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? I’m not saying that lawyers were my screening process – simply that they knew about deals early on and they had voted with their time and pocketbooks so I knew I had a degree of filtering. What price?

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 2, 2014

Thus I hear many talk about “radical transparency” when virtually ever experienced operator in my inner circle talks knowingly about that naiveté. It’s why I called out the importance of “executive coaches” in this post. I was thinking about this over the holiday. Foursquare? Noah Glass.

Startup 385

Startup Coach Course Snapchat 385

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

TechCrunch interviewed me and asked me to talk about failure. So I spoke for 12 minutes about my own failures. I made many classic first-time mistakes which serves both as my warning signal of which teams to avoid funding (if I perceive they will make critical mistakes often led by hubris) and also as my source for coaching others.

Startup 412

Startup Press Course Entrepreneur 412

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). And there’s conferences.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Tech.Co

JUNE 29, 2021

Long hours in co-working offices with CEOs fresh from university with big ideas and a lot of vague, nebulous chat about platforms. Plexal has also noticed a shift in the way workers think about why they would come into an office at all. It was an opportunity to meet my team in person and really get to know them more.

Startup 175

Startup Course Coach Demand 175

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Weinfurter, talks about making the leap a couple of times himself, and the perspective he gained from many years of consulting with other companies who have done the same. Of course, that means a new level of risk, giving up some control, and a new business plan.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2023

It takes more than passion and a course on business basics. We all come from the era where our society and education prepared us for the labor market, meaning working for someone else as an information professional, factory worker, or retail associate. Entrepreneurs don’t need to know everything about business before they start.

Startup 108

Startup Education Entrepreneur Tool 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2022

Of course, these are great, but they don’t happen without enlightened leadership coming first. Their experience as executive coaches and entrepreneurs gives real credibility to their assessment of some new leadership approaches that are required in business today. Benton and Kylie Wright-Ford. Tenacious: be persistent in your pursuits.

Custom 152

Custom Customer Coach Satisfaction 152

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

I barely know the guy (or his markets) but he wanted me to weigh in one “which market I thought he should pursue.” My job isn’t to predict markets but rather to find entrepreneurs who want to create markets through insight and conviction.” Of course as a frequently traveler I know this, too.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Course Guide Entrepreneur 150

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. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. SEO marketing vs. social marketing. I wrote about this a long time ago and if you didn’t read it I highly recommend it.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2018

In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities. Here are my thoughts on the right focus at a college or university: Take entrepreneurship courses, but major in a more specific discipline.

Startup 97

Startup Writing Coach Incubator 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2022

Of course, listening alone isn't enough. I realize that you may want to spare the team your worries over market changes and competitors, but transparency on these matters creates trust and connection, and improves their focus on agility and inspires innovation. Spend time coaching and mentoring team members.

Mentor 108

Mentor Social Media Coach Custom 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2022

Of course, how you do this effectively is critical. Take full advantage of every mentoring and coaching opportunity, and network with peers both inside and outside the company. Businesses today include an increasing diversity of team members, as well as customers, due to remote work and a global market.

Tips 121

Tips Social Media Mentor Technical Review 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2020

It takes more than passion and a course on business basics. We all come from the era where our society and education prepared us for the labor market, meaning working for someone else as an information professional, factory worker, or retail associate. Entrepreneurs don’t need to know everything about business before they start.

Entrepreneur 137

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Education 137

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2019

Of course, everyone thinks they know what it takes to make a great leader, and many books have been written about the subject. In this context, I was impressed with the new book, “ The Intelligent Leader ,” by John Mattone, widely regarded as the world’s number one executive coach and authority.

Course 78

Course Coach Mentor Training 78

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2018

Investors are human, after all Come up with a valid reason because they know in communicating with founders if there’s no reason to say “no” you can generate bad will Risk missing out on an inflection point: Investors of course are also concerned about saying “no” too early in the process when they can “hang around the rim” and see what happens?

Funding 189

Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Venture Capital 189

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2022

I’m not talking about the social butterflies, but people who always seem to engage with the right people to help get the job done, both upward and downward. You need leaders who focus on delivering value to the market and dealing with competitors, addressing customer and competitive needs now and in the long-term.

Custom 110

Custom Customer Coach Organization 110

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

In my experience, a healthy team is a prerequisite for a thriving business, innovation to meet market needs, and high customer loyalty. Of course, you as the business leader have a key role in making all this happen. In business, this is all about the company values and purpose that give meaning and direction to your team.

