Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. Underbelly.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

A major chunk of this activity is provided by the newer class of “super angels,” who often look more like micro-VCs, except that they are investing their own money. Of course, every new direction has some challenges, so the super angel model isn’t perfect. Super angels have greater scope to match talent with a startup.

Funding 125

Funding Venture Capital Startup Class 125

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. Or perhaps VCs like to carefully guard who has bankrolled them so as not to attract competition?

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Berkonomics

JUNE 18, 2015

Of course, there are external risks that cannot be controlled or predicted, but can be planned for as well –. Is there a market for your class of product at all? Market risk is constant and should be of greatest concern to any executive or entrepreneur. Fourth is competitive risk , which consists of two separate risks.

Competition 120

Competition Marketing Class Product 120

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The poor performance of the asset class (this analysis has largely been wrong as I pointed out here –> most analyses were clumsy rear-view mirror looks at the data). The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). Of course strongest industry players don’t stand still.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

A major chunk of this activity is provided by the new class of Super Angels, who may look more like micro-VCs, except that they are investing their own money. Because of their high visibility and huge portfolios, this new class of investors can match the right talent to the right startup quickly and efficiently with introductions and mergers.

Angel 104

Angel Funding Startup Venture Capital 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2019

Thus I believe that business leaders and entrepreneurs need to focus first on people leadership, rather than process leadership. Of course, some balance is required. A primary focus on process leads to highly structured training classes, leaving little room for personal career development. What goes around, comes around.

Coach 94

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 94

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

In my bones I’m convinced that entrepreneurs are more nature than nurture although I know both are involved. I have recently written extensively on what I believe the 12 characteristics of an entrepreneur are. Entrepreneurs aren’t born, they’re made.&# The data in this article is at best, a stretch. from a young age.

Startup 289

Startup Statistics Entrepreneur Study 289

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2013

Despite a growing technology industry here in Southern California, local investors and entrepreneurs tell us there''s still a shortage of local, venture capital. We have a lot of world class universities here. What''s the best way for entrepreneurs to approach you? Any advice you would give entrepreneurs?

Invest 159

Invest Technology Startup Venture Capital 159

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A. Connections?

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2017

Of course, a company still needs to make a profit to survive, but supporting a worthy cause can be the most profitable brand building you can do. Social contribution and sustainability are features that appeal to a whole new class of customers for any solution. Is seen by customers as a competitive edge.

Customer 64

Customer Custom Statistics Pricing 64

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 10, 2011

In the course of my recent interview with Guy Kawasaki , author and former Apple Evangelist, Guy describes Steve Jobs as: “… the world’s greatest CEO, ever. He overheard me talking about Steve Jobs in conjunction with the entrepreneurship class that I teach at UC Santa Barbara. Note: This is an installment in the Iconic Advice series.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Santa Barbara Entrepreneur 279

InfoChachkie

APRIL 3, 2012

They profess to be entrepreneurs, but are they actually Wantrepreneurs? A Wantrepreneur is a well-intentioned person who wants to be an entrepreneur, but does not have the skills, personality and or risk profile to be successful. Did you play any team or individual sports competitively? free weekly Infochachkie articles!

Entrepreneur 219

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Journal 219

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

The company provides SAT, ACT, and other similar test preparation courses and related software. The reason we were able to offer our course at that price point, and why we have our scholarship policy, is because our internal systems allow us to run the business very efficiently, and consistently, with a minimum number of internal staff.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

That is, once you invest in a company, you''re a shareholder, and you help that company for the course of its life. Although we will do roughly one class a year, that''s 10 or so companies under the accelerator, seed stage model -- but we don''t really limit to three months in-and-out. That''s why we work really closely with them.

Incubator 187

Incubator Southern California Startup Ideas 187

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

With modest variations on Paul’s pattern, this new class of mentors-plus-capital programs has grown to include TechStars operating in Boston, Boulder, and Seattle, Austin Capital Factory , deep in the heart of Texas, LaunchBox in the DC area, and a number of others. They are funded and staffed by groups of accomplished entrepreneurs.

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

They offer classes in personal responsibility and accountability, they teach men to forgive themselves and to forgive the people who perpetrated them as children because they all grew up surrounded by bad influences. Defy Ventures runs business plan competitions and has people like us who attend and give business advice and feedback.

Writing 150

Writing Startup Design Training 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

I, of course, knew nothing about business. What was nice was that I got to take some of my practical skills from consulting and apply them into class discussions with operational leaders. When I started my second company I was a serial entrepreneur. I introduced myself as a serial entrepreneur. I was “technical guy.”

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

So even within the “alternative class&# our LPs are looking at other asset investment choices such as distressed buyout funds, private equity or hedge funds. And of course Foundry Group, Union Square and a whole host of other firms including my own. I’m not anti competition – to the contrary.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2018

Many experts will tell you that you can’t succeed as a part-time entrepreneur, as any good startup will require a 100 percent commitment of your time and energy. Thus I often recommend that entrepreneurs keep their day job until the startup is producing revenue. But the entrepreneur lifestyle is still more fun, even part-time.

