TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

We’ve also seen a substantial inflow of venture capital from all over the world.”. As BCG writes in its report: The good news for SoCal and any region with tech ambitions is that the Bay Area has in some ways been too successful. In fact, as is well-reported, the luster of Silicon Valley is fading.

Southern California 224

Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 224

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

I give a sneak peek at a blog post I’m writing on the topic next week. Convertible debt is a loan to the company that doesn’t typically get paid back but rather “converts&# into equity when you raise a larger round at a later date. What advice do you have for people who want to get into venture capital?

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing. Maybe the market views this as not worth the price you paid?

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

…” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. 99.9999% of you won’t be contemplating raising capital at $500 million any time soon or selling for a billion. My friend Christin Herron of Intel Capital weighed in on the issue.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

Boards are not appointed to be founder-friendly lapdogs for the 1–3 founders who start companies and usually own the largest equity positions in the company. The rise of crowd funding saw the first wave of founders gleeful that they could raise capital without having to deal with terrible VCs. Those seldom get reported.

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. It pains me to see the typical (and predictable) responses on Twitter, “VCs want prices to drop!” ” “Sure, prices are dropping.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I will write more about this in the next 2 weeks. But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value. Rational people can disagree and some may argue that today’s prices are rational and under-pinned by economic drivers. If you are interested the Vimeo is here.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2011

Thiel is providing his mentees with capital to make their startups a reality. When you don't accept capital from someone else, you aren't beholden to anyone else's input. An inflated sense of financial well-being can result in sloppy budgeting and accounting as you write checks here and there without pause.

Startup 92

Startup Capital Blogging Ideas 92

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” Bowery Capital). It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. So What’s the Big Deal?

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

There are many times when being overly capitalized before you’re ready is a negative. Plus, most early-stage M&A fails so this isn’t likely a good use of capital for a young company). Availability of Capital. So money spent should add equity value or create IP that eventually will.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note. Option pool (likely dilution in the future, which is a function of a higher price just not yet defined). So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages?

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Next Wednesday we’ll have Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, a New York / LA early-stage venture capital fund. We discussed in the video why they don’t price this money but give it as convertible debt) they don’t make announcements to the market. and who had biz reasons for wanting to remain stealth.”. - They also avoid Reg D.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Redpoint 285

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. The idea that the course asks students to write public blog posts is a testament to its more modern teaching style. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

Los Angeles-based Maple Media (maplemedia.io) recently announced a big, $30M funding from Shamrock Capital, to assemble a collection of mobile applications in the utility, productivity, games and entertainment verticals. We caught up with co-founder Clark Landry to chat about his new startup, which he co-founded with Michael Ritter.

Media 153

Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Recently I’ve been debating with a number of young startup companies that are raising money in the next few months, “what is the right about of capital to raise at a startup?&#. It’s a tricky question with no clear answer. There are trade offs.

Startup 319

Startup Venture Capital Capital Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

What better than to have capital from somebody who has actually done it in the trenches? Matt’s commitment to re-investing in tech startups is reminiscent to this great Fred Wilson post of “recycling capital. &#. Big thank you to Darius Vasefi , of EyeOnJewels for the write up. He told them it was now or never.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary. Three reasons: There is a relative valuation between the price a VC pays and their expectations of what it will exit for in an IPO or trade sale. Short answer – yes. The deal was done in late 2007.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

Software-as-a-service companies write good software, and network companies build good networks, but rarely do you find both that do that well as the same time. We happen to be very profitable company, but as we look to grow, also need to explore different sources of capital. Really, it's just another source of capital.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

When you think about the success that is Silicon Valley, the unfair advantage is not just the huge amounts of available venture capital. A key deal not only helps you raise venture capital but it can help attract employees, garner press attention, help with product focus & importantly drive customer adoption and/or revenue.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. Greathouse: Did you decide to bootstrap the business from the start or did you initially plan to take in investor capital? I’ve been there.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

Yesterday I wrote a post about how much capital your startup should raise. In general when capital is available take it (provided it’s on the right conditions and from the best people from whom you can raise). In that post I was talking about how it is a bad strategy to be underfunded. What about the money you raised?

Startup 308

Startup Entrepreneur Customer Custom 308

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.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

We’re a national venture capital investment firm but with our roots firmly in Los Angeles. You don’t have unlimited equity to dole out. She can anticipate reactions to price increases or product changes by customers and she can sustain competitive challenges because she knows the customer will stick by her.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Jason Nazar

APRIL 18, 2009

But that kind of dedication comes with a price. It was a little disconcerting to see my closest friends just write me off for the time being as someone who was never free to hang out. And anyone who has chosen a path of starting a business can tell you the unintended consequences of startups. .

Startup 85

Startup Pricing Social Network Writing 85

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Pricing models, the freemium myth and why you may not be charging enough for your product - Seth Levine's VC Adventure , August 12, 2010 I’ve been pulled into a number of product and pricing meetings recently (for reasons unknown I’ve become the Foundry pricing and productization guy). equity debate. How it happens.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. But I didn’t write it for you; I wrote it for myself. How to Take Down Facebook -- Hint: It Ain't Twitter. but: Something is Still Missing.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

- SoCal CTO , January 13, 2010 5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 9 Reasons Why Many Smart People Go Nowhere - Life Beyond Code , March 29, 2010 No Accounting For Startups - Steve Blank , February 22, 2010 Startup Advice In Exactly Three Words - #StartupTriplets - OnStartups , January (..)

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378