Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. but didn’t have funds to back-up their prorata rights?

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

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. This is all explicit decision making.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My original thinking from Oct ’09 was, while I didn’t (and still don’t) have a crystal ball I worried that: consumers were over-stretched with debt (and make up 77% of the economy), unemployment would continue to rise, which in turn would drive the stock market south and cut the rate of M&A activity and VC investment even further.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298

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

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 24, 2015

I recently interviewed Matt Mazzeo of Lowercase Capital. By now most of you know that Chris Sacca invested in what is now thought to be one of the best performing VC funds of all time having invested an $8.4 million fund in: Uber, Instagram, Docker and Twitter, amongst others.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Funding RSS Technical Review 150

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2010

All this week, we are sharing the opinions of some of the top influencers in Southern California's high tech community. We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks. 1) Mobile web.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Southern California Cloud Computing Venture Capital 160

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I spoke about how Amazon Web Services deserves far more credit for the last 5 years of innovation than it gets credit for and how I believe they spawned the micro-VC category. I said that I felt that Micro-VCs were the most important change in our industry. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. I believe that.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

chapter of the Media, Entertainment and Technology Alliance (METal) and the voice of KenRadio's World Technology Roundup on CBS Radio, Rutkowski has recruited a roster of mentors to coach entrepreneurs who enroll in the institute's programs in LA. of your stock, which means everyone in your class has a vested interest in your success.

Mentor 185

Mentor Class Entertainment Technical Review 185

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Still, as a VC I value proprietary dealflow & long term relationships. I know it was over heated when a deal where I wrote one of the first checks on (as an angel, not VC) went out on AngelList. Mostly, I don’t believe that a VC not being on AngelList is “anti entrepreneur&# – it is not. My personal use.

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

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. I learned how to establish a technology center in India and how to manage disparate development teams (and this has drive my thoughts also about what does NOT work.). I learned about revenue recognition.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

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. Tech Diligence - Consider The Source. What’s The Worst Mistake? com> 4/25/08.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

I have never felt prouder of the team & product at awe.sm ( please visit to check out our latest & be ready for our next big product announcement due out in next month or so) and yet we just brought in a new CEO to the company, Fred McIntyre. I know because I marked the occasion with a blog post on how to have a great VC meeting.

Startup 303

Startup Technical Review Product Blogging 303

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

The firm is initially focusing on the Los Angeles market, and connecting people with fun, interesting classes, activities, and more in the local area. The company was founded by Bong Koh, a former EIR at Prism VentureWorks and venture capitalist at Advanced Technology Ventures; he also co-founded ibeatyou.

Startup 271

Startup CTO Coach Activity Software Review 271

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. As an early-stage VC I love this phase.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

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

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 8, 2011

For those who still might be wondering what Spotlight: LA Tech is all about, It’s a screening room for new technology homegrown in our region. It’s a gathering of friends and tech enthusiasts of all stripes. This Spotlight takes place Thursday, July 14, at The California Institute of Technology (CalTech). RSVP: AGENDA.

CalTech 100

CalTech Technical Review Company Companies 100

socalTECH

JULY 31, 2013

The firm recently raised a $15M series C funding, and we caught up with Kevin to learn more about why its customers, and investors, are interested in its technology. We have created a wireless technology and solution, end-to-end, that allows you to cost effectively connect devices that can be very, very remote.

Technical Review 213

Technical Review Software Review Networking Technology 213

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. had two occasions recently to review products which had clear market leadership. " Is Your VC Founder Friendly?

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

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. Now, despite bootstrapping, you actually have some connections to the venture capital world, don't you?

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

In my role as a Professor of Practice within UC Santa Barbara’s entrepreneurial Technology Management Program (TMP), I have worked with approximately 8,000 students over a ten year period. Practitioners, Not Professors – classes should be taught by people who have fought hand-to-hand combat in the startup trenches.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Class Patents 100

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

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

So things that have to be done early get done early, but only at the last possible moment that the early task is due. I wrote out 3 pages of bullet point notes on paper and delivered a 20-minute speech to a crowd of entrepreneurs (which included the Minister of Technology for China). Get VCs to agree to join.

