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. I knew him well before he became a VC. I knew his as he considered becoming a VC and we talked a lot about how it was going for me in my early years. He doesn’t email you. Not the Dave I know.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

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. Sometimes, there will be a conflict of interest between the people representing the various shareholder classes on a board.

Class 282

Class Coach Invest Sales 282

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2023

Setting your expectations Taking in angel or venture money requires a setting of an entrepreneur’s expectations that may come as a shock at least at first. There is no middle ground. Resetting your priorities Taking money from these sources involves resetting priorities over time. The newest investor has the power.

Venture Capital 292

Venture Capital Sales Invest Class 292

Berkonomics

JANUARY 6, 2022

Promissory notes come before any equity, and most late equity investments come before early equity investments, even of the same class of security. Conversely, I have praised and seen others praise VCs who volunteer to eliminate participation clauses even before knowing the ultimate sales price in a deal.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Sales Pricing Equity 156

Berkonomics

APRIL 6, 2012

Some businesses just can’t fit within the angel capital or friends and family model for raising funds. Sooner or later these businesses will have to seek venture capital and accommodate the needs of the venture community in negotiating the terms of an investment. Email readers, continue here.]

Venture Capital 198

Venture Capital Invest Pricing Class 198

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Shervin Pishevar, another person who I respect wrote the following on Twitter, “ Saying you don’t like @AngelList is like saying you don’t like Email. Still, as a VC I value proprietary dealflow & long term relationships. As Shervin said, it’s just email. That’s less interesting for me as a VC.

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

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. Months later I did agree with Christine Tsai that I would come out and talk to the class. The choice of how much VC work and how much start-your-company work you want to do is up to you.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Berkonomics

JUNE 26, 2025

Accepting venture capital or angel money is to create a contract between the investors and the entrepreneur that the business will someday be sold or even go public to create an exit for the investors. Most businesses fall into the class of those that can be sold someday to a willing buyer.

Class 156

Class Venture Capital Email Competition 156

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

how should a VC do due diligence on sales operations? should you email before you call? 15:00 Hire somebody who will punch above their weight class. how do you do pipeline reviews? agile sales process? how much research should you do before a sales visit? Telesales versus field sales? What tools do you use?

Software Review 300

Software Review Sales Tips Help 300

Berkonomics

JUNE 15, 2017

Taking in angel or venture money requires a setting of an entrepreneur’s expectations that may come as a shock at least at first. 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.

Venture Capital 243

Venture Capital Sales Invest Class 243

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

“Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

eduFire , an startup which offers online video classes, apparently has relocated to Menlo Park from Santa Monica, after raising $1.3M The firm's web site now lists Menlo Park as its headquarters, after it raised funding from Battery Ventures, Western Technology Investment, and angel Gokul Rajaram. in a Series A funding.

Funding 140

Funding Santa Monica Education Class 140

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. Getting Your Work Schedule on Your Terms – Many people in America sit at their desk much of the day and have email open. And from email we added IM, Facebook and LinkedIn where people contact us. Yeah, right!

Startup 295

Startup Email Technical Review Course 295

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2014

Recruiting – One of the hardest tasks of any startups is recruiting world-class talent. Fund Raising – No self respecting VC would admit (even to themselves) that they are influenced by what they read about you in the press. It doesn’t work that way. PR pays dividends in Biz Dev. Just like negative press hurts.

Press 415

Press Google Course Writing 415

socalTECH

MARCH 20, 2015

Rexter''s software--which runs across mobile platforms, tablets, and PCs--helps consolidate and manage their contacts from across social networking sites and email, and helps users manage those contacts and activities.

Altadena 100

Altadena Class Pasadena Yahoo 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

My company had raised venture capital in April 2001 but we were told that there may never be any more coming. We let everybody “punch above their weight class&# in terms of roles & responsibilities. I sent numerous emails for another for a job opportunity and he is now a senior exec at a very prominent startup.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

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. Sometimes, there will be a conflict of interest between the people representing the various shareholder classes on a board.

Class 179

Class Coach Invest Sales 179

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2017

I put on an out-of-office notice (see below) and received some of the nicest emails and text messages including from my good friend Michael Broukhim who ensures me that he and his brother Danny still vacation with their parents and Mike & Danny are both in their 30s! When I get back I don’t plan to spend 50 hours processing old emails.

Carson 286

Carson Email Writing Startup 286

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

I was on vacation in Santa Barbara two years ago with my wife and I was reflecting on what I had learned in my first year in LA and in VC. I though to myself, “too many young entrepreneurs in LA seem to feel pressured by NorCal VCs to move to the Bay Area. I thought through the steps: Get a class of interesting companies.

