Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Yet as an active angel investor, I still get this question on a regular basis, so I’ll try to outline the considerations in common-sense terms. A nonprofit organization is generally defined as an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals.

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Funding Equity Technical Review Organization 130

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according the Crunchbase. The cost of entry for tech startups continues to go down. Super angels have greater scope to match talent with a startup.

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Funding Venture Capital Startup Class 125

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. Wait, didn’t you just raise a fund? Was it hard to raise the fund?

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Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

Acrew Capital, the venture capital fund which recently added local Los Angeles investor Richard Wolpert as a Venture Partner, said this week that it has launched two new funds. The venture fund said it launched The Long Term View (LTV) Fund, a ~$380MM early stage fund and the Diversify Capital Fund (DCF), a $300MM late stage fund.

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Capital Funding Venture Capital Los Angeles 113

TechEmpower

JULY 24, 2023

At TechEmpower, we frequently talk to startup founders, CEOs, product leaders, and other innovators about their next big tech initiative. Background Questions Let’s start with some background questions about the business and product. How are you funding this? What level of funding do you currently have? Wireframes?

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Develop Development Technical Review SEO 520

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2022

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according to a classic Crunchbase article. The cost of entry for tech startups continues to go down. Mobile and web software apps may cost even less.

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Guide Venture Capital Funding Class 136

socalTECH

JUNE 5, 2013

the startup incubator headed by former MySpace CEO Mike Jones, is reportedly raising another $30M in funding to put towards its startups. According to a report this morning, the fund will also invest in non-Science incubated startups. science myspace scienceinc venture capital fund funding'

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Dollar Shave Club Funding Incubator Startup 185

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Launchpad LA today announces it will accept applications for its third class of Los Angeles-based tech startups. We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. This education will continue.

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Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. For aspiring entrepreneurs, or if your last startup failed, it’s all about standing out above the crowd of others like you, and demonstrating your readiness.

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Entrepreneur Tips Funding Startup 156

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds.

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Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

My first suggestion is that entrepreneurs need to forget the old myth that all they need to do is sketch an idea on a napkin, and investors will line up to invest. Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process. Investors expect a good value proposition in every pitch.

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Funding Startup Entrepreneur Invest 123

socalTECH

APRIL 24, 2018

A new, $20M venture capital fund, TAU Ventures , based out of Tel Aviv, Israel, and Tel Aviv University (TAU), says it is specifically looking to link with the Los Angeles technology community--thanks to its link with Los Angeles investor Behzad Kianmahd--co-founder of Cross Campus. READ MORE>>.

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Funding Seed Funding Startup High Tech 113

socalTECH

DECEMBER 18, 2020

A new, Los Angeles startup, Whatnot , which operates a online live stream shopping service and marketplace for collectors, said late Thursday that it had raised $4M in a seed funding round. The funding came from Scribble Ventures, Wonder Ventures, Operator Partners, Y Combinator, Liquid 2 Ventures, Twenty Two Ventures, and others.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2013

If you're a Southern California startup, it's most likely you're going to find funding from local, Southern California startup funds, right? raised in Q4 of 2011, against the backdrop of an overall lull in venture capital activity for the year nationally. The report found that there was $683.7M READ MORE>>.

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Southern California Funding Startup Draper 198

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

AOL co-founder and former chief executive officer Steve Case’s venture capital fund, Revolution , deploys capital to companies “outside of the hotbeds.” When we started doing this, it was heretical,” Revolution co-founder Tige Savage tells TechCrunch. Lots of firms are now talking about this pretty actively.”.

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Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding Activity 211

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

The Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the entertainment and sports agency which also is an active investor and partner of technology and media companies here, said this morning that it has received a an investment from Temasek , the $200 billion Singapore investment company. READ MORE>>.

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Funding Southern California Entertainment Activity 124

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Today, we share the thoughts of Greg Monterrosa ,a startup community leader who is currently Startup Weekend organizer, facilitator, and mentor and was a former Founder of MyLLC.com and Hub101. The continued growth of startup communities in Los Angeles. What was the biggest news for you/your company this year?

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Startup Thousand Oaks Mentor Ventura 196

socalTECH

APRIL 25, 2013

Los Angeles seems to be cementing itself in as the capital of celebrity and e-commerce, with the latest deal being Moonfrye , a new, "celebrity mom" startup featuring Soleil Moon Frye, best known to the rest of us as Punky Brewster. The new startup revealed today that it has raised $2.5M READ MORE>>.

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Activity GRP Partners CitySearch Commerce 178

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2022

Instead of sizing up new opportunities and actively courting every new customer, you start worrying about cutting costs, repeatable processes , and overtaking known competitors. As a consultant, I hate to see you lose that startup focus on innovation, change, and customers.

