Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2021

Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out. Investors typically demand preferred stock to give them more control and first payouts, but these advantages can be at least partially offset (up to 20 percent) if you plan ahead.

Startup 119

Startup Entrepreneur Acquisition Demand 119

socalTECH

JULY 30, 2010

decrease in automotive e-commerce revenues, related to continued weakness in demand from automotive dealerships. The firm had announced it had acquired Experthub.com, but also said it had acquired five additional, un-named web sites for the Money, Legal and Business vertical and Health vertical. READ MORE>>.

Internet Brands 160

Internet Brands .Net Acquisition Web 160

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2019

In January, Los Angeles-based Pluto TV (www.pluto.tv) was acquired by Viacom for $340M, one of the largest acquisition deals so far in the region this year. That's when it clicked for me, realizing that for some reason, everything online is on-demand. Ilya also founded Coplex, a startup development studio. That just doesn't happen.

Startup 124

Startup Content Demand Netflix 124

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

If you measure success by exits, the Ring acquisition by Amazon and Cylance acquisition by Blackberry, each for $1 billion, were among the biggest stories of 2018. Nonetheless, I expect that in 2019 the VC market will shift toward demanding profit. Given SVBs market position, that is great news.

Southern California 133

Southern California SoCal Culver City Venture Capital 133

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

It will be much more productive to categorize your startup in one of the following five stages, and limit your investor focus accordingly: “I have a great idea and I need money to turn it into a business.” It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.” Congratulations!

Funding 125

Funding Startup Ideas Equity 125

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 15, 2021

AvantStay’s basic premise is based around kitting out and then handling the rentals for high-end homes as a viable alternative, or even improvement on, the experience that a typical guest might have had in a five-star hotel; and it has harnessed technology in aid of that. “It has always lagged hotels by a wide margin.

Platform 139

Platform Invest Los Angeles Funding 139

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2021

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. I recommend three or five members to start (an uneven number prevents tie votes). In my view, nothing could be further from the truth. Size does matter.

Startup 145

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 145

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 13, 2016

Well, even though that acquisition is still playing itself out on the field of battle, it appears quite clear that the new parent has directed its new subsidiary to abandon the lower end of the market and focus upon the larger sales, corporate customers, and major brands.

Resource 120

Resource Competition Examples Customer 120

socalTECH

JANUARY 5, 2015

The agenda expanded to 70 panels and sessions over five days, 25 startups pitching at the Startup Showcase, as well as 10 parties, 7 beach games and even one pool party, all to increase networking opportunities. Beyond entertainment, ad tech is huge with Rubicon''s IPO and the TrueX $200M acquisition by Fox. This is just the start.

Cornerstone OnDemand 100

Cornerstone OnDemand Belkin Entertainment Newsletter 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

It will be much more productive to categorize your startup in one of the following five stages, and limit your investor focus accordingly: “I have a great idea and I need money to turn it into a business.” It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.” Congratulations!

Startup 148

Startup Ideas Equity Invest 148

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2015

Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out. Investors typically demand preferred stock to give them more control and first payouts, but these advantages can be at least partially offset (up to 20 percent) if you plan ahead.

Startup 99

Startup Entrepreneur Acquisition Demand 99

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 20, 2019

” Now, roughly five months later, the program seems to have been successful enough that Battalion Chief Fields is looking to double the fleet. The technologal demands of the fire department extend beyond the drone itself, Fields said. The LAFD Swift Water Rescue Team. Photo courtesy of Flickr/ LAFD Mike Horst.

Los Angeles 157

Los Angeles Angel Training Startup 157

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Startup 98

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 98

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

When a product is truly unique and demanded a retailer willingly promotes and sells it en masse in part because it does get margin on the good but also because it brings customers in the door who spend on other products. companies that have to spend too heavily on customer acquisition). Get Physical!

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

The other key business we are in is the aftermarket and registrar business, through SnapNames and Moniker, two acquisition we made. In commercial real estate, three to five percent of commercial real estate is traded every year, but in the domain space it's less than a half of a percent. It's now about five times as big as it was.

Oversee.net 207

Oversee.net Yahoo Startup Google 207

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

If you look at the numbers from Comscore, we are doing about half the number of uniques that Maker is doing, but we''re doing it with only five channels, versus their 50 thousands channels. When our Youtube views are driven up, that drives more licensing demand for the video, with other shows interested.

Media 235

Media Content Startup IP 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Customer 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2017

I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Startup 64

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 64

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2012

I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Startup 118

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 118

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

Yet most investors will tend to categorize your progress into one of the following five stages: Idea stage. At this stage, you need investment bankers to negotiate a merger or acquisition (M&A), go private, or help you go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Angels may be less demanding, but typically add less value.

