Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

Venture capitalists have raised increasing amounts of money from their investors (LPs) every year. We’ve had an explosion of alternate sources of financing from crowd-sourcing, angels, accelerators, incubators, corporates, corporate incubators. And as I always assert, “Great companies are built in downturns.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Large corporations and conglomerates, the engines of growth and vitality in the twentieth century, have lost their edge and their image. We can all aspire to grow companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple, which have the aura of fun, while still improving your lifestyle and offering the dream of untold riches.

Offshore 55

Offshore Technical Review Entrepreneur Outsource 55

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2013

Large corporations and conglomerates, the engines of growth and vitality in the twentieth century, have lost their edge and their image. We can all aspire to grow companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple, which have the aura of fun, while still improving your lifestyle and offering the dream of untold riches.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Offshore Startup Technical Review 105

Xconomy

AUGUST 16, 2016

The authors made the point that, given the size of companies today, a single garden-variety blockbuster hardly moves the needle. An obvious place to look for help is the venture community—Bruce Booth of Atlas Ventures pointed out in a recent blog that venture capital is doing well, and is positioned to do even better in the future.

Product 40

Product Journal Venture Capital Demand 40

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 23, 2012

Given Facebook's numerous corporate governance mistakes during its early days, Mark would have been well served to have cultivated a mentorship with one or more savvy Advisors. These individuals would have undoubtedly helped the company avoid some of its intellectual property and employee compensation lawsuits.

Startup 268

Startup Tips CTO Coach Technical Review 268

InfoChachkie

JULY 2, 2012

Temperamental Superstars – These individuals episodically perform at a high level, yet they constantly demand a high level of managerial attention to assuage and reassure their oversized egos. I typically avoid Temperamental Superstars, as they can have a dramatically negative impact on a healthy corporate culture.

Startup 182

Startup Class RSS Statistics 182

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

And while many of the people bringing you the great applications and infrastructure you now rely on are benevolent, there is of course an inbuilt incentive for these companies to use their scale advantages to continue to dominate the markets they’re in, making it harder for upstarts to compete. It’s Hobbesian economics 101.

Course 280

Course Startup Framework Marketing 280

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’ve always been a big believer that just a couple of key individuals make all of the difference in a company’s success. He listed all of the product releases that were up coming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving. The ingredients are all here. Imagine Apple without Steve Jobs.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2011

Every so often a promising entrepreneur seems to freeze in the oncoming headlights and gets run over by his competition. The company's market is the same. The only difference might be the start of another recession like the last one, resulting in a lower valuation for Internet ventures, and that makes all the difference.

Startup 92

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Research 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2010

Every so often a promising entrepreneur seems to freeze in the oncoming headlights and gets run over by his competition. The company's market is the same. The only difference might be that the economy is down, resulting in a lower valuation for Internet ventures, and that makes all the difference. The team is the same.

Entrepreneur 87

Entrepreneur Ideas Research Demand 87

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

And for many companies a good deal of their business is still closed over the phone–through their call centers. This is especially true for companies with expensive and complex products or services that are more consultative in nature, like insurance, financial services, home services, education and travel, etc. You’re right.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 5, 2015

A recurring entrepreneurial challenge is to determine the optimal price of a new product, especially absent a directly competitive alternative. Although we could never conclusively prove it, anecdotally, corporate users told us that the price increase enhanced the legitimacy of GoToMyPC and alleviated their concerns that a $9.95

Pricing 100

Pricing Product Startup Custom 100

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2009

Cliff Rees: We're a software as a solutions company. One of the other things we do very well, and where we have engineering expertise, is we provide one-off, interactive IVR solutions for media companies in the Los Angeles Area. Los Angeles-based XCast Labs (www.xcastlabs.com) announced earlier this month that it has raised a $2.7M

IP 165

IP Pasadena Angels Pasadena Los Angeles 165

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Today I’m announcing that GRP Partners is doubling down on the Twitter ecosystem by investing in DataSift , a company who provides a real-time data platform and tools to third-party developers and corporations. And better yet, the company has a product that will turn the stream into a lake. What does that mean?

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

InfoChachkie

MAY 19, 2011

As noted in parts I and II of this series, agreements with Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) can be alluring and potentially fatal. This series describes how entrepreneurs can craft company-changing agreements with BDCs, while avoiding Kiss of Death contract provisions. Unmitigated exclusivity can be the death knell of a small company.

Outsource Development 193

Outsource Development IP Technical Review Entrepreneur 193

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I’ve raised money as a “hot company” and I’ve raised capital when no one would return my phone calls. I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. Others that are experts in this field include Matt Harris at Village Ventures and Jim Robinson at RRE.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 13, 2010

Publicity and positive word-of-mouth can help grow your start-up into a successful venture. After starting three companies, I've found that some widely accepted advice lead me to failure while. You work in (or run) a services company. Your Interactive Life Venture starts much earlier than the Ideation Phase (3).

Guide 69

Guide Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur 69