Slides 374

Slides Email Entrepreneur Startup 374

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2011

For example, if your startup is building a high-tech software product, a dream team of advisors would be a former CEO or high-level exec in another software company, a former software marketing executive, and a former financial executive. What better candidates than your Advisory Board?

Startup 95

Startup Technical Review Software Review High Tech 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2012

For example, if your startup is building a high-tech software product, a dream team of advisors would be a former CEO or high-level exec in another software company, a former software marketing executive, and a former financial executive. What better candidates than your Advisory Board?

Startup 95

Startup Technical Review Software Review High Tech 95

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

A critical stage for most first-time entrepreneurs is getting their idea developed into at least a prototype to validate their technology. Specifically, I often point to the NSF or the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program for high-tech startups. Another alternative is to find an inexpensive class on grant writing.

Funding 90

Funding Technical Review Startup Research 90

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 19, 2013

Angel Investors look for very different things than more advanced VC’s who’ve been investing for years, who are different still from those who are just getting into the investing world. Since he’s a key player and larger scale VC at Upfront Ventures and Launchpad LA, keep that in mind when/if you apply to their accelerator.

Tech Coast Angels 87

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Invest Venture Capital 87

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

The minute your company reaches its peak acceleration in terms of growth is when all of the sleeping giants wake up to compete with you and will spend massive amounts of money to keep you from capturing a growth market and other talented entrepreneurs will raise large amounts of venture capital as people start to see value in the market.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

A C-Corp is the most complex, and is recommended when you need multiple classes of stock, expect venture investments, or have over 100 shareholders. Scale the business, getting venture capital funding as required. Obviously, timings can vary dramatically when technology or regulatory constraints are involved.

Startup 90

Startup Ideas Technical Review Class 90

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2010

A C-Corp is the most complex, and is recommended when you need multiple classes of stock, expect venture investments, or have over 100 shareholders. Scale the business, getting venture capital funding as required. Obviously, timings can vary dramatically when technology or regulatory constraints are involved.

Startup 89

Startup Ideas Technical Review Class 89

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

In attendance we had startups galore with VC's and Angle's mixing and mingling all through the night. TechZulu captured the entire VC/Angle panel and we also had a chance to interview every StartupDemo startup company that participated. VC/Angel Panel. Allen Morgan , Mayfield Ventures. Panel speakers: Paige Craig , aka.

Social Media 60

Social Media Technical Review Tech Coast Angels Venture Capital 60

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Mixergy and AsAble are also joining us to bring you an amazing VC/Angel Panel. Allen Morgan , Mayfield Ventures. Stewart Roberts , President of Orange County of Tech Coast Angels. InVenture has created a market for "micro venture capital," whereby everyday investors can provide expansion capital to developing businesses.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 15, 2017

The largest VC backed companies in this space have raised several hundreds of millions in funding to help expand their global footprint. In a coworking space, you have people working diligently all around you. For every tech startup, there’s a lawyer in private practice or a video production company.

Technical Review 82

Technical Review Study Web Design Startup 82

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2010

For example, if your startup is building a high-tech software product, a dream team of advisors would be a former CEO or high-level exec in another software company, a former software marketing executive, and a former financial executive. What better candidates than your Advisory Board?

Invest 50

Invest Technical Review Software Review High Tech 50

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

There has been much discussion in the past few years of the changing structure of the venture capital industry. The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). On the surface the narratives have been.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

My primary role was “chief psychologist&# and as I’ve learned over the past few years the same has been true as a VC. Once you’ve been around for a few years, attracted some great people, landed real, paying customers and raised venture capital you’ve likely got a talented team around you.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

You do a startup and decide you want somebody to step in and run the company so you can focus on technical excellence. I learned that I wasn’t the strongest kid in class but wasn’t a wimp either. The toughest or coolest kids in class often like somebody who is willing to stand up to them – but not cross them.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363