socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2012

Are you an entrepreneur looking for funding or to help get your business started? Santa Monica-based Docstoc has a new iPhone app for you, focused entirely on how to raise venture capital and get a business started. Docstoc's online document sharing service is aimed at providing business documents to small businesses.

Santa Monica 183

Santa Monica Venture Capital Tips Guide 183

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. He points out that the word crowd precedes funding in crowdfunding. Startup revenues come later.

Startup 151

Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 30, 2021

Several times in my investing life, as the final board member making the arrangements to dispose of remaining assets, I have literally been the one to turn out the lights, carry out the documents, books and records to my car, and become the only remaining contact between the failed business and the investors, bankruptcy court, or creditors.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Training Invest Email 156

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Even with advantages that independent startups can never hope to match, including brand recognition, customers, financial capital, and distribution, I don’t often see the entrepreneurial passion for innovation, agility, and team perseverance exhibited by new startups. Make sure everyone comes with an entrepreneur mindset for real innovation.

Incubator 143

Incubator Seed Funding Metrics Customer 143

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

I just cover the companies that were funded that week. Also, some of the deals I write about I have actually seen as part of their fund raising process. entrepreneur Wil Schroter (I am an angel investor in Affordit). Others I have not. One interesting point about Wonga that I didn’t cover in the show. 14.7mm in Series D.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2015

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. The road to business success is filled with challenges and frustrations that most aspiring entrepreneurs never even imagined.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 28, 2016

The job of chief financial officer (CFO) may sound like a nightmare assignment to technical entrepreneurs, but the tasks and skills required are key to every new venture. Finding creative ways to fund activities. The best entrepreneurs take the initiative on these rather than wait for a CFO to drive them.

Entrepreneur 59

Entrepreneur Activity Training Outsource Development 59

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

We all know that funding markets have changed for startups. The trends are well understood: more angels, more seed funds, more crowdsourcing and so forth. They asked LPs to rush to get into their next side-car fund to have access to this great deal plus the LPs also get the “benefit” of investing in their next fund.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Jackson, CEO and co-founder of CapLinked (www.caplinked.com), which is developing tools to help entrepreneurs and investors connect. Eric is an experienced entrepreneur, and was a very, very early employee at PayPal, where he was recruited by Peter Thiel. Jackson: It's actually two audiences, both the entrepreneur and investor.

Southern California 243

Southern California Entrepreneur Software Review Yammer 243

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. Investors are human and subject to human tendencies, whether they are your rich uncle, an angel investor with personal funds or a venture capital investor with institutional money. Legal eagle investors.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Coach Invest Sample 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2017

In my role as an advisor to startups, I often have to remind entrepreneurs to think more like sales people from day one, in finding a real problem to solve and designing the solution. Your ability as a business to uncover and capitalize on customers emotional motivators will dictate your success.

Sales 82

Sales Entrepreneur Customer Custom 82

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2019, from 280 out of 100,000 to 310 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Zigging and zagging amongst the obstacles is the fun part of being an entrepreneur, and it’s what sets you apart from the average worker who knows exactly what he or she has to do every day to get paid. There are certain foundational elements that every entrepreneur must build on to succeed, as well as some critical tools we all need.

Zag 102

Zag Entrepreneur Startup Resource 102

socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2018

Nichols is a former Kauffman Fellow and investment director at Intel Capital, and tells us how his fund--which he co-founded with Atom Factory's Troy Carter--is looking to find companies solving large problems outside of the typical Silicon Valley bubble. Marlon Nichols: We are a three year old, early stage venture capital firm.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Invest Capital Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Based on the final report for 2012 from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), it may appear that IPOs are back as a viable startup exit strategy. The dot.com heydays of free flowing venture capital and supercharged IPOs are not back. Don’t try to talk your way to a deal before you have the documentation.

Venture Capital 101

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2021

In my role as an advisor to startups, I often have to remind entrepreneurs to think more like sales people from day one, in finding a real problem to solve and designing the solution. Your ability as a business to uncover and capitalize on customers emotional motivators will dictate your success. Marty Zwilling.

Customer 136

Customer Custom Sales Social Media 136

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Finally you create and document your recipe (business plan). Have you projected sales and marketing costs, cash flow, and capital requirements? Develop metrics with which to measure yourself and use these to incrementally expand and improve your offering as fast as the market and capital will allow. Don’t stand still.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 93

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2017

One of the most common complaints I hear from new business owners and startups is about the pain and difficulty raising capital. The “venture capital” model is the only option they know, where they feel they get no mercy, giving up equity and control. Document the investment types you are willing to consider.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Equity Capital Entrepreneur 88

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

InfoChachkie

JUNE 1, 2010

Find out how getting he got his start-up funded using his knowledge of persuasion, sales, and even hypnotherapy: Full Bio: Jason Nazar CEO and Co-Founder of Docstoc. Jason is the Co-Founder and CEO of Docstoc.com, the premier online community to find and share professional documents.

