Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. For starters some funds are small and thus while they put $750k into your company to own 10% of your company they might not be able to write another $2 million if you then raise a $20 million round (10%).

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

His challenge is to focus on one market, with a specific design, cost, and price. Bill was initially the idea person and technologist, while Steve had the business and marketing experience from Proctor & Gamble to close the business equation. For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D. Yes, there are a lot of bridges to cross.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

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

MAY 30, 2021

At first this was limited to news sites that concentrated on a segment of a community, like West Seattle, but the concept is now being applied to advertising and promotion sites, blogging sites, and even legal services sites. Without users, business owners aren’t going to waste time promoting and marketing their content to your users.

Startup 144

Startup Sites Content Sales 144

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

As a market we seem to be incapable of temperance. And even the best teams combined to create big innovations sometimes don’t time markets well, are surprised by unexpected technology breakthroughs by competitors or just don’t find the magic the leads to mass customer adoption. I started blogging 2 years ago.

Startup 391

Startup Blogging Venture Capital Writing 391

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

While many of my friends bragged about their 5 condos in Florida I kept talking about how the real estate market was in a bubble – their gains an illusion. I pointed to several Economist articles I had read that mapped historical prices of real estate for 400 years and how on average property values grow at no more 1.5%

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Jeff (also an HBS alum) co-teaches the LTV course with Professor Eisenmann about a student of theirs who had written a blog post about sales taking on some of my previous assertions. The idea that the course asks students to write public blog posts is a testament to its more modern teaching style.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

In case you missed all the kerfuffle this weekend, I posted this blog post originally on TechCrunch. This is a blog post I really didn’t want to write. I didn’t want to write it because I have mixed feelings about AngelList. So why I am writing it then? AngelList is a great way to market your deal.

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? I eventually stumbled on to the best source of high-quality deal flow imaginable – blogging. The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

That is, of course, as long as what you are selling is the absolute best in your market.) Typically entrepreneurs doubt themselves because they undervalue their offerings, but it isn’t about creating a product, setting a price and hoping people will buy. Valu e and Exp erience versus Price and Product. Blogs and Forums.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. They like a solid product, well defined pricing, good references to sell against, a clear quota and well defined competitors. Treat them well and they’ll love working with you.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2019

You too can become an influencer through social media, videos and blogs, and people will follow you on what to buy, what causes to support, and who to vote for. I still see too many aspiring business leaders highlighting their technology, product features, and price, more than customer value and usability.

Customer 93

Customer Custom IBM IBM 93

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price. The A round was done in February 2000 (end of the bull market) and my B round was done in April 2001 (bear market). So don’t raise money at a cheap price, but don’t get too far ahead of yourself either. Bad behavior but prevalent.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Yet I find that few of today’s workers realize that succeeding as a freelancer requires a whole new focus on “marketing” yourself. In essence, as a contractor, you are a consultant who is competing regularly for new work, and you constantly have to differentiate your offering from other candidates, including price.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? I eventually stumbled on to the best source of high-quality deal flow imaginable – blogging. The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I find it distracting that when you click on a link you’re taken away from the main blog and need to hit the back button to remember to finish the article. I was asked about this topic of failure and you can see my views in the short, one-minute interview below. (2) 2) Appendix (1) — A list of Abraham Lincoln’s failures. (2) — My

Startup 261

Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

But my specific point is that while everybody is busy telling you that “kids don’t use email” or “email is dead” I have actual data from portfolio company CEO’s showing the efficacy of email as a communication and marketing channel. The key is understanding the nuance. PHONE CALLS. Enter phone calls.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. Profitability.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

You likely are writing your first one of these. In fact, let me provide an important warning: If you create these documents, don't have input from a technical resource, take it to a development shop and they provide you a price. So, I promised this founder to do a post talking about how you go about create specifications of your MVP.

Develop 354

Develop Development Technical Review CTO Coach 354

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. So what are Rob’s secret hacks that he didn’t spill in his blog post? . He is very pleasant when he calls and writes. Rob does it.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. People who believe the former believe that you should see the market demand before too many people know you’re “in market.”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

I read commentary or Twitter or blogs and realize that there are also strongly held convictions that there are these evil VCs who do terrible things to mostly altruistic founders. This is similar to the role that public markets play in helping shape publicly traded companies. The administrative work we actually do at board meetings?

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

On the product side, once you have a proven product and business model, all you need is money to build inventory, and a sales and marketing operation to drive the business. For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2014

Now the price is closer to $100 if you are willing to do the work yourself. The menu should include a link to your blog, separately set up on Blogger, Wordpress, or TypePad – all free. Now the real work begins – promotion, marketing, blogging, and all types of search engine marketing. Life is more fun that way.

Startup 100

Startup Commerce Sites Blogging 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

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. Writing down key parameters will force you solidify the specifics, and mentally commit to them.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. I’m not sure I really even need to write this at length because Nivi absolutely nailed the topic in his article “ The Option Pool Shuffle.&#.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

If you don’t understand the concept of “signaling&# please read the blog post I wrote on Understanding VC signaling. From the debate on VentureHacks, our offline chats and from our blog posts, I think that Chris Dixon and I are pretty much 98% aligned on the topic. We have a limited amount of deals we will do.

Seed Funding 298

Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

On the product side, once you have a proven product and business model, all you need is money to build inventory, and a sales and marketing operation to drive the business. For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2015

Meeting a lot of candidates to find your head of marketing is all well and good but if 2 months later you still have no one in the role you’re still down a person. I worked with a successful portfolio company recently that had to make some big moves in the market. Opening is easier than closing.

Startup 150

Startup Framework Sales Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. You cannot be just a biz dev type, salesperson, marketing genius or whatever and divorce yourself from product.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

And for my own good I vowed to have relationships in China and knowledge of the local markets. This company is back on the market raising money again. Write things down. It’s one of my favorite blog posts. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. I will embrace my losses. Be gracious.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Now the price is closer to $100, if you are willing to do the work yourself. The menu should include a link to your blog, separately set up on Blogger, Wordpress, or TypePad, again free. Now the real work begins – promotion, marketing, blogging, and all types of search engine marketing.

Commerce 99

Commerce Startup Sites Tool 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

On the product side, once you have a proven product and business model, all you need is money to build inventory, and a sales and marketing operation to drive the business. For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

And for my own good I vowed to have relationships in China and knowledge of the local markets. This company is back on the market raising money again. Write things down. It’s one of my favorite blog posts. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. I will embrace my losses. Be gracious.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 10, 2013

Now the price is closer to $100, if you are willing to do the work yourself. The menu should include a link to your blog, separately set up on Blogger, Wordpress, or TypePad, again free. Now the real work begins – promotion, marketing, blogging, and all types of search engine marketing.

Sites 78

Sites Commerce Startup Tool 78

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 actually wrote a long blog post about this but I’m trying to get TechCrunch to publish it before putting it on my blog. Writing down your weight from your scale is obviously a manual process and it’s tedious.

Technical Review 278

Technical Review Software Review Startup SoCal 278

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2017

You can also establish authority by writing and public speaking. Actively participating in social media is the place to start, including blogging and positively responding to customer feedback, to build a growing crowd of followers. Scarcity is one of the best justifications for higher prices.

Social Media 58

Social Media Customer Custom Entrepreneur 58