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. These trends have put pressure on traditional VCs. These trends have put pressure on traditional VCs. This led to an explosion in startups. Funny, that.

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Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

There has been much discussion in the past few years of the changing structure of the venture capital industry. The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). On the surface the narratives have been. Where are we today? 50x more Internet users (2.4

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

While many of my friends bragged about their 5 condos in Florida I kept talking about how the real estate market was in a bubble – their gains an illusion. I pointed to several Economist articles I had read that mapped historical prices of real estate for 400 years and how on average property values grow at no more 1.5%

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. I'm a huge fan of this innovation. and Half.com.

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Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. . ” I highly recommend reading it. But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Turns out like most things there are no simple answers. Let’s set up a framework.

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Startup Company Companies .Net 383

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NOVEMBER 13, 2014

After years of trying to persuade Kara Nortman to become a partner at Upfront Ventures I can officially announce now that she’s joined us effective immediately. Thus began my marketing campaign. Thus began my marketing campaign. Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures). billion).

Venture Capital 408

Venture Capital Startup Outsource Development CitySearch 408

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Bain Capital Ventures' Jamison Hill. We are in phase three of the influencer economy,” Bain Capital Ventures senior principal Jamison Hill, who led the firm’s investment in the influencer shoutout marketplace Cameo , tells TechCrunch. “The With new followers — today her account, @weworewhat , has 2.2

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

In my ongoing quest to get you good transcripts of the wonderful interviews we’ve done in the past, I present you with one amazing interview here with Tom McInerney – a friend, co-investor, former entrepreneur turned angel investor and “wizard of Oz&# behind the scenes at the uber hot startup Klout. In fact, HAVE done so.

Angel 302

Angel Startup Ideas .Net 302

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. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

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Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. As always a balanced perspective is in order.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

I spent my days meeting companies, figuring out what areas of the market interested me and trying to get a sense for how VCs thought about fair valuations. I started showing my partners more deals that I found interesting and doing loads of analysis on the future of markets I thought were ripe for disruption. Depressing.

Marketing 305

Marketing Venture Capital Funding Technical Review 305

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

This is the fourth article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). 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.

Invest 283

Invest Angel Startup Marketing 283

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

The idea is simple enough: several female VC partners at top funds will hold 1-hour meetings with 40 promising female entrepreneurs looking to get advice on their business and pitch in a friendly, non-judgmental, safe environment. LA Female Office Hours. So why is this initiative so important for men, women and other gender identities?

Venture Capital 256

Venture Capital Examples Screening Help 256

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

” In it he talked about how he gets daily emails asking for intros to Oprah (he does a lot of work with her) and his advice. ” In it he talked about how he gets daily emails asking for intros to Oprah (he does a lot of work with her) and his advice. Think about it – who knows angels the best? Lots of asking.

Venture Capital 407

Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We had a special edition of This Week in Venture Capital this week shooting out of the Next New Networks offices in New York. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital. Topics we discussed in the first 45 minutes of the video include: What is VC like in NY? The Spark Capital website (it’s one of my favorites).

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Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

We all know that funding markets have changed for startups. The trends are well understood: more angels, more seed funds, more crowdsourcing and so forth. How founders get screwed on convertible notes. How party rounds can burn you if it takes time to find your groove. There is a reason for this.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

We’ll call these “inside angels.” Angel investment groups or funds. First, angel investment groups and organized angel funds come in all sizes from a few organized angels to large groups of four hundred or more. Angel groups invest from $250,000 to $1,000,000 or more in qualified investments.

Equity 156

Equity Technical Review Class Organization 156

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

Because my role as a VC requires me to take and endless stream of meetings I long ago decided I need to learn as much as I can from the meetings I attend so I often just ask tons of questions and assimilate knowledge. He always had an angle for how he could acquire better, faster, cheaper than others. You won’t regret it.

