Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2022

Entrepreneurs are now measured against the “triple bottom line” (TBL or 3BL) of people, planet, and profit. How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Many young entrepreneurs seem to think that capitalism and making profit are dirty words.

Startup 110

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 110

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. By definition?—?I’m dot-com bonanza. Seed has become an option factory for many.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

As a business advisor, I meet many business professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs who are anxious to be their own boss , or have an innovative idea to start or acquire a new business. Some people love starting companies, while others enjoy scaling them. Document and communicate a solid business plan.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. Your A round?

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2013

Entrepreneurs are now measured against the “triple bottom line” (TBL or 3BL) of people, planet, and profit. How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Many young entrepreneurs seem to think that capitalism and making profit are dirty words.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Examples Satisfaction 98

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. My first job out of school was at one of the early bioinformatics companies in Silicon Valley, working as the head of technical services. This time I'm getting to know Mark Geller ( LinkedIn , @markgeller ). Tell me a bit about your background.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

Based on my own years of experience in startups and big business, and more recently as an angel investor, I often cringe when I see one of you entrepreneurs missing a cue that I have seen work for many before you. I find that good entrepreneurs always find ways to keep their project moving forward, in good times and in bad.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

On a regular basis, I am approached by entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like a recent BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this NY Times article. Major platforms are available online to find Angel groups or VCs, including Gust and AngelList.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

We’ve had an explosion of alternate sources of financing from crowd-sourcing, angels, accelerators, incubators, corporates, corporate incubators. And as I always assert, “Great companies are built in downturns. And it’s when mediocre companies get pulverized.” And importantly we’ve had revenue.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Steve Reich

AUGUST 15, 2015

How many Angels do you want in your cap table? Mark Suster wrote a great piece in July giving his answer: “If all else fails, angel-load away! If you can’t raise from a few strong angels, from seed funds or from a VC then raising from a ton (let’s say 20+) angels is a perfectly acceptable strategy.

Angel 40

Angel News Pasadena Angels Seed Funding 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 Finding Good Developers in Los Angeles? ► January (5) Los Angeles Web Developer Startup CTO or Developer When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Goo. Product Manager Entrepreneur Mark Geller SEO for Startups Startup Version 1.0

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles CTO Hire CTO Coach Develop 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

The trends are well understood: more angels, more seed funds, more crowdsourcing and so forth. In a funding round with 1 or 2 VCs and 15-20 angels or 4-6 seed funds if you gave every investor you financial information and performance metrics your proprietary information would increase in its probability of leaking out.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 23, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Friday, February 23, 2007 Events and Networking in Los Angeles One of the issues I discussed in Innovation and Geography was that the geography and traffic in Los Angeles generally makes it more difficult for networking. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Networking CTO Coach Angel 150

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2013

Fans of Los Angeles subscription razor firm Dollar Shave Club might have noticed a lot of the firm recently on television. Media Design Group has been working with Dollar Shave Club to measure how well TV advertising is working for the company. READ MORE>>.

Dollar Shave Club 171

Dollar Shave Club Advertising Media Design 171

socalTECH

JUNE 15, 2017

The company recently raised $8M in a funding from Evolution Media, Aspect Ventures, Upfront Ventures, as well as a long list of angels. How did you start the company? I spent a lot of time with companies like Kickstarter, Twitter, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Youtube to understand what these platforms were giving to creators.

Startup 140

Startup Content Metrics Platform 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2019

Entrepreneurs are now measured against the “triple bottom line” (TBL or 3BL) of people, planet, and profit. How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Many young entrepreneurs seem to think that capitalism and making profit are dirty words.

Startup 93

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2020

As a frequent advisor to new entrepreneurs and startups, I often hear your frustration with being treated differently from other startups by investors, on expectations for valuation , traction, and market size. Valuations here are always low, and funding generally depends on friends and family, or a few forward-thinking angels.

Marketing 174

Marketing Startup Artificial Inteligence Technical Review 174

Jason Nazar

NOVEMBER 23, 2008

Is there a difference between tech startups in Silicon Valley vs. Los Angeles? I’ve spent the last year running a tech company based in Santa Monica , CA and I’ve spent countless weeks in the Bay meeting with hundreds of tech founders. Raj Kapoor – a hawk about understanding the metrics that drive the growth of online communities.

Los Angeles 107

Los Angeles Angel Web 2.0 Web 107

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2017

She told us about why so many Los Angeles investors are supporting the company and gave us an overview of what PartySlate is all about. I tapped my co-founder, John Haro, who I worked for at Agency.com, and at another mobile marketing company, and we talked about the idea, ideated, and I brought him on as co-founder.

