Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. I agree with YouTube (that they provide more (hosting, ad sales, etc.)

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

Berkonomics

MARCH 28, 2024

Even venture capitalists who sit on boards where they have significant investments often forget this point. They write in their investment documents that they will occupy a seat on the board for as long as they are invested in the company, thinking of this as a protection for their investment and tool for them to influence growth.

Class 282

Class Coach Invest Sales 282

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Existing investors DST Global, 01 Advisors, Dragoneer Investment Group, Franklin Templeton and Mubadala Investment Company too doubled down on their investments in SpotOn, joining new backers Wellington Management and Coatue Management. The acquisition of Appetize extends SpotOn’s reach to the enterprise space in a major way.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 6, 2020

Chinese gaming giant Beijing Kunlun has agreed to sell popular gay dating app Grindr for about $608 million, ending a tumultuous four years under Chinese ownership. based company, San Vicente Acquisition Partners. Reuters reports that the Chinese company sold its 98% stake in Grindr to a U.S.-based

Los Angeles 321

Los Angeles Software Review Acquisition Report 321

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

We have made 5 online video investments in total – some we will talk about later this year. Content is a “hits driven business” and therefore you can only invest in platforms not media. You must invest in technology. This is 14% of world population and 33% of all people online.

SEM 150

SEM Content Platform Acquisition 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it. But Ethan had left by the time of the acquisition. Nice sweep!

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

What You Can Learn From Public Markets It doesn’t really take a genius to realize that what happens in the public markets will filter back to the private markets because the ultimate exit of these companies is either an IPO or an acquisition (often by a public company whose valuation is fixed daily by the market). It’s just math.

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

Until recently it was headquartered 2 blocks from our offices in Santa Monica so we literally saw it emerge under our feet and we proudly invested in the last 3 rounds of financing. How could Bird really be worth the reported $2 billion valuation that I read about in this press? having raised $300 million?—?less

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. Matt’s commitment to re-investing in tech startups is reminiscent to this great Fred Wilson post of “recycling capital. &#. Backstopping is when banks feel they are protected by VC’s investing in the company.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2010

and listening for about 90 seconds. for two minutes talking about why I think people wrongly obsess about their number of Twitter followers and had a nice little debate about it with Guy. Think about the creative tension. But wait, aren’t you the guy who invested in Ad.ly, the in-stream advertising company?

Acquisition 287

Acquisition Develop Development Conference 287

Xconomy

MAY 8, 2017

Austin —Dell Technologies is publicly unveiling a venture capital investment arm that has been quietly investing in startups since the operation was run by EMC, the data storage giant that Dell agreed to acquire for $67 billion in 2015. Read more » Reprints | Share: UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS.

Venture Capital 77

Venture Capital Capital Technology News 77

Berkonomics

AUGUST 4, 2022

What about hiding the “why” from employees or investors? One of my companies where I have an investment and am on the advisory board was in the midst of a sprint to close its acquisition by a larger company before the cash ran out and enterprise value plummeted. I’ve recently experienced an example of this. Our solution.

Journal 156

Journal Acquisition Class News 156

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2016

Tell our readers who haven't heard of Wpromote, what your business is all about? Mike Mothner: The business today, is we are a digital agency focused on customer acquisition and growth for businesses of all types. It's been a long time since we last talked, and it looks like you've grown significantly � tell us a bit about the growth?

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Paid Search El Segundo SEO 100

socalTECH

OCTOBER 2, 2012

We thought it might be interesting to talk with one of the fund's managing directors, Jeb Spencer about the fund's success in technology investments, plus how it managed to raise another fund in this kind of environment, plus its unique goal of getting companies to an acquisition--and not an IPO.

Acquisition 168

Acquisition Software Review Technical Review Equity 168

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. First of all, it’s more of an investment in people than in a business, since the startup is usually an idea barely half-baked when they need your money. Start in a business domain you know well.

Invest 89

Invest Entrepreneur Startup Equity 89

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

I recently wrote a post talking about how some VCs meddle in operating company decisions or some executive teams are too reliant on VCs to jump in and make hard calls for them. It isn’t uncommon for CEOs to talk about biz dev deals prematurely, hint at product announcements or even hint at acquisitions.

Startup 150

Startup Sales CTO Coach Course 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

Being too late and you back an “also ran” You also need to be right about the team. I’ve sometimes been right about the market value but too early. You’re thinking about one bullet at a time. You’re thinking about one bullet at a time. I’ve definitely been wrong on market value. It sold to Amazon for > $1 billion.

Funding 294

Funding Startup Writing Invest 294

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

I have written about the deceiving nature of early successes before – in particular in the SaaS or B2B world leading to a phenomenon called “shelfware.” This is why I loved Brad Feld’s recent post about the “ illusion of product / market fit.” Success for many is ephemeral.

Product 150

Product Startup Metrics Technical Review 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

The first three skills I espoused were: access to the highest-quality deal-flow, domain knowledge of the topic area in which you’re investing and access to VCs to help fund the next stages of development. Markets like these are very kind to angel investors because you get taken out early and see a nice pop on your investment.

