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. – while the other might want a quick sale and pocket some bucks while the tech market is hot. Those are the easy cases.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

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?) We called it “integrated strategy.&# I actually think from a marketing perspective it could have been brilliant. They were intwined. I grew up and played sports all my life.

Startup 378

Startup Framework Slides Coach 378

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

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

Examples of VC platform services include: recruiting, marketing, design support, inside sales reps, consulting, accounting services and so forth. Side Note : Upfront has hired Kerry Bennett as a member of our executive management team to run marketing – please follow her on Twitter here ].

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Platform Startup Resource 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

By 2011 the market had started to change dramatically. It was clear to us that LA was now a powerhouse market and we loved working with all of the other accelerators in town. None of us was convinced the market really needed 5 accelerators. Market stage is everything. There is too much supply in the market.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2010

He coached me that I had to start with the answers. I later took a course with Barbara Minto (who taught McKinsey people) and bought her book “ The Pyramid Principle.&# This was a breakthrough for me. we’re the market leader in signing up our channel partners. - Tags: Startup Advice.

Entrepreneur 372

Entrepreneur Startup Design Framework 372

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

You may have raised money across multiple rounds of investors from 3-4 different VCs and of course most of them would like board seats or at a minimum board observer rights. how to market our products and company. We’re the market leader in a space that is growing so unless there is an exogenous shock we will continue to grow.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

And we wanted a head of global marketing. I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. I wanted them to have a market lead before others could try and build what Ethan was working on. In industry this is known as “yield management” and of course it needs to exist.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

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? Of course I went through normal other channels of deal flow. But I think there is a down side that I see in startups that raise artificially at prices above what a normal market might value. What price?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

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? Of course I went through normal other channels of deal flow. We are judging how well you are coached on stage. Advice to VCs Startup Advice' What price? With which other investors? ” Meh.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

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. Throughout the course of last year I never had more than $8,000 in my account. . Of course I do! But you realize that you can be more helpful as a coach. And yes, I sleep better at night as a coach.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2011

By Ernst Gemassmer You have successfully conceived a new business, obtained funding and are now planning to capitalize on the large market opportunities existing outside of the USA. It is both costly and in many instances complicated to enter foreign markets. Not following this advice can and will be costly.

Coach 88

Coach Screening Commerce Marketing 88

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Some investor board members are also member of boards for companies that may overlap in markets or even compete directly, although rare. Should board members therefore withdraw and not participate in corporate planning, coaching the CEO and other issues not related to the duty of care or duty of loyalty? Of course they should not.

Class 179

Class Coach Invest Sales 179

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

But of course all of these things are intertwined. But putting no time into anchoring your beliefs because you’re too busy executing sales, marketing, support, product & engineering is an easy recipe for leadership drift. There are always flavors-of-the-month strategies or markets that are in favor in the tech startup world.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2017

Others schedule long and exhaustive practice and coaching sessions for everyone on the team, including showcase customers, to make sure that everyone tells the most positive and consistent story. Of course, it’s always appropriate to concurrently and openly reverse the process on your potential investor.

Invest 59

Invest Startup Doc Slides 59

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2010

By Ernst Gemassmer You have successfully conceived a new business, obtained funding and are now planning to capitalize on the large markets opportunities existing outside of the USA. It is both costly and in many instances complicated to enter foreign markets. Not following this advice can and will be costly.

Coach 78

Coach Screening Commerce Entrepreneur 78

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

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. As things got bigger we hired a head of European sales and a head of European marketing. But it wasn’t just about company structures.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

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. Features don’t win or lose sales – especially in nascent markets. Of course that’s not true.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

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? Do you have any advice for emerging entrepreneurs regarding how they can be frugal without compromising their company’s value prop?

Startup 233

Startup Design Mobile Social Network 233

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

JULY 19, 2011

They know what is “market&# for your recruits in terms of base, bonus & stock options. You can certainly get coaching from your VC on how to play the negotiations since they do it more often than you do. I want to decide what the right “angle&# on the story it (with their input, of course).

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 8, 2011

We started seeing a demand for what we were doing and from there began throwing singles parties, doing match making, and date coaching. When you wait and continue to build this perfect product, you get it to market with all these features you’ve spent massive time on and no cares about them. Listen to your customers.

Startup 75

Startup Technical Review Blogging Demand 75

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 in boom markets and when everybody thought the Internet was a fraud. And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. Their story will likely be very different from yours.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

TrueCar, an LA-based company, sells more cars now than any physical dealer in the country and recently went public and has a $1 billion market cap. While the costs of starting a tech company have plummeted it still does take money to hire a team, launch products and market oneself. Indeed we have already seen the beginnings.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

It’s as though we forgot the management mantra of the 90′s about “core competencies&# or the most common VC advice to entrepreneurs: Focus. This will continue while we’re in a tech bull market and I predict will wane when we’re not. In a bull market many players see drift in their activities.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

This is to drive marketing and any IT or infrastructure spend can be seen as such. Sure, of course I am. The bigger aha was using the information from the social graph to drive marketing. They never did any PR or marketing to get their videos to first get shown on the news during the 2000 election. Here’s the link.

Startup 303

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Writing 303

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

We shared stories about our past rejections, about our inability to raise money in down markets, about the weeks left in cash, about how we were sure we were dead. ” And of course – the harder you work, the luckier you get. Startup Advice' Nearly every one. We found a way through it. He did even more so than I did.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371