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Mentor Social Media Custom 141

SoCal CTO

MAY 13, 2014

The conversation with Bob was about what the composition of advisors should look like. But, advisors, coaches, and mentors can often fill the bill. Of course, you will want to work out the specifics of how you plan to work together with the advisor once it becomes more formal and adjust accordingly. That’s great advice.

CTO Coach 241

CTO Coach Startup CTO Hire Template 241

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

For many, it’s hard to make the switch from that top-down order-giving culture, and it’s hard to find the time to recruit and coach the new team members you need to scale the business to success. We all need to be humble and recognize that what we need to know about technology and the market changes daily.

Startup 147

Startup Custom Customer Ideas 147

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. As I’ve written about before, You’d Have to be a Big Baby to Complain about Being a VC. And so it goes again. Entrepreneurshit.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2016

In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities. Here are my thoughts on the right focus at a college or university: Take entrepreneurship courses, but major in a more specific discipline.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Tips Writing Coach 98

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. Of course I’m not preaching crazy, irrational spend or having Kid Rock at your next company party. In some cases this is about getting routine tasks off of the founders plates. Act your stage.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

I remain a huge supporter and am very proud of our accomplishments and hugely optimistic about our future. It turns out it actually takes time to build a high-growth business with differentiated intellectual property and roll out large, enterprise-class marketing solutions. 5 years ago. Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about “ the politics of startups ” in which I asserted that all companies have politics, which in its purest sense is just about understanding human psychology. Of course it makes no sense to have great people management and a crappy product. Those are the easy cases.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Frank Addante

OCTOBER 12, 2021

I’m super excited about it — but I don’t know — I’ll let you know when I figure that out.”. I’m super excited about it! Over the course of my “retirement” (yes, it is in quotes because I’m not sure it really was one! They asked me what my company did and I said “Good question! More on that later.)

Startup 105

Startup Case Study Ideas Invest 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2017

You may think you need more entrepreneurial courses in school, or more advanced degrees, but in my experience it’s more of a mindset, some good coaching, and learning by doing that separates the winners from the losers. You learn as much as a coach as the student. Network conference. It’s a win-win opportunity.

Coach 80

Coach Entrepreneur Ideas Class 80

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

By 2011 the market had started to change dramatically. Sam is an uber-networker, savvy, helpful, product-oriented leader who had a great eye for young entrepreneurs and a passion about helping them. It was clear to us that LA was now a powerhouse market and we loved working with all of the other accelerators in town.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities. Here are my thoughts on the right focus at a college or university: Take entrepreneurship courses, but major in a more specific discipline.

Writing 111

Writing Coach Incubator Entrepreneur 111

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

Having time to think about “leadership” at most startups feels like a luxury. It feels like something you could turn your attention to once you have tens of millions of dollars and a large staff to run operations and you could step back from it all and think about how to lead. The reality of most startups is about survival.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

socalTECH

APRIL 24, 2012

If you're a family with kids in sports, how do you share all those videos, photos, and other memories about your kids games? Where do you organize and share all the information about your team's games? First off, for the folks who haven't heard of WePlay, what is the service all about? How did WePlay come about?

Southern California 183

Southern California Startup Platform Coach 183

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

I’ve written a few posts about boards recently as part of a series on the subject. I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic. In the Early Days. You’ll get empathy. Experience.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

In the VC insider baseball world a discussion has gone on about “VC platforms” over the past 5 or so years. Examples of VC platform services include: recruiting, marketing, design support, inside sales reps, consulting, accounting services and so forth. All are great firms with great reputations and phenomenal returns.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Platform Startup Resource 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Weinfurter, talks about making the leap a couple of times himself, and the perspective he gained from many years of consulting with other companies who have done the same. Of course, that means a new level of risk, giving up some control, and a new business plan.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

I have never been more optimistic about the impact that the tech startup community is having on cities in America or about the role that cities outside of San Francisco / Silicon Valley can play in our future. I’ve blogged about this before and provide a lot more details in these posts: 1. Angels & Recycled Capital.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

What I loved about the founding team from day 1 was that the founders were all people who tried to break into Hollywood and found the system closed. and if you haven’t seen 20 Feet From Stardom , which this founder talks about in his letter to Seth, you must. Take Maker Studios. I loved, loved, loved 20 Feet). ” Chips.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

They will often run all of the daily reports into them covering off for finance, sales, marketing, biz dev & HR. If they’re not running their business then perhaps the wrong person was picked as CEO or perhaps they need more mentorship / coaching to better allocate their time. But ask yourself, what does a COO actually do?

Startup 325

Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325