Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2016

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 63

Tech.Co

JULY 13, 2023

Initially pinned as a generative AI startup for Twitter when it first hit the headlines back in April, the xAI website seems to suggest that the new startup will remain separate from the social media platform, as well as Musk's collection of other technology companies.

Artificial Inteligence 109

Artificial Inteligence ChatGPT Generative AI Technical Review 109

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

The practical uses for uBeam technology is limitless. Was there consumer demand? Did anybody hold patents that would prevent us from using this technology? I seldom hire patent attorneys during due diligence but this was too important. We hired IP specialists to review prior art. Was it safe? No brainer.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). We feature a prominent speaker at every event.

Venture Capital 241

Venture Capital Technical Review Southern California Company 241

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 18, 2022

The alternative protein space is hot, hot, hot as evidenced by both the number of companies developing products and the venture capital going into the space. The latest company to attract venture capital is Nowadays , a company founded in San Francisco in 2020 as a Public Benefit Corporation by Max Elder and Dominik Grabinski.

Software Review 187

Software Review Metrics Startup Technical Review 187

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

As inflation rates spiral and consumer demand takes a hit, business owners are forced to be more mindful of their bottom lines than ever. Create a membership here Deadline: Applications are reviewed quarterly 3. Due to its lower lending cap, businesses with a slightly lower credit score of 620 can be eligible for the loan.

Technical Review 188

Technical Review Software Review Startup Competition 188

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

million in capital to build out its operations in 4 cities: New York City , Los Angeles , Chicago and Washington D.C. So how did a company that provides storage grow so fast (we’ll exit 2017 with 10’s of millions in recurring revenue), why is it so defensible and is it really a tech startup?

Technical Review 268

Technical Review Funding Software Review Artificial Inteligence 268

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. ” Climate resiliency . Fables of the reconstruction.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 12, 2018

seems like an unlikely place to grow one of the next billion-dollar startups in the booming Los Angeles tech ecosystem. These more basic needs can be solved with seemingly simple technologies—software for billing, scheduling, navigation and many other business workflows. The city of Glendale, Calif.

Glendale 271

Glendale Los Angeles Startup Technical Review 271

Xconomy

MARCH 20, 2018

Mythic , which last year unveiled its novel computer chip designed for artificial intelligence, announced today that it has raised $40 million in a Series B fundraising round led by the venture capital arm of Japanese telecom and tech giant SoftBank.

Artificial Inteligence 77

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Venture Capital Software Review 77

Xconomy

DECEMBER 18, 2018

The Bristol, UK-based startup, founded in 2016, has now secured a total of more than $300 million in financing from venture capital firms and other investors including Microsoft and the corporate venture arms of BMW and Dell Technologies.

Technical Review 65

Technical Review Product Venture Capital Software Review 65

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2015

For today''s Insights and Opinions section, where we feature contributions from our readers and others in the community, we have Peter Cowen , a veteran of the technology and venture capital industry at Clear Capital Advisors. peter cowen insights opinions subscription essay review economy' READ MORE>>.

Software Review 100

Software Review Technical Review Conference Venture Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. In fact, far better if you haven’t raised venture capital. This is minutes 8-11.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Venture Capital is a tricky industry. When the early teams: angels, lowercase capital & first round capital funded Uber they had no idea it would be one of the most revolutionary ideas of our time. Periodically we do portfolio reviews to evaluate whether we have enough diversified risk across the fund. Far from it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ? And he was still in the process of raising additional capital, so it was equity only. These “startups” are almost always mostly-non-technical founders offering 1-2% premoney for a “lead developer” position. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Development 241

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2021

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet as an opportunity to get rich quick, instead of a place where you can start a business you love, for very little capital and minimal technical expertise. With a stable base of subscribers, this can mean a continuing revenue stream from newsletters, support, or advice on demand.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Case Study Software Review Startup 124

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. Painfully Diligent Investors.

Angel 217

Angel Technical Review RSS Entrepreneur 217

socalTECH

JULY 29, 2010

We've dug through our database of high tech companies, web sites, and startups and found four Southern California companies and web sites looking to cater to that adventure traveler in you. . AdventureLink is backed by Allegis Capital, Anthem Ventures, and the Mailroom Fund, and is run by adventurer Jeff Dossett. Trails.com.

