Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. if you don't have experience with venture debt you might want to listen to this bit in the video - we talked a lot about how it works]. o Put a timeframe/money – competition in the picture. He told them it was now or never.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Custom Customer 304

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

Many successful crowdfunding campaigns, just like many startups funded by angels and VCs, fail miserably due to normal business challenges, including inventory buildup, marketing, competition, and customer support. Thus crowdfunding is clearly not the panacea for funding and success that many entrepreneurs envision.

Startup 100

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 100

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

There is a lot to say about retaining control. Whether the partner is a supplier looking to gain a lock on your business as it grows or a customer looking to create a competitive barrier through use of your product, such an investment typically carries fewer restrictions than from a professional investor and less oversight.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2023

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and active angel investor, I often get questions about the realism of the Shark Tank TV series, compared to professional investor negotiations. Skip the background story and customer pitch, which every investor has heard all too often. Grab investor attention in the first couple of minutes.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Custom 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Those at the other extreme don’t look up from the grindstone long enough to notice whether all their work is producing sweat equity or just sweat.

Startup 160

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 160

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2016

After reviewing her day-by-day recommendations to improve productivity in a single week, I have extrapolated her guidance to ten productivity tips specifically for entrepreneurs to regain that competitive edge: Focus on managing yourself rather than managing others. The key problem you need to solve is managing your distractions.

Tips 100

Tips Activity Startup Product 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. Yet there are many things about business and work that haven’t changed for a long time, and don’t need to change anytime soon. This is not about clocking in to work. Anything less makes you non-competitive.

Startup 153

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 153

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

Many successful crowdfunding campaigns, just like many startups funded by angels and VCs, fail miserably due to normal business challenges, including inventory buildup, marketing, competition, and customer support. Thus crowdfunding is clearly not the panacea for funding and success that many entrepreneurs envision.

Startup 151

Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We operate at scale and speed unprecedented in human history.” * I first wrote about the changes to the Venture Capital ecosystem 10 years ago and this still serves as a good primer of how we arrived at 2011, a decade on from the Web 1.0 So in our earliest stages we’re about 70% seed and 30% pre-seed. dot-com bonanza.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

Often, we joke together as managers of companies or of people that our goal is “world domination” or “to crush the competition.” How about companies formed to profit and give to charity? Companies living on the edge or losing money often cannot make those vital promises, affecting its reputation, security and equity value.

Company 156

Company Companies .Net Google 156

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

As a startup advisor and investor, living in an area with several local universities, I’m continually surprised by how little many entrepreneurs know about the resources available from these institutions. Every startup needs to start their funding search looking for grants, with no equity dilution, as well as contests and foundations.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition. It still amazes me that some entrepreneurs seem totally at a loss on this question, or customer retention rate, or even margin expectations. Postulate competitive reactions and your responses.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2019

Ian talked to us about the rewards and challenges of being an entrepreneur, plus how important it is to manage lifetime value (LTV) of a customer versus customer acquisition cost (CAC) in making a successful company. (We Ian Chen: In my previous life, I was working in private equity in LA. How are you funded?

Startup 113

Startup Equity Custom Customer 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and active angel investor, I often get questions about the realism of the Shark Tank TV series, compared to professional investor negotiations. Skip the background story and customer pitch, which every investor has heard all too often. Grab investor attention in the first couple of minutes.

Entrepreneur 127

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Custom 127

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Lots of firms are now talking about this pretty actively.”. Sieg recently joined us on Equity , TechCrunch’s venture capital podcast, to explain the firm’s “rise of the rest” philosophy. Competition for access to deals in the Bay Area, however, has priced many investors out of the most sought-after rounds.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding Activity 211

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One.” The passion has to be in the business context – meaning results oriented, customer oriented, and sensitive to competition. Is your project seen by both as an end in itself, or a means to another end?

Software Review 103

Software Review Equity CTO Hire Outsource Development 103

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 28, 2020

As the co-founder of Saucey and now chief executive of PCH, Chris Vaughn, said: “Everyone in the liquor industry is thinking about the marijuana business and everyone in marijuana is looking at liquor.” We’ve spent the past decade in bev-alc at the forefront of providing solutions to changing consumer shopping behaviors.

