Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally-generated funds. You will realize much more from the ultimate sale of your business even if at a considerably lower price than if splitting the proceeds with investors.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Most entrepreneurs relish being their own boss, but find the transition to “ownership thinking” to be more difficult than anticipated. Incidentally, if you never thought of yourself as being an A-Player employee, you probably will struggle even more in the competitive entrepreneur world.

Entrepreneur 159

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 159

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. What stage?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

(In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Entrepreneurs make fast decisions and move forward knowing that at best 70% of their decisions are going to be right. This paralyzes most people.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done on a convertible note.&#. I’ve written about the topic of convertible debt at length before specifically about how angels & entrepreneurs should think about pricing. a priced/valued preferred stock financing)?

Equity 319

Equity Pricing Venture Capital Entrepreneur 319

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. What stage?

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

Any startup coach or business advisor will tell you that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start your journey by inventing the ultimate entre. All the investment money in the world won’t make your company succeed, if you have the wrong team. investors invest in people, not ideas) Effective and timely go-to-market.

Startup 112

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Any startup coach or business advisor will tell you that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start your journey by inventing the ultimate entre. All the investment money in the world won’t make your company succeed, if you have the wrong team. investors invest in people, not ideas) Effective and timely go-to-market.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 93

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. Most top tier VCs return about 3x invested capital and outlier funds (the best of a vintage) might return 6-8x. The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2019

Richards--a serial entrepreneur who has been involved in a number of technology companies here, including NTI Group (sold to Blackboard), Internships.com, MP3.com, All of this has fundamentally changed the efficiency of the market, with prices anywhere from fifty to seventy-five percent lower.

Content 193

Content Social Network Coach Help 193

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.

Resource 149

Resource Startup Invest Entrepreneur 149

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

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

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2017

Most entrepreneurs relish being their own boss, but find the transition to “ownership thinking” to be more difficult than anticipated. Incidentally, if you never thought of yourself as being an A-Player employee, you probably will struggle even more in the competitive entrepreneur world.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 54

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Richard White, author of The Entrepreneur’s Manual , surveyed a number of venture capitalists, asking them to identify the characteristics of successful, serial entrepreneurs. In fact, several of the venture capitalists pointed out that successful entrepreneurs often have to be encouraged to spend more aggressively.

Startup 221

Startup Pricing Entrepreneur Email 221

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch.

Startup 108

Startup Sales Metrics Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Most of the guidance you see for entrepreneurs is aimed at those who are selling a product (Apple, Tesla, Xiaomi), or selling a service (Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat). The “product” value is difficult to quantify, the costs are nebulous, and entrepreneurs have to clone themselves to scale the business. Don’t forget seminars and events.

Social Media 56

Social Media Pricing Technical Review Demand 56

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and Founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch.

Sales 96

Sales Metrics Startup Entrepreneur 96

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch.

Startup 56

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 56

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Yet a critical mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is that they hand over too much control to their third-parties. We had the final terms of our agreement fairly well boxed in within a range of about 5-7% on price and within 30 days on move-in date. I obviously preferred the lowest price and I wanted the latest move-in date.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

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’re a national venture capital investment firm but with our roots firmly in Los Angeles. That’s healthy.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s why I believe executive coaches are so important for startups who have the financial resources to afford them. If you give up after this you’re not an entrepreneur. I learned these lessons at a very young age and they etched permanently into my psyche.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2017

Many business executives and entrepreneurs I know are convinced that business success is all about having the right solution for the right price. Thus most investors I know claim to invest in the person, rather than the product. His 30 years of business and coaching experience bring credibility to his perspective.

Software Review 57

Software Review Technical Review Startup Press 57

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2014

By the way, I also strongly advise that entrepreneurs reference VCs. In this instance my personal style is to have entrepreneurs in whom I’m considering investing to call my good references and those where we have gone through some tough times so in that sense I end up in the 0.05% but I tell entrepreneurs I’m doing this and why.

Startup 302

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Report 302

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. I hate losing. I don’t want to lose next time.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. I hate losing. I don’t want to lose next time.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 24, 2011

There has recently been a common theme among the entrepreneurs I have interviewed and the conferences I have attended: despite the relatively weak state of the world economy, now is a great time to create a high-tech startup. As noted in Now Is Never Too Early , successful entrepreneurs are not inclined to wait. Christy was correct.

Company 257

Company Companies Startup Study 257

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits ;-). I hate losing. I don’t want to lose next time.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

If you have or are thinking about a business in the video space you’ll enjoy hearing from Gregg but even more broadly this is a great conversation for entrepreneurs, investors or industry analysts. How did you determine the right price points for your product? Like many companies they experimented with many pricing models.

Startup 303

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Writing 303

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. Partners make investment decisions. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. Already invested in one of my key competitors? Do they have money to invest? Meet in person. Tell a friend!

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2009

Please don’t also confuse this with whether a VC should invest in a CEO who’s done it before – that’s a given. And you can always bring on a senior person as a mentor / coach to help guide you personally to become a better sales leader until you’re ready for somebody more senior on your team. WTF!! ?? !!

Startup 327

Startup Sales Class CIO 327