Ideas 102

Ideas Entrepreneur Tips Startup 102

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Today’s higher education is responding by making more courses online and available to people outside of physical boundaries. We talked about how business school historically hasn’t positioned entrepreneurs well for success. I wrote about that before in a post about “ whether MBAs are necessary for entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2023

Many experts will tell you that you can’t succeed as a part-time entrepreneur, as any good startup will require a 100 percent commitment of your time and energy. Thus I often recommend that entrepreneurs keep their day job until the startup is producing revenue. But the entrepreneur lifestyle is still more fun, even part-time.

Startup 110

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Metrics 110

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

Want to be an entrepreneur? In addition, Entrepreneur Magazine recently included UCSB in its Top 50 Schools For VC Backed Entrepreneurs at number 37. The TMP began in the late 1990''s as a single class inside the Engineering College. A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Don''t go to Wharton or Harvard.

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2020

Many experts will tell you that you can’t succeed as a part-time entrepreneur, as any good startup will require a 100 percent commitment of your time and energy. Thus I often recommend that entrepreneurs keep their day job until the startup is producing revenue. But the entrepreneur lifestyle is still more fun, even part-time.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Metrics 150

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

It is surprising how often entrepreneurs forget this simple fact. In order to get the most out of your discussions with your lawyer, take one or more Business Law classes. If taking part-time evening courses is not possible, seek out an online curriculum. Some companies use lawsuits as an arrow in their competitive quiver.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

We were talking about a company, Factual (disclosure my firm is an investor), which was founded by one of LA’s most talented Internet entrepreneurs, Gil Elbaz , who as co-founder of Applied Semantics (purchased by pre-IPO Google for $102 million and now Google AdSense) is responsible for a large portion of the Internet’s monetization.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Founder, Founder, Founder At Upfront we talk regularly about how 70% of our investment decision in Seed and A rounds is the quality of the entrepreneur and 30% is the quality of the idea. Jamie Siminoff is not only one of the single best true entrepreneurs in Los Angeles, he’s amongst the best we’ve worked with in the country.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2011

He isn’t setting out to do it over night but with the ambition to make a difference in the world Ryan falls into the rare category of entrepreneur looking to tackle something truly monumental. Programming should be the middle class job of the next 20 years. Again, not for everybody. He sold both companies. And he makes it work.

Invest 295

Invest Carson Technical Review Education 295

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2016

Many experts will tell you that you can’t succeed as a part-time entrepreneur, as any good startup will require a 100 percent commitment of your time and energy. Thus I often recommend that entrepreneurs keep their day job until the startup is producing revenue. But the entrepreneur lifestyle is still more fun, even part-time.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Metrics 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2019

You need to have these as backup, in case the gig economy catches up to you, or you need a side hustle for extra income, or being in control of your dream role as an entrepreneur finally becomes a passion. A single job is not adequate for today’s lifestyle. Learn more about business by doing versus studying.

Startup 73

Startup Tool Study Web 73

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2014

Many experts will tell you that you can’t succeed as a part-time entrepreneur, as any good startup will require a 100 percent commitment of your time and energy. Thus I often recommend that entrepreneurs keep their day job until the startup is producing revenue. But the entrepreneur lifestyle is still more fun, even part-time.

Startup 109

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Metrics 109

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market. How-to learn about angel/vc term sheets - Gabriel Weinberg , June 28, 2010 I think every startup entrepreneur (and angel investor) should have a good understanding of financing term sheets.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

The founders felt that having a legitimate site for content would discourage Silicon Valley VC’s from funding entrepreneurs to create the next big TV killer. Because they are anti-competitive most countries ban cartels. Of course it’s their right to do so and there is so much money involved you can hardly blame them.

Hulu 292

Hulu Technical Review Content Advertising 292

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

Blue-chip customers such as Intuit, Williams-Sonoma, Fox Sports/MSN, Ticketmaster, Glaxo Smith Kline, Clear Channel, WebEx and Netflix turn to StrongMail infrastructure to bring enterprise-class reliability to their email systems. So, we decided to move the company to Silicon Valley (with a little encouragement from Sequoia, of course).

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Interesting patterns emerged: Everyone makes the same classes of error. Wannabe entrepreneur symptoms and cures - Gabriel Weinberg , July 25, 2010 I was once a wannabe entrepreneur. recently did a lecture at a Babson MBA summer class on Entrepreneurial Leadership. You're probably making a lot of these errors too.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Frank Addante

MAY 15, 2006

Every person on my team was A-class. We didn’t hire resumes and experience, we hired smart, good people who wanted to be entrepreneurs. If so, buy them (at a reasonable price, of course). And, we were very quickly chipping away at their customer base, too. 3: “All-Star Team&# We won because we had the best team.

Advertising 40

Advertising Startup Chief Technology Officer Technical Review 40

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 10, 2010

It’s an important film and the most important topic of our generation if we as a country want to remain competitive in a world that has globalized. It profiles one little girl who finished her course work at a private Christian school in her neighborhood but was unable to attend graduation because her mom got behind on payments.

Class 340

Class Education Technical Review Writing 340