Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

If there are conflicts within the team, or differing views of the strategy, or evidence of missing processes and tools, the investment process will likely be terminated. Make yourself available to answer any questions, show your enthusiasm, and explain both the positives and negatives of the external investment process.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

I was recently talking with a startup company who wanted me to try their product. I’m a big believer in product stability & performance before adding too many features. Customer Acquisition. If you have multiple versions of your product, how many are web vs. mobile? Only one guy in the room knew – their tech lead.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Entrepreneurs have no trouble focusing on how to build a product, and the good ones know how to find and nurture those first critical customers. Cost of customer acquisition. Customer acquisition cost is calculated by dividing total acquisition expenses by total new customers over a given period. Operating productivity.

Metrics 100

Metrics Technical Review Sales Customer 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Few investors these days have the time or patience to read a full business plan, so a better way to catch their eye is with a tightly written and well formatted two-page executive summary. Professional investors look for the right people more than the right product. Project revenues, costs and investment expectations.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Traction is evidence that your product or service has started that “hockey- stick” adoption rate which implies a large market, a valid business model, and sustainable growth. Free and freemium products need a solid base. Customer acquisition cost. What does traction really mean to investors, and how much is enough?

Startup 106

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 106

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

Google monetized this with AdWords (ads on their home page). I won’t belabor this – I have an investment in this space ( ad.ly ) so I’m biased. Golden rule of branding for me: 1) name your company or product your URL and 2) don’t paint yourself into a corner. &# Tweet&# = corner. . No big surprise.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Capital Google Platform 271

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Jim Semick: I’ve been launching and managing software products for 15 years now, going back to when you and I worked together at Expertcity before it was acquired by Citrix. I have always worked on early stage products. Some of the products I’ve helped validate and launch include GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting and AppFolio.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

If there are conflicts within the team, or differing views of the strategy, or evidence of missing processes and tools, the investment process will likely be terminated. Make yourself available to answer any questions, show your enthusiasm, and explain both the positives and negatives of the external investment process.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

socalTECH

APRIL 2, 2014

Our clients are retail, technology, consumer product goods, and other companies who are trying to address challenges with a very complex, digital marketing mix they face every day. As you might imagine, I started as a brand manager in the consumer product goods market. What''s your background, and how did you get into this?

Marketing 196

Marketing Pasadena Platform Email 196

Xconomy

AUGUST 16, 2016

A recent Wall Street Journal article that raised the possibility of Biogen as the target of another huge pharma buyout cited the lack of productivity as a major driver of M&A in the pharmaceutical industry. The authors made the point that, given the size of companies today, a single garden-variety blockbuster hardly moves the needle.

Product 40

Product Journal Venture Capital Demand 40

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

Venture Capital funds: the different between “closed funds&# (which typically have a 10-year time horizon) and “evergreen funds&# which re-invest profits back into the fund. An investment doesn’t guarantee your product will suddenly be on the investor’s price sheet. DST invested $180mm last fall.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Google Web Sites 225

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

So it’s really hard to draw too many conclusions about whether the investment really makes sense because often you learn stuff in the fund raising about the future strategy of the company that might make you much more excited than somebody on the outside might be. I know the product intimately and it rocks. Others I have not.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

Xconomy

AUGUST 8, 2016

PTC completed its Vuforia purchase last November as part of a broader initiative to build a new platforms business through a series of acquisitions and organic investments., Among other things, PTC has invested nearly a $1 billion on Kepware for industrial connectivity, ThingWorx for IoT, and Vuforia for augmented reality.

San Diego 40

San Diego Mobile Examples .Net 40

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2013

Speaking of the new investment, CapLinked CEO Eric M. Jackson said, “We’re using the proceeds from our financing round to invest in our technology, build new features, and increase sales and support.”. Jackson added that the firm was proud of its product, and even uses its own software to manage their capital raised from investors.

Draper 68

Draper Google Software Engineering Invest 68

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2011

She also has served at DoubleClick, had a stint as an investment banker at JPMorgan, been a venture capitalist at Bertelsmann Ventures, and started with an Electrical Engineering degree before her MBA. That makes the model for content work a little better than just breaking news, where someone just comes in for one page and leaves.

News 173

News Entertainment Startup Bertelsmann 173

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 21, 2014

More specifically, we are a real time bidding platform which enables marketplaces to be set up, where an advertiser can bid on consumers who are in the process of buying a particular product. Real time bidding allows advertisers to bid on users in a particular market, who are likely to be purchasing that company''s product.

Media 162

Media Advertising Startup Platform 162

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

In addition, every business has operating costs, like customer acquisition, fulfillment, inventory, and customer service. In the online world, you need a solid connection between your domain name and your product, brand, or business. Key measurements should always include return on investment, and visibility to the targeted audience.

Social Media 93

Social Media Content Startup Web 93

InfoChachkie

JULY 21, 2011

Play it in the background while you otherwise remain productive (or listen to it while you update your FB page, your call). You decide how much you want to invest in your employees and then you give your employees the control to build a custom perk package for themselves. Click here to listen to the Audio File.

Summary 246

Summary Tips Sales Entrepreneur 246

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Sure, there are examples of Founders who have survived and prospered, such as Bill Gates and Larry Page, but these guys are the exception, not the rule. Expensive new IT systems, consultants, and investment bankers are usually required. Increasing government regulations. Loss of control.

