Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal. Some entrepreneurs do very little to prepare for due diligence, assuming all the talking has already been done, and the business plan and results to-date tell the right story. My best advice is to stick to the middle ground.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

When I first read Paul Graham’s blog post on “High Resolution&# Financing I read it as a treatise arguing that convertible notes are better than equity. Not that they’re “such a bad idea&# but more that there are inherent problems for entrepreneurs in the process of raising angel money that need to be addressed.

Venture Capital 286

Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review Startup 286

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

The technology team disagrees on direction and wants resolutions. There’s a guy in Los Angeles that I met at several tech networking events. He was a really nice and personable guy who had deep domain knowledge in an industry that he’d worked in for 10 years that is in need of technological advancement.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

SoCal CTO

APRIL 27, 2011

Several people have recently come to me to help them source and/or hire full-time CTOs for their startup having found me through my post that looks at: Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data. I'd suggest: Startup CTO or Developer , Startup Founder Developer Gap , Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO. Not enough?

CTO Hire 225

CTO Hire CTO Coach Technical Review Startup 225

TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

Construction tech startups are poised to shake up a $1.3-trillion-dollar As more people spent time at home last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the startup saw its contract revenue spike by 5x, Wu says. For now, Eano is operating in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, with plans to expand to Seattle and Houston this year.

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Software Review 185

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

DriveCam , the San Diego startup developing technology which analyzes and tracks the performance of commercial fleet drivers, reported this morning that it has just reached over $100M in 2012 sales. DriveCam said the revenue growth came due to global expansion, strategic partnerships, and continued growth within its customer fleets.

Tech Coast Angels 157

Tech Coast Angels Carson Technical Review San Diego 157

socalTECH

JULY 6, 2010

The analysis was based on tracking of venture capital, angel, and private equity deals by socalTECH.com, which maintains its own proprietary database of local and national venture capital deals and dealmakers. billion in the area in Q2, up slightly from around $1.4 billion invested in Q1, and up from $1.0 billion in Q2 of last year.

Southern California 195

Southern California Westlake Village Invest Tech Coast Angels 195

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

Chris Dixon is one of my favorite people in tech and writes one of the few blogs I read religiously. If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should. If you like the quick summary notes, please check out Adam’s blog on tech, entrepreneurship & VC as a thank you.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

Let’s review all of our existing investments. 2010 was the year of the “super angel&# and 2011 has to date been the year of unbelievably highly priced B,C & D rounds of venture capital. Not just tech companies but industrials, too. On Mar-6 it hit 6,626 or 53% off its peak. We need some visibility. We did not.

Marketing 305

Marketing Venture Capital Funding Technical Review 305

socalTECH

JANUARY 5, 2021

Every year, we feature the year end reflections of founders, CEOs, investors, sposors, and others in Southern California's high tech community. As you may recall the Alliance's mission is to elevate the region as a global leader in innovation, technology & entrepreneurship. We've been posting these throughout the next two weeks.

Southern California 202

Southern California SoCal Technical Review Startup 202

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

But VC is an “illiquid asset&# so funds didn’t disappear quickly - In 2000/01 the stock market quickly adjusted punishing investors in the NASDAQ and in individual public technology stocks. It takes less to start a business these days – We all know that it takes less to start a technology company these days.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Seed Funding Startup Rustic Canyon 311

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

Hello friends, and welcome back to Week in Review ! This writeup from industry analyst Karl Guttag showcases how Magic Leap has turned away from several of the key technologies it raised billions of dollars to develop with its latest hardware which he nevertheless believes will “blow away” the HoloLens 2 in image quality.

Newsletter 246

Newsletter Marketing Technical Review News 246

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” AngelList 101 : As you know, AngelList is a platform where angels can invest in semi-screened tech deals. In virtually every deal I do I leave space for angels.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions for 2019 from Southern California's technology industry. My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

If I’m interested I get to spend more time with them, if I’m not I don’t have to – A few companies per month come in that have fascinating business ideas that warrant my spending more time trying to understand their people, company, technology and market. The upside for entrepreneurs is the equity in their business.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. You need to have passionate tech entrepreneurs who want to build businesses locally. The ingredients are all here.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” ” The punch line from this post was “angel yourself.” I’m just pointing out that it’s not for most people. He has the hunger.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

socalTECH

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Los Angeles-based 3D theater technology provider RealD has received an offer from one of its shareholders, activist investor Starboard Value LP , to take the company private for $12.00 In a statement released to the press, REalD said it will "carefully review and consider" the unsolicited bid from Starboard. READ MORE>>.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Yahoo Hollywood Press 138

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

Josh Kaplan and Dee Murthy, both founder and co-CEO of the Los Angeles–based company, started Ghost in 2021 after previously working together at Four Five Group, a men’s apparel business. Ghost is not alone in developing technology focused on inventory. Last week, Syrup Tech raised $6.3 Syrup Tech bags $6.3M

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

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. There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. Government grants.

