Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Here is a class of investor we’ve covered before, one usually focused upon you and less upon your business case. We’ve worried together about the moral obligation implicit in taking such investments from people so close, even with their promise never to expect a return. Angel investment groups or funds.

Equity 156

Equity Technical Review Class Organization 156

Berkonomics

AUGUST 4, 2022

In my early journalism classes, I was taught the five “W’s” of good news stories, and that most should be in the first paragraph at that. Remember the five “W’s?”. Who, what, when, where and why are the five, with sometimes a “how” thrown in for those followers of the macabre. Which of the five is most important for you?

Journal 156

Journal Acquisition Class News 156

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2011

I’ve just completed an investment in Ryan Carson’s new company, TreeHouse. I’m investing heavily in Internet video. I know readers of this post aren’t in that demo but that’s what the data says. I know readers of this post aren’t in that demo but that’s what the data says.

Invest 295

Invest Carson Technical Review Education 295

Berkonomics

MAY 9, 2024

Email readers, continue here…] Have you created high barriers to entry? Do you have a world-class management team? If your business is a “me too” entrant into any market niche, even the smallest success will soon attract competitors that will sap some degree of your potential growth.

Patents 156

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 156

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 27, 2020

We built one of our companies upon forecasted metrics for a specific class of retail consumer base but found that there wasn’t enough money in our universe to pay for the amount of marketing to create that much dedicated traffic to our site. A personal story of a pivot – Tyson style. And credit Savant Tyson for the insight.

Summary 156

Summary Metrics Class Email 156

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Most investment bankers will coach you into helping them find you a strategic buyer, knowing that such sales are quicker, often less focused upon the small warts of a business, and yield higher prices than financial sales. There is a third class of buyer I discovered first hand when selling my company – the emotional buyer.

Pricing 600

Pricing Sales IBM IBM 600

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

We should think of the creation and growth of a high valued company as the sum of three parts, with three distinct classes of participants helping to make real value out of a raw start-up. It is normal for the first round of organized angels to expect to purchase between twenty and thirty-five percent of the company with their investment.

Startup 240

Startup Equity Statistics Entrepreneur 240

Berkonomics

JUNE 22, 2023

Email readers, continue here…] Have you created high barriers to entry? Do you have a world-class management team? If your business is a “me too” entrant into any market niche, even the smallest success will soon attract competitors that will sap some degree of your potential growth.

Patents 286

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 286

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. Let me try to advance a few rules of thumb to help guide you here.

Equity 256

Equity Class Pricing Sales 256

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. Strategic partner” investors: If you can find a strategic partner willing to invest in your enterprise, consider it a blessing.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 18, 2018

Email readers, continue here…] Sometimes a secondary fund-raising effort leads to a lower valuation than the last. And it is that disconnected employee, usually one or more of the better performers, that starts looking for a job when times look bad for a company. Investor loyalty is most tenuous of all.

Layoffs 240

Layoffs Class News Email 240

Berkonomics

APRIL 1, 2021

My favorite example of a world class pivot comes from the CEO and board of one of my most successful investments. Even the term, pivot, seems to call up images of a light-footed dancer able to move so very quickly in any direction. My story of a great pivot. Early market experience can cause a need to pivot.

Resource 156

Resource Research Class News 156

Berkonomics

APRIL 6, 2023

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. The punch line: Investing in the creation of a governance board is not enough. These are generative thinking questions.

Company 156

Company Companies Ideas Competition 156

Berkonomics

JANUARY 6, 2022

Especially when outside investors, venture capitalists or angels have put in substantial money, and the sales price is not enough to give them a reasonable return for the time and money invested, these investors can be – in a word – greedy. No-one complains if the sales price is ten times the investment since there is plenty to go around.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Sales Pricing Equity 156

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. This is not to counter my previous advice: “Fire fast, not last”, since every CEO should shoot for “A” class employees and not tolerate underperformers over time.

Entrepreneur 226

Entrepreneur Class Resource Email 226

Berkonomics

JUNE 15, 2017

To protect against such an event, almost every professional investor includes a clause in the investment documents which allow the investor to “put” the stock back to the company after five years, requiring the company to pay back the investment plus dividends accrued during the term of the investment.

Venture Capital 243

Venture Capital Sales Invest Class 243

Berkonomics

APRIL 4, 2019

On the other side, entrepreneurs and CEO’s usually have a natural fear of giving too much information to us investors after the initial investment is received. Email readers, continue here…] Prepare for your annual meetings well. Requirements created by investment documents. But don’t worry.

Class 120

Class Course Report Competition 120

Berkonomics

JULY 5, 2018

Most businesses fall into the class of those that can be sold someday to a willing buyer. Email readers, continue here…] All businesses and their management should be aware and perhaps planning for the end game, and that includes boards of directors as well. Is your business one that may be sold for profit someday?

