socalTECH

MARCH 20, 2015

Altadena-based Rexter , the developer of real time contact and relationship management software led by technology veteran Andy Wilson, has been named one of the fourteen companies in the upcoming Microsoft Digital Work Accelerator.

Altadena

Berkonomics

MAY 5, 2022

Using old email lists for the first time is like eating really stale doughnuts. Email companies like Constant Contact, Mail Chimp and many others all have strict rules. Email readers, continue here…] Now the last question is a daunting one for any of us. Strict rules about spam accounts. Opt-in process.

Email

Berkonomics

MAY 10, 2018

Here is one that is so important to the continued health of a growing company that it cannot be overstated. Long term debt is taken on for the acquisition of fixed assets such as equipment, cars, facilities and acquisitions of companies or their assets. How much can you borrow against company assets?

Company

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

Thursday night was the unveiling of the newest batch of Launchpad LA companies. The VC’s & executives were then asked to make “commitments&# (in writing) to 3-5 of the companies that they felt they could make some sort of contribution to. , Commission Junction, MySpace, TicketMaster and many more.

Company

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Growth like this, this early in a company’s lifecycle rarely happens. Email updates frequently. And as Rob points out – if you email members with short updates more frequently they are more up to speed when you do need them to weigh in. Make your emails actionable. Rob is an over communicator.

Tips

Berkonomics

MARCH 28, 2024

They write in their investment documents that they will occupy a seat on the board for as long as they are invested in the company, thinking of this as a protection for their investment and tool for them to influence growth. Even venture capitalists who sit on boards where they have significant investments often forget this point.

Class

Berkonomics

JANUARY 21, 2016

Using old email lists for the first time is like eating really stale doughnuts. Email companies like Constant Contact, Mail Chimp and many others all have strict rules they follow to avoid being caught in spam hell, with their servers blacklisted and worse. The taste is pretty bad, and the side effects could be disastrous.

Email

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Design together, the course that introduced the idea for brightblu, they were concurrently taking three other classes: Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Marketing and Art of the CEO. These courses all proved to be serious influences on turning the dream of starting their own company into a reality. Share and Enjoy.

Class

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

Several years ago, I became involved with a Southeast Asian company looking to expand into the United States. Had the office been located to accommodate either one, the company would have had to find replacements in the same geographical area as the office. So, can a startup exist for a reasonably long time as a virtual company?

Startup

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 2, 2015

If you want to see world-class speakers and hear what they have to say in person – you will get that. This is how he gets world-class speakers to travel half way around the world. The speakers get what they want (small, private networking) and the audience gets what they want – world-class speakers.

Web

Berkonomics

APRIL 6, 2023

And good board members can add real value to you and the company. Email readers, continue here…] Generative thinkers are relentless in asking questions that get to the core of an idea, often making the originator think more deeply about the effects over a longer period of time. A better company is the goal. Generative.

Company

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

Investors have to look behind the plan and at the entrepreneur and his or her team, knowing that, over time, most of us have come to the conclusion that it is the execution of the ever-changing plan, not the plan itself that makes a company a success. Email readers, continue here.] Tyson’s statement also addresses change.

Startup

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

In writing anything positive about any of the companies I’m not suggesting that it means that I prefer them to any of their competitors. I just cover the companies that were funded that week. The idea is that in a world in which companies need to deal with customer support requests from Twitter, Facebook, email, phone, IM, etc.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

I recently got an email from a friend who had been approached by a well known VC. He sent me an email asking whether the approach was real and whether he should take it seriously. Here is the email he received (reprinted without names with his permission). Why do VCs send generic outbound emails like this?

Venture Capital

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2023

From the moment such an investor looks seriously at your company, the investor or VC partner is thinking of the end game, the ultimate sale of the company or even of an eventual initial public offering. There is no middle ground. Resetting your priorities Taking money from these sources involves resetting priorities over time.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2014

I’ve been having this PR discussion with three separate portfolio companies at once so I thought I’d just publish my thoughts more broadly. PR is an insanely valuable activity in early-stage companies. Recruiting – One of the hardest tasks of any startups is recruiting world-class talent. You’re happy.

Press

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

Here is the warning: The execution of partnership equity allocations and of a good incentive program using equity is often mismanaged, damaging the corporate capitalization structure and even affecting the outcome of subsequent investment into the company. Equity is divided between the founders and the business begun.

Equity

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2010

They can travel the world, take classes in interesting subjects, spend time with loved ones or start new hobbies. But if you do and if you sit on the sidelines waiting for the day when the circumstances are right for you to start a company you never will. And from email we added IM, Facebook and LinkedIn where people contact us.

Startup

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Launchpad LA today announces it will accept applications for its third class of Los Angeles-based tech startups. We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. So What is Different for Class Three?