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Startup Artificial Inteligence Metrics Netflix 154

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Los Angeles-based Sound Ventures , the venture capital fund run by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary, is looking to raise a third fund, worth $150M, according to a regulatory filing by the company. Sound Ventures had filed paperwork for a $150M second fund back in 2018. READ MORE>>.

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Funding Venture Capital Los Angeles Activity 113

socalTECH

MAY 20, 2013

There has long been a disparity between the number of startups founded and started by women, and those founded by men. However, a new effort, ChicksStarter , is trying something new, to help one lucky startup--with a female founder--avoid all of that. entrepreneur women broadscircle startup female chickstarter'

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L.A. Business Journal

OCTOBER 27, 2017

CAA launches tech startup studio with $12 million in funding, SpaceX details satellite constellation plans to Congress and AirBnB to generate nearly $1 billion in L.A. County activity, study says.

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SpaceX Funding Study Startup 124

Tech.Co

JUNE 29, 2021

You know what a startup is, right? Or at least you have an idea of what a startup is like to work in? Don't forget the pizza parties and deskside beers funded by a seemingly endless stream of venture capitalist money, either. Or, as can happen, when the money dries up and the business goes under.

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Startup Course Coach Demand 175

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kauffman Foundation , the numbers are here to show it. Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Networking no longer is primarily a face-to-face serial activity.

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Tips Startup Social Media News 161

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 16, 2020

Milken is taking the plunge into institutional investing, joining Norton as a partner in Watertower Ventures just as the firm prepares to close on a $50 million new fund. We’re seeing a lot more companies that are starting up now as a result of a [the pandemic],” said Norton. “I see two things happen.

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Funding Southern California Los Angeles Invest 230

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Because I’ve asked more than 100 VCs similar questions I start to notice patterns in thinking.

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Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2013

The LAUNCH Fund , the angel investment fund of Los Angeles angel and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, is looking to invest $200,000 in startups who present at two of the events being run by Calacanis over the next couple of months, according to an announcement by Calacanis Tuesday. READ MORE>>.

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Invest Funding Conference Southern California 147

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

The good news is that a recent Kauffman Early-Stage Entrepreneurship (KESE) Index shows the highest level of new business activity recorded in the last two decades, and the cost of entry at an all-time low. In this context, it’s time for every business, not only startups, to take a fresh look at the basics of business success.

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Startup News Framework Outsource 112

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2007

I generally am working as an acting CTO for about 3-4 start-ups or other companies at any one time. Most often I'm being brought in the early stage, Start-up or Expansion (as the company looks at new product lines). To me, it makes a lot more sense to do part-time CTO (if you have some funding). Great question.

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Startup CTO Hire Technical Advisors Technical Review 231

socalTECH

JULY 18, 2013

A new report today, from the Angel Resource Institute, Silicon Valley Bank, and CB Insights, has found that the Tech Coast Angels is again one of the most active angel investment groups in the country. startup investment investor angel cbinsights ranking report capital venture angels coast tech' Louis Arch Angels. READ MORE>>.

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Tech Coast Angels Activity Angel Southern California 168

socalTECH

APRIL 11, 2018

Seed stage investments in Los Angeles area startups was up, year-to-year, according to the Q1 2018 LA Seed Deal Report from investor Amplify LA. According to the report from Amplify, 23 LA startups raised a total of $52.9M in seed funding in Q1, which was up 2.5 percent from Q1 of 2017. READ MORE>>.

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Seed Funding Funding Entertainment Report 147

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

San Diego-based Qualcomm announced on Wednesday that it has launched a brand new, venture capital investment fund, which will focus only an artificial intelligence. The first investment out of the fund is in AnyVision , a startup working on face, body, and object recognition. READ MORE>>.

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Artificial Inteligence Invest Funding IP 133

socalTECH

JANUARY 11, 2019

San Diego-based Qualcomm has put its backing behind a startup, ClearMotion , which is developing computer-controlled automotive chassis technology, which replaces shock absorbers with active components to dampen movement while you are driving.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. In the interim, there is no market for the shares, and no dividends or interest.

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Funding Startup Equity Venture Capital 123

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. In my post “ Measure twice, cut once ” I’ve outlined how to plan before you start raising. You can short-hand this as “engagement.”

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Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader. Now comes the reality check.

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Startup Equity Patents CTO Hire 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

In the old days, every entrepreneur planned on taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is finally up from the dead zone of the last two decades, and is now double the rate back in 1999. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

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Startup Report IBM IBM 98