Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She hasn’t raised any venture capital. She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. But Tracy did what entrepreneurs do. More on that later. That may soon change.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). Ryan Blair: The theme around the fund is pretty simple. I'm a bit of an anti-VC, as you know.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Based on the final report for 2012 from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), it may appear that IPOs are back as a viable startup exit strategy. For the full year 2012, venture-backed initial public offerings raised $21.5 Identify the right people in the right venture firms.

Venture Capital 101

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2016

My partner Greg Bettinelli (worth following on Twitter) was recently named by The LA Business Journal as the “ Top deal maker in Los Angeles in Venture Capital.” From 2007-2012 I scoured LA constantly. But over time I found that with broader responsibilities (fund raising, recruiting, biz dev, etc.)

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Journal Invest Santa Monica 150

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2012

We asked the same four questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next week. Paul Bricault is Managing Partner at Amplify LA (Www.amplify.la), a hands-on startup accelerator and co-working and community space in Venice.

Southern California 215

Southern California Technical Review High Tech Venice 215

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2015

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. despite having been passed into law in early 2012 via the JOBS Act , and still has no scheduled date for availability, waiting for the rules to be finalized by the SEC.

Venture Capital 108

Venture Capital Angel Satisfaction Equity 108

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 29, 2016

GOAT just announced it raised $5 million in venture capital led by our friends at Matrix Partners. On the surface that sounds unremarkable — fundings happen daily. But this isn’t just any funding. That’s why this funding story is different. And here is Jason Del Rey’s announcement of the funding.

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Venture Capital Summary Writing Funding 199

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

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. Companies were getting funded more easily and many more companies were actually being created.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

I am thrilled to announce that we have added Hamet Watt as a Partner at Upfront Ventures. This is a big news day at Upfront Ventures. In other news we announced the closing of $61 million in funding at Maker Studios , which I’ll talk publicly about soon. Mark, why wouldn’t you fund him? Startup DNA.

Invest 340

Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. ” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” for $565 million to Excite.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Today is amongst the proudest days I’ve had at Upfront Ventures — getting the chance to announce that Kevin Zhang has been promoted to Partner. years at Upfront has been both a pleasure and also has taught me a lot about venture capital. Kevin joined Upfront in 2012 as an Associate. Watching him develop over the past 4.5

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Course 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). billion collected in 2012. I just don’t see it happening any time soon.

Invest 111

Invest Angel Funding Startup 111

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But honestly there are times when being a VC can feel like that, too. But a couple of people replied with responses of such lack of comprehension that I thought it was worth expanding on for first-time entrepreneurs. VENTURE CAPITAL. And finally that brings me to obvious topic of venture capital.

Startup 363

Startup Venture Capital Coach Press 363

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

The new hot topic for entrepreneurs the last couple of years is crowd funding, which is anticipated to at least supplement, if not replace, the slow and mysterious process of current Angel and venture capital investors. Good-cause crowd funding. Pre-order crowd funding. Rewards-based crowd funding.

Funding 99

Funding Satisfaction Sites Outsource Development 99

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012 -- Deconstruct Your Deck: How to Build an Effective Investor Presentation. The evaluation is provided by veteran LA VC Jon Funk of Ocean Road Partners and another invited social angel investor. See [link] (more)

Venture Capital 113

Venture Capital Activity Entrepreneur Funding 113

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2013

It was a particularly rough December in what proved a difficult 2012. Example: Fred Wilson writing his end of 2012 post wrote. But it comes across as a whiny complaint about the shitty year that 2012 was. But the reason I couldn’t publish that post is it didn’t capture the greater picture that 2012 represents for me.”

Writing 313

Writing Venture Capital Blogging Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 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 should say that I agree that naive optimism in entrepreneurs can produce higher beta (upside or flops) and that’s good from an investment standpoint if you’re looking for big returns.

Invest 284

Invest Angel Venture Capital Startup 284

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

Want to be an entrepreneur? In addition, Entrepreneur Magazine recently included UCSB in its Top 50 Schools For VC Backed Entrepreneurs at number 37. A decent showing, but well below a number of larger schools, as the ranking is based on the number of graduates who secured VC funding. Techpreneurs.

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 30, 2011

TechZulu is excited to invite you to the 2012 Startup and Entrepreneurial Forecast taking place on Tuesday Jan. We have a line up of amazing speakers who will share their insights and forecast for startup trends in 2012. The panel is comprised of Southern California’s Top VC’s, Angels, and Startup Accelerator founders.

