Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. But take prompts from the VC.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners. Sales is the lifeblood of every organization.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

Let’s set up a framework. We want money to make some acquisitions (investors would prefer to fund M&A if they know specific deals – not to encourage bad behavior. Plus, most early-stage M&A fails so this isn’t likely a good use of capital for a young company). Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing Raising Venture Capital (VC) series. So I thought I’d try to lay out a framework for how you should think about it as many you will inevitably be faced with this experience. When they promise to help you with marketing, sales, distribution, integrated product development, etc.

Venture Capital 279

Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur Framework 279

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2015

Today I’d like to give that advice in more tangible terms and with a framework to think about your tasks – the funnel. Sales people (and website customer acquisition folks) all think in terms of funnels and yet non-sales professionals seldom do.

Startup 150

Startup Framework Sales Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

I’m looking for somebody who can sell, but not better than our head of sales. You want somebody who can raise $15 million to build out your R&D, business development and sales organizations. And then I sneezed and he’s hired a kick-ass sales team. You want somebody who can lead teams on three continents.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

Creativity in our business lives – The average tech startup these days spends time talking with colleagues & investors about a multitude of things: customer acquisition, viral adoption, raising capital, hiring / firing employees, product features, technology trends, marketing / branding, and on and on. So I thought I would.

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Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356