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. It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). And so is venture capital. It’s not you.

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TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

Finally for startups there’s a $31 billion available for programs that give small businesses access to credit, venture capital, and R&D dollars. The sad fact is that water infrastructure in America has largely failed to keep up in large swaths of the country, necessitating this kind of massive capital infusion.

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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.

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Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

We caught up with CEO and co-founder Brett Rossman to learn more about the company and how it''s been able to grow, profitably, all without raising a dime of outside capital. We generate thousands of new customers everyday for clients such as Ally Bank, GE Capital, Transunion, and a few other big brands.

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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!” Have easy access to capital by investors who are committed to building businesses at Interent scale. One of them is profitability.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 25, 2016

If such write-downs only impacted the faux unicorns and their avaricious investors, there would be little need for alarm. Although mega rounds with high valuations can be an effective way for large VC firms to efficiently deploy their capital, this approach can actually decrease a startup’s chances of success.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

They suffered in trying to live up to public perceptions and the demands to continue their successes. In both cases the biopics portray suffering souls who find extreme and sudden success that casts them into the public eye in a way that they weren’t prepared for. Mark Suster (@msuster) July 19, 2015. Of course that’s true.

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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. 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.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. Marketing with long payback is precisely what requires venture capital. It would take 2 years to catch up but believe me they have the capital to do so. Competition. Market Size. You need a wedge.

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Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. For simplicity I’ll assume you’ve raised some money from angels or seed investors and you’re either raising an A round or a B round of venture capital. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them.

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InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

9) In Getting The Band Back Together , I write about the power of serial Founding teams. Who do you view as your biggest competition? Performance marketing also demands accountability. You have tremendous momentum and clearly could have raised capital from a variety of sources. You’re right.

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Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

It was a pleasure to write them myself. They would launch quickly and test whether or not there is any demand. I brought up the fact that I find many larger companies abusing the patent system to slow down smaller competitors which is actually anti competitive. All of that are in this week’s episode of This Week in VC.

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Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We had a special edition of This Week in Venture Capital this week shooting out of the Next New Networks offices in New York. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital. We both felt that the critical reasoning skills and writing skills were critical to our career development. The Spark Capital website (it’s one of my favorites).

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Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization. Brad was openly writing about this and it felt like he was giving the VC playbook away for free! That’s the beauty of markets and of capitalism.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

He listed all of the product releases that were up coming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving. When you account for competition for talent, the difficulty of retention, the cost of living and the difficulty of rising above the noise – there are many advantages of staying put.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Frank Addante

JANUARY 23, 2007

► August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? StrongMail Systems (Digital Messsaging Infrastructure Software) Status: VC-backed (Sequoia Capital, Globespan and Evercore) Lesson: Trust your gut. ► July (1) ► June (3) ► May (5) the Rubicon Project The Journey Startup 6.0: Visit StrongMail Website Startup 4.0:

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InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

Rationale: My idea is so mind-blowingly fantastic that I must immediately spend some of my precious capital to protect it. Fallacy: Startup ventures tend to evolve, especially after you begin speaking with pesky customers and demanding partners. Thus, you have negotiating leverage as long as a legitimate, competitive threat exists.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I still think it’s best to take money from Dave when you’re also partnered with a more focused, hands-on seed-stage VC who brings different things to the table – like more ability to write larger checks in a downturn (for one) or solving a deep crisis that involves super hands-on involvement. I argue the opposite.

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Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

► August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? StrongMail Systems (Digital Messsaging Infrastructure Software) Status: VC-backed (Sequoia Capital, Globespan and Evercore) Lesson: Trust your gut. . Venture Capital Funding 7. I'm 30, now will you take me seriously? Inventing Stuff, Obviously Impossible? Relaxing 2.

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Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Crowdfunding to gauge demand is not recommended, since failed campaigns don’t usually recover later.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Crowdfunding to gauge demand is not recommended, since failed campaigns don’t usually recover later.

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Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2015

Boy wearing Oculus Rift via Wikipedia As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Startups need to build a large passionate group of fans before the campaign.

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Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 53

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

In more than a decade of writing about the Internet and tech-enabled businesses I’ve learned that mobs don’t do nuance well. This market structure in which the few, large players use their market position to eliminate competition is inevitable. It’s Hobbesian economics 101. Enter the decentralized Internet.

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