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Some Reflections on VC Investment Decisions

Both Sides of the Table

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. Angels have been prolific for years now and they, too, rely on downstream money to cover their bets. If an accelerator is writing you they’re also writing 25 other VCs.

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How I Got the Monkey Off My Back – Today Was a Good Day

Both Sides of the Table

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. ” Yup.

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My Life as a CEO (and VC): Chief Psychologist

Both Sides of the Table

My primary role was “chief psychologist&# and as I’ve learned over the past few years the same has been true as a VC. I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does. As a VC you see the insides of companies rather than the companies positive spin on TechCrunch.

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Every Startup Goes Through Distinctive Funding Phases

Startup Professionals Musings

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. Separately at this stage, you may look for small funding amounts from angel investors , called seed investments.

Startup 122
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Ryan Blair, HashtagOne: From Gang Member, To Entrepreneur, To Anti-VC

socalTECH

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). I'm a bit of an anti-VC, as you know. Tell us a bit of the story on how you started HashtagOne?

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What Makes a Great Independent Board Member?

Both Sides of the Table

The second is that they are usually very experienced operators that can mentor the founding team. This is important because when you have too many VCs on a board you only bring one kind of thinking to the board. Independents are critical to avoiding “VC group think.” Yes, this is a thing. Local means likely more time.

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7 Indications Of Your Ability To Get Business Results

Startup Professionals Musings

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Marty Zwilling.