Equity 94

Equity Startup Technical Review Organization 94

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 31, 2011

So your VC or Angel investors have given you a term sheet for your A round. The investors are happy with the due diligence results so far, and negotiations are going well. Thursday, November 3, 2011 -- Bridge Financing. Tremendous! The investors expect to close in four to six weeks! You have to make payroll this Friday.

TCVN 113

TCVN Venture Capital Equity Entrepreneur 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in non-profits. 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. There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. Government grants. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 100

Startup Angel Equity Technical Review 100

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

million in a new round of financing from Peter Thiel, FF Angel , Siemer Ventures , 500 Startups , Andrej Henkler (former Bertelsmann executive), and Alexsis de Raadt-St. James (chairman of the Althea Foundation) and appointed Adam Sroka as Senior Vice President of Technology in a move to make business transactions simple and secure. .

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Responding to Elizabeth Warren’s call to regulate and break up some of the nation’s largest technology companies, the venture capitalists that invest in technology companies are advising the presidential hopeful to move slowly and not break anything. This is not a new model, and it makes no sense,” says Narasin.

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Startup Chief Technology Officer Social Media 144

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2010

The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even before the investment is considered. On the top line, angel investors look to invest in entrepreneurs that have an almost unwavering passion and sense of urgency. The technology or product may be at an embryonic stage.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Angel Technical Review Course 96

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 13, 2012

Running that effort is Kevin Hell , the founder of DivX, who we caught up with to learn more about EvoNexus and how the group is trying to help grow technology startups in San Dieog. When companies come into our incubator, we take no equity, we take no stake in the company, it's completely free for the participant.

Incubator 212

Incubator San Diego Technical Review Development Team Review 212

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 6, 2009

So your VC or Angel investors have given you a term sheet for your "A" round. The investors are happy with the due diligence results so far, and negotiations are going well. Thursday, November 12, 2009 -- Bridge Financing. Tremendous! The investors expect to close in 4 to 6 weeks! You have to make payroll this Friday.

TCVN 100

TCVN Venture Capital Equity Entrepreneur 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

So your VC or Angel investors have given you a term sheet for your "A" round. The investors are happy with the due diligence results so far, and negotiations are going well. Thursday, November 5, 2009 -- Bridge Financing. Tremendous! The investors expect to close in 4 to 6 weeks! You have to make payroll this Friday.

TCVN 100

TCVN Venture Capital Equity Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. are eliminated during due diligence. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee).

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2013

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t invest in non-profits. In the US, a non-profit is technically any company who qualifies as tax exempt through IRS Section 501(c). What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)? Individual and institutional donations.

Equity 83

Equity Technical Review Organization Funding 83

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

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”). Angel groups fear the loss of members for the same reason. billion collected in 2012.

Invest 111

Invest Angel Funding Startup 111

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2017

Next week is the Montgomery Summit (www.montgomerysummit.com), one of the longest running technology conferences held in Los Angeles. It's now an internationally recognized showcase for technology here in Los Angeles, and we also get to showcase Southern California companies, as well. We've seen some notable successes.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Conference Silver Lake Cornerstone OnDemand 100

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. There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. Government grants.

Funding 130

Funding Equity Technical Review Organization 130

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2009

He has done fairly well, and is now an angel and startup CEO himself. John is not as actively involved in managing startups, but has been a very very active angel--I think he's invested in something like 30 companies as an angel. We really spend a lot of time going through the due diligence process.

Venture Capital 165

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Technical Review 165

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2015

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 recent book, “ Angel Investing.” billion collected in 2014.

Startup 106

Startup Angel .Net Entrepreneur 106

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Los Angeles-based 3D movie technology provider RealD announced this morning that it has agreed to be acquired by private equity investor Rizvi Traverse Management , in a deal worth approximately $551M. RealD said its board, over the past year, has been in a "comprehensive review of strategic alternatives" for the company.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Equity Los Angeles Technology 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

GoDaddy , the parent of Los Angeles-based website hosting service MediaTemple , said in a regulatory filing late Tuesday that is has selected the NYSE for its IPO. GoDaddy is backed by KKR, Silver Lake, and Technology Crossover Ventures. godaddy nyse merger acquisition exit domain name hosting private equity mediatemple russ reeder'

Silver Lake 100

Silver Lake Technical Review Equity Los Angeles 100