socalTECH

OCTOBER 28, 2010

How do you take a business you started as your own personal web site, and turn it into an online powerhouse, completely bootstrapped, from the little town of Ojai, California--not exactly known as a technology town? We had the idea to rent out a local school over spring break, put up a website ad, and start offering classes.

Startup 242

Startup Web Design Writing Web 242

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

I recall being impressed with Jeff, but I was concerned that he was creating a platform, which often requires a significant amount of capital, takes an extended amount of time to establish and can be subject to margin pressure as the enabling technologies become commoditized. Tech Diligence - Consider The Source. to Jim, Kevin.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

And it’s the latest in a series of investments we’ve made in building out our practice as the LA technology market continues to grow robustly and attract entrepreneurs and investors. He was in the inaugural class of 500Startups and became chief evangelist as far as I could tell. Help us review a few deals.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

I had worked as a tutor for Princeton Review, and Jake for Kaplan. We thought, we could put out a better product than Kaplan or Princeton Review, which would be more compelling, and also would tie in a strong social mission. On the SAT/ACT side, in classroom tutoring, we have used our technology to automate the back office.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

InfoChachkie

JUNE 20, 2011

Due to their lack of practical experience, this delegation/efficiency tradeoff is especially acute with respect to hiring Interns. However, many of the characteristics of our Intern Programs were also applicable to non-technical positions, as follows: Meaningful Work – Treat your Interns as adults and magical things will happen.

Startup 244

Startup Software Review Technical Review Class 244

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 28, 2012

He kicked off the fest with his opening keynote, saying LA is a unique city of mash-ups, where tech, startups and entertainment – plus creativity, cultures, and passion – mix with successful results. RT @OEInnovation #SBF why I live in #LA: intersection of #beach #tech #entrepreneur #entertainment. & Women 2.0:

Hollywood 67

Hollywood Technical Review Startup Rustic Canyon 67

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. Obviously to understand a “class&# of people you have to make broad generalizations. Here are mine.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

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. If you are interested the Vimeo is here.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

The best MBA class I took was an investment strategy class. Despite my cynicism of MBA’s , this class was very valuable to me. High burn-rates fueled by over investment – One of the most damning things that happened to the start-up markets in 97-00 and 05-08 was the overfunding of technology companies.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

It’s as good as it gets in personal productivity / life reflection. I know that would be surprising to many readers since keeping a blog somehow convinces people that I’m a time management or productivity ninja. That’s why productivity wasn’t tough for me as a CEO. I’m not. I couldn’t.

Slides 374

Slides Email Entrepreneur Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2010

If you’re not familiar with the term it’s basically trying to help all of us who are deluged with technology to find ways to cope with the masses of information without having it ruin our lives. They can travel the world, take classes in interesting subjects, spend time with loved ones or start new hobbies.

Startup 295

Startup Email Technical Review Course 295

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does. Run great meetings (don’t be a productivity drain on the company). Due to the language and culture issues in Europe we opted for a country structure with an MD in each country and local sales, marketing & customers support staff.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

Yet, despite his exceptional courtroom theatrics, you would be foolhardy to hire good old Johnnie to review your software cross-licensing agreement. In order to get the most out of your discussions with your lawyer, take one or more Business Law classes. They make mistakes. Sometimes You Do Get What You Pay For.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

We've basically taken advantage of all the new technology out there--especially, the web-based service model. For parents, if you're interested in how your kids are doing, you can find out what their schedule is like, what homework is due when, what their grades are, and how they are progressing, plus you can communicate with their teachers.

Education 124

Education Startup Course Tool 124

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Many people will write the history on why Ring became an enormously successful company and why it became a real-world unicorn in a world when many startups are anointed that merely on paper. Why did Ring become an enormous success when it produced a hardware product and the market keeps saying, “hardware is too difficult to scale?”

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

Some investors are team focused, others market focused, others seems to look for product / market fit. Only then can I even care about product, market or their nebulous “fit.&#. I want somebody who can inspire you to produce great products but not know your trade better than you do. . I argued for the opposite.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

No rule is ever absolute no matter how it sounds when one writes a blog. I learned how to better run a product management process. I learned how to integrate customers into our product development process. I learned how to do a pipeline review with sales people without getting bullshitted to. We all learned.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

VCs have also gone back to writing checks because as an industry we can’t be seen as “sitting on the sidelines” for years at a time. We as a country are suffering from what is known as “ structural unemployment &# where jobs have disappeared from certain segments forever due to technological or structural obsolescence.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2010

For decades the “layering&# of technology has allowed us to develop IT systems and networks in a specialized way that let’s best-of-breed technology solutions to emerge at each layer of the stack and to allow people with different skill sets to specialize in key areas without having to have competence in every technology arena.

Startup 343

Startup Technical Review S3 Services 343

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. Background: Joel Spolsky studied Computer Science at Yale University (class of 1991). But I loved reading them and so did my team.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. Interesting patterns emerged: Everyone makes the same classes of error. recently did a lecture at a Babson MBA summer class on Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217