Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

This is why I loved Brad Feld’s recent post about the “ illusion of product / market fit.” If venture capital is propping up your business performance – good luck when the spigot slows one day. ” If you didn’t read it I recommend it. It’s important to understand.

Product 150

Product Startup Metrics Technical Review 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

One of the questions we discussed is, “How much capital should a startup raise?” ” Fred & I are both in agreement that there is a tension between capital constraints and creativity. Perhaps that’s rational capitalism at its extreme. But it’s not who I am. Blogging is like Venus Fly Paper.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

It included one firm who I asked not to call Salesforce.com as a reference (they were our largest pilot customer) and in their kindness they called Marc Benioff (the CEO) and asked his opinion. On December 3rd Brad Feld wrote a one paragraph blog post titled “ Raising Venture Capital &# in which he linked to my blog.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support. Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

He left out capital sources, but it's still a pretty succinct list of the types of people / communication you should be having early stage. Beyond that, I want lots of conversations with experts, users, customers, VCs, partners, etc. You really should go read Brad Feld's Implied Suspicion Versus Implied Trust.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

He left out capital sources, but it's still a pretty succinct list of the types of people / communication you should be having early stage. Beyond that, I want lots of conversations with experts, users, customers, VCs, partners, etc. You really should go read Brad Feld's Implied Suspicion Versus Implied Trust.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. How many entrepreneurs wouldn’t kill to have Brad and/or Foundry in general involved with their company.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Invest 265

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. Who are your key customers? Talk about the customer problem and how you solve it.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2021

Every entrepreneur seeking funding loves the challenge of getting customers and investors excited, but dreads the thought of negotiating the terms of a deal with potential investors. To be an effective negotiator, I agree that you first need to quickly identify and adapt to your opponents negotiating style.

Funding 131

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2020

I saw these addressed well in a new book, “ The Startup Community Way ,” by Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway. A commitment to constant learning will raise your intellectual capital. Human capital – talent, knowledge, skills, experience. Financial capital – revenue, equity, debt, funding.

Resource 131

Resource Startup Capital Mentor 131

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. Look at what Brad Feld has done for Boulder. But it did take Brad as a public spokesman, consummate networker and successful VC to help create legitimacy to let David’s ideas flourish.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2012

Every entrepreneur seeking funding loves the challenge of getting customers and investors excited, but dreads the thought of negotiating the terms of a deal with potential investors. To be an effective negotiator, you first need to quickly identify and adapt to your opponents negotiating style.

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Funding 99

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

If you care about accessing customers, reaching an audience, communicating your vision, influencing people in your industry, marketing your services or just plain engaging in a dialog with others in your industry a blog is a great way to achieve this. I’ll bet your customers, business partners or suppliers would love similar.

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2011

Every entrepreneur seeking funding loves the challenge of getting customers and investors excited, but dreads the thought of negotiating the terms of a deal with potential investors. To be an effective negotiator, you first need to quickly identify and adapt to your opponents negotiating style.

Startup 93

Startup Entrepreneur Customer Custom 93

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

The Scene Will Kill You - Brad Hargreaves , November 7, 2010 If you’ve taken a deep dive into tech startups, you know about the scene. Storm Clouds - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , November 12, 2010 We have enjoyed an amazing run in the web startup and investing space over the past five or six years. The scene will kill you.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

What the entrepreneurs were really saying is, “I don’t want to take a lower valuation now, while I don’t have customers or a full team. If you really want a deep dive on anti dilution better that you go read Brad Feld’s post on the topic. If we don’t raise a bone fide round of capital (say, $1.5

Startup 354

Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

First Principles. Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. -

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378