Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2017

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Rose, according to his latest book, “ Angel Investing.” Neither does David S.

Startup 76

Startup Angel Funding .Net 76

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

I’m not anti VC. But there are a lot of things that become norms in the VC industry that always drove me crazy from entrepreneur’s side of the table. But there are a lot of things that become norms in the VC industry that always drove me crazy from entrepreneur’s side of the table.

Entrepreneur 297

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Java 297

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

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

This is part of my series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Entrepreneurs are inherently risk takers.

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital CTO Hire 293

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

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

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

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

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There has been much discussion about VCs doing seed funding in the past year. 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.

Seed Funding 298

Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

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

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). ” Stated simply – if you seed funded Uber at $4.5m Where are we today?

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

.” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. ” 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.” LA By The Numbers.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2010

article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). After that it’s domain experience, access to VCs and deep pockets. Imagine that you funded Larry & Sergey, Chad Hurley & Steve Chen, Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Pincus or Evan Williams.

Invest 280

Invest Angel Venture Capital Yahoo 280

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally-generated funds. The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise.

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Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

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

socalTECH

DECEMBER 23, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. We also had our first exit for Moonshots Capital Fund 1 --Threatcare. Im looking forward to seeing how AI continues to unfold.

Capital 100

Capital Technical Review Truecar Venture Capital 100

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

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). Tell us a bit of the story on how you started HashtagOne? I'm a bit of an anti-VC, as you know.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 15, 2012

One the most frequent questions asked of me by entrepreneurs is, "How can I become a Venture Capitalist?" The inquiry is common because being a VC is (to an entrepreneur, at least) a sexy job. I define a "VC" as, "a professional investor who deploys third-party funds into relatively early-stage companies."

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest RSS 242

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note. I can boil it down to how this tension plays out. In the old days VCs funded off of a “pre-money” valuation.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Now that he’s become a VC he’s promising me he’ll provide way more public information and discourse so please welcome him by following him on Twitter and better yet welcoming him with a Tweet of your own linking to his Twitter handle or this post. Vision for how to change the industry. Startup DNA.

Invest 340

Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

Berkonomics

JANUARY 10, 2019

Investors will invariably try to tell you that they know much more about the “how to” than you do, and that you should listen to them. A good entrepreneur-turned-CEO listens, takes it all in, responds with reason, and stands up for what s/he believes for the parts that matter most. How to respond to “change the course” suggestions.

Venture Capital 136

Venture Capital Course Email Ideas 136

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). Markets like these are very kind to angel investors because you get taken out early and see a nice pop on your investment. How’d that work out? Total disruption on the funding market?

Invest 283

Invest Angel Startup Marketing 283

Berkonomics

JANUARY 5, 2012

Investors will invariably try to tell you that they know much more about the “how to” than you do, and that you should listen to them. A good entrepreneur-turned-CEO listens, takes it all in, responds with reason, and stands up for what s/he believes for the parts that matter most. It is good to listen. It is good to listen.

Entrepreneur 136

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Course Startup 136

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. My partner Kara wrote a great post on the topic that you should read.

Venture Capital 256

Venture Capital Examples Screening Help 256

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.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Berkonomics

JANUARY 10, 2019

Investors will invariably try to tell you that they know much more about the “how to” than you do, and that you should listen to them. A good entrepreneur-turned-CEO listens, takes it all in, responds with reason, and stands up for what s/he believes for the parts that matter most. How to respond to “change the course” suggestions.

Venture Capital 120

Venture Capital Course Email Ideas 120

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Entrepreneurs will have a relative willing to devote time, a school friend with business experience, professionals who charge for the service, investors with a reason to promote your success and more. Email readers, continue here…] How do you pay a coach? Business coaches come in all sizes and shapes.

Coach 243

Coach Organization Resource IBM 243

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

I hope I straddled people’s points of view well enough not to have offended anybody while adding a framework for how I think about the service. I hope I straddled people’s points of view well enough not to have offended anybody while adding a framework for how I think about the service. So why I am writing it then?

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

I become a venture capitalist in September 2007 – exactly 6.5 That company was Invoca, which just announced a $20 million fund raise led by Accel. That company was Invoca, which just announced a $20 million fund raise led by Accel. So I think it’s now fair to rate me at 9/10 on follow-on fundings. years ago.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. They have created two internal technology “products&# and wanted to figure out how they could turn their services business into a product business that could be financed.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

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

DECEMBER 14, 2016

How do you find somebody that is exceptionally bright, driven and accomplished and yet still be humble enough to understand that the founders we back are the ones who have invented technologies and have to live with the day-to-day decision-making and hard choices. Watching him develop over the past 4.5 I mean this seriously.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Course 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

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. But now you can learn the origins first hand on this YouTube video as well as how to approach them, how they make decisions and what innovations they've introduced.

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

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.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Editor's note: All this week, and into the start of next year, we'll be featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. Here, we have the thoughts of Rob Freelen , Los Angeles Market Manager for Silicon Valley Bank (www.svb.com).

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Southern California SoCal Culver City Venture Capital 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. He is going gangbusters, and is now targeting a $50M second round of funding. The hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play. Super Angels.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Seed Funding Incubator 101

InfoChachkie

MAY 22, 2012

The same should be true of an entrepreneur who is attempting to secure money from sophisticated investors. You might be at Step 2 with one VC and Step 3 with another. VCs collude all the time, it is only fair that entrepreneurs compare notes every now and again as well.”. I wish that was true. It’s not.” Prep Steps.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Capital Research Custom 236

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Today I’d like to talk about what startup communities outside of Silicon Valley look like, how they emerge and what makes them take hold. ” In that post I talked about how a few key people in any community can have an enormous impact on the fledgling success of the city or company. Here are mine: 1.

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Startup Venture Capital Press San Diego 378