100

TCVN Angel Tech Coast Angels Entrepreneur 100

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

It’s also hard to know (unless you’re a professional trader at a large fund with tons of research and colleagues who have more market knowledge than the average retail investor) whether the market is off of a fair value by 10% or whether it was already 20% overvalued and this is an inevitable correction. Neither do I.

Marketing 150

Marketing Venture Capital Startup Invest 150

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 -- Meet the VCs: The thrill of speed dating for startups. An interactive networking roundtable at which more than 30 venture capitalists from California, will talk with local entrepreneurs about deal flow and the types of investments they're looking to fund.

LAVA 100

LAVA Startup Education Venture Capital 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

JULY 23, 2009

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 -- 8th Digital Media Summit. Past presenters have received millions in funding from our program; and several have sold their company for huge earnings. See [link] (more).

Media 100

Media Social Media Commerce Entertainment 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 27, 2009

Saturday, October 3, 2009 -- Intellectual Property and Its Impact on Entrepreneurship. IEEE San Fernando Valley Section and Entrepreneurs Consortium of Southern California. They will emphasize IP licensing and IP licensing issues of importance to entrepreneurs. See https://www.123signup.com/event?id=jmphg. 123signup.com/event?id=jmphg.

San Fernando 100

San Fernando Technical Review IP Southern California 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

And so do entrepreneurs who are quick to pivot to new businesses or to sell in an acquihire. LPs (the people who invest in VC funds) want to know what “hot” deals you’re in. It’s been high tide since 2009 so an entire batch of entrepreneurs don’t know what low tide even looks like.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

SoCal Tech Calendar

FEBRUARY 1, 2009

Saturday, February 7, 2009 -- "Neurons on the Run: Brain, Brawn and Algorithms" Caltech/MIT enterprise Forum. The Caltech MIT Enterprise Forum will examine the progress in neural interactive medical devices, whether implantable or external, and the place of the entrepreneur in this captivating field. See [link] (more).

Enterprise Forum 100

Enterprise Forum CalTech Entrepreneur Capital 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 2, 2010

With 2009 finally behind us, what can we expect in 2010? Where will the funding come from? What exactly will it take to get funded? What can an entrepreneur do to improve his or her company's chances of raising money in this environment? What does it take for a San Diego company to raise a Seed or Series A round?

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Capital GRP Partners Southern California 100