Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Launchpad LA today announces it will accept applications for its third class of Los Angeles-based tech startups. We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space.

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

TechCrunch LA

MAY 29, 2019

Los Angeles-based PlayVS (pronounced “play versus”) wants to become the dominant platform for amateur esports, starting at the high school level. Eric P: You have a fascinating background as a serial entrepreneur while you were a teenager. Eric P: And this segued into tech startups after meeting Jon Triest from Ludlow Ventures?

Startup 204

Startup Coach Competition Los Angeles 204

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

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. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 137

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Education 137

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. Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. They are venture bankers not investment bankers.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Beware of VC Seagulls, who shit on you and then fly away (or worse yet leave you with Red Herrings). This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. I like to say to first-time entrepreneurs, picking a VC is more permanent than marriage.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur 297

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2021

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? Another place to start is the local Chamber of Commerce.

Entrepreneur 143

Entrepreneur Social Network Activity Networking 143

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).

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Custom 319

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

It’s only 12 minutes long and if you’re a first-time entrepreneur (or second time, frankly) I encourage you to watch it if for nothing else than to get a sense that your struggles are universal. Startups are filled with enormously talented people – often product people & engineers. ” We learn from mistakes.

Startup 412

Startup Press Course Entrepreneur 412

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community. There was no monetary reward for those who participated (and Startup Boost does not take fees or equity from the companies that we help). What was the biggest lesson you learned this year?

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

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. 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.”

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

socalTECH

APRIL 4, 2013

That''s what Los Angeles-based FieldLevel (www.fieldlevel.com) has been working on, making it easier for coaches to network and exchange information on athletes. Brenton Sullivan: What we are is a private social network and platform for coaches to connect with each other, to exchange information on athletes. What is that process?

Coach 252

Coach USC Statistics Startup 252

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

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Adeo Ressi is a serial entrepreneur turned investor and entrepreneur advocate. 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. In Adeo''s words, ".

Entrepreneur 232

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Technical Review 232

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Let me start out with my premise: “Data rooms are where fund-raising processes go to die.” I have to back up and give you more context. Getting follow-on meetings is very hard because if the VC wasn’t totally persuaded in the first pitch meeting they aren’t likely to want to commit more time. Some people find this elitist?—?I

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

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. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 112

Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 112

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 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.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

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.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

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. Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. They are venture bankers not investment bankers.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

socalTECH

OCTOBER 16, 2015

Pasadena-based 17hats , a startup that develops business management software aimed specifically at solo entrepreneurs (solopreneurs), has raised $4M in a Series A funding. The startup's software handles everything from booking clients and managing projects, to finances and other administrative processes. READ MORE>>.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Tool Coach Pasadena 100

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2012

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Blank, author of Four Steps To The Epiphany , Stanford Professor and noted entrepreneur. The subject discussed in the video below is Steve’s belief that Venture Capitalists should begin their careers as operational entrepreneurs. free weekly Infochachkie articles!

Venture Capital 239

Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur SaaS 239

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2019

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? Another place to start is the local Chamber of Commerce.

Networking 90

Networking Entrepreneur Social Network Activity 90

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic&# organizations and to some extent that should be true. This applies to both founders and to VC’s that work with them. I see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact). I’m not a big believer in too much hierarchy. A quick example.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

If you’re an early-stage entrepreneur, technology has served you well. The barriers to entry when it comes to launching a company require less tension and a lot less capital. Fortunately, the Startup of the Year program aims to make it easier for founders to connect with resources. The Case Foundation (Washington, DC).

Startup 141

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 141

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 27, 2013

I’ve started a recent series on PR at startups since I get asked for advice on this topic so often. The start of this series was, Should Your Startup Announce Funding ? After that a meme developed amongst many startups (and the advisors that coached them) that, “TechCrunch didn’t matter.

Blogging 309

Blogging Journal Press Startup 309

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. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 58

Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 58

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.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2022

In my experience as an advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs in business, one of the biggest failures I see is a lack of self-leadership. Leadership in business starts with making good personal choices. For example, I often hear from aspiring entrepreneurs that “I had that idea first, and he stole it, and is now making money on my idea.”

Capital 114

Capital Coach Satisfaction Ideas 114

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. I'm a huge fan of this innovation. and Half.com. and Half.com.

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 284

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2012

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? Another place to start is the local Chamber of Commerce.

Activity 97

Activity Networking Entrepreneur Startup 97

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. 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. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur?

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups. The hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play. Series-seed round.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Seed Funding Incubator 101

SoCal Tech Calendar

JANUARY 12, 2012

Speakers: Tarang Shah is a venture capital professional. At SoftBank Capital, a venture capital fund, he helped with investments in mobile, digital media and enterprise software startups totaling $50 million; Ash Kumra is a business coach, speaker and entrepreneur. See [link] (more)

SoCal 100

SoCal Southern California Coach Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2013

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? Another place to start is the local Chamber of Commerce. Marty Zwilling.

Networking 100

Networking Entrepreneur Social Network Activity 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 2, 2018

The Los Angeles Dodgers , along with Elysian Park Ventures , the private investment firm created by the ownership group behind the Los Angeles Dodgers specifically for investments in entrepreneurs in the areas of sports, technology, and entertainment, have launched and funded a new venture called E|L1.

Los Angeles 113

Los Angeles Redondo Beach Angel Coach 113