Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

I can attest from experience that publishing a regular blog to properly showcase your offering, even before you have it, is a most cost effective approach in time and money. So finding time is hard, and good writing is simply not what most people do. More and more, employees work for people they respect, rather than companies.

Blogging 93

Blogging Invest Startup Writing 93

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? Did they have a Weak Development Team ?

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

One of the advantages of blogging, using social media, public speaking, etc as a VC is that you get a more nuanced view of these shifts by watching your own successes and failures. I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. But succinctly this press places a marker in the ground for your company.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

You help them on stories, act as a source, develop real relationships, read their stories and eventually when you have news they’re more willing to have a conversation. But some CEOs then try to have more junior people in the company take the interview. It’s a continual process. In a startup this is a mistake.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

I spent my first year developing proprietary deal flow and learning the business and then the Sept 2008 / Lehman Bros collapse / financial meltdown happened. As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. Lemons ripen early, great companies take time.”

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches? I am a VC.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Thursday, March 22, 2007 Discussion Creation Among Bloggers - LinkedIn, Blogging and Discussion Groups Ive been participating in a Yahoo Group that are users of LinkedIn and who are Bloggers: [link] Its an interesting group of folks from diverse backgrounds. See Five Things Meme as an example.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2014

I can attest from experience that publishing a regular blog to properly showcase your brand value, even before you have it, is a most cost effective approach in time and money. For blogging to work, you need to do it consistently and frequently, at least once a week, or the value evaporates. Populate your team.

Startup 101

Startup Blogging Writing Google 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

Most business advisors I know will say that writing a business plan is the first step to starting your own business, but I believe that a better first step is to do a self-analysis of your real drivers, strengths, and assumptions before committing to this lifestyle. You can’t really succeed in life if you are not happy.

Social Media 105

Social Media Writing Ideas Resource 105

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

John Lusk, along with his Co-Author Kyle Harrison, leveraged their humble company''s newsletter into The MouseDriver Chronicles , a New York Times bestselling book. The company''s newsletter was initially created to share their entrepreneurial journey with their family and friends. blogging, in a sense. in September of 1999.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

It’s apropos because there is so much noise these days with email, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web shows, etc. If I check Twitter it’s usually because I’m waiting for a meeting to start and I never write posts during the day. By having 5 or 6 blog posts with different points of view they could draw more inferences.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 10, 2012

On his first day of work my wife was kind enough to write down words of wisdom from her years on the job. I don’t write about Tania very often – mostly at her request. She’s worked for L’Oreal, Accenture, Virgin Mobile & BSkyB (one of the leading media companies in the UK). Hope you enjoy. **.

Writing 414

Writing Mentor Blogging Tips 414

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

By definition, you read blogs. But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about.

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). It’s a continual process. In a startup this is a mistake.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 26, 2021

Then fans would be tasked with writing their own stories, submitting them to the Realms of Ruin universe by minting them as NFTs on the Solana blockchain. If the authors are inviting fans to write fan fiction about a universe they created, who owns the derivative works?

Writing 196

Writing Outsource Development Technical Review Examples 196

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

I don’t run one of the world’s largest companies but I can tell you for free that even I get some crazy physical mails because knowing one’s corporate address is quite easy. I know it may feel this way since I’m writing this tongue in cheek. By the way, I don’t spell check my blog posts either. I’m not an elitist a **e.

Email 250

Email Writing Conference Mobile 250

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

In his words, [in some instances] “because lots of capital is available, the company takes on the capital and that ends up resulting in no constraints on decision making and so the company decides to do five things in stead of just one.” You are defined by how you serve the companies that are struggling.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

This is a post I’ve been dying to write for 18 months. I invested in LA-based Gogii , one of the fastest growing, most exciting mobile social networking companies you’ve never heard of and maker of a product called textPlus. And if you are – what on earth are you reading such a boring blog as this?!?

Gogii 310

Gogii Invest Blogging Startup 310

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

companies should… focus on building amazing products. I recently spoke with Brad about his approach to guerilla marketing and how he instills eclectic marketing tactics in Foundry Group’s portfolio companies. Chris is the CEO of Gnip , a Foundry Group portfolio company. If you have $hitty products, the marketing is impossible.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

John Lusk, along with his Co-Author Kyle Harrison, leveraged their humble company''s newsletter into The MouseDriver Chronicles , a New York Times bestselling book. The company''s newsletter was initially created to share their entrepreneurial journey with their family and friends. blogging, in a sense. in September of 1999.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Xconomy

MAY 31, 2016

Microsoft plans to invest more in early stage startup companies through a new corporate venture fund, headed by former Qualcomm executives. The company’s startup accelerator program —henceforth to be known as Microsoft Accelerator—will continue hosting startups. “And Reprints | Share:

Funding 62

Funding Artificial Inteligence Cloud Computing Writing 62

Xconomy

MAY 31, 2019

From Microsoft and IBM to Alphabet’s unit X and Canada’s D-Wave Systems, companies are racing to build powerful quantum computers that may solve problems beyond the capacity of the most sophisticated conventional processors, and do it much faster.

