Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

One of the interesting things about being a VC is that you often see companies in transition. Moving from a company that had less resources (and presumably by the time their raising depleted resources) to a company with newfound resources can be telling.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

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

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Calls are changing but not dying. THE FULL STORY.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

It is simply the most important way to proactively control your career development and how the market perceives you. It will affect your ability to get the right jobs and promotions as well as your ability to attract talent and capital. In my next post I will take on the topic of how to control your brand. It is neither.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

socalTECH

MAY 25, 2016

Santa Monica-based March Capital Partners (www.marchcp.com) has just announced a brand new, $240M venture investment fund, led by longtime venture investing veterans Jim Armstrong, Sumant Mandal, Gregory Milken and Jamie Montgomery. Those are broad areas, but we are not doing some deals like we have in the past, in biotech and other areas.

Southern California 113

Southern California Capital Funding Invest 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Venture Capital is a tricky industry. Many questioned whether it could survive under the fail whale, inevitable competition from Facebook, founder fighting, fights with 3rd-party developers let alone become a revolutionary business that could make money. Far from it. Lots of it. It was an early and smart bet.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. You can read Brad’s views of how to do it in his book. You can read Brad’s views of how to do it in his book.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Press San Diego 378

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. ” Here is a three-minute video with Fred answering this question. I promise it’s worth watching. Again, Fred.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. I believe that over capitalizing companies too early often favors the VC.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

You can watch the video above for a very brief overview of why we rebranded and where we see our place in the VC ecosystem along with what has changed in our industry. The link for the video is here and if you want a short firsthand view on our changes it’s a great resource. A brand is a marathon, not a sprint.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Startup Blogging Platform 324

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. We also talked about Elevation Partners who invested in Palm and how this deal really salvaged their investment, which was a VERY big bet on Palm.

Clearstone 236

Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Those that we survive with become family. The truth is you really don’t know how your teammates or your bosses will perform in good times and bad. How about asking, “If we hired Susan could you imagine considering coming with her?” Startups are hard. You’ve heard that a million times. It was a moment.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Understanding how your company will change as you move through these phases is critical if you hope to scale to a large business one day. Understanding how your company will change as you move through these phases is critical if you hope to scale to a large business one day. As an early-stage VC I love this phase.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

VC funding. 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. blog here ). Same as I felt.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

One founder who gets more attention from a company’s success while one feels slighted and becomes jealous and resentful. One founder who gets more attention from a company’s success while one feels slighted and becomes jealous and resentful. Of course it makes no sense to have great people management and a crappy product.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

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. But founders need to know how to ask for their advice and when to ignore it. You could just outspend. You could use brute force to get the word out. There is a much better technique.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 27, 2014

How can I improve the financial health of my company? How can I minimize my income tax burden? How can I support—and finance—company growth? These milestones become a tool for you to seek funding, if necessary, whether that comes in the form of VC capital, a bank loan.

Venture Capital 93

Venture Capital Outsource Help Writing 93

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

As I have pointed out in previous posts , 91% of VCs surveyed believe prices are declining (30% believe substantially) and 77% believe that funding will take longer than it has in the past. The earlier the round, the less capital you need and the more reasonable your valuation the less time that is needed generally to raise capital.

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

So how should you decide what to do? For many businesses you should keep your costs low & your capital raises low until you discover whether you are really on to a big idea where there is market demand. How long is the window open? How much capital do I need to run my business effectively right now?

Help 303

Help Startup Competition Framework 303

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

I love the enthusiasm, the boundless energy and the sense of possibility that comes from having an idea that hasn’t yet been beat up in the marketplace of competing ideas, customer contracts, VC skepticism, jaded journalists or fickle consumers who are on the The New, New Thing. I have written about the next phases many times.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

I have talked about this publicly a great deal – how I prefer “missionaries” over “mercenaries.” It becomes an extension of self rather than a job. How could these statements live in the same sentence? *. I know because I marked the occasion with a blog post on how to have a great VC meeting.

Startup 303

Startup Technical Review Product Blogging 303

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

We raised this capital in what has increasingly become a difficult market for fund raising so I’d like to share with you some details on how we get it done. If you want to know how that worked out for the respective parties see the chart below. Fragmented markets can be a great target for disruption. Little old us.

