Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. Large companies can be strange sometimes. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Sometimes it actually does.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

It’s a conversation that creeps up from time-to-time. For a combination of reasons I didn’t end up talking with the CEO in time and the company quickly became over subscribed. It is probably the right thing for the stage of company. I was interested in learning more. That’s fine. That’s fine.

Startup 360

Startup Venture Capital Invest Slides 360

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

Since Arrested Development is back I thought I’d resurrect Gob Bluth’s answer when he was told he needed a “business model” – he quickly figured out that he was missing one so he asked Starla, the Bluth company secretary, if she would be his business model. LEAN STARTUP MOVEMENT. INNOVATOR’S DILEMMA.

Startup 401

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 401

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 9, 2009

I just had an all-too common conversation with the founder of a startup who had spent more than a year working with a software development company who had produced a mess. The mess really comes from a developer who was willing to get started on a product that was not fully thought out. SEO for Startups )? Administrators?

Software Development 292

Software Development Develop Development Startup 292

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Creating a gerat company in a relative vacuum is an exercise in complete trust that the entrepreneur knows what’s best for the customer, perhaps even without interaction with such a customer. So, I’ve developed the three step dance in order to help form a repeatable method of how to create a great company from an early idea.

Company 229

Company Companies Startup Customer 229

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Los Angeles-based Ninja Metrics announced this morning that it has raised $2.8M in a funding round, to bring its social analytics engine for gaming companies to market. The startup, which came out of technology developed from a group of university researchers, said the $2.8M The company is led by Dr. Dmitri Williams.

Metrics 147

Metrics Tech Coast Angels Software Cloud Computing 147

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

In the world of online, mobile, and social games, there are now petabytes of data being collected by companies on what users are doing in those games--and trying to make sense of all that information. The company announced a first round of funding Monday for its technology. Explain what Ninja Metrics is doing?

Metrics 166

Metrics Software Review Research Startup 166

SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

" I realized that I've never captured topics that I've covered (I'm always willing to look at other topics), nor have I put up my speaker bio. So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Tony has a Ph.D. He is a frequent speaker at trade and industry events.

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire Startup Metrics eHarmony 175

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Under the heading, “The Book On Bezos,” the callout lists ten actionable and impactful nuggets of startup advice. As discussed in Hiring Entrepreneurs, the impact of each new hire during your startup’s early days is tremendous. A mis-hire at the outset of your company can irreversibly alter the trajectory of your corporate culture.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Framework Customer 279

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. There is an inherent value that any company has. I acknowledged this in the article.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

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. In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. I used an image from Roger Smith that describes the varying roles of a CTO as the company matures.

Fractional CTO 225

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach 225

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Launchpad LA today announces it will accept applications for its third class of Los Angeles-based tech startups. We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. Each company will receive $50,000.

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Understanding how your company will change as you move through these phases is critical if you hope to scale to a large business one day.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2021

If you want to get in better shape and haven’t read that you might start there. I started advice with the premise that no amount of exercise or food eating plan would help with long-term fitness or weight goals unless you first had a mental plan and a set of measurements to track your progress. I want to share with you how I did this.

Coach 538

Coach Startup Guide Journal 538

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. Importantly we also discussed: should startups raise small amounts of money or large? should companies do spreadsheets / plan / have a hypothesis for success? Check it out.

Social Media 301

Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Do you need a board when you first start you company? If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

Investors have to look behind the plan and at the entrepreneur and his or her team, knowing that, over time, most of us have come to the conclusion that it is the execution of the ever-changing plan, not the plan itself that makes a company a success. Starting up' Tyson’s statement also addresses change.

Startup 245

Startup Summary Metrics Class 245

socalTECH

MAY 10, 2013

Four years ago, Los Angeles-based Adly (www.adly.com) launched to much fanfare as one of the first local startups to tie into the brand-new, Twitter micro messaging platform. Walter Delph: We started primarily on Twitter, but we now work on Twitter, Facebook, and others. Walter Delph: As I mentioned, the company is four years old now.

Social Media 237

Social Media Advertising Media Metrics 237

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 5, 2013

It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. No-one challenged this number, and it became an unattributed source of the metric for market size for years. Starting up Raising money'

Metrics 239

Metrics Startup Marketing Demand 239

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. We were based in London.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 17, 2018

Tuesday, October 23, 2018 -- Entrepreneurial Metrics-Measurements for Success. Investors agree that the single most important factor for a company's success is the entrepreneur. Chris will offer case studies and talk about ongoing research and start-ups addressing this topic. Appetizers and drinks will be served.