Startup 89

Startup Entrepreneur Report Summary 89

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

Sure, there are examples of founders who have survived and prospered, such as Bill Gates and Larry Page, but these guys are the exception, not the rule. Expensive new IT systems, consultants, and investment bankers are usually required. Increasing government regulations. Loss of control.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Report Summary 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

Sure, there are examples of founders who have survived and prospered, such as Bill Gates and Larry Page, but these guys are the exception, not the rule. Expensive new IT systems, consultants, and investment bankers are usually required. Increasing government regulations. Loss of control.

Startup 94

Startup Entrepreneur Report Summary 94

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Messenger : Rob Duva , Co-Founder, COO RingRevenue, prior Director of Customer Acquisition, CallWave. This is especially true for companies with expensive and complex products or services that are more consultative in nature, like insurance, financial services, home services, education and travel, etc.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

But in the end we selected David Lin , a superstar who did 4 years at the technology investment banking firm Montgomery & Co and 4 years as Director of Strategy at the comparison shopping site PriceGrabber where he dealt with many operational issues. I tell people regularly that I only invest in companies where the DNA is software.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2014

Updates could be as exciting as closing investment deals, or harrowing as the news of losing a co-founder. To learn more about all the companies, be sure to visit 500 Startups’ official demo day page. Harnessing more energy from our grid by emphasizing efficiency, not increased factory and power production.

Startup 111

Startup Mobile Commerce Education 111

socalTECH

OCTOBER 15, 2008

We spoke with Ross about the investment, as well as about his experience as VC and his outlook on the market. For those not familiar with what you're doing now at Velocity Interactive, and tell us a little bit about this investment? Our investments is their first institutional round. Thanks for the interview.

Advertising 100

Advertising Media Startup Woodland Hills 100

Xconomy

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016

Limited financial resources make it challenging for these companies to invest in sophisticated security mechanisms or full-fledged IT departments – a fact that hackers and cyber attackers use to their full advantage. They foster customer trust, which is essential in driving growth and customer acquisition.

Startup 40

Startup Framework Statistics Customer 40

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 17, 2010

We said to the studios--you have this amazing content, why not let us clip it all up, find the best moments in film, and allow users to post those to their blogs and Facebook pages, and let us create curated channels on the web? We represented Google in the acquisition of YouTube. So, online video was right in my wheel house.

Startup 190

Startup Los Angeles Content Hollywood 190

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

Verizon , Monster Products , MerchLabs , HIRED , Instart Logic , Zeel , Shootly , Move Loot , Microsoft , American Laser Company , Zirx , DoorDash , Drizly. Green Way Labs develops high-performance cleaning products that are 100% non-toxic. Their distribution footprint consists of: Over 400 million Page Likes on Facebook.

Fractional VPE 40

Fractional VPE Entertainment SaaS Social Media 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

For the rest of us, we need a business plan, as well as a product plan. Some of you may be convinced that your product specification communicates the product message even better than a business plan, so why be redundant? Professional investors and even customers invest in people, rather than just a product.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

So that continues to be a core area of focus for us, and has grown significantly over the last few years, an in which we've continued to invest. We're not able to publicize their names, but if you use the link on our home page, it takes you to their live translations on their sites. We've been able to achieve that.

Software Review 145

Software Review USC Content Tech Coast Angels 145

SoCal Delicious

JANUARY 9, 2014

Having a clear focus means it’s easier to communicate what your product is and who it’s for. By trying to appeal to everyone and adding features left, right and centre, you will actually dilute your message and could end up with a complex, bloated product. Here are two examples.

Startup 78

Startup Design Customer Custom 78

Xconomy

AUGUST 12, 2016

Celgene paid Acetylon $100 million in 2013 for an option to buy the company outright, but the deal recently expired without an acquisition, leaving Acetylon to chart a new course. . —Option-to-buy deals are by definition no guarantee, and an agreement between Boston-based Acetylon Pharmaceuticals and Celgene is the latest example.

Google 40

Google Technical Review News Research 40

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

The idea actually came to him from the Yellow Pages business. He took out an ad in the Yellow Pages (it was the early 80′s, pre Internet), which cost him $1,000 / month for a half-page ad. So the Yellow Page business was always “pay for placement.&#. If it worked in the Yellow Pages, why not on the Internet?

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Xconomy

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

The Partnership on AI , formally unveiled Wednesday, includes Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, Google and its 2014 acquisition DeepMind. Each company is investing untold billions of dollars in developing AI technologies, betting on a future defined by computer systems that can perceive, reason, advise, and decide.

Artificial Inteligence 40

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Technical Advisors Research 40

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Tech startup accelerators dot the landscape, feeding investments into the waiting arms of the nation’s most intelligent and driven entrepreneurs. is a good monthly investment? Most recently, Rosenblatt cofounded Demand Media, launching in 2006 with $120 million in equity and the acquisition of eHow.com. Post navigation.

Technical Review 75

Technical Review Entrepreneur Riot Games Southern California 75

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Now, he ‘outsources’ his investments through John Frankel of Frankel Asset Management. Because he was particularly attracted to the idea of positioning Quigo in the business of helping retailers with search, Quigo started building sophisticated technology for applied semantics stuff with web pages. So, he built an auction.

Google 302

Google Startup Advertising Acquisition 302

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 13, 2010

Simply click on the title of the panel you like and you will be taken to their SXSWi panel picker page. Bootstrapping process, product development, Prototyping. . Have you ever had an idea for a great product, but thought any of the following: "I don't have en. Bootstrapping development, minimum viable product, startups. .

Guide 69

Guide Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur 69