Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

It has historically been the case that VCs would rather fund the promise of 100x in a company with almost no revenue than the reality of a company growing at 50% but doing $20+ million in sales. The Valley has obsessed with a quick up-and-to-right momentum story because we were thought to live in “winner take most” markets.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 363

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

SpyCloud , a startup which develops cybersecurity products used to prevent account takeovers and which is backed by Santa Monica-based March Capital Partners , has raised $21M more in a Series B funding round, the company announced this morning. March Capital Partners co-led the Series A funding round for SpyCloud in 2018.

Capital 113

Capital Santa Monica Venture Capital Research 113

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

Venture Capital 255

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Social Network 255

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

In the VC insider baseball world a discussion has gone on about “VC platforms” over the past 5 or so years. While firms define platforms differently, let’s just say they are the services that a VC offers outside of investment capital and partner time on boards or providing intros.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Platform Startup Resource 150

Berkonomics

MARCH 28, 2024

They can elect directors for their class of stock, approve mergers and acquisitions; approve increases or changes to the capital structure of the company and other more minor actions. Some investor board members are also member of boards for companies that may overlap in markets or even compete directly, although rare.

Class 282

Class Coach Invest Sales 282

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Venture capitalists sometimes make an error in directing their portfolio company CEOs to push resources to the limit and scale the business to immense size quickly, all to seize market share. It was true for Amazon and other visionary companies that grabbed market share during the early Internet era. But beware.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Social Media Invest Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2013

Obviously, a key factor is always the state of the economy and the mood of the venture capital community. According to the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index® for the First Quarter 2013, the Q1 increase marks three consecutive quarters of positive sentiment among Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

Venture Capital 95

Venture Capital Capital Startup Funding 95

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2014

Invoca provides call marketing software used for inbound sales call management and analytics. invoca call marketing automation ringrevenue venture capital accel' Invoca said the new funds will go towards scaling operations and increasing its revenue growth. READ MORE>>.

Marketing 212

Marketing Santa Barbara Venture Capital Sales 212

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. In case VC’s haven’t figured this out yet, shit rolls downhill. My blog was wiped out. And covered we did.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

This is part of my series on Understanding Venture Capital. I’m writing this series because if you better understand how VC firms work you can better target which firms make sense for you to speak with. It in not uncommon to see a VC talk about “total assets under management&# as in “We have $1.5

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “Pitching a VC&# – the outline is here. You’ve pitched several angels and VC’s. Your friends and advisers tell you that this means you need revenue because in this economy VC’s will only fund businesses with revenue. Unfortunately your advisers are wrong.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital Guide Startup Technical Review 309

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. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. But take prompts from the VC.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

TechCrunch LA

MAY 3, 2022

million last year, is among hair businesses aimed at women and people of color, like Rebundle , Morado and theCut , attracting venture capital dollars. The other side of the business is a new monthly subscription service for stylists that helps them market their handcrafted wigs, beauty and other digital products and services.

Tool 179

Tool Customer Custom Marketing 179

TechCrunch LA

JULY 2, 2020

When it comes to venture capital, Los Angeles is a city on the rise. In the past year, it’s seen one of the most profitable venture-backed exits of any tech ecosystem (with the $4 billion sale of Honey to PayPal) and investors are minting billion-dollar companies in the region at a torrid pace.

Los Angeles 277

Los Angeles Venture Capital Capital Invest 277

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

My primary role was “chief psychologist&# and as I’ve learned over the past few years the same has been true as a VC. Once you’ve been around for a few years, attracted some great people, landed real, paying customers and raised venture capital you’ve likely got a talented team around you.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. Conduct your own customized market research. Modern libraries are still worth a visit.

Marketing 157

Marketing Statistics Research Report 157

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC.&#. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. A large part of my series has been outlining what the typical VC PowerPoint presentation should look like. You want to build a dialogue where you get to know the VC with whom you’re meeting. It happens.

Venture Capital 238

Venture Capital Slides Startup Sales 238

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

The company said the new funds will go towards expansion of its sales and marketing efforts, as well as for product development. San Diego-based Trust & Will , which operates an online estate planning service, has raised $15M in a Series B funding round, the company said on Tuesday. READ MORE>>.

