Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

I was recently approached by Fast Company to comment on “crisis management&# at startups in the wake of the Airbnb “ranksackgate&# story. I agreed to do the interview because the story was about what other companies can learn rather than about airbnb in particular. Never Blame the Press. How do you lose that debate?

Startup 329

Startup Press Training Media 329

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). In a startup this is a mistake.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches?

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

Obviously you should have somebody that helps you research journalists, gets you meetings, pitches stories, helps prep you for interviews & helps make sure your writing is cogent. But some CEOs then try to have more junior people in the company take the interview. In a startup this is a mistake. Some final thoughts on PR.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Today we’re in a world where 10 accelerators are bombarding you with emails to meet their 10-15 companies. Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, I don’t. Co-founder discontent.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

It has even gone so far that we now have evocative headlines in the tech press such as “ Buy or Die ,” which is what got me thinking about this post. But the press (and I suspect many of the senior execs of these companies) don’t really explore the corrosive downside of these acquisition. So I thought I would.

Press 357

Press Startup Yahoo Venture Capital 357

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Netflix employees staged a walkout yesterday in response to the company’s handling of a Dave Chappelle special that premiered on October 5. But Sarandos doubled down on his defense of the special, writing an internal email that “content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.” Several things can be true.

Netflix 300

Netflix Demand Content Hollywood 300

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The first check I wrote was just over 10 years ago into a company called Invoca who just announced a new $56 million in funding led by Scott Hilleboe at HIG Growth Partners. Ownership Matters At Upfront we focus our energy on fewer companies where we take meaningful ownership and we continue to invest throughout the lifecycle of the company.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Are you cynical about their chances in the market just because they seem to be hot in the press and that bugs you? Albert Wenger from Union Square Ventures wrote a great post the other day that reminded me I’ve been meaning to write about this topic. That plus great press & it’s working on some level.

Startup 313

Startup Press Writing News 313

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

When I did it was a little too close to home for a company to have me publish it. A while back I received a frantic phone call from the CEO of a company in which I invested. The company had their holding statement. They had articles and press releases written. Much time has passed. But both stories are still accurate.

Press 336

Press Blogging Journal News 336

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I have experienced many first-time entrepreneurs with too much hubris if fund-raising came easily and press was fawning and employees joined in droves and customer adoption has been rapid. In London when founders failed they were ostracized in the press and culturally I believe it became harder to raise capital.

Startup 261

Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

Founders read the tech press every day filled with stories about these $20 million fund-raisings by this firm and that firm and it sounds like everybody else is doing it except for you. When you read about the funding in the press it sounds like it was a walk in the park. Happy raising. It only takes one yes.

Press 232

Press Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 232

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 2, 2013

That means a slew of companies will be preparing to launch their new products or announcing their companies at the annual SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. And ever since then every year we are subjected to the tech press corps writing the annual, “What will the hot company at SXSW be?” ” So go.

Startup 332

Startup Conference Summary Press 332

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The truth is – there isn’t a “right&# answer so for your company. And these ideas have ways of seeping into board discussions with portfolio companies as in, “have you ever thought about trying A, B or C?&# For early-stage consumer companies I would be careful not to market futures at all.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2011

I’m not an advisor & I’m not privy to any internal information at your company, I have no right to tell you what to do. Even writing this could hurt me. I writing as a friend. Put it in the press. I’m not omnipotent so I can’t use market power to influence your behavior. I love you, man.

Writing 301

Writing Email Press Mobile 301

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2011

You should always have a steady stream of “friend of the firm&# hanging around your company. Hot company. You won’t land the big jobs unless you’re in there shaping the discussion about what the company needs, convincing them that they need you before they’re even ready to hire. Hire Fast, Fire Fast.

Startup 410

Startup Writing Press Venture Capital 410

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2011

I recently was reviewing a press release for a company in which I’m an investor. I told him that I thought the press release was crap (I think my words, exactly). Of course I can’t write every press release for the company nor would I want to. ” My response?