Startup 150

Startup Pricing Marketing Product 150

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

While your focus is understandably on immediate survival and how you can hit your first big hurdles, what else should you be thinking of, especially where your finances are concerned? Consider all of your expenses then think through how you will record and cover them. So your company’s in its very early stages. Build your budget.

Tips 90

Tips Startup Venture Capital Outsource Development 90

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I can’t help feel a bit of rear-view mirror analysis in all of “VC model is broken” bears in our industry. The most successful of these businesses will still need venture capital to scale their businesses.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2013

According to Dirk Ahlborn , CEO and co-founder of JumpStartFund,“We believe that every entrepreneur has at least two or three great ideas they would like to see realized but do not have the time or resources to make them a reality.”. How its online incubation works. Social capital rewarded.

El Segundo 76

El Segundo Social Network Startup Patents 76

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup. The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 6, 2014

While your focus is understandably on immediate survival and how you can hit your first big hurdles, what else should you be thinking of, especially where your finances are concerned? Consider all of your expenses then think through how you will record and cover them. So your company’s in its very early stages. Build your budget.

Tips 101

Tips Startup Outsource Development Sales 101

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 24, 2011

I am currently at the annual VC in the OC program held in Irvine CA by OCTANe , an organization that connects people and ideas to resources and capital in Orange County. Over 600 people came to this event to listen share and network, including entrepreneurs, VC’s and investors. All this success in less than five years.

Orange County 104

Orange County OCTANE Technical Review Outsource Development 104

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 13, 2010

We'll use all the panel members' experiences to tell a "how to story" about bootstrapping to million. Jason Cohen, Capital Thought. Making Decisions as a Resource Starved Dev Team. The time is once again upon us. The best thing of all is that there are no judges! Branding / Marketing / Publicity marketing, PR, publicity. .

Guide 69

Guide Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur 69

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

Or would you like me to sell you a story on how cloud computing is green because these large datacenters are more energy efficient than the same number of computers run in ad-hoc ways? I thought the analogy was preposterous back in 2006-2007 but it has become obvious. 9) The story of how you started RightScale is classic.

Cloud Computing 188

Cloud Computing Santa Barbara EC2 Startup 188

Xconomy

AUGUST 10, 2016

On the day after Intel announced its acquisition of San Diego machine learning startup Nervana Systems, investor Steve Jurvetson told me he was feeling a sense of satisfaction about a call he made three years ago, and how it has been playing out. Just over a year later, Jurvetson led the Series A round of venture funding for Nervana Systems.

Artificial Inteligence 40

Artificial Inteligence San Diego Framework Venture Capital 40

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 1, 2011

The startup is headed by Robert Flynn --a former VC, and co-founder of Liquid Audio, and most recently head of Modern Feed, the company that is now Clicker--who talked with us about his new company. In the quest to own the world of Internet content, there has been a huge amount of focus given to the world of consumer Internet content.

Startup 162

Startup Content Advertising Sites 162

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

It’s why raising a round of capital often feels like a hollow victory because it almost feels like a temporary reprieve from the Grim Reaper and in a way every new round just sets the bar higher to clear for the next round of financing or the hope of reaching profitability. When you run a startup you’re always on borrowed time.

Funding 238

Funding Venture Capital Startup Course 238

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

How is the LA startup scene? When you had an explosion of content developers that wanted to be in LA with all the resource that the entertainment industry has available here, all the creative people want to be here. With the ability to get companies up and going with lesser capital needs means you can grow quickly.

Los Angeles 84

Los Angeles Media Invest Startup 84

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 18, 2011

I must say I’ve become a regular user of ShopperSeeks every since this interview. Kyle: How did you get started in the entrepreneur world? Andrea: At May Company, they sold me on the buying career path by saying it was like owning your own business without having to raise start-up capital. That was half-true.

Startup 99

Startup Social Media Media Sites 99

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. I’ve raised money as a “hot company” and I’ve raised capital when no one would return my phone calls. And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. Raising money is hard. Executive Summary.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

Lately I have seen a number of deals announced on TechCrunch in which 5 or more different VCs were participating in the deal. When this first ran on TechCrunch I got the greatest comment in the world that I had to repeat here, “VC’s are like martinis: the first is good, the second one great, and the third is a headache.&#

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Startup Invest Pricing 314