Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. Prorata investments rights given investors the right to invest in your future fund-raising rounds and maintain their ownership % in your company as your company grows and raises more capital. return (on paper).

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

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). Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

It’s the first EIR that we’ve had in the years that I’ve been with the firm and I hope will be the start of our investment in this program. We’re excited to continue to grow our investment professional staff and will continue to do so over the course of 2013 & 2014 with our new fund. Sam had different plans.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

While there is much discussion about VCs starting to pull back on their investments into startups, the LPs we surveyed don’t expect to slow the pace of investment into VC funds themselves – at least for the foreseeable future. And that’s real cash that LPs can’t put to work in other asset classes.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

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

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Rincon is part of the new breed of Seed Stage VCs and with the leadership of Jim Andelman has charted out the most authentic early-stage investment strategy in Southern California. John gave me the book after I spoke at his entrepreneurship class at UCSB. Nowhere is social proof more prevalent than in angel investing.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

socalTECH

MAY 25, 2016

Santa Monica-based March Capital Partners (www.marchcp.com) has just announced a brand new, $240M venture investment fund, led by longtime venture investing veterans Jim Armstrong, Sumant Mandal, Gregory Milken and Jamie Montgomery. What is the investment focus for this fund?

Southern California 113

Southern California Capital Funding Invest 113

socalTECH

OCTOBER 28, 2010

So, I ended up writing that first book, and Bruce helped me with the research, and that was one way we got to know each other before we were even dating. We had the idea to rent out a local school over spring break, put up a website ad, and start offering classes. It gave us the confidence to rent space for classes and form a school.

Startup 242

Startup Web Design Writing Web 242

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

This is a blog post I really didn’t want to write. I didn’t want to write it because I have mixed feelings about AngelList. I didn’t want to write it because the bloggosphere doesn’t always do nuance well. So why I am writing it then? A few reasons. You should read this post. I worry about that.&#.

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

socalTECH

DECEMBER 31, 2018

We do, as of the writing of this in early December, seem to be seeing a correction at this time. The biggest news was the continued bullish market now coming on ten years even though historical cycles show markets don't usually last more than 7-8 years. I had expected a correction much earlier in the year and I was wrong.

Southern California 100

Southern California News Class Writing 100

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. Like King, his writing style is breezy and engaging. No doubt, he did.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Blogging Class Entrepreneur 279

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Bruce, along with his wife Lynda, created a learning company from their garage, initially by holding in-person classes and later selling VHS tapes via mail order. Bruce and Lynda eventually grew their startup into a global powerhouse, offering 5,700 classes and 255,000 video tutorials to over 4 million users.

Sales 113

Sales Education Startup Class 113

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Neither class of people should give up easily. Fred Wilson wrote perfectly about sticking with struggling investments. and I realized that without years of experience it is tough to answer this question. It’s not you.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

When venture capitalists scale back investing activities it can be very swift and leave many companies that are in the process of fund raising hung out to dry. Should VC’s really be impacted by public market valuations when the money that they’re investing today should be for returns in 7-10 years? It’s surprisingly difficult.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2011

We're looking to launch our first class in the fall, with five to ten companies, with the TechStars model of a small capital investment, and a seed investment of $6000 per founder. Bruce Brown: I was working in 1985 writing keyboard and mouse drivers for Windows version 1. Bruce, what's your background?

Startup 221

Startup Mentor Southern California Incubator 221

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I will write more about this in the next 2 weeks. I believe a bubble occurs when a market is willing to pay greater than intrinsic value for an asset class. That asset class need not represent the broader market. They are often bound by geographies and asset classes. So people sell or at least don’t invest.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

seed and they are writing $1.25m of it you can expect them to require a board seat) The competitive landscape (If you have several sources of capital you can likely politely decline the board request or can grant them a seat but ask for it to be “common appointed” and those revokable if you need in the future). But it’s quite rare.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2012

Alain Theriault, better known as StartupCoach , tells entrepreneurs that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start by writing a cook book (business plan), you work in the kitchen for a while, you learn some tools of the trade, you experiment with a few recipes, you test on willing clients. then you can start writing a recipe.

Startup 96

Startup Writing Metrics Marketing 96

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Would they build a world class team. Were they ambitious?

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

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. Also, some of the deals I write about I have actually seen as part of their fund raising process. I just cover the companies that were funded that week. Others I have not. Really!).