Invest 283

Invest Angel Startup Marketing 283

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2014

I regularly get updates on investment opportunities from the likes of Ivana Kirkbride & Jane Hu – both of whom originally encouraged me to meet with MiTú (along with my dear friend and fellow Jewtino Gerardo Broussi who has been telling me about MiTú for ages).

Invest 291

Invest Content Media Networking 291

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. Investors want to hear about customers with money who have a painful problem that you can solve now.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 24, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 -- CommNexus Presents: Getting Smart About Social Media Learn How to utilize Social Media for Talent Acquisition. Dont miss this opportunity to learn more about implementing Social Media into your talent outreach strategy.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Acquisition Marketing 100

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 About this Blog Ive been thinking about doing a blog with my thoughts on technology and whats happening in the Los Angeles area technology scene for a while, but it was Ben Kuos recent start of a blog that inspired me to actually go ahead and do it. Thanks Ben.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2013

This strategy is called “organic growth,” yet it alone may yield only a fraction of the potential you could achieve, unless you add the additional strategies of partnerships and M&A (mergers and acquisitions). Invest in selective strategic alliances. Actively pursue mergers and acquisitions. Partial acquisition.

Acquisition 88

Acquisition CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development 88

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2017

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. First of all, it’s more of an investment in people than in a business, since the startup is usually an idea barely half-baked when they need your money. Start in a business domain you know well.

Invest 73

Invest Startup Equity Incubator 73

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Strategic buyers look for managerial talent, intellectual property, geographic expansion, an extension into adjacent markets – and more – that will be achieved with the acquisition of your company. At the same time, the buyer-candidate realized that we had become its largest reseller.

Pricing 600

Pricing Sales IBM IBM 600

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

One of the investment themes I’ve been focused on in the past 3 years has been Performance-Based Marketing. When I started investing the US advertising market was $300 billion with only 10% of it ($30 billion) of it being online and measurable. The affiliate networking market alone is about a $2 billion industry now.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

The rest of the purchase price was concocted from a brew of zero-coupon bonds (where the face value is many times the invested amount until the reduced cost bonds mature thirty years later), and borrowing using the target company’s accounts receivable and other assets as collateral for a loan to purchase the company.

Pricing 156

Pricing Sales Examples Tool 156

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 27, 2021

The investment also brings its total capital raised since its 2008 inception to $386 million. Newton was tight-lipped about the company’s financials, saying only that since its 2019 raise, the company has seen “explosive” growth. In 2018, Clio made its first acquisition with its buy of Lexicata, a Los Angeles-based legal tech startup.

Platform 244

Platform Equity SaaS Los Angeles 244

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 27, 2020

“Our team couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to join Fastly to continue to drive forward security protections that empower developers. Signal Sciences secures $35 million investment to protect web apps. Morgan Stanley & Co.

Culver City 249

Culver City SaaS Los Angeles Social Network 249

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

emerge and are there any lessons to be gained about the future? Listening to young people talk about social networking as a new phenomenon is a bit like hearing people talk about a remake of a famous song from my youth as though it was the original version. At it’s peak AOL had about 27 million US subscribers.

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Startup 318

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

I roughly know about MakeItWork, but tell me a bit about where you spend your time day-to-day. I have a few meetings with the team, perhaps about the website design, radio show structure, an event we are working on, a sponsorship (perhaps the uniforms for our youth basketball team). I recently posted about SEO for Startups.

Acquisition 170

Acquisition Customer Custom Ideas 170

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2021

This strategy is called “organic growth,” yet it alone may yield only a fraction of the potential you could achieve, unless you add the additional strategies of partnerships and M&A (mergers and acquisitions). Invest in selective strategic alliances. Actively pursue mergers and acquisitions. Partial acquisition.

Organization 132

Organization CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 132

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 10, 2021

We’ve scaled up so massively in investments in our growth and technology, but running on a loss is very odd for us,” he told TechCrunch. “We The company has about 4,000 employees with several hundred in the U.S. Now we have more cash and money available to invest further in the long term.”.

Los Angeles 266

Los Angeles Funding CIO Marketing 266

socalTECH

MARCH 2, 2018

per share in cash for Microsemi, in a deal which will have a total enterprise value of about $10.15 billion after accounting for Microsemi's cash and investments, net of debt. The two did not say how the acquisition will affect Microsemi's large workforce in Orange County. According to the two, Microchip will pay $68.78

Orange County 124

Orange County Technology .Net Acquisition 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2022

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. First of all, it’s more of an investment in people than in a business, since the startup is usually an idea barely half-baked when they need your money. Start in a business domain you know well.

Startup 120

Startup Invest Equity Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. First of all, it’s more of an investment in people than in a business, since the startup is usually an idea barely half-baked when they need your money. Start in a business domain you know well.

Startup 87

Startup Invest Incubator Ideas 87