Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. 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. For a nonprofit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising.

Funding 130

Funding Equity Technical Review Organization 130

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Most of the venture capital firms covered in TechCrunch and other tech publications compete for a spot on the cap table of the hottest Bay Area, New York or Los Angeles companies of the moment. Today, Washington, DC-based Revolution is announcing its latest fund. Few seek out companies in Indianapolis, Milwaukee or Tampa.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding Activity 211

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

DogVacay , the online peer-to-peer marketplace which helps pet owners find dog sitters, has been one of the favorites of local Los Angeles investors, having picked up funding from such firms as Science Inc., Rover.com, which is based in Seattle, said it raised $7M in a funding round from Foundry Group, and added Brad Feld to its board.

Competition 159

Competition Funding Los Angeles Capital 159

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos. My perspective as an angel investor is that once you get past early adopters, most people won’t switch to a new approach unless they perceive a cost or time savings or speed advantage of at least 20 percent.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

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?

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

socalTECH

JUNE 29, 2018

GroGuru , a startup developing irrigation automation technology for the agriculture industry, has raise $250,000 in a seed funding from Western Growers and Radicle Growth. According to Western Growers and Radicle Growth, the new funding will help GroGuru advance its automation technology. GroGuru is led by CEO Patrick Henry.

Seed Funding 113

Seed Funding Funding San Diego Incubator 113

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 -- Elevator Pitch Competition. This maxim has special meaning for entrepreneurs seeking funding. Venture capitalists and angel investors are busy people with hectic schedules. MIT Enterprise Forum of the Central Coast. You only get one chance to make a good first impression.

Competition 113

Competition Enterprise Forum Venture Capital Entrepreneur 113

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. Individual angel investors and crowdfunding have been adding to the momentum, some say exceeding VCs in total amount invested.

Funding 125

Funding Venture Capital Startup Class 125

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2021

As an angel investor to startups, I’m still surprised to find entrepreneurs who expect investors to give them money, and assume no strings attached. Angel and venture capital money always comes with ownership and management implications, starting with the obvious ones outlined in the term sheet for the deal.

Funding 173

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Report 173

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

The first thing to remember is that banks only do loans – they generally don’t do equity investments like angels and venture capitalists (and vice versa). You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition's, and why it will succeed.

Equity 121

Equity Technical Advisors Funding Ideas 121

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

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 60 times as many companies, according the Center for Venture Research. Individual angel investors have been filling the gap, and now match VCs in total amount invested.

Angel 104

Angel Funding Startup Venture Capital 104

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Los Angeles-based Equipois , which develops ergonomic arm technology, was the winner of a fast pitch competition hosted by the Monte Jade Science & Technology Association last week at Caltech. in the first tranche of a Series B-1 funding round, led by Penny Black. Equipois recently raised $1.3M READ MORE>>.

Competition 133

Competition CalTech Hollywood Venture Capital 133

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 3, 2020

That’s what the Los Angeles-based extended reality technology developer Talespin did — and it just raised $15 million to grow its business. . It turns out the virtual and augmented reality companies aren’t dead — as long as they focus on the enterprise.

Training 220

Training Los Angeles Tool Cornerstone OnDemand 220

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

In your opinion, are your angels more or less active this year? The venture capitalists we look at to fund our deals are certainly tightening down, there's no question about that. What is not happening, is those marginal deals that would have gotten funded a number of years ago, when things were better, are not making it.

Tech Coast Angels 231

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 231

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. Is Funding a Worthy Announcement? There are reasons you may delay funding announcement but rarely reasons not to announce. But trust me on this.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

With the advent and popularity of crowdfunding platforms, including Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as a winning alternative for funding your new venture, I find that many aspiring entrepreneurs are confused about the need to ever seek a professional angel investor. Consider the need for multiple rounds of funding.

Funding 119

Funding Startup Platform Examples 119

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2018

Los Angeles-based on-demand scooter rental service Bird will have to compete against both Uber and Lyft in its fight for the San Francisco market. According to The Verge, both companies have applied for electric scooters in San Francisco, and are hoping to operate electric scooters there. READ MORE>>.

Competition 100

Competition Demand Equity Los Angeles 100

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2012

Crowdfunder , an online site offering up a platform to help startups raise money for their firms via crowd funding, is dangling $25,000 in a contest open to Los Angeles companies. The startup contest--which accepts entries through June 20th--is having a panel of judges--including Peter H.

Competition 200

Competition Startup Sites Platform 200

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Los Angeles-based XPRIZE, which runs competition to spur technology development to help solve world challenges, and the Musk Foundation--the charity organization funded by Elon Musk--says it has awarded $5M across 23 different student teams, to help them compete in the larger $100M XPRIZE for Carbon Removal.

Competition 113

Competition Los Angeles Organization Funding 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. 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. For a nonprofit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising.

