Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 25, 2012

I hear many executives and professionals in large corporations talking about their dream of jumping ship, and starting their own company. Executives in an enterprise usually don’t write their own memos, contracts, and certainly don’t schedule their own meetings. In a startup, that luxury isn’t possible, so the work suffers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2010

What they don’t realize is that the longer they wait, the more big-company habits they are acquiring, which will make their eventual decision harder and entrepreneurial efforts less and less likely to succeed. Executives in an enterprise usually don’t write their own memos, contracts, and certainly don’t schedule their own meetings.

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Entrepreneur Company Companies Training 92

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2019

Based on my own experience in business over the years, and current coaching efforts, I recommend a focus on the following strategies and attributes: Make your customer the center of everything you do. Now customers judge you by your visibility to them at public forums, your writing, videos, and what other public figures say.

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Customer Custom IBM IBM 93

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

I was previously at Salesforce Ventures for almost four years, focused on investments in companies in the enterprise software space which were strategic to Salesforce. I got started in investment banking, focused on helping medical companies buy technology companies, and then later in the enterprise space and in the cloud.

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Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

For years now, companies have been forced to choose between cumbersome, expensive Virtual Data Rooms and decentralized, unsecure email to manage their complex transactions. 25 Years of Writing Code. At BigVisible, he coached teams at Capital Group as part of a large 1,400 person company-wide agile transformation.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

In his words, [in some instances] “because lots of capital is available, the company takes on the capital and that ends up resulting in no constraints on decision making and so the company decides to do five things in stead of just one.” You need to invest in good markets and bad. I promise it’s worth watching.

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Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

It’s very common for startup companies to have COO’s. So I know I’m getting myself into a bit of trouble by writing this. In a mature company it’s often like a presidential chief of staff. They will often run all of the daily reports into them covering off for finance, sales, marketing, biz dev & HR.

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Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

One of the interesting things about being a VC is that you often see companies in transition. If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. Act your stage.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

A good early-stage CEO needs to be accessible, to be accountable for producing results and should be establishing the cultural norms of the company through direct leadership at all levels. But issues do arise as your company grows. I see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact).

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Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Like Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Larry Ellison, he is one of the few startup Founders who remained at the helm of their respective companies throughout their entire maturation process. Effective startup leaders allow ideas to percolate from within their company, rather than attempting to monopolize the ideation process.

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Tips Startup IP Santa Barbara 275

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

That’s why it’s important to revisit your company’s mission from time-to-time. We try to hire deeply analytical associates to can help companies problem solve and who make us better investors. Take some time to reflect on how well defined you believe your company’s sense of purpose is. Conviction.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

When you raise money from investors you produce information that you are told they want and care about: A fund-raising deck that articulates your company strategy, plans, team, market, competitors and so forth. VCs (and LPs) have a vested interest in having more data, whether they want to invest in your company / firm or not.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Growth like this, this early in a company’s lifecycle rarely happens. In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. VCs crave the ability to help portfolio companies. Always seek input.

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Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

One example is that they introduced a program where their founders can pool together shares from their company and exchange them for a small portfolio of other First Round Capital companies. As a courtesy if you enjoyed his write-up please check out his startup company, ChannelStack. I'm a huge fan of this innovation.

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Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

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

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won. I HATE LOSING.

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Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won. I HATE LOSING.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). What price? I hustled.

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Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

In the original version of his post, Andy writes. You invest across many funds just as VCs invest across many companies. It’s a market, after all. Let’s look at some great companies. Is it right that VCs had no involvement in persuading Sheryl Sandberg to join the fledgling company? And Coach Campbell.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Nor do they exist in the investors of early-stage companies. I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. So I did want any rational person who wants to improve does – I hired a coach. My first startup was no different.

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Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

This insight follows closely the conclusions from the previous declaration, that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

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Resource Startup Invest Entrepreneur 149

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2011

Jonathan Lehmann: I was awarded the Larry Wolfen Entrepreneurial Spirit Award at UCLA, after getting amazing coaching from Matt Ridenour in our business plan development class. UCLA Anderson really seems to be a hotbed of entrepreneurs nowadays - did you know going into the MBA program you'd be starting your own company?

