Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

If you follow the Twittersphere you may have noticed several people weighing in on this recent piece by Mike Isaac of the NY Times, asking “ How Many Angels is Too Many? I myself coined the term ENIFA (everyone now is a f **g angel) in 2011 but it didn’t stick as well as the term Unicorn did. “I Hua of Apptimize.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

This is the third article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on the skills I’ve developed in my career. Obviously I agree.

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Invest Angel Venture Capital Startup 284

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

The Facebook parent-company saw its stock price get bludgeoned after a bad earnings report showcased that Apple’s ad-blocking changes are shaving billions off its books and the company’s crown jewel — the Facebook platform — has stopped growing and actually shrank this quarter. Image Credits: Facebook. the big thing.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many strategies leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. A Biden presidency doesn’t need a Green New Deal to make progress on climate change.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Some thoughts on raising angel money. When convertible debt first started being introduced as a “faster, cheaper way to get startups funded” they didn’t have pricing built into them. ” And some seed stage investors told me, “I prefer not to fight over price now. I just want into the hottest deals.

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Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

And this era ushered in by Amazon changed everything from the age of founders to the skill sets required to the structure of the VC industry and even to the layout of cities (yes, I would proclaim that boldly that Amazon AWS affected city development). So What Impact Did the Drop in Tech Founding Costs Have on VC?

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Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many strategies leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

I give a sneak peek at a blog post I’m writing on the topic next week. No problem to have some developers in remote locations. Can you please explain convertible debt and specifically how it pertains to angel deals? A good compromise is “convertible debt with a cap&# meaning the conversion price has a limit.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2013

With its latest product release, Los Angeles-based PromoJam is gambling on the first, and made managing and running social promotions much more like inhabiting a social network than running enterprise software. PromoJam debuted its brand new, self-service version of its social promotions tool today, PromoJam 2.0,

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Tool Services Social Network Template 190

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 7, 2019

Let AI write the script. The choice of audio came as a natural step given the team’s experience with natural language processing, but the startup also welcomes the chance to develop new devices for more lifelike journeys. ” The Beijing and Los Angeles-based startup isn’t content with just making the software.

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Startup Artificial Inteligence Los Angeles Software 235

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

In my opinion it’s the most natural fit and it would give Netflix a very strong presence in Los Angeles and in TV (obviously subject to getting the right writes from the studios). So it wouldn’t be a surprise to see price increases in Qwikster in the future. kids movies priced as a separate package).

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Netflix Evite Pricing Hulu 329

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

First Principles. Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. -

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Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

I’m sitting at my computer now at 9.00pm writing this – which is an hour earlier than I normally write (there are about 8 women at my kitchen table having a book club (aka excuse to drink wine & gossip so I’m locked in another room writing. Should entrepreneurs have convertible debt or priced equity?

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

Los Angeles-based Maple Media (maplemedia.io) recently announced a big, $30M funding from Shamrock Capital, to assemble a collection of mobile applications in the utility, productivity, games and entertainment verticals. That's really appealing for a lot of those developers. What's the idea behind Maple Media?

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Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

One of the pitfalls of optimism is the expectation for early customer growth, and understating the real costs of design, development, and inventory. The solution here is to never stop the fundraising cycle, moving quickly from friends and family, to angels, to venture capitalists. Your customers and competition make unexpected moves.

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Startup Entrepreneur Examples Custom 131

Berkonomics

JUNE 11, 2015

Our guest insight this week is from Frank Peters, well-known in the angel and in the bicycle worlds for his podcasts and passion. You just had to be lucky, write reasonably good code and land in an industry with some legs, and of course, treat the customer well. I was a beneficiary of this development. By Frank Peters.

Custom 120

Custom Customer Writing Southern California 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

Whether you’re fund raising from angels, seed investors and VCs?—?as Nobody commits, nobody wants to set a price, nobody wants to stick their neck out then BOOM! I have successfully used this in business development, sales, fund raising and even the press. as an industry we succumb to “herd mentality.” Reid Hoffman is in?

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Press Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 232

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Could we produce this at cost? I am inspired by her ambitions and plans.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

63 Los Angeles Entrepreneurs To Be Proud Of By mario on May 2, 2012 in Features , grid. Features like this, as well as our daily interviews wouldn’t be possible without the amazing support of our sponsor eMinutes – a law firm here in Los Angeles that focuses on helping entrepreneurs structure their companies. Subscribe to RSS.

