Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

This is the market that Wonga serves and they are killing it! Peer-to-peer lending service; started on FaceBook; claim to own 79% of the US peer lending market in March 2010 with a whopping $8,664,750. Investors: Foundation Capital (lead), with existing investors: Morgenthaler Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Canaan Partners.

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InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 7, 2013

I explored this issue in a recent conversation with fellow WSJ Accelerator, Brad Feld. According to Brad, "There is a fundamental difference between an incubator and an accelerator… an incubator has an economic model that is based around having people be tenants. Having people being captive within some investor’s…sphere.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

I know Brad Feld wrote a similar post. Brad is the ultimate giver. Early in his days when he was raising capital for DocStoc he came to see me a lot. Todd Gitlin is one of the best executive recruiters the technology & startup market in Los Angeles. I wrote about there here. When you want press, it will come.

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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

JANUARY 25, 2015

Startups in a world of massive markets can be confusing. The law of large numbers, platforms that can make your company blow up unexpectedly and the trendy nature of tech markets can be deceiving. This is why I loved Brad Feld’s recent post about the “ illusion of product / market fit.”

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

They started their company in LA but a couple of years after raising capital from Khosla Ventures in the Bay Area they ended up relocating there. A few years later they announced $150 million in a funding round at $1 billion+ valuation and are ramping up jobs to secure their market-leading position. Local capital matters.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

I should note that my friend Brad Feld has written a new book on the subject that I would recommend if you want the bible on the topic. I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

Last to weigh in was Brad Feld whose blog post argues that the only 2 terms that should be negotiated are amount raised & valuation. 2006 was the last time I went out to raise venture capital. 2006 was the last time I went out to raise venture capital. I totally agree but want to cover a different issue.

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Funding Venture Capital Startup Blogging 252

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

Cincinnati, like many startup communities in the US over the past 5 years, has revitalized important regions in its urban core, created accelerators, built co-working facilities, pooled together angel capital, attracted VCs, involved educational institutions and solicited the help of important corporations in a more cohesive ecosystem.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

One of the questions we discussed is, “How much capital should a startup raise?” ” Fred & I are both in agreement that there is a tension between capital constraints and creativity. You need to invest in good markets and bad. You can’t time VC investing markets. That always stuck with me. .”

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InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 15, 2012

You control substantial amounts of capital, have tremendous autonomy, a flexible work schedule and you get to play Santa by bestowing financial gifts upon worthy entrepreneurs. In contrast, an Angel Investor is someone who invests their own capital. Just as unproven startups struggle to raise capital, so do newly minted venture firms.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

I recently survey more than 150 VC friends from all stages and geographies what they thought about the market by asking “Which of the following statements best describes your mood heading into 2016?” When I started blogging it was because I was inspired by Brad Feld. What is the True Sentiment of VCs?

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MAY 15, 2010

It’s always fun chatting with Jason because he’s knowledgeable about the market, quick on topics and pushes me to talk more about VC / entrepreneur issues. Next Wednesday we’ll have Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, a New York / LA early-stage venture capital fund. They also avoid Reg D. YOu should check it out.

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Venture Capital Startup Advertising Redpoint 285

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

My blog linked to Brad Feld’s blog because I was so grateful for his series on term sheets and he was one of the biggest reasons that as a VC I felt compelled to blog. On December 3rd Brad Feld wrote a one paragraph blog post titled “ Raising Venture Capital &# in which he linked to my blog.

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Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

And as I’ve written about before – building a personal brand is extremely important in today’s competitive job market. And was willing to be as open about it as Brad Feld, my inspiration , was. In a crowded market – venture capital – where it is hard to break out and be noticed.

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SaaS Venture Capital Conference Technical Review 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

First, I’d like to quote (paraphrase) Brad Feld speaking at Twiistup in LA in 2009, “I keep hearing people in LA talking with a chip on their shoulders about building a tech business here relative to Silicon Valley. Funding is different – In Silicon Valley you have mega venture capital funds and many of them.

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Company Companies Technology Startup 290

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FEBRUARY 27, 2010

At the margin you can make yourself better at sales, product design, marketing, leadership, capital raising, etc. “VC and former entrepreneur Brad Feld also blogged about how many of his frat buddies at MIT had become successful entrepreneurs. so it’s not pointless to want to improve. I don’t think so.&#

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MAY 5, 2011

awards dinner on Thursday night I started reflected on what it would take to “change the trajectory&# for Seattle or for any regional market, really. Who’s going to help you with improving your marketing / positioning to become a clear platform category leader like Twilio? Look at what Brad Feld has done for Boulder.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

"Authentic" is dead - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , May 3, 2010 It's time to retire the following phrases. Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. Enjoyed this post? Putting customers first. Tesla is not.

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Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

He left out capital sources, but it's still a pretty succinct list of the types of people / communication you should be having early stage. I like how Mark Suster handles the question in 10 Marketing Lessons for Early-Stage Tech Startups. You really should go read Brad Feld's Implied Suspicion Versus Implied Trust.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. Back then VentureHacks didn’t exist.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

He left out capital sources, but it's still a pretty succinct list of the types of people / communication you should be having early stage. I like how Mark Suster handles the question in 10 Marketing Lessons for Early-Stage Tech Startups. You really should go read Brad Feld's Implied Suspicion Versus Implied Trust.

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Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

It’s just that he’s a “super seed&# investor in a firm, Founder Collective , that I really respect (and with whom I’ve done two deals and hope to do a third) and I’m a partner in a venture capital firm, GRP Partners. So we’re bound to frame the issue in slightly different terms.

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Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

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APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. How many entrepreneurs wouldn’t kill to have Brad and/or Foundry in general involved with their company.

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Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Invest 265

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. Something like, &# I was thinking about jumping into the demo first before discussing the market.

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Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Can you imagine investing in the stock market where your price was determined at a future date and the better that company performed the HIGHER the price you paid for that investment. This has worked very well in the 2009-2012 time frame because the tech market has boomed in this period. Enter “the cap.”

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Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

If you care about accessing customers, reaching an audience, communicating your vision, influencing people in your industry, marketing your services or just plain engaging in a dialog with others in your industry a blog is a great way to achieve this. They achieved all of this before they raised even a penny of venture capital.

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Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

The Scene Will Kill You - Brad Hargreaves , November 7, 2010 If you’ve taken a deep dive into tech startups, you know about the scene. Storm Clouds - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , November 12, 2010 We have enjoyed an amazing run in the web startup and investing space over the past five or six years. The scene will kill you.

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Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. - . - 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication? First Principles.

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