Technical Advisors 100

Technical Advisors Technical Review Metrics Startup 100

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. For the past 2.5 Report Card.

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 30, 2012

Months of submissions and the amazing help from our judges , the Spotlight is shinning down on awesome companies that were born right out of Southern California. And now without further ado I present the Spotlight: LA Tech Winter Companies: Spotlight Companies. Bill serves on the boards of directors of numerous companies.

CalTech 91

CalTech Company Companies Idealab 91

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Originally created in the mid 1990’s to help with the imprecise problem of how to value early stage companies, especially those in technology, I developed what soon became known as “The Berkus Method” when published in the popular book, “Winning Angels” by Harvard’s Amis and Stevenson with my permission in 2001.

Startup 120

Startup Examples Metrics Marketing 120

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

And that was evident on today’s Angel vs. VC panel. We need venture debt, factoring companies and public markets. So what took me $2 million at my first company now takes $20,000. These days that’s not the case and it’s a great outcome for entrepreneurs and for innovation. Answer: Not much.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Besides Sense, MuteSix’s former and current clients include companies such as Adidas, Petco, Ring and Theragun, to whom it provides a full range of marketing services, including top-notch direct response videos. At the time, it was doing Facebook media buying for e-commerce companies. What type of clients do you work with?

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 98

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Thursday, March 1, 2007 Entreprenuer Network Great post by Ben Kuo - The Importance of the “Network&# to Entrepreneurs - the informal connections between people in the technology industry here who have a vested interest in helping entrepreneurs take their companies to the next level.

Networking 150

Networking CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2014

Entrepreneurs are now measured against the “triple bottom line” (TBL or 3BL) of people, planet, and profit. How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Many young entrepreneurs seem to think that capitalism and making profit are dirty words.

Startup 104

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Satisfaction 104

Jason Nazar

APRIL 9, 2009

This month’s “Startups Uncensored” will be on “Getting Your Internet Company Bought”. It will be an open and frank town-hall conversation revealing the metrics and measurements for Mergers and Acquisitions in the online space with one of the best experts in the field.

Santa Monica 54

Santa Monica Company Companies Startup 54

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S.

Startup 97

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 97

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

According to Los Angeles-based FEM (fem-inc.com), video recommendations can make a significant difference in how long a user spends on a website or app. We caught up with Rachel recently to hear more about the company. What''s the story behind the company? How is your company funded, and where are you now? What is FEM?

Google 233

Google Content Startup Venice 233

socalTECH

APRIL 4, 2011

For today's interview, we caught up with Clark Landry , the chairman of GraphEffect (www.grapheffect.com), a Santa Monica company which is helping other companies to hone their advertising on Facebook. Landry is a serial entrepreneur, and active investor, having been co-founder of TagWorld. from a group of VCs and angels.

Advertising 198

Advertising Startup Santa Monica Social Network 198

socalTECH

AUGUST 30, 2017

We caught up with the company's founder and CEO, David Baird , a former AOL executive, to learn more about what Gigmor is working on. How did you start the company? We're pretty much in every major market, particularly in music strong communities, like Los Angeles, New york, Nashville, and Toronto. What is Gigmor? and Canada.

Startup 150

Startup Metrics Offshore Sites 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Los Angeles-based Signal Sciences (www.signalsciences.com), which develops web application firewall software, just inked a big, $35M series C funding round a few weeks ago, and now has plans to dramatically expand its hiring in Los Angeles. Tell us a little bit about this round? Were excited about both angles.

Startup 113

Startup Funding Technical Review Software Review 113

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. There was Ron Conway (SV Angel) – I think there was always Ron Conway! And some angels running around like Reid Hoffman & Keith Rabois.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Cloud Computing 150

socalTECH

APRIL 24, 2019

That's where Los Angeles-based Rolebot (www.rolebot.net) comes in. We spoke with founder and CEO, Shane Bernstein , on why he thinks the company's system is far superior to using a resume to find technical talent. We're capturing what value they are bringing to their career, so that companies can see what they are doing.

Sites 240

Sites Startup Tool CTO Hire 240

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

I recently got together with Aaron Shechet and an early stage startup to discuss the direction the company might want to take. I grew up in Los Angeles and went to undergrad at UC Santa Barbara, graduating in 2003 with Honors in Economics. We also represent a few larger companies with international issues. That's great.

Startup 150

Startup SEO Pepperdine Blogging 150