Press 337

Press Venture Capital Doc Summary 337

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

But for some strange reason they make you file your progress on fund raising, which is the widely picked up by the press. I plan to write about it early next year when we’re all through. But it’s hard to know that from the press. Early on in my first company I had an employee ask if it was a good time to buy a home.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata investments rights given investors the right to invest in your future fund-raising rounds and maintain their ownership % in your company as your company grows and raises more capital. You now own 20% of a company valued at $50 million but you’ve put in $4m to get that. Why investors care about prorata rights.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

When you are selected you share the stage with 49 other companies (in the case of TechCrunch50. Most people pay attention to the first 5 companies. By company 22 it’s hard to remember what any of them did. Many other great companies are not. - It’s no wonder many companies don’t get good coverage.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

No matter how much you think you know about Steve’s lean startup philosophy, Eric Ries’ contributions to the movement, or the methodologies by which companies have put lean startup tenets into practice, I am confident you will be enlightened and entertained by Steve’s frank and insightful remarks. . If you find one, you become a company.

Startup 229

Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” To be fair to TigerText they build a company focused on the healthcare industry and HIPAA compliance.

Snapchat 214

Snapchat Invest Technical Review Dollar Shave Club 214

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 26, 2021

Then fans would be tasked with writing their own stories, submitting them to the Realms of Ruin universe by minting them as NFTs on the Solana blockchain. If the authors are inviting fans to write fan fiction about a universe they created, who owns the derivative works? Another unabashed proponent of fan fiction is N.K.

Writing 196

Writing Outsource Development Technical Review Examples 196

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2011

A clearly defined and differentiated market position – so many company have “me, too” slogans or consulting gibberish in their taglines. As long as you don’t care about getting any press. A way to tell the press and customers what you stand for. That’s fine. ” What does that even mean?

Startup 289

Startup Press Software Marketing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. People judge you and your company in the first few seconds. Even the most experienced executives write down what they need to say, and practice for every event. Handling different media formats.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 26, 2011

Especially when starting a company with personal savings or money from relatives and friends, early signs of success are intoxicating. Each new customer, each mention in the press or online adds to the feeling of early accomplishment. There is nothing quite as thrilling in business as igniting a startup and watching it blossom.

Press 149

Press Hollywood Writing Startup 149

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

John Lusk, along with his Co-Author Kyle Harrison, leveraged their humble company''s newsletter into The MouseDriver Chronicles , a New York Times bestselling book. The company''s newsletter was initially created to share their entrepreneurial journey with their family and friends. Saying, ''Hey, we want to pay you to write a book.’

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

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. Of course that’s true.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

This does not mean you shouldn’t solve big, complex problems or write complex code. But the narrative in the press about Al Gore was that he was a smarmy know-it-all. Bush had the opposite narrative in the press. Obviously press narratives of people are characterizations that seldom match reality.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

It’s a hard topic to write about because it’s almost an accepted norm that total transparency is good. You took the risk to start your company. They told you, “Yeah, man, I’ll gladly write the first $250,000. I worked with a startup CEO who decided he wanted to sell his company. CEO transparency.

Startup 417

Startup Course Venture Capital Writing 417

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. It’s why opt-in marketing databases can be so incredibly valuable for companies like Gilt Groupe, One King’s Lane and AdoreMe. Much more data in the full post. PHONE CALLS.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

I have blogged about some of the downside consequences of the changes and the private information I have says the consequences are much worse than is reported in the press since few people publicly talk about. We led an investment round in a company a while ago in which we wrote a seven-figure check and have taken a board seat.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

I recently wrote a piece for Mashable on how to create a company blog. As Brian Solis is fond of saying, “PR stands for public relations, not press release.&# That’s right. Don’t just write a carbon copy of what somebody else is doing. Every time I write a post I send it out on Twitter.

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

Board work does involve a lot of conflict at moments throughout the company. Sometimes conflict comes because a company isn’t hitting its expected targets and investors vs. executives have different views in the causes or the consequences of under-performance.

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

Tonight I was reading a good blog post ( here ) from Sean Powers with Alistair Croll on preparing yourself for the TC50 “bump” – the rise in traffic that a company gets from presenting at TechCrunch 50. So many companies suck at managing their booths. So many companies suck at managing their booths. We were hot.

Startup 310

Startup Press Venture Capital Journal 310

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

I’m still planning to write some in depth pieces on the topic but I thought, “given that this is about how video will consume the Internet over the next 5 years, what better way to exemplify this than with a 10-minute video.” I recently gave a talk about the Future of Television.

GRP Partners 371

GRP Partners Content Technical Review Press 371

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

So I thought I’d write a post about how I drive my personal creativity. (A This applies equally to VCs, startups & big company executives. The key is channeling what you learn when you drive onto paper for retention purposes so you have to write it down soon afterward. So no whinging about what a long post this is!

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356