Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. In addition to helping manage the board Chris also helps represent the interests of the angel investors / common stock holders.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

So part of playing an effective coach is helping the team to see the answer for themselves. ” He has publicly espoused building products for “non logged in users” and has benefitted greatly from his thesis of large networks of socially connected & like minded individuals. This works brilliantly.”

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Jackson , “This financing round, coupled with hiring Adam Sroka as our head of technology, puts CapLinked in a position to further enhance our enterprise product offerings.”. 25 Years of Writing Code. At BigVisible, he coached teams at Capital Group as part of a large 1,400 person company-wide agile transformation.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

So I know I’m getting myself into a bit of trouble by writing this. Many times they also pick up product and tech, too. Often times you find the CEO who really just likes to do product or tech. If you run product then it’s easy – VP Product. But I ran product management.

Startup 325

Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

As a courtesy if you enjoyed his write-up please check out his startup company, ChannelStack. Through his research he helped bring ARPANET to Philadelphia in 1973. First Round Capital invests heavily in its own infrastructure to help add value to the portfolio companies. Is a completed product necessary to get funding?

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

I got started in investment banking, focused on helping medical companies buy technology companies, and then later in the enterprise space and in the cloud. One thing that struck me, was just how practical the advice as, from team building to fundraising to scaling out a product and operations. You can't be the best at everything.

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

"The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. This frugality was evidenced by the fact that everyone at Microsoft, even Gates, flew coach until well into the late 1990s. I am not suggesting you spurn product excellence.

Tips 275

Tips Startup IP Santa Barbara 275

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

Think of it kind of like running a national chain of restaurants and occasionally stopping in to wait tables to have a more intuitive sense for your processes, work conditions and the quality of your products. As a content management system we had lots of write activities and went with Postgres. An obvious example would be in sales.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2011

Well, Los Angeles-based KarmaGoat (www.karmagoat.com) has figured out a way to help people get rid of those unwanted items they have--and provide those proceeds to charity. That gift of livestock can help families out of extreme poverty. Did the experience at Anderson help you with starting the company?

UCLA 256

UCLA Startup Ideas Help 256

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

We try to hire deeply analytical associates to can help companies problem solve and who make us better investors. So we like to behave like we don’t know any better than you – we can just bring an outside perspective to help spar you and make you a better decision-maker through the process. That’s healthy. Conviction.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. The best ones bring in more executive leadership so you can appropriate allocate resources across sales, marketing, product, engineering and support.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. I keep my competitors as friends and those that didn’t choose me or my product as friends, too. Write things down. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. Quite the opposite. I move on.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. I keep my competitors as friends and those that didn’t choose me or my product as friends, too. Write things down. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. Quite the opposite. I move on.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

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? Before I tell you my reasons for never doing a deal that a banker intro’d I have to preface by where I think bankers are enormously helpful on VC deals. We are judging how well you are coached on stage.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2022

After many extended coaching sessions with entrepreneurs and small business owners, I’ve found myself wondering if my value-add was anything more than you could get by self-coaching. It helps to partner with and coach others. Believe me, having you start in the right mindset will be more productive for both of us.

Coach 105

Coach Help Satisfaction Metrics 105

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? Before I tell you the reasons I’m concerned about investment banking intros, I should start by saying I think bankers are enormously helpful for entrepreneurs in raising money. What stage? What price?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. 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. Here’s what I learned.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

In the original version of his post, Andy writes. The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs. But the people whom I consider best in this industry are quite helpful indeed. And Coach Campbell. And I’ll know in 18 months whether we have product / market fit. They see how hard she does her job.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

I’ve tried over the years to write many times about the realism of the downsides of being an entrepreneur because there is a complete cognitive dissidence between what you read about yourself in the press and what you feel internally about where you’re at in the journey. I have written some posts in the past that may be helpful.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits ;-). I keep my competitors as friends and those that didn’t choose me or my product as friends, too. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. They hired a consultant to help them with the review.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

8 ) SocialStay is effectively a B-to-B, SaaS product that requires you to simultaneously speak to several audiences (hotels, travelers, travel sites, etc.). Your team operates out of a barn on your idyllic, coastal property, yet you have created a world-class product. Write it down…. They are starting to see the light.