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Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

So I hope y’all understand (Especially the chap who sent me a private message saying how frustrating he found my typos to be. So I hope y’all understand (Especially the chap who sent me a private message saying how frustrating he found my typos to be. entrepreneur Wil Schroter (I am an angel investor in Affordit).

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

Cincinnati, like many startup communities in the US over the past 5 years, has revitalized important regions in its urban core, created accelerators, built co-working facilities, pooled together angel capital, attracted VCs, involved educational institutions and solicited the help of important corporations in a more cohesive ecosystem.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

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FEBRUARY 22, 2011

Lately I have seen a number of deals announced on TechCrunch in which 5 or more different VCs were participating in the deal. When this first ran on TechCrunch I got the greatest comment in the world that I had to repeat here, “VC’s are like martinis: the first is good, the second one great, and the third is a headache.&#

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Startup Invest Pricing 314

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

I become a venture capitalist in September 2007 – exactly 6.5 As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above).

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. We spoke about how there needs to be a change in how employers view educators. ” Who else does Clayton pray for?

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2012

I had been hanging around Klout for a year and many of my friends had angel funded the company and were champions. He was an early investor in Klout and was the most compelling voice I had heard on why the company would become hugely relevant. billion market cap so he has a history of weighing in early and being right.

Cornerstone OnDemand 303

Cornerstone OnDemand Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup 303

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Here, we have the thoughts of Rob Freelen , Los Angeles Market Manager for Silicon Valley Bank (www.svb.com). The common thread  these entrepreneurs describe a compelling vision of how they are poised to transform an industry. Given SVBs market position, that is great news. Telling compelling stories is crucial.

Southern California 133

Southern California SoCal Culver City Venture Capital 133

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2017

He was running to be the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles and he outlined his vision to “open up the city government to technology and innovation” if he were elected. It’s amazing how much has changed in the past five years, 4 of which have coincided with Mayor Garcetti’s tenure. But this post is about the broader context of LA.

Riot Games 191

Riot Games Los Angeles Technical Review Venture Capital 191

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. In the Early Days. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series about Raising Venture Capital. A few years ago it became fashionable for large VC’s to do seed funding. Some larger VCs felt they were being “scooped&# by some younger, nimbler and smaller VCs. If a VC term sheet comes in they begin their due diligence process.

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Seed Funding Venture Capital Funding Software Review 283

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 17, 2017

You begin to think about how hard it will be to fund raise, sign customers, hire employees, etc. You begin to think about how hard it will be to fund raise, sign customers, hire employees, etc. For my family Ring has become a way that we joke and communicate with each other when I’m on the road. That’s what bullies want.

Riot Games 254

Riot Games Pricing Startup Venture Capital 254

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. You’re a small fish.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

I’ve written about it myself (Is VC Seed Funding Dead?) and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2. Future investors will also look at whether your angels “re-upped&# if you hit a bump in the road.

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Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

If you want the full SlideShare deck with many slides not in either post it’s in this link –> The LA Tech Market. ” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.”

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Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 5, 2010

I attended the inaugural Open Angel Forum in Los Angeles back in January and wrote about it here. Jason Calacanis started this initiative in response to the pay-to-play network of angel events that he despised. The first event was a big success and brought out many of LA’s angel elite. Team Pip.io

Angel 254

Angel Technical Review Software Review Platform 254

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 30, 2016

We did what many VC funds did – we presented our annual results, we stood up and talked about our portfolio companies, we invited a few to also present and then we had dinner & drinks at some posh restaurant. So I decided to change up our format a bit. Here’s a short sample of what we now do. I had a few objectives in mind.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Course Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

He’s thoughtful about markets, investors, products and is always very well reasoned in his arguments. He and I once took different sides of an debate about whether “VC signaling&# in early-stage deals is a serious problem or not. Such that during that time, Chris “learned how to learn.”. West Coast”).

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

One of the questions we discussed is, “How much capital should a startup raise?” ” Fred & I are both in agreement that there is a tension between capital constraints and creativity. ” Here is a three-minute video with Fred answering this question. I promise it’s worth watching. Again, Fred.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150