Seed Funding 113

Seed Funding San Diego Venture Capital Sales 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

This episode of This Week in Venture Capital featured Michael Montgomery, president of Montgomery & Co. For entrepreneurs who want to learn about how to work with investment banks, how to position yourself to be acquired and what the IPO markets look like this is the episode to watch. This is often in the 5-7% range.

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

socalTECH

JANUARY 27, 2009

Irvine-based WiSpry announced today that it has hired on Lewis Boore as the firm's Vice President of Marketing and Sales. WiSpry is venture backed by American River Ventures, Arkian, Blueprint Ventures, DoCoMo Capital, Hotung Venture Capital, In-Q-Tel, L Capital Partners, Shepherd Ventures, Sid R.

Sales 100

Sales Tech Coast Angels Marketing Venture Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you hire 6 senior sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business 6 months. Do you imagine eventually raising VC and trying to build a faster growing company?”

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

socalTECH

JANUARY 24, 2018

Playa Vista-based Appetize , which develops tablet-based, modern point-of-sale (POS) technology for the food service and retail market, has raised $20M in a Series B funding, the company said on Wednesday morning.

Sales 100

Sales Technology Funding Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. But through nearly a decade of startups I learned that sales comes down to three essential elements: 1. I first heard this term from the guys at First Round Capital. They like to feel like they compared your solution to something else on the market.

Sales 319

Sales Startup Platform Tips 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2010

But until now, I’ve never seen a study of exactly how that plays out for startup founders for current venture-backed companies, specifically: race, age, experience and the number of founders per company. California (Silicon Valley), New York (NYC), and Massachusetts (Boston) are the places to be in the US for venture capital attention.

Venture Capital 88

Venture Capital Capital Startup Study 88

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

I would argue that the shut-down of September 2009 was equally severe yet there are signs that this “VC Ice Age” has begun to thaw. But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary. Why did the VC markets freeze so quickly? Short answer – yes.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. There are many times when being overly capitalized before you’re ready is a negative. We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

socalTECH

APRIL 25, 2018

Lynwood, California-based NEXT Trucking , which operates an online marketplace which connects carriers to shippers, says it is planning a big hiring push in Southern California, after a big $21M funding round from Sequoia Capital.

Lynwood 100

Lynwood Southern California Capital Sales 100

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

LeafLink , a startup that develops e-commerce software for the cannabis dispensary market, has expanded its operations into Los Angeles ahead of the sales of recreational marijuana in January, with a $10M funding. LeafLink's software helps cannabis dispensaries with branding, marketing, and e-commerce sales.

Funding 113

Funding Commerce Venture Capital Sales 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Social Proof in Action … Yesterday I wrote about the benefits of using social proof and authority in raising venture capital. Many of you have read or at least know the primary thesis of “ Crossing the Chasm &# the seminal book on marketing your products to mainstream consumers by Geoffrey Moore.

Marketing 294

Marketing Customer Custom Technical Review 294

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle , partner at Greycroft Partners , a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Greycroft is an early-stage VC. Closing a VC fund in 2009/10 is a major achievement in and of itself. Gilt Group is currently the largest private sale web site in US.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

Growth will slow, partly due to internal limits and partly because the company is starting to bump up against the limits of the markets it serves.” He talks about making things that people want & going after a big enough market. “Why do founders want to take the VCs’ money? .” And headlines.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Too Techie - Tone down emphasis on the technology underlying your venture; an interested investor will perform tech diligence at the appropriate time. No VC Fit - Match your venture with appropriate funding source. Distribution and Sales. Capitalization. Real World Executive Summary Template. Management Team.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal , which provides online marketing products for small- and medium-sized businesses, reported today that it has named Jeff Hagins as Chief Technology Officer, and promoted Steven Power, former Australia CEO, to Executive Vice President of Global Sales Operations. Edwards, and Lockheed Martin. READ MORE>>.

ReachLocal 154

ReachLocal Woodland Hills Sales Chief Technology Officer 154

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners. I had to laugh a bit reading it. MBA fine, but not required.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337