Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But honestly there are times when being a VC can feel like that, too. We’ve grown accustomed to a professionalism where we know when a work issue comes up we can count on each other for a quick Sunday call between family time. And speaking of coaching, if you haven’t read Googled by Ken Auletta you should.

Startup 363

Startup Venture Capital Coach Press 363

Tech.Co

JUNE 29, 2021

You know what a startup is, right? Or at least you have an idea of what a startup is like to work in? Don't forget the pizza parties and deskside beers funded by a seemingly endless stream of venture capitalist money, either. Or, as can happen, when the money dries up and the business goes under.

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Startup Course Coach Demand 178

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. While firms define platforms differently, let’s just say they are the services that a VC offers outside of investment capital and partner time on boards or providing intros.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Platform Startup Resource 150

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. Changes in the Software World & in Venture Capital. Changes in the Startup Ecosystem. And on and on.

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Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

*. What is the role of a VC for entrepreneurs? I suppose it can be different for every founder and for different VCs but I’d like to offer you some context on what I think it is and it isn’t. They become obsessed with why the problem exists and they start chipping away at ideas for solving the problem. And special.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Course Guide Entrepreneur 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Let me start with the news that I’m excited to share with you. After years of trying to persuade Kara Nortman to become a partner at Upfront Ventures I can officially announce now that she’s joined us effective immediately. Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures). billion).

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Venture Capital Startup Outsource Development CitySearch 408

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. They are venture bankers not investment bankers. start-ups are overvalued.

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Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

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. In a VC business when you raise additional capital you need to “level up” and act the round you are. Of course I’m not preaching crazy, irrational spend or having Kid Rock at your next company party.

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Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

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. Startups are filled with enormously talented people – often product people & engineers.

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Startup Press Course Entrepreneur 412

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. Matt Blumberg, who runs one of Fred’s portfolio companies, Return Path, follows up with an additional three : Don’t be a bottleneck (make sure you aren’t holding up people’s work).

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Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

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. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. None have exited.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2020

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. It takes more than passion and a course on business basics. Utilize business content curators and coaches.

Entrepreneur 137

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Education 137

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

My good friend Adam Lilling and I started Launchpad more than 5 years ago . I had witnessed a number of early-stage tech startups in LA raise seed capital from the Bay Area and relocate. By 2011 the market had started to change dramatically. When we started talking to Sam Teller we knew we had the perfect person.

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Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Xconomy

APRIL 17, 2017

Since then, TakeLessons has raised a total of $20 million in venture capital, and expanded into new markets and services. The company’s last VC round in early 2014 raised $7 million. Now TakeLessons has completed another acquisition, buying Chromatik, a Santa Monica, CA-based provider of digital sheet music.

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Venture Capital San Diego Santa Monica Coach 59

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. She started it with a partner, 50-50.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

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.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

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 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.

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Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

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. As You Start to Mature. In the Early Days. Experience.

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Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

One of the questions we discussed is, “How much capital should a startup raise?” ” Fred & I are both in agreement that there is a tension between capital constraints and creativity. So part of playing an effective coach is helping the team to see the answer for themselves. That always stuck with me.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

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. We’ve hung out periodically over the past few years and I have enjoyed debating many startup topics. to $12 conversion went up! Sure, of course I am.

Startup 303

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Writing 303

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. They often come from the experience of being kicked, rejected, shunned, beat up. Except that building a successful startup is hard.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2015

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. It takes more than passion and a course on business basics. Utilize business content curators and coaches.

Entrepreneur 112

Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 112

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 28, 2010

I grew up in the US but lived in England for so long I can never remember from which country my slang comes. But then I started to see it happening internally. 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?)

Startup 378

Startup Framework Slides Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

But for some strange reason they make you file your progress on fund raising, which is the widely picked up by the press. And why I woke up at 4.50am. As I’ve written about before, You’d Have to be a Big Baby to Complain about Being a VC. As a startup founder you rarely have much money in your bank accounts.

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Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 21, 2018

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. It takes more than passion and a course on business basics. Utilize business content curators and coaches.

Startup 51

Startup Education Entrepreneur Tool 51

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Adeo Co-Founded the entrepreneur-friendly website The Funded and he is the Founder and CEO of The Founder Institute , whose goal is to create and foster local startup ecosystems across the globe. The funded was really started as a way to counterbalance the bad behavior and harsh economic terms that the venture capitalists had adopted.

Entrepreneur 232

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Technical Review 232

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

And yes, VC’s, too. And a key point is that when it comes down to “negotiations&# you need to turn up your personal heat and dial back the middle man. Let me start with an example. She told me, “start with the price you want but the move in date he wants.&#. Recruiters. Real Estate professionals.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

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 1, 2016

Having time to think about “leadership” at most startups feels like a luxury. The reality of most startups is about survival. But of course all of these things are intertwined. Strictly for example sake I’ll take our mission at Upfront Ventures.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

TechCrunch LA

MAY 14, 2020

Gender bias in medicine is systemic,” says Carine Carmy, the fast-talking CEO and co-founder of Origin , during a condensed chat about her startup mission to make physical therapy for women and mothers accessible and affordable across the US, both online and through a network of physical clinics.

Startup 140

Startup Los Angeles Platform Research 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2016

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. It takes more than passion and a course on business basics. Utilize business content curators and coaches.

Entrepreneur 58

Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 58

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

They suffered in trying to live up to public perceptions and the demands to continue their successes. Of course that’s true. The road is littered with startups that shined bright before burning out. Entrepreneurs could learn about loneliness of success: nobody talks about. Mark Suster (@msuster) July 19, 2015.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2013

Get board members to help me with things they are uniquely positions to help with – mostly introductions, recruiting or coaching my team members. And of course you must also get your board administration done. should we ramp up sales hires now or wait for more traction? Startup Advice' Ideal Board Meeting.

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Writing Venture Capital Help SaaS 337

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2015

I often tell people I learned more about how to become an entrepreneur by being president of my fraternity than any college course I ever took or any paid job I ever had. There wasn’t any such thing as skipping the line or raising money to start a tech company. Of course it was infinitely more challenging.

Startup 150

Startup Course Technical Review Competition 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In Good entrepreneurs can admit when their course of action was wrong and learn from it. Somebody asks whether you plan to set up 401k’s and do contribution matching.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

He had an idea for a startup that would help consumers better book service jobs and would take on Service Magic, which he believed had a business model that could be disrupted. I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. In the same year they won Business Insider’s Startup competition. Nice sweep!

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CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359