Slides 374

Slides Email Entrepreneur Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

You’re not lecturing to a college class, you’re not at a cocktail party and you’re not chatting with a small group in a board meeting. Or take an acting class. I spotted my fellow VC Leo Spiegel (from Mission Ventures) who had spoken previously to the same group and asked about his experiences.

Startup 362

Startup Twiistup Slides Screening 362

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

If you are looking for money, this question will certainly come up in one form or another when you approach professional or organized angel or VC investors. Email readers, continue here…] What if you were the investor and someone walked into your office handing you a business plan executive summary that floored you with its brilliance?

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Ideas Summary 156

socalTECH

OCTOBER 23, 2012

One of the biggest complaints that local entrepreneurs have with Los Angeles has been a dearth of local sources of venture capital. However, the recent surge in startup activity has attracted a lot more capital into the area, including a significant amount of capital from LA's latest fund: Karlin Ventures (www.karlinvc.com).

Funding 253

Funding Startup Invest Commerce 253

Berkonomics

MAY 23, 2024

You do not pay professional investors who are serving on behalf of an investment company or VC and paid by that company. If you have only one class of stock, the price is the same as the last investment price per share if no 409a appraisal. VC board members sometimes request this, other times do not.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Pricing Equity Invest 156

Berkonomics

JANUARY 27, 2010

Taking in angel or venture money requires a setting of an entrepreneur’s expectations that may come as a shock at least at first. 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.

Venture Capital 168

Venture Capital Sales Invest Class 168

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

We held a 90-minute demo session where 150 of LA’s VC’s and senior technology executives watched the LPLA V2 group present in small groups of 12-15 each. It was a great chance for the class to interact with the community in LA. Almost every VC I’ve spoken with in LA is tracking DataPop.

Companies 276

Companies Company Startup Southern California 276

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

VC's love to talk about their successes. Yet most VC's bury their failures under six feet of denial. In the startup world, the former happens when a VC makes a bad investment, and the latter occurs when they miss a great opportunity. In retrospect, our decision was both perfectly rational and completely lame. > -jeff.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Berkonomics

MARCH 28, 2019

Some businesses just can’t fit within the angel capital or friends and family model for raising funds. Sooner or later you may need to seek venture capital and accommodate the needs of the venture community in negotiating the terms of an investment. What VC’s can and cannot do.

Invest 120

Invest Venture Capital Pricing Class 120

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. Yet entrepreneurs in one class think that the others aren’t the “real” entrepreneurs. You can also email us at ha@hackerangels.com.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

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. I wrote separately about that here – regarding “hiring people who punch above their weight class.” And that leads me to today’s post.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

I asked him if he’d be willing to allow me to interview him for This Week in VC and we filmed it in the offices of Stack Overflow – his new company. Background: Joel Spolsky studied Computer Science at Yale University (class of 1991). Juno provided a free email service. Upon graduating, he went to work at Microsoft.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

If you are looking for money, this question will certainly come up in one form or another when you approach professional or organized angel or VC investors. Concentrate on a world class team. A more complex answer. Sometimes there’s a real surprise after the fact.

Venture Capital 120

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Ideas Summary 120

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

If you are looking for money, this question will certainly come up in one form or another when you approach professional or organized angel or VC investors. Concentrate on a world class team. A more complex answer. Sometimes there’s a real surprise after the fact.

Venture Capital 120

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Ideas Summary 120

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. It''s got its mission, and capital, and we''re up and working. READ MORE>>.

Invest 159

Invest Technology Startup Venture Capital 159

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 26, 2019

No, Seriously … Exactly six years ago today I received an email from my friend Ynon Kreiz introducing me to Andrew Stalbow and Petri Järvilehto. I’m sure he could have done without his VC asking him on the sidelines our latest revenue forecasts :) but we really just kept it personal. Some Seriously Great News.

News 33

News Mobile Santa Monica Coach 33

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

accredited investors in 1,000 angel groups and venture capital funds to. This is where you find the superb Rails coder, and the world-class information architect, and the consummate sales guy, and the persuasive business development person, and the brilliant CFO. Described by BusinessWeek as a “world conquering.

Startup 189

Startup Sales Ideas Entrepreneur 189

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

In the summer of 2006 over a cup of Peet’s Coffee, you told me about this new thing called “cloud computing” and that you were trying to come up with a creative way to incorporate it into the curriculum of your upcoming UCSB Computer Science class. That led us to venture capital as opposed to trying to bootstrap ourselves.

Cloud Computing 188

Cloud Computing Santa Barbara EC2 Startup 188

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Promissory notes come before any equity, and most late equity investments come before early equity investments, even of the same class of security. Take a situation where the VC investors finally see the chance of a return after ten years, with participating preferred and fifty percent of the ownership after several rounds.

Angel 120

Angel Sales Pricing Equity 120