Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I talk about failure a lot because I think it can be tremendously instructive and I think that success without failure often masks underlying lessons. I even prefer to fund entrepreneurs who have experience some level of set-backs in their careers or startups because I think it brings a humility to decision-making that I find healthy.

Startup 261

Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2013

Think of a brand evangelist team online as people blogging about your product, or posting links to it in every forum. People are more demanding and have more choices than ever before. It also means making the content appear omnipresent on the Web and in the marketplace, including dedicated video sites and blogs.

Marketing 99

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup SEM 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2011

For some reason, I haven’t heard much about the next generation of the Internet ( Web 3.0 ) lately, which probably means it isn’t happening as fast as everyone predicted. I suspect the real challenge is not the semantic web technology , but new attractive business models from smart entrepreneurs. Real time on-demand collaboration.

Web 95

Web Entrepreneur Doc Examples 95

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2013

Take your reputation online, utilizing social media, your website, and a blog to connect to clients and make strategic alliances. Today, marketing is all about immediacy. An entrepreneur who has nurtured his startup like a beloved child may be reluctant to take a step backward and make the changes that need to be made.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Sales 93

Xconomy

AUGUST 5, 2016

It’s a question that often circulates in the business press and on tech blogs. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have weighed in from time to time and their answers tend to fall into two camps. Perhaps you’re chuckling right about now. What is the ideal age to start a company? You’re not alone in thinking this way.

Entrepreneur 40

Entrepreneur Startup Education Course 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

Your entire process should be about “testing” whether your prospect has Interest Authority to make a decision Budget Is willing to continue spending actual time with you and analyzing you. Today I want to talk about the process and how to allocate your time. Remember, I was an entrepreneur for 10 years before a VC).

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

Martin Rushe, the CEO and founder of Selz wrote a blog post announcing the deal. In fact, Here's the post in its entirety: We have signed an agreement to be acquired by Amazon and are looking forward to working with them as we continue to build easy-to-use tools for entrepreneurs.

News 136

News Acquisition Platform Sales 136

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2018

Steve Jobs proved it with the iPhone, and Elon Musk can’t produce his electric cars fast enough to keep up with demand. Bold entrepreneurs now can credibly talk about entirely new markets, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), genetic modifications, and privatized space travel. Concept marketing is critical.

Marketing 92

Marketing Demand Examples Social Media 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2019

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet as an opportunity to get rich quick, instead of a place where you can start a business you love, for very little capital and minimal technical expertise. See what other people are offering, and think about a niche where you could be unique, and have some fun at the same time.

Technical Review 97

Technical Review Case Study Software Review Startup 97

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. This benefits you, the entrepreneur. It takes options off of the table.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet as an opportunity to get rich quick, instead of a place where you can start a business you love, for very little capital and minimal technical expertise. See what other people are offering, and think about a niche where you could be unique, and have some fun at the same time.

Startup 107

Startup Technical Review Case Study Software Review 107

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

As individuals we have choices about how we spend our time. I know that would be surprising to many readers since keeping a blog somehow convinces people that I’m a time management or productivity ninja. I have always been good at prioritizing what is important but bad about starting my work early enough. I’m not.

Slides 374

Slides Email Entrepreneur Startup 374

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Thus, I’m more impressed with entrepreneurs who ask me to review their implementation plan, rather than listen again to their idea. I suggest you use social media, blogging, crowdfunding, or documented research to quantify a real demand from people who can afford it, and don’t have a better alternative already out there.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Why investors care about prorata rights. It’s why I often advise angel investors to be careful about assuming that being an angel investor is a profitable exercise unless you have the ability to have a wide-enough portfolio to have a few companies doing extraordinarily well plus deep enough pockets to follow your winners.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. I know many super experienced entrepreneurs who don’t understand the basics of how fund size and age can affect them so I thought it was worth establishing a baseline. Let me explain: 1.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Invest 265

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2010

I tend not to go into heat when I hear the latest buzz on the tech blogs about the latest gadgets. I remember reading many years ago about how devices being connected in the cloud would be far more pervasive and have a much bigger impact on our lives than the simple PC’s that we operate. That stuck with me, too.

Technical Review 278

Technical Review Software Review Startup SoCal 278

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

Before jumping into the post I wanted to point out one thing about doing TWiVC and posting my notes here on BSOTT. In writing anything positive about any of the companies I’m not suggesting that it means that I prefer them to any of their competitors. Finally, a lot of people asking me about typos on my blog.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

And for some strange reason entrepreneurs didn’t share this information. I’ve started from day one trying to build total transparency into my process with entrepreneurs. This starts with understanding how VCs and entrepreneurs often see valuation differently. Back then VentureHacks didn’t exist.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2013

Social media demands two-way communication, rather than outbound only. Read everything you can about viral marketing. A most valuable tool is WordPress or TypePad for blogging. Successful people don’t wait for their kids to teach them about new technologies, or wait to be the last one on the block to try new things.

