Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Once you have some traction, you can approach venture capital organizations , with funding amounts of $1-10 million for the real rollout, often referred to as the “A-round,” or first institutional funding. Funding or rollout stage.

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Startup Funding Organization Incubator 122

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 5, 2019

Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in San Diego, we're throwing an exclusive PitchFest speed dating event where you will be pitching to over 20 investors one-on-one! All of the Investors will get your company description and contact info! We're doing it again! There are only 15 spaces left in the Workshop.

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San Diego Venture Capital Angel Summary 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata investments rights given investors the right to invest in your future fund-raising rounds and maintain their ownership % in your company as your company grows and raises more capital. You now own 20% of a company valued at $50 million but you’ve put in $4m to get that. Thus begins the dance.

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Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you. What was the post money on your last round (and how much capital have you raised)? In the first place they’re looking for “fit” with their firm.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Once you have some traction, you can approach venture capital organizations , with funding amounts of $1-10 million for the real rollout, often referred to as the “A-round,” or first institutional funding. Funding or rollout stage.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

Of course, we are speaking of increased valuation of your company when we speak of “wealth.” This risk can be mitigated by finding a customer willing to purchase as soon as a proven model is completed, and willing to state this in writing. So, let’s examine them and mitigate them. Make you wealthy someday. The carrot and the stick.

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Do you need a board when you first start you company? Time based as in “a guaranteed right for 12 months, which can be renewed by mutual board consent” and event based “a guaranteed right until the company has raised $x million from new investors.” What happens at the A-round of venture capital?

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Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.). So VCs started writing some smaller A-rounds. When I first became a VC, seed rounds were typically $500k – $1.5

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Seed Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 399

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

70–80% of the costs of most startups are employee costs so what you’re really talking about when a company is unprofitable is that they are growing their staff ahead of their revenue. Are you looking to potentially sell the company in the next year or two? I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective?

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2018

I have seen this in cases where a fight would take the CEO’s time & attention away from important business dealings or where the cost of not settling is huge (as in, inability to raise more capital until the dispute is resolved). Back when I ran my first company I fought a lot. This also applies to internal company decisions.

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Startup Writing Demand Equity 199

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

Xconomy

OCTOBER 1, 2019

Now, as demand for engineered DNA rises, a handful of startups are vying to become the go-to provider for researchers looking for improved versions of the DNA sequences. Molecular Assemblies is among the companies working to commercialize what’s known as enzymatic DNA synthesis.

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San Diego Research Writing Demand 43

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. I interviewed Eric for an hour for - This Week in Venture Capital. should companies do spreadsheets / plan / have a hypothesis for success? how do you handle internal company morale?

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Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2011

By John Williams Fast Company magazine recently reported that PayPal founder Paul Thiel is giving away $100,000 to twenty-four young men and women to finance startup businesses. Thiel is providing his mentees with capital to make their startups a reality. Your mortgage and grocery bill depend on it. You can keep overhead low.

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Startup Capital Blogging Ideas 92

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

This risk can be mitigated by finding a customer willing to purchase as soon as a proven model is completed, and willing to state this in writing. Another is to gain the support of a core vendor who is willing to offer special extended terms to the company as its investment in creating the product in a finished state.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

The company recently raised a round of funding from Santa Barbara-based ScOps Venture Capital. There's lots of noise in the on-demand tutoring space, especially connecting people virtually, however, in my experience, it's in the best interest of consumers to get in-person, local tutoring. What is HeyTutor? Here's the reason why.

Startup 113

Startup Venture Capital Beverly Hills Acquisition 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

” In the article I discussed the downside of raising capital at a too high of a price and referred people to a previous article I had written encouraging founders to raise “ At the Top end of Normal ” as opposed to stratospheric prices. First, a down round sends a signal that something is wrong with your company.

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Pricing Seed Funding Invest Venture Capital 302

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. I’ve seen too many companies go off track by a VC hell bent on the team pursuing the VCs strategy which at times is about chasing the next shiny object. Most VCs are book smart. I call them “ VCs Seagulls.”

