Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? About $1 million. Convertible notes have both features in them but for some reason entrepreneurs don’t understand it. It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs. It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs.

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Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

They actually lost about $175 million in cash in that quarter, FWIW. I know this seems obvious but I promise you that even smart people forget this when talking about profitability. I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? They raised $5 million in venture capital to fund growth.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2023

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. Entrepreneurs who have been really transformative, like Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, seemed to know how to deal with all the right elements. Find enough venturesome capital. Failure is an option.

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Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 101

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 29, 2016

GOAT just announced it raised $5 million in venture capital led by our friends at Matrix Partners. It’s a Chanukkah story where 18 months of venture capital funding ends up lasting more than 4 years and where against all odds the underdog succeeds. On the surface that sounds unremarkable — fundings happen daily.

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Venture Capital Summary Writing Funding 199

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 12, 2022

In January 2020, the company was in discussions with Whole Foods about launching a pilot of its meals in a few stores. He and Chan had to make some tough decisions, including streamlining a lot of the business and costs, and unfortunately letting staff go. However, there was a silver lining for Positive Food.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

Every entrepreneur I know is dismayed by the number of friends who approach them with a line such as “I have an even better idea that will change the world, and one of these days I’m going to get around to starting my own business.” There must be something deeper that slows people down. Irrational fear of failure or embarrassment.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Knowledge Base 153

socalTECH

DECEMBER 16, 2019

For our interview today, we have Noramay Cadena , a Partner at MILA Capital , who spoke to us earlier this year about the venture capital investment firm and what it looks for in entrepreneurs. What is MiLA Capital? Noramay Cadena: We're about four and a half years into our firm's history.

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Capital Invest Venture Capital Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2022

In my experience as an advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs in business, one of the biggest failures I see is a lack of self-leadership. Think about the questions that you are asking your advisors. For example, I often hear from aspiring entrepreneurs that “I had that idea first, and he stole it, and is now making money on my idea.”

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Capital Coach Satisfaction Ideas 114

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. I’ve talked in the past about how I manage my own creative process. I zone out and think about how things could be different. Frankly, I think venture capital is that way, too. Startups Are for Doers.

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Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 25, 2021

The partners at MaC Venture Capital , the Los Angeles-based investment firm that has just closed on $103 million for its inaugural fund, have spent the bulk of their careers breaking barriers. MaC Venture Capital co-founders Marlon Nichols, Michael Palank, Charles King, and Adrian Fenty. Image Credit: MaC Venture Capital.

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Venture Capital Capital Los Angeles Invest 225

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

A new report issued today by Silicon Valley Bank, says that startups are generally optimistic about their business opportunities, and they plan to raise capital and expand their workforces this year, despite "economic and political" uncertainty across the globe.

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Report Artificial Inteligence Startup News 133

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. What excites me about this space is that there’s so much low-hanging fruit.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Access to intellectual property and current research.

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Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Our interview this morning is with Kelly Perdew of Moonshots Capital , a Los Angeles based investment firm that makes seed stage investments in early stage companies�and in particular, for this Veterans Day, in companies founded by military veterans. Great catching up with you, tell us a little bit about your new investment fund?

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Capital Startup Invest Training 223

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 5, 2019

Tuesday, March 5, 2019 -- How to Raise Capital for your Start Up. Are you a Founder or Entrepreneur looking to raise money for your startup? This will be an opportunity to learn about the fundraising process from our expert panel and to learn about their real life experiences starting and funding their companies.

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Startup Capital Networking Entrepreneur 100

socalTECH

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Here, we have Greg Martin, Founder and Managing Partner of Archer Venture Capital (www.archervc.com). This was a most difficult year, filled with unimaginable hardship, and the raw humanity of this year, in all its forms, is what I will remember most about 2020. We'll be posting these throughout the next two weeks.

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Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Brentwood 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2021

Some people even believe that entrepreneurs must be born with the right genes, and no element of education is relevant. In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

This morning's interview is with Kevin O'Connor , a longtime investor and serial entrepreneur, who is now running venture capital investment firm ScOp Venture Capital. Congrats on the new name for your venture capital firm. Tell us a little bit about the firm? It's always hard with venture capital.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 17, 2012

I’m fond of saying that I look for entrepreneurs that have a chip on their shoulder. ” I’ve written about similar topics: 1. Entrepreneurs Should be Respected, Not Loved. And this is the point of this post – be careful about your chip. I met an entrepreneur. I have always felt this way.

