Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches? Here’s what’s going through his/her head: Is this story “newsworthy” or am I being asked to publish a press release? I am a VC. ” Of course not. I hand out money.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. Of course I went through normal other channels of deal flow. I eventually stumbled on to the best source of high-quality deal flow imaginable – blogging.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

Stop reading their press releases or hearing their founder talk about he is crushing it. You see them in their tuxedos or cocktail dresses because you’re reading their press releases or following them on Instagram. We of course get all of the accolades if at the tape there was a financial pay day. believing our own hype.

Startup 412

Startup Press Course Entrepreneur 412

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. But succinctly this press places a marker in the ground for your company. This is true on all of the major tech blogs. Funding is news.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

Fred Wilson wrote a Tweetstorm and then did a blog post on the topic. Of course they then added Chris Dixon, Ben Evans and many other great public voices. All of the wisdom he used to drop on the blog was now flowing publicly, in realtime, with almost no editing ability, on Twitter. People come to your blog to engage with you.

Social Media 307

Social Media Blogging Media Startup 307

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2016

Yes, I want to scream at the media who gave Trump so much free press and created false equivalencies between his misdeed and misstatements and Clintons. And I want to blame Clinton for using that damn email server but of course I know if it weren’t that it would just have been something else. Of course we need to do this.

Blogging 267

Blogging Course Venture Capital Media 267

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But honestly there are times when being a VC can feel like that, too. She was lamenting that some startups simply see their PR company as merely somebody who corrals the press when you want to get some inches. She felt that her firm provides significantly more value as an advisor than simply a press shop. VENTURE CAPITAL.

Startup 363

Startup Venture Capital Coach Press 363

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

But of course it’s hard to advise people that they should do PR without a guide to how to do it on the cheap or how to do it at all. Contrary to popular opinion I actually believe crowd-funding is best used after seed capital or venture capital. When to start PR? Should any money go to PR at all?

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Of course that website isn’t completely up to date but it’s a great resource for seeing the overall picture. Much more data in the full post. 94% of all online adults use email.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Of course that was a wrong narrative for both companies. What I *SHOULD HAVE* considered was that I was in college in a time when there were no digital cameras and I’m very thankful for that or I likely wouldn’t be writing this blog post today. That’s a benefit for us as a local VC. Mostly kidding. Another firm funded them.

Snapchat 214

Snapchat Invest Technical Review Dollar Shave Club 214

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2011

A few weeks ago I was reading a blog post by MG Siegler that really struck a chord. I recently was reviewing a press release for a company in which I’m an investor. I told him that I thought the press release was crap (I think my words, exactly). VC Pitches. ” My response? But I can’t always be that.

Press 337

Press Venture Capital Doc Summary 337

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Of course it makes no sense to have great people management and a crappy product. ” Of course we all go into businesses expecting to be aligned with our co-founders but over time life changes. Anybody who follows this blog knows that my mom was the most influential person on my entrepreneurial career.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

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. I was thinking back to a few previous “insider baseball&# blog debates that raged for several weeks: AngelGate (aka Bin38 secret cabal), convertible debt vs. equity, bubble vs. not, and now the AngelList discussion.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

Last year I wrote a blog post on entrepreneurs with a chip on their shoulders. My friend Seth Levine covered this well in his blog post on “ Handling Rejection ” which you should also read. Seth is one of the most decent human beings in the venture industry so the rant was off base. And it’s everywhere.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

But VC is like congress. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.” As you can see from the chart their data suggests there are about $25 billion of VC distributions per year in the US. Their data looks at tech VCs.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 11, 2015

Ferris did normal press and also launched on Product Hunt and the latter drove significantly more downloads than press did. He’s been great at fostering online relationships through blogs and social media for years. So I set out to understand this phenomenon a bit more deeply.

Product 150

Product Startup Press Social Media 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

Because my wife is a superstar she published them all on a blog here along with much other wonderful type-A mom advice. I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. It is additive.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Of course I have. I need to take some VC meetings. But it did take Brad as a public spokesman, consummate networker and successful VC to help create legitimacy to let David’s ideas flourish. They can then direct staff, allocate budgets, talk to the press, connect you with politicians and attend events.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

Rejecting the paint-by-numbers approach to corporate communications deployed by most marketing executives, Brad has embraced unconventional guerilla marketing tactics to help establish his venture capital firm, Foundry Group, as a thought leader in early-stage tech investing. We have never done a press release.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 13, 2011

The venture capital industry is so heavily skewed to Northern California, which the remains spilled over Boston, New York & Southern California. There are of course other outposts like Austin and Seattle. So it was wonderful to hear from a leading venture capital firm based in Washington DC.

