Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2022

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. First you need to assess the risks and value of investor funding and carrying debt.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 153

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2015

If you need funding for these early stage activities, I have some suggestions on better strategies to follow. Funding sources for this stage extend from grants to large private fund incubators, such as the IBM Watson initiative. Thus the best entrepreneur strategy for funding is to build solutions, not technology.

Develop 102

Develop Development Product Funding 102

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2013

There''s been a lot of activity over the past two years in the Southern California accelerator/incubator market, with numerous groups (Amplify, EvoNexus, K5, LaunchpadLA, MediaCamp, Science, StartEngine, and many, many others) looking to help entrepreneurs start and fund their companies. But, how successful have they been?

Southern California 222

Southern California Incubator Report Startup 222

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2019

Vanessa Dawson: The Vinetta Project is an entreneurial ecosystem and deal flow pipeline that works with early stage, female tech founders, and helps them to access both resources and capital for their business. We've helped entrepreneurs raise over $225M in early stage, venture funding. That number is extremely low.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Metrics Los Angeles Help 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

Earlier this month, Los Angeles-based LifeCrowd (www.lifecrowd.com) unveiled its service to help connect people with real life activities. The firm is initially focusing on the Los Angeles market, and connecting people with fun, interesting classes, activities, and more in the local area.

Startup 271

Startup CTO Coach Activity Software Review 271

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2015

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active Angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. First you need to assess the risks and value of investor funding and carrying debt.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Startup Marketing Customer 103

socalTECH

JANUARY 29, 2020

The logic behind this, is that 80 percent of our bets are founder bets, and we believe we need to use every resource we can to help entrepreneurs be successful in hitting milestones. What drove your decision to focus on mental health and this aspect for entrepreneurs? It's a comprehensive bucket.

Invest 113

Invest Framework Coach Startup 113

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

This is part of my series on Understanding Venture Capital. VC’s often talk about this term as in the total amount of funds EVER raised by that VC. Example: if a VC is on their fourth $200 million fund that they just raised in 2009 then you might hear them talk about $800 million under management. What is a VC fund?

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Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

Xconomy

OCTOBER 25, 2016

According to the National Venture Capital Association and PitchBook , this past quarter $15 billion was invested in 1,810 deals , which compares unfavorably to both the prior quarter ($22.1 What is most interesting is the activity beneath the headline data. billion, which represented 14 percent of overall activity.

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Capital Activity Invest 40

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 27, 2013

IndieGoGo and other crowdfunding sites have been on the rise on becoming the new medium to gain capital for businesses and projects. But some larger companies, such as Canonical, came to the crowdfunding community to help them fund projects like the Ubuntu Edge. One of the hardest times we had was getting access to capital.

Startup 74

Startup Funding Capital Help 74

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 15, 2012

One the most frequent questions asked of me by entrepreneurs is, "How can I become a Venture Capitalist?" The inquiry is common because being a VC is (to an entrepreneur, at least) a sexy job. I define a "VC" as, "a professional investor who deploys third-party funds into relatively early-stage companies." Microscopic Industry.

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest RSS 242

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

*. If you are a 20-something tech entrepreneur you could be forgiven for thinking that seed-stage investors, Angellist Syndicates and widely available angel money always existed. At the time almost nobody had heard of the following funds: FirstRound Capital, TrueVentures, Floodgate and SoftTech.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Cloud Computing 150

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2020

in a funding round led by Octopus Ventures, and also which also included Experian Ventures, Cherry Tree Investments, Dig Ventures, Mucker Capital, Unlock Venture Partners, TechStars and Wavemaker Partners. We recently crossed a million active users in the United States, who get a text message from us two to three times a week.

Content 124

Content Social Media Startup Artificial Inteligence 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

Last week, Santa Monica-based Tecca (www.tecca.com) launched a consumer electronics, consumer information service, backed by Fuse Capital and Best Buy. We caught up with Mickie Rosen , the firm's CEO, about the company, its links to Best Buy, and how it was incubated out of Fuse Capital. Mickie Rosen: There are a couple of things.

Incubator 239

Incubator Startup Web Technical Review 239

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

He said, “They need an unbiased view of the fund raising environment because there is too much misinformation and everything seems to be changing fast.&#. This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. – you’re very well positioned as a fund.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

In a bid to change that, there are a few groups working on helping women entrepreneurs, investors, and others, including the Pipeline Fellowship (www.pipelinefellowship.com), which recently launched itself into the Los Angeles market. It''s not only an education program, but it''s also a source of funding.

Angel 276

Angel Invest Mentor Technical Review 276

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2017

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. First you need to assess the risks and value of investor funding and carrying debt.

Entrepreneur 68

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 68

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. Clearstone currently invests out of a $200 million fund based in LA with offices in Menlo Park and in India. Segment Three: “VC Deals Funded this Week”.