Startup 233

Startup Design Mobile Social Network 233

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does. Run great meetings (don’t be a productivity drain on the company). It is such an under-discussed issue as we spend our time in startups mostly talking about products, marketing and fund raising.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2021

It’s March 1st as I write this*. A date is just a date and starting on March 5th and committing to 10 great months is just as productive as starting on January 1st. Nothing makes me happier than helping others with something that I personally have struggled with. This isn’t a requirement but if you can do it, it sure helps.

Startup 347

Startup Writing Course Coach 347

Tech.Co

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Jon Sperry – a highly respected dialect coach who has worked with Harvey Keitel, Sofia Vergara, and Russell Crowe – taught a Stage 32 class that was attended by members from over 40 different countries. Throughout the 90s he ran a consulting business with his brother that helped traditional companies establish an online presence.

Education 82

Education Entertainment Class Manhattan Beach 82

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

Can we do a really quick run through your deck so that we save tons of time for a product demo & questions at the end?&#. If a driver starts to call bullshit on your product or market it’s OK – actually, it’s expected – that you stick up for yourself. Can I make a small suggestion?

Slides 358

Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

socalTECH

JULY 29, 2009

This morning, Knowledge Genie (www.myknowledgegenie.com) launched a new web site that helps experts and authors publish online information to the web. Instead of writing a book, we wanted to develop a platform to bring our methods to life, and scale our knowledge. If you've written a book, it can help reinforce that knowledge.

Geni 100

Geni Web Guide Platform 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2013

This is hardly ideal and some simple changes could help management avoid both issues. Every time I think to write a post about this I figure the most recent board meeting I’ve attended will think it’s about them so I don’t bother. should we charge for our product or be freemium?

Writing 337

Writing Venture Capital Help SaaS 337

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

I favor the more cautious approach, and would offer the following insights to help you make the right decisions: Join a startup or take a role in an existing business. Check out local sources for coaching and assistance. Don’t be shy about networking for advisors with business experience for coaching and mentoring.

Startup 114

Startup Tips Coach Satisfaction 114

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2012

Because we are still in idea stage, it is in the best interest of the company to keep only a few key people to work on executing the product. The most important thing was (and still is) execution of the product. As a journalist, I’m glad it happened to me so I can write about it. I got the same response from everyone.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas San Diego Mentor 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 31, 2020

June 2019 (left) and November 2020 (right) I’ve been reluctant to write this blog post because historically I don’t like talking about weight. But I’ve been promising to publish how I lost 65 pounds in the past 18 months without any fad diets or gimmicks to try and be helpful to others. Then should write down your “target goal.”

Startup 526

Startup Course Writing Help 526

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

It’s one thing to invest in a later-stage (say a C round) to help with growth, it’s another to fund companies who are already valued in the billions. Many LPs want to write checks of $10 million or $25 million because they themselves have billions of dollars to manage. Will public investments come next?

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

Your goal is to increase the top end of the funnel (more people using the free product) and increase the rate of conversion to paid. How did you determine the right price points for your product? Any takers in a trade for helping do some write-ups against whatever you want? Advice, coaching, intros?

Startup 303

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Writing 303

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

As a VC I’m acutely that a “yes&# decision to support an entrepreneur can do just that, yet I only write 2-4 of them per year and maybe another 3-4 as an angel. Being helpful doesn’t mean telling every person their ideas are great. I’m sure somebody helped you along the way – you can pay it forward.

Startup 352

Startup Help Blogging Entrepreneur 352

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 12, 2016

he coached me and my 3 siblings in basketball and soccer and more. In an odd way I may actually benefit financially from a Trump presidency if he bends the tax regime to help more people like me. We are better to find and encourage smart people to work for him to help buffer the rest of us from his worst instincts.

Class 247

Class Writing Startup Los Angeles 247