Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture.

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series called “ Start-up Lessons.&#. He writes with a great perspective and is well worth reading. 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. So back to MBAs.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Startups that are backed by professional financial investors almost always have a Board of Directors that consists of some set of founders, investors and sometimes independent directors. It is worth pointing out that there are actually three levels of governance in venture-backed startups. This is often called “corporate governance”?—?in

Startup 204

Startup Writing Framework Summary 204

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

Shots on Goal Being great as a startup technology investor of course requires a lot of things to come together: You need to have strong insights into where technology markets are heading and where value in the future will be created and sustained You need be perfect with your market timing. It can be years before you start seeing returns.

Funding 294

Funding Startup Writing Invest 294

TechCrunch LA

JULY 21, 2020

When Upfront Ventures partner Kara Nortman first met Natalie Portman a few years ago to talk about ways their non-profit organizations All Raise and Time’s Up could collaborate, she never realized they’d eventually be partners on a sports franchise. “We’re venture capitalists. ” Nortman said.

Writing 171

Writing Los Angeles Startup Equity 171

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2020

If you are one of the new age of entrepreneurs who hates the thought of doing a business plan as a first step in starting your new venture you will love this message. Don’t start by committing more than you can afford to lose. Testing for real is the assumption behind approaches such as Lean Startup.

Startup 143

Startup Capital Resource Research 143

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. The Basics The starting point — the 101 — is knowing the difference between gross burn and net burn. You start from the basics, which is if you raise $2.5

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2023

If you are one of the new age of entrepreneurs who hates the thought of doing a business plan as a first step in starting your new venture you will love this message. Don’t start by committing more than you can afford to lose. Testing for real is the assumption behind approaches such as Lean Startup.

Startup 142

Startup Capital Resource Research 142

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued? The most connected and high-potential founders start with wads of cash.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2018

This morning, Moonshots Capital (www.moonshotscapital.com), led by Kelly Perdew and Craig Cummings , announced its first formal fund, a $19M seed stage fund. What we would do, is we would round up ten other angel investors, get $25,000 from each of them, and then roll up our sleeves and help that entrepreneur find venture capital.

Capital 164

Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 164

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

The summit is now associated with March Capital Partners (www.marchcp.com). What's your role at March Capital? Meredith Finn: I joined March Capital at the beginning of the year. I did a lot of M&A deals in those spaces, and had some earlier, startup stage experience. How did you end up joining March Capital?

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. In fact, far better if you haven’t raised venture capital. This is minutes 8-11.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. When you look at how much median valuations were driven up in the past 5 years alone it’s bananas. Please follow him & welcome him to Upfront!! <== And reset they must.

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

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!”

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2019

Should You Allow Board Observers on Your Startup Board? Note: This is part of a series on Startup Boards. Venture Capital “Plus 1's” ?—?Many almost nothing controversial is EVER voted on at a startup board meeting. even though I know I’m going to p**s off a few friends by writing this.

Startup 255

Startup Venture Capital Writing Training 255

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. In fact, if you add the capital flows of the past ten years, there have been just shy of $50 billion in net cash outlays.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

Our interview today is with Amos Schwartzfarb , the author of Sell More Faster: The Ultimate Sales Playbook for Start-Ups , which comes out tomorrow, Wednesday. We caught up with Amos to learn about his new book, and to gain some tips for startup entrepreneurs on how to figure out when you're actually ready to scale your sales team.

Sales 113

Sales Startup Custom Development Framework 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

If you are one of the new age of entrepreneurs who hates the thought of doing a business plan as a first step in starting your new venture you will love this message. Don’t start by committing more than you can afford to lose. Testing for real is the assumption behind approaches such as Lean Startup.

Writing 102

Writing Startup Entrepreneur Capital 102

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. However, a number of them wanted to vicariously experience the startup world through John and Kyle''s venture. It''s gonna highlight our emotions, our ups and our downs.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

Back to regular writing this week so check back in. Richard De Silva started off as a journalist with the Washington Post after growing up in D.C. In the late 90’s he saw the internet boom and helped start IronPlanet.com, a construction equipment marketplace that is nearing an IPO. Startup after Iron Planet? (6:00

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. One example is that they introduced a program where their founders can pool together shares from their company and exchange them for a small portfolio of other First Round Capital companies. I'm a huge fan of this innovation. and Half.com. and Half.com.

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Responding to Elizabeth Warren’s call to regulate and break up some of the nation’s largest technology companies, the venture capitalists that invest in technology companies are advising the presidential hopeful to move slowly and not break anything. In this case the barrier would be reduced access to capital. ”

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Startup Chief Technology Officer Social Media 144

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

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?&#. Who started this meme? There are trade offs. add a buffer.

Startup 319

Startup Venture Capital Capital Competition 319

TechCrunch LA

JULY 2, 2020

When it comes to venture capital, Los Angeles is a city on the rise. It’s also the city where investors are spending the most money outside of venture capital’s big major hubs: San Francisco, Boston and New York. Will Hsu, Mucker Capital. Karan Wadhera, Casa Verde Capital. Dana Settle, Greycroft Partners.

Los Angeles 277

Los Angeles Venture Capital Capital Invest 277

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

When Snap actually showcased a healthy bottom line it its earning release, the stock shot back up gaining nearly 60% Friday. Crypto startups are making it easier to build crypto clubs. I’ve been writing quite a bit about crypto lately, and this week I dug into a particularly interesting facet of the industry called DAOs.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. In a VC business when you raise additional capital you need to “level up” and act the round you are. Act your stage.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

One of my favorite events last year was attending Startup Grind where I got to interview Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma. ” We talked about my influences as a younger person and what got me started in technology and entrepreneurship. And of course we talked about many of my views of building startups.

Startup 337

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Venture Capital 337

socalTECH

APRIL 23, 2021

Hawke Ventures, a new, venture capital fund that is part of marketing company Hawke Media, said Friday that it has raised $5.6M for its first, venture capital fund. The company said it plans to write checks of between $100,000 and $250,000 in digital marketing startups.

Funding 113

Funding Invest Venture Capital Writing 113

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2021

If you want to get in better shape and haven’t read that you might start there. I started advice with the premise that no amount of exercise or food eating plan would help with long-term fitness or weight goals unless you first had a mental plan and a set of measurements to track your progress. I want to share with you how I did this.

Coach 538

Coach Startup Guide Journal 538

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. Her post is short & well written so definitely worth a read if you’re a startup person and want to hear some sensible views on sales. And that leads me to today’s post.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

Founded by Steve Poizner last year to accelerate the growth of a startup entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southern California, The Alliance is building a network of investors, entrepreneurs and universities to provide ballast in the south to the dominance of the Northern California tech industry.

Southern California 224

Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 224

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

I made every textbook mistake at my first startup, which is why I believe I was much more effective at my second one. The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. I worked with an entrepreneur who was to appear at a startup networking event where he was to talk about his company’s plans.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. The vast majority of those are nowhere up to modern codes. ” Climate resiliency .

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 9, 2021

Even as NFT sales dip below their most speculative highs, startups aiming to tap into their potential are still scoring big funding rounds from investors who believe there’s much more to crypto collectibles than the past few months of hype. The startup has raised a whopping $120 million to date.

Platform 308

Platform Framework Los Angeles Design 308