Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

If you’ve read any of my ongoing series on fund raising from venture capitalist (episode 1?— ?controlling Find a portfolio company or two that they’ve invested in. Decision Dynamics Each firm makes decisions in different ways so understanding the firm’s decision framework matters. It’s super easy to suss all this out.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

The framework of his book has profoundly altered how I think about the technology market and affects how I thought about building my businesses and how I think about investing in venture capital. In fact, the incumbent is usually very dismissive of this new competition as our the large buyers of the incumbent’s products.

Startup 376

Startup Framework Marketing Customer 376

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. With no competitive advantage, startups with new ideas gaining traction are never feared, and are usually eaten for lunch as sleeping giants wake up. Talent – Every startup needs talents to give the company value. If you want to be feared.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup News Framework 105

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

And I had 2 “strategic&# investors in my first company. So I thought I’d try to lay out a framework for how you should think about it as many you will inevitably be faced with this experience. I had two strategics in my first company. He was also chairman of a $6 billion company! Most VCs aren’t either?

Venture Capital 279

Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur Framework 279

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2013

The opportunity for change is huge, with everyone taking a new look at the world after the recession, but the competition is also huge, since the cost of entry is at an all-time low. Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. Talent – Every startup needs talents to give the company value. If you want to be feared.

Startup 99

Startup Competition News Framework 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2017

Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. With no competitive advantage, startups with new ideas gaining traction are never feared, and are usually eaten for lunch as sleeping giants wake up. Talent – Every startup needs talents to give the company value. If you want to be feared.

Startup 57

Startup News Framework Entrepreneur 57

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Executives from large companies have sometimes long forgotten how to do this (“My people will contact your people to work out the details.”). An obvious reason is limited funds, but a more important reason is the need to know and intimately understand what is really going on in the business and the market. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 103

Startup Entrepreneur Template Mentor 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2017

Most business leaders today realize that smart management of scarce resources is the key to competitive success. Many venture firms go even further, by insisting on investing their own key players in an interesting startup, before they commit any funds. That’s why they manage money so carefully.

Product 58

Product Startup Guide Framework 58

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2013

Many entrepreneurs are paranoid about the partnership approach, and think that M&A is only an alternative for large companies who are flush with cash. In every startup, as well as in mature companies, there is no substitute for constantly maintaining a pipeline of alternatives. Both of these qualms are wrong and shortsighted.

Acquisition 88

Acquisition CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development 88

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Many entrepreneurs are paranoid about the partnership approach, and think that M&A is only an alternative for large companies who are flush with cash. In every startup, as well as in mature companies, there is no substitute for constantly maintaining a pipeline of alternatives. Both of these qualms are wrong and shortsighted.

CTO Hire 91

CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development Resource 91

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2012

Executives from large companies have sometimes long forgotten how to do this (“My people will contact your people to work out the details.”). An obvious reason is limited funds, but a more important reason is the need to know and intimately understand what is really going on in the business and the market. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Startup Template Mentor 94

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. I used an image from Roger Smith that describes the varying roles of a CTO as the company matures. How do we need to structure the systems to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition?

Fractional CTO 225

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach 225

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

Bijan Sabet – investor & board member in some small companies you might have heard of like Twitter, Tumblr, Boxee & OMGPOP – took issue with the whole notion that you even need a Powerpoint deck anymore. First, if it’s an early stage company, I don’t need to see a powerpoint deck. I funded them 8 weeks later.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

He’d been working at a well-funded startup for about a year and had come to terms with the fact that the startup was really a pretty dumb idea. Bending over: How to sell to large companies - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , May 24, 2010 This is a guest post by Steve Hanov , who blogs about programming and startups.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 26, 2013

Nick told me that he was in the process of winding down his fund at Spring Ventures, which would allow him to focus his energy on a new business he founded with Sunil Paul. Competition abounds, mostly in the form of Lyft , another Bay Area-based purveyor of ride-shares. It may sound like semantics, but it’s not.

Google 92

Google Technical Review Santa Monica Framework 92

SoCal Delicious

JANUARY 9, 2014

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” Simon Sinek If your customers believe in your mission, then they’ll warm to you and listen to what you offer and how. Chasing investors, not customers Just because you have a great idea, this doesn’t mean that you’ll get funding.

Startup 78

Startup Design Customer Custom 78

Xconomy

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Each company is investing untold billions of dollars in developing AI technologies, betting on a future defined by computer systems that can perceive, reason, advise, and decide. As the technology has advanced, so has the competitive landscape. He does see the opportunity for some broadly applicable frameworks though.

Artificial Inteligence 40

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Technical Advisors Research 40

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

This always makes me chuckle because in my first company we had 5 investors in our first round and we picked up 5 more before we finally sold the company. In my second company I had only 1 investor. Plus, if you need more money it’s far less for each to dip into their respective pockets to fund you. I love that.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Startup Invest Pricing 314

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

I was recently contacted by an entrepreneur who was consider a few different business models for his company. Note: before you jump down my throat this founder is no longer with the company after making a mistake and apologizing to Jcal he decided to move on.) Consultants should provide you data & frameworks – not decisions.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Course Guide Entrepreneur 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

My goal is to lay out a basic framework for anybody unsure whom to listen to as a way of helping you think about a way to orient your own views. This market structure in which the few, large players use their market position to eliminate competition is inevitable. It’s Hobbesian economics 101. Enter the decentralized Internet.

Course 280

Course Startup Framework Marketing 280