Startup 96

Startup Venture Capital Demand Invest 96

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

It will be much more productive to categorize your startup in one of the following five stages, and limit your investor focus accordingly: “I have a great idea and I need money to turn it into a business.” It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.” Congratulations!

Startup 73

Startup Ideas Equity Invest 73

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2015

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. I recommend three or five members to start (an uneven number prevents tie votes). In my view, nothing could be further from the truth. Size does matter.

Startup 103

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 103

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

We've been quite active, and have had a bunch of acquisitions lately -- including Internet Brands and MySpace -- a total of over 2 billion in acquisition in Southern California. Our partners tend to be on five to eight boards, so when we get involved with a company, we get involved with a company.

Redpoint 154

Redpoint Southern California Cornerstone OnDemand Invest 154

socalTECH

JUNE 3, 2013

From an investment perspective, they have been very, very few defaults on residential leases over the past five years. There''s always more demand than capital. They''re also high quality. In leasing, the credit standard is 700 FICO and above. There are more and more techniques coming to market to provide more awareness.

Equity 234

Equity Invest Marketing Product 234

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Startup 114

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2018

If you are pushed out by an acquisition due to unusual success or strategy conflict before the normal vesting schedule comes to a close, only an accelerated vesting clause can save your original percentage. I recommend a limit to no more than five board members, with at least two being from within the company.

Startup 51

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 51

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2010

Yet most investors will tend to categorize your progress into one of the following five stages: Idea stage. At this stage, you need investment bankers to negotiate a merger or acquisition (M&A), go private, or help you go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Angels may be less demanding, but typically add less value.

Startup 92

Startup Venture Capital Demand Invest 92

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

In three to five years, you will be anxious to start a new entity, with new ideas and spinoffs that have built up in your mind, and certainty that you can avoid all those potholes you hit the first time around. So here are the most common exit strategies and considerations these days for planning purposes: Merger & Acquisition (M&A).

Startup 96

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Demand 96

socalTECH

JANUARY 12, 2011

It's been a very busy for coupon and deal sites over the past few months, with a giant, $950M round of funding for Groupon, and the acquisition of at least three locally headquartered coupon and deal sites--LogicBuy.com, NextCoupons.com, and DealPerk--in the last month. More recently, we've been focused on deal overload.

Sites 217

Sites Content Sales Demand 217

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 18, 2013

He has raised more than $200 million on behalf of his companies and led more than 30 acquisitions. He is also the co-founder of Playsino, ExpressCoin (Bitcoin exchange), GoCoin (Bitcoin payment platform), Five Delta, Evertune, GamesTV, Digital Entertainment Network, KnCMiner.cn (Bitcoin Mining), and Robocoin China (Bitcoin ATM).

Startup 111

Startup Entertainment Media Santa Barbara 111

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2016

It will be much more productive to categorize your startup in one of the following five stages, and limit your investor focus accordingly: “I have a great idea and I need money to turn it into a business.” It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.” Congratulations!

Startup 67

Startup Ideas Equity Invest 67

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2016

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. I recommend three or five members to start (an uneven number prevents tie votes). In my view, nothing could be further from the truth. Size does matter.

Entrepreneur 58

Entrepreneur Startup Mentor Writing 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2014

It will be much more productive to categorize your startup in one of the following five stages, and limit your investor focus accordingly: “I have a great idea and I need money to turn it into a business.” It’s time to scale up and I need money to keep up with demand.” Congratulations!

Startup 93

Startup Funding Venture Capital Ideas 93

socalTECH

MAY 14, 2015

MCNs are just the first wave of big acquisitions, I see lots of innovation there over the next five to 10 years, which is really cool. Our goal at Silversheet is to help those smaller facilities adapt to the changing times, and help them keep up with the demand, plus, obviously, we'll also grow upstream to help larger facilities.

Startup 100

Startup Content Technical Review Product 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2011

In three to five years, you will be anxious to start a new entity, with new ideas and spinoffs that have built up in your mind, and certainty that you can avoid all those potholes you hit the first time around. So here are the most common exit strategies and considerations these days for planning purposes: Merger & Acquisition (M&A).

Startup 92

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Demand 92

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

How about mergers and acquisitions? If you rate the market on a one to ten scale, with one being 2002 and ten being 2007, we''re probably at around five or six. I think that the market was, however, hotter two years ago, when companies were buying more aggressively, and there was lots of pent-up demand. READ MORE>>.

Southern California 124

Southern California SoCal Commerce Invest 124