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UCLA Startup Ideas Help 256

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

According to the SEC we’re not allowed to market the fact that we’re fund raising, so I won’t. I plan to write about it early next year when we’re all through. Early on in my first company I had an employee ask if it was a good time to buy a home. But you realize that you can be more helpful as a coach.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2013

I hear many executives and professionals in large corporations talking about their dream of jumping ship, and starting their own company. Executives in an enterprise usually don’t write their own memos, contracts, and certainly don’t schedule their own meetings. In a startup, that luxury isn’t possible, so the work suffers.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Training Course 95

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). What price? I hustled.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

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. He says it basically comes down to three key functions: Sets the overall vision and strategy of the company and communicates it to all stakeholders. Recruits, hires, and retains the very best talent for the company.

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Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

Frank Addante

JUNE 25, 2015

It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day monotony and slowly drift away from the very mindset that is the foundation of our company. Be your best: John Wooden was one of the greatest coaches in American sports history. As head coach at UCLA he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period.

Coach 40

Coach Startup Ideas UCLA 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2011

I hear many executives and professionals in large corporations talking about their dream of jumping ship, and starting their own company. Executives in an enterprise usually don’t write their own memos, contracts, and certainly don’t schedule their own meetings. In a startup, that luxury isn’t possible, so the work suffers.

Startup 103

Startup Training Course Entrepreneur 103

Frank Addante

JUNE 25, 2015

It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day monotony and slowly drift away from the very mindset that is the foundation of our company. Be your best: John Wooden was one of the greatest coaches in American sports history. As head coach at UCLA he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period.

Coach 40

Coach Startup Ideas UCLA 40

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Seth attended UCSB but dropped out to start a denim company. . To what extent have you been able to leverage your experiences as a brand marketer to effectively address the differing concerns of these constituents, without utterly confusing your message? Write it down…. It drives revenue & engages guests."

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SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

I recently got together with Aaron Shechet and an early stage startup to discuss the direction the company might want to take. We also represent a few larger companies with international issues. You are writing about the essentials of business. I am planning right not to write a post about how startups often get SEO wrong.

Startup 150

Startup SEO Pepperdine Blogging 150

Tech.Co

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Jon Sperry – a highly respected dialect coach who has worked with Harvey Keitel, Sofia Vergara, and Russell Crowe – taught a Stage 32 class that was attended by members from over 40 different countries. In the past year alone the company has amassed over 1k hours of educational content and generated over $1 million.

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Education Entertainment Class Manhattan Beach 81

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

Understand Personality Types – One of the benefits of working for a big company (Accenture) was that we had lots of speakers come in and train us in topics like leadership, creativity, presentations, strategy, etc. OK, I understand your market is big. Many of these are not as effective as they could be. Most of them sucked.

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Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

For an angel investor, it’s a buyer’s market. Ultimately, it’s this intangible capability that can add the most value to the company. A trophy investor is a great coach and mentor, sometimes providing the only shoulder an entrepreneur can cry on during difficult times. Emotional maturity.

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Entrepreneur Mentor Invest Angel 83

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2014

Whether you’re considering hiring a new employee or as an investor whether you’re looking to do a background check on the founders of a company. Many of the people at our company who interviewed her really like her. Plus, if she does have areas where we could coach her on improvement it would help to know that coming in.”

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Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Report 302

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

They have a wide set of existing relationships, they have teams of junior staff that cull databases (or increasing pile through LinkedIn), they are skilled in approaching prospective talent and they can “pre sell&# your company to get the recruit to the table in the first place. They’re also good at screening candidates.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

socalTECH

JULY 29, 2009

How did the company start? Instead of writing a book, we wanted to develop a platform to bring our methods to life, and scale our knowledge. That became our company Hit the Ground Running, which we launched in 2007 to help a number of Fortune 500 clients with our technology and methodologies. But, it didn't seem scalable.

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Geni Web Guide Platform 100