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Startup Entrepreneur IP Venture Capital 336

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 2, 2017

This insight addresses more the impact of such behavior upon the actions of employees and others who observe that behavior from a senior manager or owner of a business – and know that they cannot say anything about it without jeopardizing their jobs. The culture of a company is created from the sum of many parts, most all coming from the top.

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Entertainment Email Entrepreneur Pricing 120

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2018

This morning, Moonshots Capital (www.moonshotscapital.com), led by Kelly Perdew and Craig Cummings , announced its first formal fund, a $19M seed stage fund. Tell us about this new announcement? That really helps to catalyze the process for entrepreneurs, and helps to get others involved. That was the umbrella.

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Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 164

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

As a business advisor and technologist, I often think about the large array of opportunities for entrepreneurs as technology seems to be evolving faster and faster. My standard answer is that ideas are a dime a dozen, and success is all about smart execution, not ideas. Future opportunities for entrepreneurs are endless.

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Ideas Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Startup 105

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2012

I’ve noticed that most young entrepreneurs are more socially conscious today than ever before, which is a great trend. Examples of profitable companies practicing this model include Trader Joe’s , led by Doug Rauch as retired president, now CEO of Conscious Capitalism®, and the Container Store , led by Kip Tindell.

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Capital Entrepreneur Guide Startup 99

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor over funding until we get huge payouts and ring the bell for more funding until we attract every non-VC on the planet to invest in startups until it crashes and we start the cycle all over again none the wiser. I know we spoke about it this week. VC funding.

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Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Santa Monica-based venture investor March Capital Partners (www.marchcp.com) announced last week that it has raised a second fund, worth $300M. To learn about the new fund, we sat down with Jamie Montgomery , one of the fund's co-founders, to hear about March Capital's strategy and the new fund. They're all big winners.

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Funding Capital Artificial Inteligence Startup 160

socalTECH

JANUARY 17, 2012

What are some of the more common mistakes entrepreneurs make when raising capital? Raising capital can be a challenging process, especially in an economic environment marked by so much uncertainty and risk. But entrepreneurs often make the process harder on themselves by committing several common mistakes. READ MORE>>.

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Manhattan Beach Capital Entrepreneur Mentor 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you. Marty Zwilling

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? Nobody cared about our valuations any more.

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Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. What stage?

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Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

socalTECH

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Earlier this week, Good Growth Capital (www.goodgrowthvc.com) announced it has started looking at investments in Southern California, adding Krisztina Holly as West Coast Venture Partner for the firm. We have a soft spot for investors and entrepreneurs, who might be super-smart, but are not necessarily as experienced.

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Southern California Capital Technical Review Startup 124

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 16, 2020

The business attracted interest from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Artemis Fund, Draper Dragon and Unlock Ventures initially, and the company has now added Anthos Capital to its roster of investors. As a father of two young boys, I care about their financial future and I know that other parents are feeling the same way.

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Services Capital Draper Education 235

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. There is a lot to say about retaining control. How important is this issue for your business? It is for this group that we explore the implications implicit in raising money for growth.

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Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

Yesterday I saw two biopic films: “ Amy ” about the life of Jazz sensation Amy Winehouse who died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27 and “ Montage of Heck ” about the life of Kurt Cobain , the grunge-rock generational voice who died of an overdose of heroin and valium at the age of … 27.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

But if you level up , raise capital and grow customers, revenue and staff – life changes. Of if your VP Sales isn’t complaining about marketing she’s trying to get the function reporting to her. I often worry about founders who have a deep-seated need to be loved because it can lead to bad decisions.

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 23, 2012

One of the biggest complaints that local entrepreneurs have with Los Angeles has been a dearth of local sources of venture capital. However, the recent surge in startup activity has attracted a lot more capital into the area, including a significant amount of capital from LA's latest fund: Karlin Ventures (www.karlinvc.com).

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

There has long been a big debate about the best approach to starting a new business. On the other hand, I just finished a classic book, “ The 10% Entrepreneur: Live Your Startup Dream Without Quitting Your Day Job ,” by Patrick J. The early entrepreneur lifestyle is not much fun.

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Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction News 128