Social Media 106

Social Media Media Startup Social Network 106

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

A year ago I blogged about one of my most common mantras that applies to sales, biz dev & fund raising alike: “ Time is the Enemy of all Deals.&#. I thought I’d try to offer a framework for thinking about the topic. I thought I’d try to offer a framework for thinking about the topic.

Help 303

Help Startup Competition Framework 303

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

We spent the first 45 minutes or so talking about industry trends (in this order): The history and background of True Ventures, one of my favorite early-stage VC’s (and the one with whom Om is a venture partner). industry investors rather than VCs) a good idea for entrepreneurs. We talked about Facebook.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Google Web Sites 225

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

It’s a great one about entrepreneurship, friendship and the collaborative economy that is helping families in need across the world. I had known about DogVacay since its inception. ” I wrote about this movement in the link to the left and also published this widely read presentation on the topic. That’s a fact.

Venture Capital 344

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review San Diego 344

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

I’ve been meaning to write this post since September of last year when Brad Feld first wrote about the The Founders Visa Movement. I commented briefly on his blog and made a mental note to write a blog post. But it turns out I met a bunch of really interesting entrepreneurs. But TWTFelipe is an entrepreneur.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Startup High Tech Software Review 282

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

Some argue that success is all about being "blessed with talent" or even just lucky. Billionaire Mark Cuban writes on his blog that it took an incredible amount of commitment and work to benefit from his luck. Gives priority to business demands over social. On the road to success, the buck always stops with you.

Startup 59

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Writing 59

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2013

Yet you can never forget the seasonal business cash flow and activity demands that are approaching, so to be prepared – you need to start the planning now. Even though these last few years have not been great financially for entrepreneurs, it always helps to look at the cup as half full, rather than half empty.

Startup 86

Startup Tips Venture Capital Demand 86

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

A great recent example of this was a successful group of entrepreneurs who had created a company that will do $10-12 million in revenue at their system integration business (read: services business) in 2011 after having done $5 million or so in 2010 and $2-3 million in 2009. Even tech blogs know this.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2012

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet as an opportunity to get rich quick, instead of a place where you can start a business you love, for very little capital and minimal technical expertise. See what other people are offering, and think about a niche where you could be unique, and have some fun at the same time.

Technical Review 99

Technical Review Case Study Startup Software Review 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2010

Can you believe all the talk these days about Web 3.0? Marketing to Reach Your Customers First ,” here are the five key components to watch: Micro-blogging. Real time on-demand collaboration. Many software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications now allow on-demand collaboration. and I’m determined that it won’t happen again.

Web 88

Web Web 2.0 Doc Examples 88

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

It is also a result of pent-up demand. To understand this in great detail see this very important blog post by Henry Blodget on the unemployment rate in the US and its impact on the recovery. Check out this interesting piece on PEHub talking about how Stanford is discreetly looking to sell it’s asset portfolio !

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Jason Nazar

MARCH 22, 2011

I recently hosted a panel at the Twiistup Conference about LA tech companies. I asked the panelists ( David Travers , Brian Norgard , Fouad ElNaggar , & Demian Sellfors ) about the specific challenges that we face down here in Los Angeles as opposed to Silicon Valley. That’s typically not the case in Los Angeles.

Company 111

Company Companies Startup Twiistup 111

socalTECH

APRIL 14, 2010

Lolita was founder of ModernMom.com, which she sold to Richard Rosenblatt's Demand Media last year, and we caught up with Lolita to learn more about her newest venture. We were supposed to launch in October, but because they were so excited about the new concept, we launched a campaign in August. What is Gloss Network?

Networking 230

Networking Social Media Startup Search Engine Optimization 230

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about “ growth hacking ” and why I thought it was wrong that people were hating on the term unnecessarily. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. When I first started blogging Digg was still at its peak.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

socalTECH

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Last month, Beverly Hills-based Nash Information Services , the firm behind The Numbers --one of the most extensive database of financial information about movies--announced a new service which allows third party software applications and websites to pull information from the firm's database, via OpusData (www.opusdata.com). READ MORE>>.

Beverly Hills 164

Beverly Hills Research Hollywood Sites 164

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Social media demands two-way communication, rather than outbound only. Read everything you can about viral marketing. A most valuable tool is WordPress or TypePad for blogging. Successful people don’t wait for their kids to teach them about new technologies, or wait to be the last one on the block to try new things.

Social Media 115

Social Media Media Startup Social Network 115

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. Most venture capitalists who have been in this business for a long time foresaw this correction and have been talking about it privately for the better part of the last year or two.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

InfoChachkie

MARCH 9, 2015

Yet too often, entrepreneurs embrace giving away their products and services for the wrong reason - they are simply reticent to ask for payment. Demand Feedback - Unfortunately, data derived from freeloaders is often misleading and seldom includes pointed criticisms that inform your product / market fit. Image: Pixabay.

Technical Support 100

Technical Support Customer Custom Demand 100