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

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. Each of your angels or seed investors may have 20-30 investments. He is very pleasant when he calls and writes. What Rob wrote in his post is right.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

I told him only 2 weeks ago when we were in London together that I wanted to write a blog post that has been in my head for 2 years. When he writes them online his Tourette’s comes out and sometimes the substance gets lost in the style. Hell, I can barely manage 10 investments – how could anybody do 500? I’ve been told so.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2019

Writing in business is not the same as in an academic environment. Throughout a career lifetime, just think of the return on that investment. Most classes in college focus on a narrow area of interest, which just teach students to focus on problems through one lens. Business Email and Texting. Business Dress for Success.

Course 96

Course Email Social Network Ideas 96

InfoChachkie

JUNE 20, 2011

At both Expertcity and Computer Motion, we invested in outsized Intern programs. Within reason, the larger your “graduating class,” the greater the volume of creative ideas and the larger number of talented recruits from which you can select full-time candidates. Invest – Frugality is a core competency at successful startups.

Startup 244

Startup Software Review Technical Review Class 244

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2017

I was influenced heavily before my career even began because in my undergraduate work I took a ton of statistics classes that showed how easily we human brains fall prey to easy biases and slights of data and try to draw conclusions that don’t exist. Coming back with an empty chamber for the third battle is much worse than not coming back.

Venture Capital 182

Venture Capital Statistics Writing Report 182

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

This is at least double the time required for most equity investments, and may be a delay you can’t afford in keeping up with the market and your competitors. Just like you can hire investment brokers to find equity investors, you can hire grant writers and expeditors to help you through the process and improve your odds of success.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2011

Alain Theriault, better known as StartupCoach , tells entrepreneurs that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start by writing a cook book (business plan), you work in the kitchen for a while, you learn some tools of the trade, you experiment with a few recipes, you test on willing clients. then you can start writing a recipe.

Entrepreneur 91

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Metrics 91

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Only naive people believe that but for inexperienced entrepreneurs you can be fooled into the narrative by the press who sometimes write stories without the actual data. PHONE CALLS.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

The main thrust of the post is that with YouTube taking a 45% of revenue and talent taking 70% of the remaining revenue, YouTube Networks didn’t have sustainable businesses unless they invested heavily in technology as a tool to increase margin and provide defensibility. margin range to more sustainable 50-60% margin businesses.

Company 339

Company Companies Technical Review Content 339

InfoChachkie

JULY 21, 2011

You decide how much you want to invest in your employees and then you give your employees the control to build a custom perk package for themselves. We brought in 10 – 20 people in each class. What must a startup do to motivate you to write them a check? For me, it comes down to the right people – I usually invest in teams.

Summary 246

Summary Tips Sales Entrepreneur 246

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

I recommend that you start by writing down the attributes you would want people to think about when they think about your brand. World-class education including Caltech, USC and UCLA. IA Ventures – Roger Ehrenberg was doing angel investing before he became a VC. I know that I call them often to co-invest.

Startup 304

Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles Woodland Hills 304

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

You join teams that got good write-ups on TechCrunch, have great VCs, have star CEO’s, whatever. Writing a book will be fun. The truth is you really don’t know how your teammates or your bosses will perform in good times and bad. You hire people who look good on paper. After 6 months – you know. You REALLY know.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2012

Business Writing for Email. Writing in business is not the same as in an academic environment. Throughout a career lifetime, just think of the return on that investment. Most classes in college focus on a narrow area of interest, which just teach students to focus on problems through one lens. Dress for Success.

Course 97

Course Writing Slides Email 97

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund Angel investing in most parts of the country remains a relatively informal and unstructured process. Professional angel investing takes time, knowledge, skills and resources. Professional angel investing takes time, knowledge, skills and resources.

Entrepreneur 83

Entrepreneur Mentor Invest Angel 83

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. The idea that the course asks students to write public blog posts is a testament to its more modern teaching style.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2011

Throughout a career lifetime, just think of the return on that investment. Business Writing Skills. Writing in business is not the same as in an academic environment. Most classes in college focus on a narrow area of interest, which just teach students to focus on problems through one lens. Root-Cause Problem Analysis.

Course 91

Course Writing Social Network Ideas 91

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

We wanted to be able to invest in our software and our learning tools. We've been toying with taking an investment for the last three or four years, and were able to meet with the guys at Kennet, and Javier Rojas. If you're teaching classes of 32 maybe even 37 students, it's difficult to know where students are.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178