Training 106

Training Google IBM IBM 106

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The truth is – there isn’t a “right&# answer so for your company. And these ideas have ways of seeping into board discussions with portfolio companies as in, “have you ever thought about trying A, B or C?&# You need some guidelines to make decisions. I call this “marketing futures.&#

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2016

I’ve been online for nearly 30 years (yes, there was CompuServe and Prodigy before the www), blogging for 10 and using social media tools since the earliest days. As somebody who invested his time heavily in writing and wanting to share his thoughts through a blog I learned that I had to Tweet a post 3 times to get it read: 5am, 8am and 10pm.

Social Media 240

Social Media Snapchat Media Blogging 240

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2010

He had followed me on Twitter and sent me a nice message about my blog. So when I saw the merely mortal Tristan with a normal sized Twitter following I clicked through to his link, saw his blog, saw that he was a second year at Stanford and just thought, “hey, he seems like an interesting guy. before having 300k followers!).

Social Network 347

Social Network Networking Blogging RSS 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

As a VC with scores of startups in our portfolio we have ringside seats to many, many fund raising processes plus I had to raise money across about 5 different rounds of capital as an entrepreneur so I’ve developed some thought on the process that I hope can be helpful to some of you before you start. Let me give you an example.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 14, 2009

I moved into writing software to analyze audience data, and wrote a lot of computer graphics software. In 1986 I started an advertising and public relations firm to serve software and hardware companies, which became a marketing consulting business ( www.Allen.com ) when I moved to L.A. Great stuff. That's great to hear.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Networking Marketing Startup 150

Jason Nazar

JUNE 22, 2010

I often get asked for advice on Business Development. Knowing the school, former jobs, current projects of your BD counterparts just makes you and your company look like that much more of an all star. Embed this article on your website or blog with Docstoc. 10 Tips for Better BD. The tenth tip makes your better BD last. .

Outsource Development 88

Outsource Development Develop Development Tips 88

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

So I ask you – if you’re being reactive to somebody else’s emails are you really being as productive in your company as you could be? You’re writing a freaking blog post! I spend tons of time each day on portfolio company issues. I submitted a term sheet to a company yesterday.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2015

I used to love blogging. Blogging proved to be a great way to hone my ideas, have public conversations with people and as it turns out – build meaningful relationships through public dialog that spilled over into the real world. Somewhere along the way blogging changed. Or I could just write about life.

Blogging 150

Blogging Writing Startup Ideas 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2021

The challenge is how to develop that self-leadership in every aspiring entrepreneur and business professional role. Every person and every company needs a set of core values. It may be time for you to start your own blog, write a book, or volunteer as a speaker at public events in your domain.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Course Satisfaction Guide 132

SoCal CTO

MARCH 18, 2010

I started out as screenwriter, went into local television, ran ad sales in the west for AOL and joined Facebook in the companies very early days. Today I lead a small consultancy that helps advertising supported develop and scale the revenue producing sides of their businesses. I help internet companies make money.

Startup 225

Startup Los Angeles Twiistup Social Network 225

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

So founders took fewer risks and at the societal level with fewer companies taking fewer expansion risks job creation is weaker. Could Korea’s largest companies increase their funding of startups and provide them with initial business development deals as so often happens in Silicon Valley? That’s why I have links open new tabs.

Startup 261

Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

Eric Greenspan

APRIL 11, 2019

Focus on the work, development, the achievements and the ride, and maybe, although unlikely, you’ll stand in one of those circles one day. Mine is writing this blog post, indirectly. He said, “I never wanted to build a company” and claims it was “never about money.” What’s yours?

Writing 179

Writing Ideas Startup Coach 179

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Today Upfront Ventures is announcing that we’ve backed Rebecca Kantar ’s startup Imbellus , a company designed to assess human potential and ultimately change the way we teach children. How does one come up with the right idea to start a company? We led a $4 million investment along with Thrive Capital, GLG and Sound Ventures.

Design 150

Design Ideas Startup Writing 150

Jason Nazar

MARCH 22, 2011

I recently hosted a panel at the Twiistup Conference about LA tech companies. I have some pretty specific thoughts on the differences between companies in the two cities, as I wrote about in my previous post A Tale of Two Tech Cities. Challenge #1 – Tech Companies are Not Typically Started by Technologists.

Company 111

Company Companies Startup Twiistup 111

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

His blog is even called SaaStr (a bit too close to Suster if you ask me ;-)). This is certainly the case when I met Nick Halstead , the founder of DataSift which is why I invested in their A round despite the company being based in England (a long way from home). Roger Ehrenberg with big data and also financial technology companies.

Venture Capital 373

Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373