Los Angeles 78

Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. Just 3 years ago there was talk of institutional investors “not being able to write small enough checks.” The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). Why is this?

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

We talked with Noah about how the company grew out of a business plan competition at the University of Southern California, his recent funding from the Maverick Angels, as well as how the firm hopes to stand out among a crowded list of comparison shopping sites. We then went out to raise money, and got started on development.

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USC CPC Sites Startup 207

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When to get a lawyer - If you plan to be a venture or angel backed technology company (what I mostly write about) the best time to start meeting and getting to know lawyers is long before you ever start your company. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Many people start companies arse backwards.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

socalTECH

MARCH 22, 2012

Earlier this month, Los Angeles startup Dollar Shave Club (www.dollarshaveclub.com) made a huge splash with its launch of a subscription, monthly delivery service for razor blades. My first job was as a page at NBC, and after that I went and did a year and a half of writing and production at MSNBC with Keith Olbermann and Chuck Scarborough.

Dollar Shave Club 210

Dollar Shave Club Startup Pricing Sample 210

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2015

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and Angel investor, I still see too many common failure causes that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 105

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Innovation and Geography I ran across a post in Read/Write Web - Does Location Matter in Web Innovation? Ive personally been involved in the start-up world in Los Angeles for about 15 years, and have had the opportunity to work on many early-stage companies (e.g.,

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

People of Korean descent in Los Angeles are amongst the most entrepreneurial people I know — in technology but also in garments, fashion, food and so forth. Could Korea’s largest companies increase their funding of startups and provide them with initial business development deals as so often happens in Silicon Valley?

Startup 261

Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Fast early growth in a market is often eroded when competition gets fierce and prices are forced down due to competition.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

OCTOBER 30, 2014

A lot of our competitors have had to shave their prices because travelers can''t afford to pay the fees for their sites. Michael Womack: My partner and I used to work together, working for a luxury vacation rental company in Los Angeles. They hired me to help with business development, which is what I did for about a year.

Sites 213

Sites Startup Custom Customer 213

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

But the thing I am most proud of about Rob is that he has taken a company with a uniquely talented founder & CTO – Nick Halstead – and managed to build a very tight working relationship with Nick where we drive world-class product development without having the usual founder / CEO conflicts. ” I know it sounds obvious.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many shortcuts leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down.

Startup 57

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 57

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

Investors will look at which angels you chose, whether old bosses invested, whether you were an EIR somewhere and did they invest, etc. Future investors will also look at whether your angels “re-upped&# if you hit a bump in the road. The signaling affect is overrated. Everything you do is a signal.

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Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2014

Anyone can be an entrepreneur today, without a huge investment, bank loans, lawyers, venture capitalists, or Angels. Now the price is closer to $100 if you are willing to do the work yourself. Any credible software developer should be willing to tackle this kind of tool for a couple of thousand dollars.

Startup 100

Startup Commerce Sites Blogging 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Let me start with the obvious baseline that most people probably know instinctively: Los Angeles is the 3rd largest technology startup ecosystem in the US. Many people don’t realize that the majority of the monetization of the Internet originated in Los Angeles but was perfected in Silicon Valley. LA By The Numbers.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

In many ways the fact that it has become so cheap to start a company and relatively cheap to raise angel/seed money that we as an industry have gotten lazy on basic planning. The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. What price will your customer ultimately accept?

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2011

Well, Los Angeles-based KarmaGoat (www.karmagoat.com) has figured out a way to help people get rid of those unwanted items they have--and provide those proceeds to charity. Our marketplace is organized like a used item marketplace, like Amazon or eBay, or Craiglist, in that a seller lists an item, picks a cause, and sets a price.

UCLA 256

UCLA Startup Ideas Help 256

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

Because at least while the VC spigot is open and flowing for high-potential individuals that fit a pattern that some VCs seem to favor they can access cheap capital that isn’t terribly dilutive and can use the to fund development and swing for the fences with limited focus on monetization. Should I write off my $2.5

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Venture Capital Startup Funding Snapchat 412