Pepperdine 153

Pepperdine Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs, and a former angel myself, I still find startups confused about the definition of an angel investor, and how and when to attract one. There are organizations of angel investors in most major cities, as well as national groups, starting with the Angel Capital Association.

Angel 129

Angel Invest Ideas Entrepreneur 129

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

Finally you create and document your recipe (business plan). Have you projected sales and marketing costs, cash flow, and capital requirements? Develop metrics with which to measure yourself and use these to incrementally expand and improve your offering as fast as the market and capital will allow. Don’t stand still.

Startup 112

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 112

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back. billion jump in funding over the same quarter of 2010 with a similar number of deals, so it clearly shows a trend to larger deal sizes for fewer startups. Back to VCs, Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still the most active.

Venture Capital 93

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 93

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

In the old days, every entrepreneur planned on taking their startup public, and making it big. Smart entrepreneurs are now starting to look at this option again, as well as the challenges of running a public company. Public companies of any size must comply immediately with the full reporting requirements of the SEC.

Startup 98

Startup Report IBM IBM 98

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2021

ClickUp has raised $135M in venture capital so far. How are you funded and backed? In project management software, we have many competitors, in document management we have many competitors, and in goals management we have many competitors. What is ClickUp? Zeb Evans: Great question. That's what ClickUp does.

Doc 203

Doc San Diego Demand Product 203

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

As the authors make clear in the book’s preface, their goal is to create a “definitive guide to venture capital deals” and “demystify the venture capital financing process.” They are both former entrepreneurs and current Partners at Foundry Group , a highly successful, early stage venture firm. The Magicians Tells Their Secrets.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205

socalTECH

JUNE 21, 2013

Instead of equity, the company is aimed at profiting profitable small businesses with business debt funding from investors, to help those businesses grow and get to the next level. But, those are the companies who are desperate for growth capital, don''t have other options, and where we could have a massive impact. What is Dealstruck?

Startup 247

Startup Software Review Entrepreneur Equity 247

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. After all, growth equals high valuations and loads of venture capital! And so do entrepreneurs who are quick to pivot to new businesses or to sell in an acquihire.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

The naïve entrepreneur thinks he can relax, after he finally cashes the check from a professional investor, but in reality that’s when the work and the pressure starts. Angel and venture capital investors rarely just give you the cash, and stand back to wait for you to spend it the way you want. Manage to documented milestones.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Class 96

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Now, I’m pretty on the record that being an entrepreneur is about being great at The Do. Frankly, I think venture capital is that way, too. How does the world in Los Angeles intersect differently with venture capital? How does the world in Los Angeles intersect differently with venture capital?

Venture Capital 400

Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2010

The naïve entrepreneur thinks he can relax, after he finally cashes the check from a professional investor, but in reality that’s when the work and the pressure starts. Angel and venture capital investors rarely just give you the cash, and stand back to wait for you to spend it the way you want. Manage to documented milestones.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Class 92

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 3rd Brad Feld wrote a one paragraph blog post titled “ Raising Venture Capital &# in which he linked to my blog. I had intended to talk about how bad the process could become, not to name-and-shame anybody (and The Funded was not yet around). Thus is venture capital. Thus begins the venture capital dance.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series of posts and I need to file this one under both Raising Venture Capital and Startup Advice. There were tons of young entrepreneurs showing their latest Web 2.0 Many of these businesses were what First Round Capital called FNACs (features, not companies – this acronym has always stuck with me).

Web 2.0 334

Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2019

In my role as an advisor to startups, I often have to remind entrepreneurs to think more like sales people from day one, in finding a real problem to solve and designing the solution. Your ability as a business to uncover and capitalize on customers emotional motivators will dictate your success. Marty Zwilling.

Customer 107

Customer Custom Sales Social Media 107

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

As the markets went down, just like any other investor, they were very conscious of investing more carefully--but, that said, it also meant that there seemed to be more entrepreneurs, for various reasons, were newly interested in starting companies. What should startups be doing to get funding nowadays, versus a more normal year?

Tech Coast Angels 182

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 182

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

When you are starting a new business, every resource is precious, including time, funding, and people. Daily updates from the top and documented processes are critical. There is always a need for highly skilled or capital-intensive services, such as legal and manufacturing, that should be outsourced.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Metrics Technical Review 122