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. Report Card.

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

Venture Capital 255

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Social Network 255

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

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

I would argue that the shut-down of September 2009 was equally severe yet there are signs that this “VC Ice Age” has begun to thaw. But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary. Why did the VC markets freeze so quickly? Short answer – yes.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

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

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

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. I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners. I had to laugh a bit reading it.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

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

JUNE 8, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally-generated funds. Venture, private equity and more: Here we lump a large number investor classes into one. These include Y-Combinator and TechStars, among others.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

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

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Email updates frequently.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

If you follow the tech media you would be subject to a lot of narrative biases that are completely off base – and this includes the value of email and phone calls. It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. billion email accounts.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

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

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

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

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

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 5, 2022

My company Putta Crown On It has the opportunity to have a place to do classes, promotional shoots and more,” Sykes told TechCrunch via email. When asked about their reaction to the damning Triller investigation, Collab Crew emailed TechCrunch a statement , but declined to disclose if or how its members were impacted.

Platform 210

Platform Social Media Netflix Content 210

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

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

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

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

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

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

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

Email readers continue here.]. Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally-generated funds. Venture capital comes with a cost, and there are no bargains for the company when taking such an investment.

Venture Capital 174

Venture Capital Invest Class Entrepreneur 174

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

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

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

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

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

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Pricing models, the freemium myth and why you may not be charging enough for your product - Seth Levine's VC Adventure , August 12, 2010 I’ve been pulled into a number of product and pricing meetings recently (for reasons unknown I’ve become the Foundry pricing and productization guy). More tiers = more complication = more confusion.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

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

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2019

If I never emailed anybody back after our meeting I can tell you something that would shock you. You can’t get mad if people don’t return your emails or calls. After just 4 years I become managing partner of what is now the largest venture capital fund in Los Angeles. Congratulations, Cal Poly graduating class!

Pomona 253

Pomona Startup Tips Networking 253

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.

Company 276

Company Companies Startup Southern California 276

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

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2012

For this, you should expect participation in monthly strategy and review meetings, and unlimited access via phone or email for questions, mentoring, and advice. Even more importantly, you should expect these members of your team to be your advocates to angel or VC investors, or even be part of your friends and family financing round.

Startup 95

Startup Technical Review Software Review High Tech 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2011

For this, you should expect participation in monthly strategy and review meetings, and unlimited access via phone or email for questions, mentoring, and advice. Even more importantly, you should expect these members of your team to be your advocates to angel or VC investors, or even be part of your friends and family financing round.

Startup 95

Startup Technical Review Software Review High Tech 95