Tech Coast Angels 105

Tech Coast Angels Startup Angel Southern California 105

SoCal Tech Calendar

JANUARY 12, 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 -- Building and Growing Great Businesses. Speakers: Tarang Shah is a venture capital professional. See [link] (more)

SoCal 100

SoCal Southern California Coach Venture Capital 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 -- Elevator Pitch Competition. This maxim has special meaning for entrepreneurs seeking funding. Venture capitalists and angel investors are busy people with hectic schedules. MIT Enterprise Forum of the Central Coast. You only get one chance to make a good first impression.

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Competition Enterprise Forum Venture Capital Entrepreneur 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I can’t help feel a bit of rear-view mirror analysis in all of “VC model is broken” bears in our industry. This has led to the creation of incubators, accelerators and seed funds. This article originally ran on PEHub.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

Because my role as a VC requires me to take and endless stream of meetings I long ago decided I need to learn as much as I can from the meetings I attend so I often just ask tons of questions and assimilate knowledge. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

SoCal Tech Calendar

FEBRUARY 3, 2012

Thursday, February 9, 2012 -- The Employee-Ownership Alternative: Building the Company You Want. Entrepreneurs have choices about the kind of company they want to create.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Equity Examples Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2013

The number of startups getting seed funding in 2012 jumped by 65% over the previous year to a total of 1749, according to a recent report by CB Insights. million) made by either Angels or venture capitalists, or both. This is great evidence that the recession drag on funding new startups is behind us.

Startup 99

Startup Invest Venture Capital Seed Funding 99

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. I’ve been on the road much of 2012 and part of 2011. According to the SEC we’re not allowed to market the fact that we’re fund raising, so I won’t. So it is now publicly known that we have closed $150 million in our 4th fund. And so it goes again.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. They feel very confident they can hit $18 – 20 million in 2012. But it might not.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. We want money to make some acquisitions (investors would prefer to fund M&A if they know specific deals – not to encourage bad behavior.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Together they envisioned a Match.com type of site for entrepreneurs to find each other and make things happen. s first accelerator called The Fort and raised VC funding. By November 2012, CoFoundersLab Meetups had expanded to 20 cities. Soon after CoFoundersLab was accepted into D.C.’s

Entrepreneur 87

Entrepreneur Santa Monica Startup CTO Hire 87

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

For me Silicon Beach doesn’t quite encapsulate the wonderful, dynamic, creative, large, thriving community that is the 13 million proud Angelinos any more than Silicon Alley captures the bustling 2012 community of New York City. Think about venture capital. Don’t you think? But consider the following: 1.

Startup 304

Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles Woodland Hills 304

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 27, 2013

17, entrepreneurs, investors, civic leaders and other key players in the tech industry will gather at the historic Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif. Their mission: to support a charity, savor the hot SoCal nightlife, and transform Los Angeles into the startup capital of the world. Be Great Fest is intended to unite them.

Los Angeles 101

Los Angeles Angel Startup Venture Capital 101

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). And if I were an entrepreneur I’d rather find investors who understood “my space&# so that in tough times they felt comfortable about “doubling down.&#. Not everybody agreed.

Invest 152

Invest Angel Venture Capital Startup 152

Xconomy

JUNE 30, 2016

Healthtech entrepreneur Parker Hinshaw and his wife Jean Balgrosky said they intended to take a step back when they founded Bootstrap Incubation near San Diego in the fall of 2012.

San Diego 67

San Diego CIO Incubator Startup 67

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Some quick data that I pulled from EmailisNotDead.com (mid 2012). The first investment I ever made as a VC was in a company now called Invoca. Much more data in the full post.

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Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

The funding environment for tech startups is an ever shifting ground as we go through predictable shifts that go hand-in-hand with the slowing of the overall market. In other words, it isn’t that VCs suddenly got smart, it’s that the costs of starting a company went down dramatically. Explosion in Seed Funds. Rise of Seed.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Funding Seed Funding 150

socalTECH

AUGUST 21, 2012

OCTANe , the Orange County-based organization helping to bolster the high tech industry and entrepreneurs, reported this morning that in the first half of 2012, companies participating in its startup accelerator have raised a total of $26.8M in funding.

OCTANE 150

OCTANE Orange County High Tech Mentor 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2015

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). I just don’t see it happening any time soon. Neither does David S. billion collected in 2014.

Startup 106

Startup Angel .Net Entrepreneur 106