Metrics 100

Metrics Case Study Pasadena Angels Pasadena 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

As a tech startup grows it needs to develop more process & management if it is to scale. Some objections are real and they end up becoming changes to your product, your service plan or your pricing / bundling. Some examples of common objections across many companies: 1. Tags: Start-up Advice.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2020

Every new venture that survives the first five years starts to drift away from their entrepreneurial thinking, and assumes they have achieved the path to longevity. In fact, even within Fortune 100 companies, almost 90 percent have encountered growth stalls or flirted with failure, or worse, in the last 50 years. Change is hard.

Startup 128

Startup Company Companies Statistics 128

socalTECH

JULY 22, 2013

Encinitas-based ForwardMetrics has just taken $1M in a seed funding round, to help companies better conduct their strategic planning. The startup said that the new funding round brings its total raised to $1.75M. forwardmetrics forward metrics strategic planning software venture capital' READ MORE>>.

Seed Funding 252

Seed Funding Funding Metrics Venture Capital 252

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

And of course you could add up impressions by counting your the followers of everybody who had retweeted plus your own. It is what is commonly referred to as “vanity metrics” as in, “Look at how many more followers I got us! Clicks are also a simple measure that you can get from basic link tracking packages.

Marketing 307

Marketing Technical Review Startup Tool 307

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

I work with a lot of startups. I start to notice when bad behavior creeps into the system as a whole. The minute you try to monetize now they have metrics with which to beat you up and say you’re business has limitations.” The company with no revenue and a $150k burn rate that raised $2.5

Venture Capital 412

Venture Capital Startup Funding Snapchat 412

socalTECH

JULY 18, 2014

Five startups have been named winners at the Siemer Summit , the tech confab which has been being held in Santa Monica for the past couple of days by local investment banking company and investor Siemer Ventures, highlighting some of the top startups in the region.

Startup 173

Startup Truecar Santa Monica Conference 173

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

In addition to being a thought leader within the Lean Startup Movement , Steve is also a professor at Stanford and Berkley. During the late 1980's, Steve accepted a senior executive role at SuperMac, a Macintosh graphics card company that Steve jokes was, “Fifth in a group of three.". the VP of Sales the richest person in the company.

Marketing 271

Marketing Startup Sales Customer 271

socalTECH

JUNE 5, 2015

Los Angeles-based game analytics software developer Ninja Metrics has raised $2.8M of an ongoing, $5M funding round, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing this week. The startup, led by Dmitri Williams, and helps mobile, online, and social game developers better monetize their properties.

Metrics 100

Metrics Tech Coast Angels Software Development Los Angeles 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. Startup Grind was a truly awesome conference and Derek the consumate host. New company in Boston with a model called “royalty capital.”

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

SoCal Tech Calendar

JANUARY 6, 2017

Thursday, January 12, 2017 -- TCVN Workshop: Lean Analytics- Vanity vs Actionable Metrics. Most entrepreneurs are swimming in a sea of metrics. This Lean Analytics Workshop will give you strategies and tactics to more effectively and efficiently work on your business not matter the size, industry or if it is in startup mode.

TCVN 100

TCVN Metrics Class Entrepreneur 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 24, 2011

For this morning's company profile, we thought we'd connect with ShareSquare (www.getsharesquare.com), a newly funded Los Angeles startup focused on QR barcodes -- 3D barcodes -- focused on musicians and entertainers. We caught up with Matthias Galica , the firm's founder, to hear more about the company.

Startup 220

Startup West Hollywood Metrics Entertainment 220

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

That's what Los Angeles-based MergeLocal (www.mergelocal.com) is looking to find out, by offering up points which can be converted to real cash, when users check into local businesses. What's your background, and how did you decide to start the company? My other co-founder, Rusty Jenkins, was also with that company, doing sales.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entrée for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Yet you may not be so sure where to start, and how to put it all together. Emeril Lagasse is always ready to “kick it up a notch!”

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. Keeping a blog has been great because so many entrepreneurs have written me with questions about their companies and I’ve gotten to know many of you personally through the process. In these many exchanges similar questions crop up. I guarantee this is a bad VC.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur 297

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was an angel investor in his company, made a bunch of calls on his behalf and then I personally sent it out on AngelList. I just had to line up behind him. We then started talking about Dave McClure. At first I was cynical about his ability to have 500 startups (or some fraction of that which is still larger than any VC has).

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2012

I’ll write up some thoughts in a blog post format soon. I’ve been spending time looking at marketing conversion metrics at portfolio companies lately. Do vanity metrics matter? Hopefully I will teach myself Keynote soon and give up PPT. How well do “sponsored stories” work? crazy well.).

Conference 297

Conference Marketing Metrics Writing 297