socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2019

The Series A funding came from Link Ventures, Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Western Technology Investment, Techstars Ventures, Luma Launch and Halogen Ventures. The company originally raised funding as part of the San Diego Tech Coast Angels, in a "Quick Pitch" competition three years ago.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels San Diego Seed Funding Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2022

Angel investors, like me, have long figured out that asking to see the prototype is a quick way to separate the ‘wannabes’ from serious players. In reality, it doesn’t take a huge investment of money and time to build a prototype today. Time is money, and may be your primary competitive advantage.

Outsource Development 110

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Don’t count on friends and family, crowdfunding, angels, or other external investors. A documented business plan for the new venture is critical here. Incubating is not enough; successful new ventures must be quickly scaled to stay ahead of competition and show a level of acceptance by customers as well as your financial executives.

Incubator 143

Incubator Seed Funding Metrics Customer 143

Berkonomics

APRIL 14, 2012

There is a natural fear of giving too much information to investors after the initial investment is received. That burden is an ongoing cost of taking the investment, much as a public company takes on the additional burden of governmental reporting, both adding to costs over time.

Class 202

Class Report Competition .Net 202

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

The reasons are a lot more complex than the meltdown of key investment banks in the US a few years ago, so don’t expect any real change in the numbers soon, especially with recent stock market downturns. Thus, there is tremendous pressure to increase current earnings, and little appetite for strategic investments.

Startup 98

Startup Report IBM IBM 98

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2020

Angel investors, like me, have long figured out that asking to see the prototype is a quick way to separate the ‘wannabes’ from serious players. In reality, it doesn’t take a huge investment of money and time to build a prototype today. Time is money, and may be your primary competitive advantage.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

Death By Competitive Analysis - Steve Blank , March 1, 2010 Trading emails with a startup CEO building an iPhone app, I asked him why potential customers would buy his product. In response he sent me a competitive analysis. It looked like every competitive analysis I had done for 20 years, (ok maybe better.) And it made me sad.

Startup 150

Startup Software Review Competition SoCal 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards. This is the norm and unless you have a hugely competitive round it’s not worth fighting.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Things that make it investment-grade for outside investors will also benefit you, since you are the ultimate investor. It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage. Executive team.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2013

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment.

Technical Review 97

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2019

The reasons are a lot more complex than the meltdown of key investment banks in the US a few years ago, so don’t expect a big change in the numbers soon, even with recent stock market rallies. Thus, there is tremendous pressure to increase current earnings, and little appetite for strategic investments.

Startup 84

Startup Technical Review Report IBM 84

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Things that make it investment-grade for outside investors will also benefit you, since you are the ultimate investor. It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage. Executive team.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2012

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment.

Technical Review 98

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Training 98

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Based on my experience as an angel investor and a mentor to dozens of entrepreneurs, having no business plan is the quickest way to define yourself as just a dreamer, or at best a hobbyist. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive. The details can be added later.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Angels are also moving up-stage, leaving a bigger and bigger black hole for new startups. So what can entrepreneurs do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue and position their startup for a winning IPO? Don’t try to talk your way to a deal before you have the documentation.

Venture Capital 101

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2016

Unfortunately, as a startup advisor and angel investor, I’ve seen too many ventures with great potential get destroyed or set back by legal and other shortcuts that should never have been allowed to happen. Trade secrets need to be documented and dated, and business plans labeled as confidential. Late surprises lead to lawsuits.

Startup 62

Startup Patents Entrepreneur Writing 62

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

There’s plenty of capital out there, but there’s also a lot of competition for startup funding. If you go this route, be careful to make the stakes clear: i.e., that they could lose their whole investment. Angels (invest their own money) and super angels. His best advice: take capital where you can get it.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2015

Angel investors, like me, have long figured out that asking to see the prototype is a quick way to separate the ‘wannabes’ from serious players. In reality, it doesn’t take a huge investment of money and time to build a prototype today. Time is money, and may be your primary competitive advantage.

Ideas 107

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Tool 107

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

Bitvore is based in Irvine, and is backed by serial entrepreneur Yuri Pikover, as well as other angels. Whether that''s for competitive analysis or market analysis, our product is basically able to monitor--on a very large scale--things that are important to your particular company. It''s designed for business people.

Orange County 245

Orange County Startup News IBM 245

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an Angel investor. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2010

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment.

Technical Review 91

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 91

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Things that make it investment-grade for outside investors will also benefit you, since you are the ultimate investor. It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage. Executive team.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

The reasons are a lot more complex than the meltdown of key investment banks in the US a few years ago, so don’t expect a big change in the numbers soon, even with recent stock market rallies. Thus, there is tremendous pressure to increase current earnings, and little appetite for strategic investments.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Report Entrepreneur 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2014

To shortcut what has been an antiquated way of connecting consumers with attorneys, Los Angeles startup LawKick (www.lawkick.com) has created an online, easy way to match up clients with lawyers, through a set of simple questions and answers about different kinds of legal problems. It sounds like you have some angel funding?

Help 240

Help Startup CTO Hire Pricing 240

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse.

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

On the other hand, everyone is doing it, so that means more competition, and the market and technology are changing faster than ever before. Yet, as an angel investor myself, I can attest that many potential entrepreneurs try to take shortcuts, or ignore the realities of business. Prepare a pitch deck to document and share your plan.

Funding 73

Funding Social Media Slides Platform 73

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Here are the most common elevator pitch missteps I see often as an angel investor and advisor to startups, with some quick advice on how to address each: Insist on leading with the story of the company. Your second sentence should acknowledge competition, but highlight your added value. Come unprepared with no written documents.

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2014

Angel investors, like me, have long figured out that asking to see the prototype is a quick way to separate the ‘wannabes’ from serious players. In reality, it doesn’t take a huge investment of money and time to build a prototype today. Time is money, and may be your primary competitive advantage.

Outsource Development 105

Outsource Development Startup Ideas Tool 105

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

After you have successfully attracted angels or venture capital with your business case, your million dollar product idea, and you have a signed term sheet, there is still one more hurdle to overcome before investors write the check. A dysfunctional team, or even one naysayer in a critical position can stall your investment.

Technical Review 94

Technical Review Startup Writing Competition 94

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

Angels are also moving up-stage, leaving a bigger and bigger black hole for new startups. In fact, most of the most active investment firms are located there, although NY now has moved solidly into second place (ahead of Boston). So what can you do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue?

Venture Capital 93

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 93

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2018

Angel investors, like me, have long figured out that asking to see the prototype is a quick way to separate the ‘wannabes’ from serious players. In reality, it doesn’t take a huge investment of money and time to build a prototype today. Time is money, and may be your primary competitive advantage.

Ideas 53

Ideas Outsource Development Tool Outsource 53