Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Because I’ve asked more than 100 VCs similar questions I start to notice patterns in thinking.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

I’ve heard a lot of people question whether there is too much money in venture capital chasing too few great deals. Others believe that new business models are emerging that could replace venture capital all together. If you want the whole deck you can find it on SlideShare but I’ve written up a short summary with commentary below.

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socalTECH

MARCH 29, 2019

MiLA Capital , the venture capital firm that is behind the Make In LA hardware accelerator, says it has raised its first official venture capital fund, officially closing its first fundraise. The fund--led by Carmen Palafox, Noramay Cadena, and Shaun Arora--says it has so far made investments into 16 companies since 2015.

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TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 29, 2018

Los Angeles is becoming one of the more interesting destinations for startups and the investors that provide money for venture capital firms to place bets on young companies are increasingly starting to take notice.

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TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 29, 2018

Los Angeles is becoming one of the more interesting destinations for startups and the investors that provide money for venture capital firms to place bets on young companies are increasingly starting to take notice.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

Put simply – you need enough users in a segment who care about what you’re doing to dictate investing further in the product or in sales & marketing resources. I see many companies these days just race to raise capital. They see capital raising at the success validator. LEAN STARTUP MOVEMENT.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 8, 2019

Pasadena-based Thin Line Capital announced this morning that it has launched a brand new, energey and sustainability fund, which will invest in cleantech investing. Thin Line Capital is linked with venture capital firm Wavemaker, which is partnering with Thin Line Capital to establish the new fund.

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TechCrunch LA

MAY 19, 2018

In startup-land, however, the presumptions about where housing demand is going looks a bit different. Seeking roommates and venture capital. A Crunchbase News analysis of residential-focused real estate startups uncovered a raft of companies with a shared and temporary housing focus that have raised funding in the past year or so.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Let me start with the news that I’m excited to share with you. Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures). Startup CEO experience (Founded P.S. For starters we’re an LA-based venture fund who invests nationally (and sometimes internationally, but less so). billion IPO), Envestnet (Chicago, $1.25

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Of course this can be done and of course I am a big proponent of the rise of startup centers across the country as the Internet has moved from the “infrastructure phase” to the “application phase” dominated by the three C’s: content, communications and commerce. Local capital matters. Local mentors matter.

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socalTECH

JUNE 28, 2021

Newport Beach-based Ankona Capital, a new, venture capital company founded by Josh Harmsen, Brian Mesic, Newth Morris, and Jared Smith, has raised $66M in its first, venture capital fund. Ankona says its portfolio companies already include several companies, including Canopy, Cordial, GoSite, SOCi, VideoAmp, and Zingle.

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Raising capital for a female-led startup can be very diffiult--which is what Justine Lassoff and Melinda Moore found out when they started their own company, LovingEco, in Los Angeles. We actually started the organization in 2013. Melinda Moore: One of the things required to create, build, and scale a company is capital.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. Startup Grind was a truly awesome conference and Derek the consumate host. He spoke about ROCE (return on capital employed).

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socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2022

Beverly Hills-based Launch House, which hosts month-long, live-in startup programs in Los Angeles and elsewhere, is looking to raised $10M in a new venture capital fund, according to a regulatory filing from the company. The filing said the company is raising $10M to invests in startups.

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TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

New research has found that San Francisco and London have become two of the world’s leading hubs for VC investment into tech solutions that address one or more of the 17 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), more commonly referred to as “Impact Tech” They are followed by Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Shanghai and Beijing.

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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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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Do you need a board when you first start you company? If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards.

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TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 24, 2019

March Capital Partners , the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, has raised $300 million for its latest fund. ” Those two themes are borne out in the support March Capital has provided for The Hive , an artificial intelligence-focused incubator, and The Fabric , an infrastructure and internet of things-focused incubator. .”

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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. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Kara said “no” because she wanted to start her own company, which she did and I backed. In any job you either find leadership opportunities for your best people BEFORE they ask or other people start asking them to become leaders somewhere else. Leadership is about recognizing your next generation of talent and helping lift them up.

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TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

America’s favorite reality star is leveling up her repertoire and levering up businesses. A longtime friend of the Kardashians, Sammons apparently approached Kardashian and her mom-ager, Kris Jenner, with the idea to start the business. Serena Williams’ next act in venture capital is essential in this moment.

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Equity Journal Venture Capital Los Angeles 299

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 16, 2020

UNest , a Los Angeles provider of financial planning and savings tools for parents including college savings plans and other beneficial investment vehicles for various life events, has raised $9 million in a new round of funding, the company said. . “To me the investment in UNest is a great opportunity to help my community.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. At the time I pointed out: “If I had realized exits almost certainly it would be because I invested in a company that failed. I have done 6 VC investments – all within the past 20 months. 5 years ago.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. 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.

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TechCrunch LA

MAY 23, 2019

The Los Angeles ecosystem is $76 million stronger today as Fika Ventures , a seed-stage venture capital firm, announces its sophomore investment fund. Fika invests roughly half of its capital exclusively in startups headquartered in LA, with a particular fondness for B2B, enterprise and fintech companies.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Even bigger is the desire to stick one’s middle finger up at all of the people who doubted you all along. And not enough capital embracing these moonshots. In fact, the headline of one read, “How Putting $10m into uBeam illustrates everything that is wrong with tech investing today.” Working on it.

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Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I spend a lot of time with startups and thus hear many companies talk about their approach to sales and their interactions with customers. Starting with a positive. I had dinner this week with a top new customer at one of our enterprise software investments. If they want to invest that’s great. ” I cringed.

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Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Leonardo DiCaprio is making a significant commitment to the Los Angeles-based investment firm, Struck Capital , as part of the actor’s commitment to building LA into a tech development powerhouse. DiCaprio has already made a number of investments in startup companies that have done very well for the Academy Award-winning actor.

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Capital Funding Los Angeles Invest 188

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 23, 2019

One year after a $38 million Series B valued on-demand aviation startup Blade at $140 million, the company has begun taxiing the Bay Area’s elite. Blade, led by founder and chief executive officer Rob Wiesenthal, a former Warner Music Group executive, has raised about $50 million in venture capital funding to date.

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TechCrunch LA

APRIL 24, 2020

Divergent, the Los Angeles-based startup aiming to revolutionize vehicle manufacturing, has cut about one-third of its staff amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended startups and major corporations alike. Divergent 3D is essentially a Tier 1 supplier for the automotive and aerospace industry.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2014

This blog started from a series of conversations I found myself having over and over again with founders and eventually decided I should just start writing them.It Kobe is famous for waking up crazy early every morning and practicing for longer and harder than nearly anybody else in the NBA. The rest you should see for yourself.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” Given how efficient markets are when a large market like LA starts to blossom it attracts capital pretty quickly.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. This is no criticism of the investment banking industry (although I’m sure some will read it this way) for which there are very useful purposes. What stage?

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

Just ask the people of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Iowa, Princeton, Dallas or countless other cities that don’t have enough venture capital. If you don’t live in a major VC zone, I have some tips for how to make it easier to raise Venture Capital. ” Let’s start with “oversight.” Ask SuperCell.

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Venture Capital Marketing Santa Barbara Startup 365

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

After a decade on the job I’ve started to speak more openly when newer industry colleagues now ask me what I’ve learned. Most VCs did well academically and had enough career success that a venture firm was willing to give them an investment role or they were able to raise their own fund. The role of VC is sparring partner.

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