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Examples Startup Invest 277

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

Tonight I was reading a good blog post ( here ) from Sean Powers with Alistair Croll on preparing yourself for the TC50 “bump” – the rise in traffic that a company gets from presenting at TechCrunch 50. We listened way too much to what the press said. If you need VC, no better time than the present. That’s OK.

Startup 310

Startup Venture Capital Press Journal 310

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. Of course I went through normal other channels of deal flow. I eventually stumbled on to the best source of high-quality deal flow imaginable – blogging.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. " 8 Questions to Ask When Interviewing at a Startup - Instigator Blog , June 18, 2010 Job interviews are meant to be conversations.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2014

” I have been weighing in slowly on the topic over the past few weeks on Twitter but have avoided writing a blog post about it until now. I have thought a lot about anonymity over the years and actually have enjoyed debating the topic with those passionate about anonymity’s benefits because of course that’s how I learn.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Blogging Examples Startup 329

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 30, 2013

It’s now in the press that Jody committed suicide. “You’d imagine your favorite founder, VC, blogger, political figure, billionaire, whatever has a stress free life pontificating about how to build the next really cool, society-altering product or changing a city, state or country. But of course life isn’t like this.

Blogging 400

Blogging Startup Ideas Press 400

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. In the Early Days. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

I wrote this conundrum and the need to take charge of how the market define your skills in my much-read blog post on “ personal branding.” Of course you could start your own company. Of course I’m not suggesting people shouldn’t start a company. Nobody sees you as a CEO since you’ve never been one?

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2016

But if more of us in the tech sector speak up and in unison and constantly for the next 50 days it can change minds, encourage others and hopefully get amplified by the press to reach others. Use your blogs, use social media, use the TV media. Your moment is now, not after the equivalent of a BREXIT protest vote.

Summary 150

Summary Media Technical Review Startup 150

InfoChachkie

JULY 18, 2012

Most entrepreneurs do not have the guts to publicly discuss a venture gone awry. However, Eric recently posted the following insights on his blog. The company was always seeking capital. As an entrepreneur, my greatest lesson learned here was how difficult it is to find capital for a services business. Of course).

RSS 170

RSS Technical Review Capital Email 170

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

I believe that over capitalizing companies too early often favors the VC. I recently read this anecdote in the press (withholding company name because I actually really love the concept). I loved the quote so much I wrote an entire blog post on the topic. In the end, of course, our productivity actually suffered.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch ran my article yesterday as a guest post but I wanted to have a copy here for anybody who missed it and for future readers of this blog. We raised a seed round of capital in 1999 and our first venture capital round was the first week of March 2000 (e.g. We were based in London.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2015

I wanted to spend the rest of the blog post telling you why we decided to fund the company, how we settled on the final product design and our unique way of launching the app. As a VC (especially based in LA), I see hundreds of video apps. I’d love it if you’d take a moment to download the app and tell us what you think.

Invest 150

Invest Tool Product Startup 150

Xconomy

AUGUST 23, 2016

Participants will also be paired with coaches and will network for board seats after the course is over. The organizers say they want to place the entire inaugural class on boards within a year of completion of the course. percent of partners in traditional VC firms were women, Liftstream found.

Training 40

Training Class Organization Course 40

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2016

Let me just put this more clearly for you up front – the vast majority of the Internet is used for porn so every product has this use but you probably just don’t know about it: YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook, FaceTime, Skype and of course be very careful on Google Search without “safe mode” on. So get over it. Navigation.

Snapchat 150

Snapchat Screening Venture Capital Guide 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

And of course we talked about many of my views of building startups. And we had these vans and mobile kegs in the back, and we would go to golf courses. So then when I wanted to go into venture capital, they said, “You can’t do that, you need to be in EIR.” it would make more sense than “me.”

Startup 337

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Venture Capital 337

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

And of course in my 700 are people like Bill Gates and Barack Obama, neither of whom follows me just yet Asymmetric works both ways. If you were to run an analysis on me you’d find that I tend to follow a number of people in the VC industry as well as tech professionals. I have about 40,000 people who follow me while I only follow 700.

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

I taught a somewhat crazy course about writing and deploying a scalable website in Ruby on Rails and deploying it in EC2. That led us to venture capital as opposed to trying to bootstrap ourselves. The ‘Santa Barbara effect’ has been interesting–we all have cute VC stories around that. from the Wharton School.

Cloud Computing 188

Cloud Computing Santa Barbara EC2 Startup 188