Angel 52

Angel Funding Equity Technical Review 52

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Venture Capital is a tricky industry. Far from it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Grocery delivery startup Good Eggs is announcing that it has raised $100 million in new funding, and that it’s planning to launch in Southern California in either the summer or fall of this year. In addition to the funding, Good Eggs is also announcing that it has hired Vineet Mehra as its chief growth and customer experience officer.

Southern California 318

Southern California Orange County San Diego Commerce 318

Xconomy

OCTOBER 1, 2018

Launched in 2006 by San Diego’s Tech Coast Angels, the annual John G. Three of the 10 slated to pitch at the Oct. 24 event will get a cut of $75,000 to advance their businesses.

San Diego 83

San Diego Competition Tech Coast Angels Startup 83

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Invest 123

SoCal CTO

MAY 19, 2010

I’m planning on going to a Tech Coast Angels mixer tomorrow and the topic for me is whether there is angel funding out there for startups that don’t meet classic VC models. By way of background for the question, there’s a great post by Bob Aholt, a Pasadena Angel: An Angel Investor’s Thoughts on Valuation.

Invest 205

Invest Angel Tech Coast Angels Pasadena Angels 205

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 15, 2010

Last night I attended the inaugural Open Angel Forum event started by Jason Calacanis , a fellow LA resident. Jason started the Open Angel Forum in response to his frustration that entrepreneurs were being charged by some angel organizations to present at their events. The event last night in Los Angeles was great.

Angel 254

Angel Startup Tech Coast Angels MyShape 254

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds. Professional angels: This is the arena where I work and play. Do not expect grand valuations of your enterprise from these professional angels.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

socalTECH

JANUARY 25, 2019

San Diego-based Trust & Will , a startup which operates an online software tool to help people create their own estate plans, has raised $2M in a funding round, the company disclosed this week. Thec ompany was also part of the Techstars Anywhere startup accelerator. READ MORE>>.

Tech Coast Angels 133

Tech Coast Angels San Diego Seed Funding Competition 133

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 26, 2020

The Los Angeles startup community is joining the rest of the world in mourning the death of NBA superstar, entrepreneur and investor Kobe Bryant who was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., billion investment vehicle that was launched in partnership with the private equity fund, Permira, according to a report in USA Today.

Venture Capital 359

Venture Capital Los Angeles Legalzoom Calabasas 359

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. For simplicity I’ll assume you’ve raised some money from angels or seed investors and you’re either raising an A round or a B round of venture capital.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 19, 2019

. “For us, the broader mission is A+ personal care for guys everywhere — not just guys in New York or guys in the Bay Area or guys in Los Angeles,” he said. The startup has raised $1 million in seed funding from RXBAR founders Peter Rahal and Jared Smith, CXT Investments, and Lean Luxe founder M. Paul Munford.

Startup 217

Startup Seed Funding Los Angeles Competition 217

socalTECH

OCTOBER 23, 2012

One of the biggest complaints that local entrepreneurs have with Los Angeles has been a dearth of local sources of venture capital. However, the recent surge in startup activity has attracted a lot more capital into the area, including a significant amount of capital from LA's latest fund: Karlin Ventures (www.karlinvc.com).

Funding 253

Funding Startup Invest Commerce 253

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 10, 2021

Just over three months after its last funding round, European fintech giant Klarna is announcing today that it has raised another $639 million at a staggering post-money valuation of $45.6 in markets such as New York and Los Angeles. True competition is coming to this space, this decade,” he said. Making sense of Klarna.

Los Angeles 266

Los Angeles Funding CIO Marketing 266

socalTECH

JUNE 12, 2018

Los Angeles-based on-demand scooter rental service Bird is report raising yet more funding, at a $2 billion valuation, according to a report on Tuesday. Bird is in a massive battle with a large list of players launch or looking to enter the on-demand, "last mile" scooter rental service, including Lime, Uber, and Lyft.

Report 100

Report Funding Demand Los Angeles 100

socalTECH

OCTOBER 21, 2010

According to Los Angeles-based MK Capital, it made the investment in Poptent, led by partner Yair Landau. As part of the funding, MK Capital said Poptent has hired Andy Jedynak as CEO. The funding had been originally been uncovered yesterday by socalTECH. The firm had previously been known as XLNTads. READ MORE>>.

Funding 150

Funding SoCalTech Advertising Hollywood 150

socalTECH

MARCH 5, 2019

The Cleantech Open , the Los Angeles-based effort which is helping clean technology startups with acceleration, support resources, and more--run by the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)--is one of a number of organizations which have received part of a $1 million grant total from the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Incubator 133

Incubator Los Angeles Organization Resource 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Yet according to the latest data from AngelSoft , only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.” Line up an experienced team.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89