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

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

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 Customer 319

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. I’d say 20% of startups I see level-up early after their A round. Act your stage.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

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

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2009

This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. There are people who tell startups that they should hire the most senior people that they can find. Please don’t also confuse this with whether a VC should invest in a CEO who’s done it before – that’s a given. I’m not one of those.

Startup 327

Startup Sales Class CIO 327

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 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.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2012

During the fall of 2011, Steve wrote a controversial post entitled, Why VCs Should Be Startup CEOs. Steve identifies the following skills as necessary for success as a venture capitalist: People skills (ability to recognize patterns of success in individuals and teams). free weekly Infochachkie articles! Fundraising skills.

Venture Capital 239

Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur SaaS 239

socalTECH

AUGUST 10, 2012

Southern California has the one of the largest gathering of organized angel investment groups, and a huge crop of startup accelerators: there's only one problem, which is they don't naturally work together. With the VC ranks shrinking, founders need to tap every source of capital out there. The conflict is built in.

Angel 174

Angel Southern California Pasadena Angels Coach 174

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

JANUARY 6, 2014

I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic. When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 18, 2010

We will be selecting 10 startup companies to participate. When I kicked off Launchpad LA a year ago I had a few objectives: Create an ecosystem where all Southern California VC’s had the chance to work together more actively outside of the boards on which we mutually sit. Today we announced Launchpad LA V2. We connected.

Technical Review 259

Technical Review Venture Capital Southern California Tech Coast Angels 259

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

Still though, when founders are seeking funding, “ 75 percent of the venture capital goes to three states: Massachusetts, New York, and California,” said Steve Case in an interview with Recode. Fortunately, the Startup of the Year program aims to make it easier for founders to connect with resources.

Startup 141

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 141

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. If necessary, use a strengths coach, and always start a business which highlights your signature strengths.

Capital 114

Capital Coach Satisfaction Ideas 114

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

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

The Founder Institute (www.founderinstitute.com), an entrepreneurial training program that originally launched by Adeo Ressi in Silicon Valley, recently announced that it is setting up shop in Southern California, with branches both in San Diego and Los Angeles. What role do the mentors play? The mentors at the L.A. READ MORE>>.

Mentor 185

Mentor Class Entertainment Technical Review 185

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2011

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. Early-stage startup.

Startup 92

Startup Funding Seed Funding Incubator 92

socalTECH

OCTOBER 19, 2016

Arivale (www.arivale.com), a startup founded by Dr. Leroy Hood, the well known DNA and genomics pioneer�which combines gene sequencing with a host of other diagnostic tests, with personalized counselors and health and wellness recommendations, recently launched an expansion into California, starting in Los Angeles.

Coach 100

Coach Startup Study Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2018

I was struck by this assertion in a new book, “ The Messy Middle ,” by Scott Belsky, who has spent more than a decade leading in the worlds of technology, design, and startups. The result was a broken deal, and ultimately a failed startup, instead of a win-win business. Understand your feelings to recognize what bothers you.

Competition 81

Competition Startup Examples Coach 81

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. The road is littered with startups that shined bright before burning out. Startups are All Naked in the Mirror. Advisors / Coaches / Mentors. It was a lot to bear. Every founder knows this.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2015

Every entrepreneur should do the same due diligence on a potential investor that smart investors do on their startups. Let’s just say that every investor is different, without trying to define what is good or bad for you and your startup. Academic coach investors. Many wealthy people make poor startup investors.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Coach Invest Sample 108

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2010

The group--which was started by Richard Koffler and John Morris , two well known investors in Los Angeles--has been trying to help connect CEOs with interesting university and other technology projects. A lot of the time, all the startup and inventor can get their head around is the technology, much less trying to deal with business issues.

Networking 215

Networking Research Startup USC 215

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. Early-stage startup. Every startup is early-stage to someone. Super Angels.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Seed Funding Incubator 101

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2019

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. If necessary, use a strengths coach, and always start a business which highlights your signature strengths.

Coach 70

Coach Satisfaction Ideas Entrepreneur 70

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 7, 2013

According to Snodgrass, SGL wants to deliver products and services that can quickly help entrepreneurs get the attention, and funding they need and have been overwhelmed with mentor, Angels, and VC requests since launch and to date.

Google 87

Google Technical Review Press Software Review 87

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

Natalia not only wants to increase the number of women in investment, but bring more people in total to help startups and other businesses get the capital they need. We have three main components: education, mentoring, and practice. NON: I very much started with people in my network in the beginning.

Mentor 84

Mentor Invest Entrepreneur Startup 84

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!

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Steve Reich

AUGUST 9, 2012

At a recent accelerator event on the West Side, a friendly young founder told me that he had been coached by his mentor not to talk to Angel groups. With the VC ranks shrinking, founders need to tap every source of capital out there. The entrepreneurs in startups are trained to go fast and run lean.

Angel 49

Angel Pasadena Angels Venture Capital Pasadena 49

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2012

From LA Demo Day to Silicon Beach Fest to Crowdstart LA to hackathons to Startup Weekends, companies and entrepreneurs alike have joined forces to feed the startup ecosystem. Startup Weekend is a 54-hour frenzy in which a group of strangers can come together to form a company and compete for prizes.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas San Diego Mentor 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

MARCH 9, 2011

Last year, venture capitalists and angels who co-invested with them placed $7 billion into seed and early-stage deals, an 11 percent increase from 2009, according to the most recent PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report. “Most have a strong desire to mentor and help build companies.”

Tips 100

Tips Capital Tech Coast Angels Screening 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2017

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. If necessary, use a strengths coach, and always start a business which highlights your signature strengths.

Coach 59

Coach Satisfaction Ideas Entrepreneur 59

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

A trophy investor is a great coach and mentor, sometimes providing the only shoulder an entrepreneur can cry on during difficult times. This mentoring can be particularly useful to the entrepreneur working through the personality issues that tend to dominate start up companies.

Entrepreneur 83

Entrepreneur Mentor Invest Angel 83