socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

After I sold my last company, Shift, in May of 2015, I took some time off to look for the next thing to do. Some of the deals that worked out best for me as an angel were those companies I was telling my cash guy one year that this will be a complete write off. What was appealing to you about the mobile app area?

Media 153

Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

Twilio has now raised around $235 million, including a July 2015 round totaling $130 million. By 2008, I was only a couple years away from the brain damage I suffered at CallWave, after the executive team turned down acquisition overtures from Google and Yahoo (I'll write about this colossal mistake in a future confessional article).

Venture Capital 181

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 181

Tech.Co

APRIL 11, 2018

In 2015, a worker in the San Francisco Bay Area earning $100,000 a year would need to put their entire post-tax salary into renting a three-bedroom apartment. Areas such as Oakland and San Francisco saw rent increases as high as 40 percent between 2015 and 2017. But, you’d be wrong, according to a new report out from LinkedIn.

Report 70

Report .Net Template Writing 70

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 25, 2016

If such write-downs only impacted the faux unicorns and their avaricious investors, there would be little need for alarm. The constant media coverage of the aberrant unicorn valuations has caused otherwise level-headed entrepreneurs to expect investors to participate at prices which are detached from their startups’ fundamentals.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Venture Capital 100

socalTECH

MAY 25, 2016

We'd do a Series A, and participate in the Series B, but when companies hit breakout, we would call a late stage VC and have them price the deal, and do all of that. We can now write $20M, $25M, and $30M checks to existing, breakout companies in our portfolio. With this fund, we do not have a cap limit on late stage investments.

Southern California 113

Southern California Capital Funding Invest 113

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 18, 2016

Many retailers report $100,000 is the minimum price of entry. The price of a retail app varies depending on the developer and features; nevertheless, it’s a big number. RetailNext data shows that sales over the 2015 Thanksgiving weekend were down by 4.7 percent in brick and mortar stores. MYTH: Consumers won’t download the app.

Mobile 40

Mobile Sites Customer Custom 40

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

In those years I learned to properly build product, price products, sell products and serve customers. Starting in 2009 I began writing checks consistently, year-in and year-out. During this era, from 2009–2015, most founders I knew were in it for building great & sustainable companies.

Venture Capital 467

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 467

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

Mark Suster (@msuster) July 19, 2015. I’ve tried over the years to write many times about the realism of the downsides of being an entrepreneur because there is a complete cognitive dissidence between what you read about yourself in the press and what you feel internally about where you’re at in the journey.

Press 382

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 382

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Don’t be fooled by the slight dip in 2015 – the size of funds & timing of deals in market in any year can skew the data set. Leaving aside China, oil prices, Syrian refugees, a presidential election and all of the things that might feed into general market fear – this chart is telling. Some Likely Conclusions.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Course Marketing 150

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 8, 2015

Radiolab, and former Groupon founder and CEO, and now Detour founder, Andrew Mason have been in town collaborating on an immersive Austin audio walking tour that will debut at SXSW 2015. Tours are priced reasonably. I plan to take this tour shortly and I will write an update. You can Detour alone or with a group of friends.

Guide 40

Guide Paramount High Tech Entertainment 40