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Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

Tech companies have spent the past decade or more developing innovations that can be applied to old-world industries like agriculture, construction, energy, education, manufacturing and transportation and logistics. ” Climate resiliency . Fables of the reconstruction.

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Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

In London when founders failed they were ostracized in the press and culturally I believe it became harder to raise capital. You also ran the risk that if you hired employees quickly and then demand wasn’t as strong as expected it was incredibility hard to fire people. Many are no doubt trying to change this culture.

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Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. There is an inherent value that any company has. I acknowledged this in the article.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Berkonomics

JUNE 11, 2015

I was fortunate that I could write software and doubly fortunate that my despair at working for ‘the Man’ – and feeling compelled to strike out on my own – coincided with the dawn of the personal computer era. From this point the company grew like wild fire. I became an entrepreneur by default.

Customer 120

Customer Custom Writing Southern California 120

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

Redpoint Ventures is one of the venture capital firms which has straddled both Northern California and Southern California, with offices in both locations. We've made over 30 investments in Southern California, and that's just in Redpoint, and doesn't include all of the investment we made as Brentwood Venture Capital since the late 70's.

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Redpoint Southern California Cornerstone OnDemand Invest 154

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. One of them is profitability.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Once you have some traction, you can approach venture capital organizations , with funding amounts of $1-10 million for the real rollout, often referred to as the “A-round,” or first institutional funding. Funding or rollout stage.

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Funding Startup Organization Incubator 94

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven''t earned a dime of revenue. However, this town is also full of very profitable, growing, and revenue generating companies-- which have for the most part been below the radar.

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Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” in 2014 the data seems pretty conclusive because LA has now become the fastest growing tech startup region by numbers of companies being started and those of us here have noticed this pace accelerating. Given how efficient markets are when a large market like LA starts to blossom it attracts capital pretty quickly.

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Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Was there consumer demand? No brainer. It was impressive.

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Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

The company--which is in the business of operating a content delivery network (CDN) to accelerate the delivery of web graphics, multimedia, applications, and more to end users-- recently disclosed it more than doubled its revenues in 2012, and has grown to over 230 employees--all due to a huge amount of demand for CDN services by its customers.

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CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

InfoChachkie

MARCH 18, 2013

In order to extract value beyond your Angel investors' cash, you must first assess three important parameters: (i) the relative strength of their personal brand, (ii) their ability to add operational value, and (iii) the amount of care and feeding they will demand from you. If the pitch sounds good, they are "in."

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Angel Technical Review RSS Entrepreneur 217

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 25, 2016

It is no secret that the number of private companies with valuations in excess of one billion dollars has skyrocketed since the start of 2014. The inevitable outcome will be the collapse of the weakest companies, while those with sound underlying business models will be recapitalized with reasonable valuations.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Venture Capital 100

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 17, 2019

The new information, gleaned from recently unsealed court documents , provides new insight into the company’s past activities and what that might mean for its upcoming IPO. There’s a new autonomous trucking company coming out of stealth. What else are we hearing? We’ll share more soon. Deal of the week. Notable reads.

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San Fernando Los Angeles Commerce News 217

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Once you have some traction, you can approach venture capital organizations , with funding amounts of $1-10 million for the real rollout, often referred to as the “A-round,” or first institutional funding. Funding or rollout stage.

Organization 93

Organization Startup Incubator Ideas 93

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. Other founders, “as a privately held company we don’t disclose our valuation.&# Me, “dude, I’m not a journalist. The VC assumes you’ll have an option pool.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product." Investors demand more than that. A Beginner's Guide to Investors How to Speak the Language of Venture Capital

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Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2013

The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Once you have some traction, you can approach venture capital organizations , with funding amounts of $1-10 million for the real rollout, often referred to as the “A-round,” or first institutional funding. Funding or rollout stage.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Funding Incubator Startup 102

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. Rationale: My idea is so mind-blowingly fantastic that I must immediately spend some of my precious capital to protect it. No one has heard of you, your company or your solutions. Grant Exclusivity. Fallacy: Yes.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272