Sites 153

Sites Southern California Technical Review Allegis 153

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. I believe that over capitalizing companies too early often favors the VC.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 1, 2016

While the epicenter of tech innovation is undeniably Silicon Valley, a tide of new hubs emerging across the globe are gaining recognition. We are very close to the University of Waterloo, and many talented undergraduates have taken internships and permanent positions with tech startups like HiMama. PanTrek connects U.S.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Startup Incubator Media 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2020

For starters Uber itself has had to lay off 27% of its workforce due to the pandemic and has been severely impacted financially from the crisis with no immediate respite in sight. Even more likely is eventual technology disruption where drones deliver foods and make it hard for existing car delivery services to compete.

SaaS 242

SaaS Customer Custom Technical Review 242

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There are many things a VC is looking for in reviewing your business plan but beyond things the like the quality of revenue, margins, OPEX and CAPEX there’s a really simple rule I call, “Cash In, Cash Out, Milestones Achieved.” Every VC wants to fund a deal that seems to have too much demand. Let me check my plan.”

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Demand 247

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

They can read reviews, see pictures and even talk to the family before confirming. I then clicked on reviews, looked at pictures and read the owners descriptions of what they were looking for. I told her the story of Aaron, the company, the reviews, etc. I don’t own dogs so I wasn’t already a user. I registered.

Venture Capital 344

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review San Diego 344

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

Today the company officially announced its most recent round of capital ?—?having While this reaction to such a valuation is understandable, to anybody who has seen the meteoric rise in consumer demand and actual revenue the valuation is much less surprising and may turn out to be quite conservative. having raised $300 million?—?less

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 27, 2014

However, such alignment is missing at most tech startups, and thus there is little causality between a celeb’s investment and their ability to drive meaningful product adoption. Celebrity investors aside, I am a fan of high net worth individuals who are willing to allocate some of their risk capital to foster a startup''s success.

Entrepreneur 193

Entrepreneur Technical Review Hollywood Southern California 193

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! Tuesday, June 11, 2019 -- San Diego FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop. We're doing it again! See [link] (more)

San Diego 100

San Diego Venture Capital Angel Summary 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

During my time in Silicon Valley, I was struck by the fact that most successful entrepreneurs seemed to personally know and regularly hear from all the “movers and shakers” who had the investment capital and leadership they needed. Maintaining an insatiable curiosity about change. Assembling a winning team and delivering results.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2017

They seem shocked to learn that most professional investors and advisors, myself included, routinely decline such requests, due to costly litigation and administrative nightmares. Potential investors don’t need this data, except perhaps as part of a final due diligence after an initial signed agreement.

Technical Review 61

Technical Review Patents Ideas Social Media 61

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2019

They demand to be valued as individuals, and coached to understand and build their strengths, rather than treated as soldiers and directed to march into battle. They want ongoing conversations, not just annual reviews. Annual reviews alone have never worked as a substitute for regular feedback on things done well, and not so well.

Coach 95

Coach Technical Review Satisfaction Examples 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2019

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet as an opportunity to get rich quick, instead of a place where you can start a business you love, for very little capital and minimal technical expertise. With a stable base of subscribers, this can mean a continuing revenue stream from newsletters, support, or advice on demand.

Technical Review 97

Technical Review Case Study Software Review Startup 97

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

It is also a result of pent-up demand. Consumer spending is 70% of the economy and will continue to be stretched – We can look all we want at tech innovation, VC funding cycles and hot M&A deals, but ultimately growth and therefore investment must be underpinned by revenue. but the truer number of underemployed is a whopping 16.8%!

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2019

The platform must capitalize on user-generated content and other people’s work. Senior leaders need to be personally involved in defining the tests and reviewing results and implications. Amazon targets the new machine learning technology to leverage his focus on customers. Create and practice an obsession over customers.

Commerce 89

Commerce Artificial Inteligence Cloud Computing Platform 89

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off. Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. Internet scale.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

JULY 12, 2013

Many companies would love to be able to get the benefits of cloud--easy configurability, low cost, scaling, and more--but, due to various reasons, can''t take advantage of public cloud services like Amazon. We spent lots of time with enterprises where technology was not their core product. That worked, to some degree.

CIO 207

CIO Southern California Technical Review Software Review 207

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. 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.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. and we were met with weak demand, slow growth and high costs.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet as an opportunity to get rich quick, instead of a place where you can start a business you love, for very little capital and minimal technical expertise. With a stable base of subscribers, this can mean a continuing revenue stream from newsletters, support, or advice on demand.

Startup 107

Startup Technical Review Case Study Software Review 107