Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened? And it changed the culture.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2023

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

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Startup Education Entrepreneur Tool 108

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Entrepreneurs are supposed to have insights that others don’t have and we’re supposed to be good judges about which entrepreneurs and executives have both the most clever ideas and the right skill sets to do transformational things against all odds. Fundamentally venture capital is about human capital.

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Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. For you who fit that description, nice work. It might be useful to list some of the ways in which you can raise money for growth with and without outside investors.

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Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2022

Most of the entrepreneurs and business owners I work with recognize that they must occupy and practice a primary leadership position , but many will admit that they are not thriving in this role. This is a tough challenge for every coach and mentor. This is a tough challenge for every coach and mentor.

Entrepreneur 90

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Coach Mentor 90

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. I'm a huge fan of this innovation. and Half.com.

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Adeo Ressi is a serial entrepreneur turned investor and entrepreneur advocate. Adeo Co-Founded the entrepreneur-friendly website The Funded and he is the Founder and CEO of The Founder Institute , whose goal is to create and foster local startup ecosystems across the globe. Taming The Prison Guards. The Funded was created ''07.

Entrepreneur 232

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Technical Review 232

socalTECH

JANUARY 29, 2020

This week, Los Angeles-based Crosscut Ventures announced a brand new effort to provide health and wellness to the founders of companies it invests in, helping those founders with well being, mental health, stress management, coaching, and leadership development. Tell us about this new program? It's a comprehensive bucket.

Invest 113

Invest Framework Coach Startup 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2020

A popular myth that most of you probably believe is that startups are only for the younger generations. In fact, I see more and more evidence that new entrepreneurs are coming from the older age groups (age 45-64), and success rates move up with age. You can look back so than you can lead going forward.

Startup 129

Startup Entrepreneur Coach Mentor 129

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Here is a class of investor we’ve covered before, one usually focused upon you and less upon your business case. And we’ve spoken openly about your fear that you must succeed and perhaps even cover any losses – even without a formal promise or requirement to do so. We’ll call these “inside angels.” How many angel groups are there?

Equity 156

Equity Technical Review Class Organization 156

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Good entrepreneurs are wrong often.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

If your firm is willing to commit to this or any similar “inclusion rule” we hope that you will consider linking to it from your firm’s home URL as a sign of industry solidarity in the hope that others will follow suit. Ours is: upfront.com/inclusion. one that’s inclusive across gender, ethnicity, age and national origins.

Venture Capital 284

Venture Capital Coach Ideas Startup 284

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But for some strange reason they make you file your progress on fund raising, which is the widely picked up by the press. Ok, well, it’s more than this but I’m not allowed to tell you specifics. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs like you that I have met in my role as a business advisor are really product creators versus business creators, convinced that a great product will generate a great business. Even though profit may not be your driving motivation, you can’t sustain any business without generating cash.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

It’s only 12 minutes long and if you’re a first-time entrepreneur (or second time, frankly) I encourage you to watch it if for nothing else than to get a sense that your struggles are universal. Inside your own corridors you’re naked. You psyche each other out. ” We learn from mistakes.

Startup 412

Startup Press Course Entrepreneur 412

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

I have often written about how lonely it can be to be a CEO and and have very few people with whom you can talk about difficult situations. It’s not exactly like you can disclose complex and confidential situations to outsiders. And you can only bug your wife so many times without feeling badly. Not possible.

Startup 363

Startup Venture Capital Coach Press 363

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

By now you will likely have read Andy Dunn’s scathing post about Venture Capitalists in which he decries the industry’s masses. After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. But VC is like congress.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Yesterday I wrote Part 1 of the series on the changes to the software industry over the past decade that has led to changes in the venture capital industry itself. If you don’t want to read that post, the summary is: Open source computing drove computing costs down 90%, which spurred innovation in technology. Funny, that.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2016

Some people even believe that entrepreneurs must be born with the right genes, and no element of education is relevant. In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Tips Writing Coach 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2015

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 112

Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 112

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2022

You need to be one of those leaders. Although I don’t have any magic formula for you to get there, I do espouse a set of actions for every aspiring leader that were summarized well in a new book, “ The Power of One More , ” by Ed Mylett. He speaks from his own many years as an entrepreneur, executive coach, and keynote speaker.

Resource 114

Resource Coach Startup Training 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2022

As I talk to business owners and entrepreneurs, I’m surprised at how many complain about team members who feel taken for granted , or have contributions not appreciated. Here are some of the key practices that the authors and I both recommend you emphasize: Focus on delivering and over-delivering, consistently.

Coach 119

Coach Organization Technical Review Satisfaction 119

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. Today we’re in a world where 10 accelerators are bombarding you with emails to meet their 10-15 companies. You have to do enough to be in the flow but you can’t sweat the ones you miss.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

socalTECH

APRIL 4, 2013

How do you take a process--recruiting of athletes--and make it more efficient, without getting in the way? That''s what Los Angeles-based FieldLevel (www.fieldlevel.com) has been working on, making it easier for coaches to network and exchange information on athletes. What makes it really different, is our platform empowers coaches.

Coach 252

Coach USC Statistics Startup 252

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2023

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. Most true visionary entrepreneurs have unusual energy, creativity, enthusiasm, and a propensity for taking risks.

Startup 82

Startup Ideas Organization Entrepreneur 82

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

Last year I wrote a blog post on entrepreneurs with a chip on their shoulders. A chip on one’s shoulder as in, “F**k the system, it’s broken and I want to fix it” is exactly the energy I look for in entrepreneurs. It’s hard to be a rebel when upsetting the apple cart affects a bunch of people like you.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2015

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. All this made more sense to me as Dini defined the types of entrepreneurs into four categories.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2015

Every entrepreneur should do the same due diligence on a potential investor that smart investors do on their startups. Let’s just say that every investor is different, without trying to define what is good or bad for you and your startup. Seek out advisors to help you avoid these investors. Academic coach investors.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Coach Invest Sample 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2022

Many of you business leaders I work with, and entrepreneurs I mentor, have a great strategy and an innovative solution , but struggle with building and motivating the team necessary to run your business. You assume everyone has your passion, and simply needs your command and control to make it work.

Mentor 108

Mentor Social Media Coach Custom 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2014

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. A recent book, “ Hunting in a Farmer''s World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. All this made more sense to me as Dini defined the types of entrepreneurs into four categories.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup News Slides 109

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

Hamet Watt is a longtime serial entrepreneur, who just recently join LA''s Upfront Ventures (www.upfront.com) as a Venture Partner. Hamet was previously co-founder at bLife and MoviePass, founded NextMedium, and was Entrepreneur-in-Residence with True Ventures, among other experience. How''d you end up joining Upfront Ventures?

Entrepreneur 191

Entrepreneur Startup Metrics Capital 191

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. All this made more sense to me as Dini defined the types of entrepreneurs into four categories.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 95

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. Otherwise you’re a stock picker, which in this business isn’t a good thing. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. What stage?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2018

Some people even believe that entrepreneurs must be born with the right genes, and no element of education is relevant. In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities.

Startup 97

Startup Writing Coach Incubator 97

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

In his classic book, “ The Leadership Capital Index ,” Dave Ulrich, a best-selling author, business consultant, and business school professor, provides some real insights and metrics on what makes up the elements of goodwill in the minds of top valuation experts. I have paraphrased his key points here as follows: Leader personal impact.

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Funding Organization Coach 129

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2020

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. Most true visionary entrepreneurs have unusual energy, creativity, enthusiasm, and a propensity for taking risks.

Startup 131

Startup Ideas Organization Entrepreneur 131