Clearstone 236

Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2014

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive dream of a get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active Angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk or no competition. There is no real business opportunity without risk. Operational.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 93

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven''t earned a dime of revenue. We caught up with CEO and co-founder Brett Rossman to learn more about the company and how it''s been able to grow, profitably, all without raising a dime of outside capital.

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

socalTECH

JULY 21, 2011

The firm announced a funding round last week, from DFJ Frontier, DFJ JAIC, Gold Hill Capital, and angel investors Gil Elbaz (Factual), Auren Hoffman (Rapleaf), and Walter Kortschak (Summit Partners), and many others. Once you start doing that, it also allows you to get a sense of the ROI from that marketing activity.

Social Media 248

Social Media Zumbox Media Startup 248

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

He’d been working at a well-funded startup for about a year and had come to terms with the fact that the startup was really a pretty dumb idea. Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. Tesla is not.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. And I would rather, even before the executive summary, have something to play with (a demo)…” It falls in the category of show don’t tell. This time frame – 2005/2006 – web 2.0 was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising. This post highlights some of the reasons why the market is moving again and what entrepreneurs should do about this. Volume has no doubt picked up at active firms. This is one book-end of the cycle.

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Venture Capital Marketing Startup Social Network 255

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

Whether you are talking to peers, competitors or investors, you as an active entrepreneur will be judged on your familiarity with today’s startup and funding jargon. In that context, I offer you my latest collection of popular investor-to-entrepreneur terms and concepts. Frothy is good for entrepreneurs.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

where entrepreneurs share their stories. 63 Los Angeles Entrepreneurs To Be Proud Of By mario on May 2, 2012 in Features , grid. Free Corporations For First-Time Entrepreneurs. Right now they’re setting up 500 free corporations for first time entrepreneurs. Here are 62 63 Los Angeles entrepreneurs we can be proud of.

Los Angeles 78

Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2018

The benefits you will receive from doing even some basic planning before you hit the fund raising trail are enormous. Many points will seem obvious but since I observe many fund-raising processes as a VC I can tell you that most people get even the basics wrong. Let’s say the C list is probably your “safety schools”?—?not

Funding 215

Funding Startup Venture Capital News 215

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

Peter is an entrepreneur and founded and exited four digital media companies, he is going to be building with us and bringing a capability of advising and consulting digital media from startups to big brands on their digital media strategies. Generally, LA was not that active during that time until about three years ago.

Los Angeles 84

Los Angeles Media Invest Startup 84

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Yesterday I wrote Part 1 of the series on the changes to the software industry over the past decade that has led to changes in the venture capital industry itself. Surprisinly, this strategy works well with many entrepreneurs. I doubt this will end well for those VCs or for the entrepreneurs they backed. Funny, that.

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Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 28, 2014

billion active mobile users monthly as of March 31, 2014, while Twitter has 255 million active users. If there’s an app that is very simple in nature, the Yo app belongs to that category. million in venture capital after getting the initial $1 million dollar last month. to the Yo App. Photo by VentureBeat via Pinterest.

Snapchat 82

Snapchat Social Media Social Network Media 82

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. I would mostly lump me in that category. I funded them 8 weeks later.

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Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

InfoChachkie

JULY 20, 2015

Six outstanding entrepreneurs have created this sweet flavor of success in one of the most beautiful places on earth – Santa Barbara, California. As Emmy Award winning comedian Bill Grundfest aptly points out in this video , entrepreneurs should seek the intersection of the things they enjoy doing and the tasks which will make them money.

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Santa Barbara Startup Sales Entrepreneur 100

The Quigley Report

FEBRUARY 22, 2008

In the past few years, angels have become much more active than they were following the tech crash of 2000. As it happens, angel investors in this category usually know the VCs who invest in their space and can be a great help in introducing a start up to smart venture capital investors.

Angel 40

Angel Venture Capital Clearstone Startup 40

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2009

It's in the automated translation category of the industry. To break that down, in terms of what that means, is we handle the managing and executing translation content, including the actual operational activity of translating that content. When you look at the industry as a whole, there are couple of well-funded players.

Startup 133

Startup Technical Review Social Network Content 133

SoCal Delicious

OCTOBER 8, 2012

Tech entrepreneurs and executives from Silicon Valley are moving south and buying up luxury homes in the Los Angeles area. Venture capitalist and hedge-fund manager Peter Thiel—PayPals co-founder and Facebook s. and Facebook beef up their presence and more Silicon Valley investors and entrepreneurs establish footholds in.

Los Angeles 44

Los Angeles Software Review Technical Review Journal 44

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. Who’s going to help you with improving your marketing / positioning to become a clear platform category leader like Twilio?

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317