Class 226

Class Email Competition Entrepreneur 226

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

We built one of our companies upon forecasted metrics for a specific class of retail consumer base, but found that there wasn’t enough money in our universe to pay for marketing to create that much dedicated traffic to our site. Email readers, continue here.] Some label this as “Bet on the jockey, not the horse.”. Starting up'

Startup 245

Startup Summary Metrics Class 245

Berkonomics

APRIL 3, 2014

There are three classes of equity investors for early stage businesses that we have not yet considered. First, angel investment groups come in all sizes from a few organized angels to large groups of three hundred or more. Angel groups invest from $250,000 to $1,000,000 or more in qualified investments.

Equity 232

Equity Startup Organization Invest 232

Berkonomics

APRIL 28, 2016

But things have gotten much more complicated lately, partly because of the Uber, Lyft and other new generation of workers and the best description of their class as “semi–independent.”. The relative investments in facilities and equipment by the worker and the employer. (If But now we have to weigh in with the U.S.

Class 120

Class Training Email Tool 120

Berkonomics

JANUARY 11, 2018

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. Which leads us to the second class of creative board thinking…. These are generative thinking questions. Generative.

Company 243

Company Companies Ideas Competition 243

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

My answer always varies as I examine each deal, sometimes deferring and passing on an investment because of an uneasy feeling about the entrepreneur, even if the business plan seems able to capture the market. I would not, nor would most all of those I co-invest with. Concentrate on a world class team. A more complex answer.

Venture Capital 120

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Ideas Summary 120

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

My answer always varies as I examine each deal, sometimes deferring and passing on an investment because of an uneasy feeling about the entrepreneur, even if the business plan seems able to capture the market. I would not, nor would most all of those I co-invest with. Concentrate on a world class team. A more complex answer.

Venture Capital 120

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Ideas Summary 120

Berkonomics

MAY 27, 2021

If you take money from knowledgeable investors, you will be required to create a board as a part of the investment process. The average board for a company taking outside investment money is five. So, why go through the effort? Boards perform two important types of task. What are the legal responsibilities of board members?

Resource 156

Resource Acquisition Class Help 156

Berkonomics

JULY 7, 2016

In my early journalism classes, I was taught the five “W’s” of good news stories, and that most should be in the first paragraph at that. Who, what, when, where and why are the five, with sometimes a “how” thrown in for those followers of the macabre. I’ve recently experienced an example of this.

Journal 136

Journal Acquisition Class News 136

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

My favorite example of a world class pivot comes from the CEO and board of one of my most successful investments. Even the term, pivot, seems to call up images of a light-footed dancer able to move so very quickly in any direction.

Class 176

Class Resource Email Examples 176

socalTECH

JUNE 20, 2012

For readers, LaunchpadLA is all about? We got over 400 applications for the ten slots we had open in this class, and we picked ten amazing companies. So far, eight of the ten companies in our current class have raised outside funding, and we're really happy with how it's gone so far. So when is the next class?

Class 261

Class Mentor Startup Santa Monica 261

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Even venture capitalists who sit on boards where they have significant investments often forget this point. 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.

Class 179

Class Coach Invest Sales 179

Berkonomics

APRIL 14, 2012

There is a natural fear of giving too much information to investors after the initial investment is received. 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 202

Class Report Competition .Net 202

InfoChachkie

APRIL 25, 2011

Although many are entertaining, most fail to provide entrepreneurs with a sufficient return on their time investment. I have used Guy’s previous book, The Art Of The Start (Art ), in my UC Santa Barbara New Venture Creation class for the past five years. He then helps readers evaluate their results with some amusing “grades.”

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Blogging Class Entrepreneur 279

Berkonomics

APRIL 6, 2012

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. First, VC’s in general cannot invest in ‘S’ corporations or limited liability companies (LLC’s). Email readers, continue here.]

Venture Capital 198

Venture Capital Invest Pricing Class 198

socalTECH

DECEMBER 26, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. Growing our practice from 3 original partners who would meet at coffee shops into a full institutional investing platform is a constant evolution.

Southern California 100

Southern California News Platform Class 100

Berkonomics

JUNE 12, 2014

We should think of the creation and growth of a high valued company as the sum of three parts, with three distinct classes of participants helping to make real value out of a raw start-up. Email readers, continue here.] First, there is the entrepreneur , the visionary, and force behind the venture from start to finish.

Startup 214

Startup Equity Invest Class 214

Berkonomics

APRIL 13, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] Can you dominate that market? Do you have a world-class management team? If the total market for your niche is under $100 million per year, it is going to be difficult to build a $50 million business, even if not impossible. Can you translate an idea into a compelling product?

Patents 291

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 291

Berkonomics

JUNE 17, 2011

Most businesses fall into the class of those that can be sold someday to a willing buyer. Email readers continue here.] Investments into the company, whether from new money or reinvesting profits, should be directed first into areas that will increase the value of the enterprise at the end game. And I’d go further.

Equity 209

Equity Class Email Competition 209

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

If you take money from knowledgeable investors, you will be required to create a board as a part of the investment process. The average board for a company taking outside investment money is five. Boards perform two important types of task. With three or more shareholders, you must have a three person board of directors in most states.

Resource 222

Resource Acquisition Class Help 222