Venture Capital

Berkonomics

JULY 11, 2013

There is such leverage in high gross profit margins once a company is past breakeven. A ten percent increase in revenues for a company with 50% gross margin and 5% net profit before the increase would double net profit for the period with that ten percent increase in revenue. That’s impressive sales leverage.

.Net

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 2, 2014

A CEO friend of mine who manages her one hundred person remote workforce as a virtual company told me her story of how she welcomes new employees as she grows her firm. Email readers, continue here.] “You will be successful at our company!” How about teaching a class in corporate culture yourself to one or more new employees?

Startup

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

Lawyers will tell you that this progressive chain of moves is good for the company, protecting against lawsuits by a disgruntled former employee. Remember that there are many times when documentation to file is a required protection for the company against possible lawsuits, especially by protected classes of employees.

Coach

Berkonomics

APRIL 12, 2018

Small companies most often scrape by with borrowed or invested funds, doing everything possible to grow and prosper with limited resources. So, it is like a punch in the gut when an employee makes a claim against the company for a perceived or actual but unintentional violation of a law or regulation. So, my advice is simple.

Entrepreneur

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

Dave is terrible with email. He’s so bad that his email auto-responder tells you he likely won’t email you back. How to help his companies. He doesn’t email you. Wasn’t when Dave started championing it and making it a tenet of his incubator class. I doubt he owns an item of clothes worth more than $20.

Startup

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I was a proud angel investor in Jody’s company, EcoMom. He was in the inaugural class of 500Startups and became chief evangelist as far as I could tell. He sent me a few nice emails. He founded a company and tried to persuade me to use his product (and invest). Sam later decided he wanted to do a startup.

Startup

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 28, 2017

Of course, the response depends upon lots of variables, including whether the company is in a fund-raising mode (in which case the CEO may be spending up to 80% of his or her time on this alone). Often, I am asked by young CEOs how much time should be devoted to various types of tasks by a good CEO in a small, growing enterprise.

Class

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Tool Users - Startups often have a long gestation period in which the team is in discovery mode, defining the company's value proposition, target market, pricing, business model, etc. Action vs. Analysis - Although its use is in decline, many MBA classes are still taught via the Socratic case method. Share and Enjoy.

Entrepreneur

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

They write into their investment documents that they will occupy a seat on the board for as long as they are invested in the company, thinking of this as a protection for their investment and tool for them to influence growth. Email readers continue here.] Actually, there are two legal duties of board members.

Class

Berkonomics

JUNE 15, 2017

From the moment such an investor looks seriously at your company, the investor or VC partner is thinking of the end game, the ultimate sale of the company or even of an eventual initial public offering. So be aware that professional investors are in your company for the eventual large profits at the liquidity event.

Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

Yet in LA we have hugely successful entrepreneurs who have built big companies like Overture, CitySearch, MySpace, TicketMaster.com, LowerMyBills, Commission Junction, eHarmony and on and on. We have amazing large companies that are an important part of the future of the Internet such as Disney, Warner, Fox, Universal, etc.

Slides

socalTECH

MARCH 19, 2012

We thought we'd get the pitch from Tim Sae Koo , the founder of the company, on how he took the idea from his business class at USC and turned it into a company, which is now part of one of the local startup accelerators in town, StartEngine. What is HypeMarks all about? Where are you in terms of product?

USC

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

I even plan to use it in my upcoming UC Santa Barbara Entrepreneurial Selling class. In Art Of The Start , you encourage your readers to be responsive and to strive to return emails within 24-hours. You even include your email address at the back of the book. My recommendation is that it is cheaper than ever to start a company.

Santa Barbara

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 22, 2014

But this is a high-class problem they solve for me. As somebody who has to rub shoulders with big tech companies often I can tell you that there is much blood spilled in the competitive trenches of Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Google and so on. Powerful countries & companies act powerful because they can. I know that.

Press

Berkonomics

APRIL 14, 2012

First, let’s cover the absolute minimum legal requirement a company has to provide to its investors. Email readers, continue here.] That burden is an ongoing cost of taking the investment, much as a public company takes on the additional burden of governmental reporting, both adding to costs over time.

Class

socalTECH

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Two, Southern California companies are on the list of the next class for Microsoft's startup accelerator, the Microsoft Accelerator for Windows Azure , according to Microsoft Monday. The startup accelerator is running the program in Seattle.

Southern California

Berkonomics

MAY 12, 2010

Email readers continue here.] It there is only one class of stock, the same as the founders, and the appraisal of the single class of shares yields, say $2.00 Equity is divided between the founders and the business begun. Let me try to advance a few rules of thumb to help guide you here.

Equity

socalTECH

OCTOBER 23, 2012

We do mostly seed and Series A, and the occasional series B round, especially if we get into the company in seed or Series A level. We invest anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million per company, and the maximum we'd invest in any company would be $2 million. We also do follow on rounds for our existing portfolio companies.

Funding