Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures). People often ask me what VCs look for when we hire partners and many have asked how to become VCs themselves one day. I can’t speak for other VCs but it may interest you to at least know our thought process at Upfront.

Venture Capital 408

Venture Capital Startup Outsource Development CitySearch 408

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. At the time I pointed out: “If I had realized exits almost certainly it would be because I invested in a company that failed. “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

But VC is like congress. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.” As you can see from the chart their data suggests there are about $25 billion of VC distributions per year in the US. Their data looks at tech VCs.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. Of course much of it is conflicting. I’ve raised money as a “hot company” and I’ve raised capital when no one would return my phone calls. And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

Changes in the Software World & in Venture Capital. But notably you had the following changes: Horizontally scalable computing & storage systems, which meant you required less capital up front for hardware. We have invested $17.3 Venture Capital. And then the world changed. CincyTech today has $28.5

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2018

This is true of any buying process where a customer has to make a large investment decision on your software or when an investor must decide whether to give you $5 million. Maybe this is reverse “hanging around the rim” where if you keep you VC process going long enough you’ll eventually get to “yes?” Do they have authority to invest?

Funding 189

Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Venture Capital 189

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Throughout all of these years I was a full-time VC so Launchpad really came out of evenings and weekends for me. Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). And then of course our friends at TechStars launched an accelerator in collaboration with our friends at Disney so now there was six.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Tech.Co

JUNE 29, 2021

Don't forget the pizza parties and deskside beers funded by a seemingly endless stream of venture capitalist money, either. Of course, we adapted and ran our first-ever Christmas party virtually, but I still wanted to ensure everyone was okay, as we didn’t know what people’s personal situations were like at home.

Startup 178

Startup Course Coach Demand 178

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

So part of playing an effective coach is helping the team to see the answer for themselves. My goal in the interview overall was to capture more of the personal side of Fred since so much of his investment thesis and portfolio work already comes out in his blog. You need to invest in good markets and bad.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. Of course I went through normal other channels of deal flow. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Of course it makes no sense to have great people management and a crappy product. ” Of course we all go into businesses expecting to be aligned with our co-founders but over time life changes. I have seen it first-hand in my VC career many, many times. I see it all the time. And, yes, it is politics at its purest.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

As many of you know I run a weekly webcast called This Week in VC that’s getting between 25-35,000 weekly views across ThisWeekIn.com, YouTube & mostly iTunes. Sure, of course I am. Why did you raise VC from Polaris & how have they been to work with? Gregg is an ex Investment Banker and Wharton MBA.

Startup 303

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Writing 303

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

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. In the Early Days. How to build a great forecast.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. Let me not bury the lede. The company was called Red Beacon.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

And yes, VC’s, too. Negotiate directly with your VC or acquirer with lawyers present in the room. VCs : VCs are often on your side and usually act in an ethical manner. You can sometimes leverage your VC in a “bad cop&# negotiation with a buyer. What might the VC do against your interest?

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

But of course all of these things are intertwined. We want to invest in early-stage technology enabled startup businesses – upfront in the funding cycle. In fact, 90% of our investments are either Seed or A-round investments (10% are B-round). We chose the word “upfront” to represent our culture.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Xconomy

AUGUST 23, 2016

The discussion came to a boil earlier this year after a small New York investment bank hired scantily-clad women to attend its cocktail party at the J.P. Participants will also be paired with coaches and will network for board seats after the course is over. Morgan conference in January.

Training 40

Training Class Organization Course 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

Seth is one of the most decent human beings in the venture industry so the rant was off base. But even if a VC is nasty a rant email back isn’t the right way to channel your frustration. I don’t know if I should keep investing in them. ” And of course – the harder you work, the luckier you get.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

in 2008 and 2009, we had at that point righted many of the wrongs in the venture capital industry, but that didn''t mean that entrepreneurship was all of a sudden healthy. In particular, TFI does not provide participating companies with investment capital. In Adeo''s words, ". Nowadays it''s more like, 75,000.

Entrepreneur 232

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Technical Review 232

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 28, 2010

And of course there was the Michael Porter’s “ 5 Forces.&# Frankly, I kind of found all of this stuff to be bullshit (bull shiitake?) I come from a world that if the coach wasn’t yelling at you, it meant he didn’t care. I found that most VC’s never gave me any feedback when I was pitching. Me: “LOL.

Startup 378

Startup Framework Slides Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 26, 2019

Ynon had been the CEO of Maker Studios and I trust his opinion a great deal so of course I took the meeting. Not only was his commitment to LA tech enormous but we happened to have kids on the same traveling soccer team where Andrew was the assistant coach! Ok, I did occasionally pepper him with questions about Seriously.

News 33

News Mobile Santa Monica Coach 33

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Good entrepreneurs can admit when their course of action was wrong and learn from it. Most of them are completely mundane such as choosing which: bank, office space, 1-year lease vs. 2-year lease, logo, URL, pricing structure or which VC. Yes, I know it’s my job as the CEO to be the coach for people and that’s fine.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414