Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. I have seen many companies raise their first $3 million and still act like a company that has no resources at all.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones. The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Usually these will not give you money, but will provide inexpensive expert mentoring and office services.

Funding 94

Funding Startup Organization Incubator 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2023

As an angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Technology experts tend to have a very deep level of knowledge, but not very wide.

Entrepreneur 70

Entrepreneur Startup Activity Ideas 70

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Keep control by writing every check personally, and manage receivable and payables tightly.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones. The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Usually these will not give you money, but will provide inexpensive expert mentoring and office services.

Organization 93

Organization Startup Incubator Ideas 93

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

We talk a lot about his schooling, his early jobs as a developer and then as a VC and we talk about his decision to spend winters in Los Angeles. Fred has of course been a public mentor to us all with his market-defining terminology that he popularized including “freemium” and “mobile first.”

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2010

A little known, but valuable resource, every startup should investigate is a formal or informal connection to your local university. These resources are definitely are not limited to students, since every university wants and needs the real world exposure and experience of entrepreneurs who already have credibility in the marketplace.

Help 94

Help Startup Mentor Incubator 94

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2018

As an angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Technology experts tend to have a very deep level of knowledge, but not very wide.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Activity Ideas 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund Angel investing in most parts of the country remains a relatively informal and unstructured process. The depressed economy has dampened the angel community’s appetite, making the identification of the trophy investor more important than ever. For an angel investor, it’s a buyer’s market.

Entrepreneur 83

Entrepreneur Mentor Invest Angel 83

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

As an angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Technology experts tend to have a very deep level of knowledge, but not very wide.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Startup Activity Ideas 110

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

2) How can we leverage resources as a community (by community, I mean a global community of people with different talents and interests) to help entrepreneurs grow their startups? When people look at ways to introduce their ideas to the world, they think of investors and mentors, and rarely ask the general public for their feedback and ideas.

Startup 101

Startup Ideas Platform Entrepreneur 101

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 30, 2012

We write and create our own content for the game. Start Engine is a rapid accelerator focused on helping Los Angeles-based technology startups build a solid foundation for success in 90 days. We leverage our network in the Los Angeles community to provide members with access to potential employees, mentors and investors.

CalTech 91

CalTech Company Companies Idealab 91

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

As an Angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Technology experts tend to have a very deep level of knowledge, but not very wide.

Entrepreneur 63

Entrepreneur Product Startup Activity 63

socalTECH

JUNE 18, 2009

OneCubicle helps you build a career, through a jobs page, jobs listings, career advice, micro transactions for resume help, and an upcoming celebrity mentor feature. That was the jumping off point for OneCubicle a little over 18 months ago, when we started writing the business plan and code. Talk a bit about your previous experience?

Social Network 100

Social Network Entertainment Startup CTO Coach 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does. He wanted more resources allocated to him and he would begin wondering whether he might rise in the organization. And as a VC, mentor, angel investor and founder of Launchpad LA I live it as a routine of my life.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

The second is that they are usually very experienced operators that can mentor the founding team. It’s why the best angels and seed investors are local and why the best independents are, too. I think when you choose an independent board member you should be thinking about somebody who can mentor you.

Startup 187

Startup Writing Venture Capital Oracle 187

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

This continues my series of posts: Top 40 Startup Posts for August 2010 Top 30 Startup Posts for July 2010 Top 30 Startup Posts in June 2010 Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March Some great free resources listed this month that I thought were interesting. Why You Should Write.

Startup 191

Startup Product Technology Venture Capital 191