Company 188

Company Companies Los Angeles San Diego 188

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. You have very little money, and you don’t want to give away your equity. Giving equity is realistic, but base it on contribution and role, with vesting after time and milestones. The right investors and right time dilemma.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

As a startup advisor and investor, living in an area with several local universities, I’m continually surprised by how little many entrepreneurs know about the resources available from these institutions. Every startup needs to start their funding search looking for grants, with no equity dilution, as well as contests and foundations.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

Eano, she said, offers competitive and transparent pricing so that homeowners aren’t surprised as a remodeling project goes on. We’re also helping these individual contractors increase the brand, and helping them with the administration and customer support side with our software.”. Image Credits: Eano CEO and founder Stella Wu / Eano.

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Software Review 185

Berkonomics

JANUARY 26, 2017

The most striking example was the one hundred–million–dollar purchase of one of my companies by a New York private equity investor using only five million of its cash. And how about a product purchase where you cannot come to a successful negotiated price with your supplier? Ask for extended terms well beyond sixty or ninety days.

Pricing 120

Pricing Sales Tool Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. Investors want to hear about customers with money who have a painful problem that you can solve now.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

socalTECH

DECEMBER 12, 2013

We caught up with CEO Simon Anderson to learn more about the big debt funding round and how it came about, the complexities of providing founder liquidity in a bootstrapped company--and how the company is looking to use those funds to take the company to the next level. So, for us, competition is good.

Software Review 238

Software Review Cloud Computing Technical Review Platform 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Dan LeBlanc: Daasity is about two years old., That makes it difficult to figure out what it costs to acquire a customer, and what a customer is worth. What's your background, and how did the startup come about? Dan LeBlanc: I used to run customer analytics for a brand called ProFlowers. What does your startup do?

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

With those two funding rounds all equity-based, to buy up property itself and provide $10,000 cash advances to all sellers, Sundae previously also raised a debt fund from high net worth individuals, and it has a “very large” debt facility from Goldman Sachs that it also non-dilutive, Stech said. million Series A also led by QED.

Sales 282

Sales Demand San Diego Funding 282

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2015

They financed their companies, to the extent possible, in a manner minimizing the cost of capital, planning for organic growth in the number of customers served and in associated revenues. The Flipper’s executives usually have significant equity holdings, either actually owned or reflected in stock options.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Equity Competition Pricing 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2015

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). Here are five key ones to celebrate: Enjoy the feedback from every satisfied customer. In my experience, both are always required in heavy doses.

Satisfaction 101

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Custom Customer 101

socalTECH

JULY 27, 2020

For example, everything from quality of the information about that location online, to online reputation, to social profile on Facebook for that location. We're basically about helping multi location businesses get discovered, locally. They're looking for discrepancies about validity of a business.

Google 113

Google Santa Monica Networking Software 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

With the advent and popularity of crowdfunding platforms, including Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as a winning alternative for funding your new venture, I find that many aspiring entrepreneurs are confused about the need to ever seek a professional angel investor. Business-to-business products need professional investors.

Funding 119

Funding Startup Platform Examples 119

InfoChachkie

JULY 11, 2011

The nature of the company’s business model requires it to fund certain costs before it is paid by its customers. By combining our equity investment with a tranche of venture debt, the company has avoided a larger equity round, which would have significantly diluted the Founders’ ownership share. Enter venture debt.

Equity 235

Equity Startup Invest Funding 235

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

There is a lot to say about retaining control. Whether the partner is a supplier looking to gain a lock on your business as it grows or a customer looking to create a competitive barrier through use of your product, such an investment typically carries fewer restrictions than from a professional investor and less oversight.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2020

Many of you are convinced that it’s all about finding investors, but my experience indicates that the critical resources needed go far beyond money. Apple has since capitalized on the top technical talent in Silicon Valley to stay ahead of the competition. Financial capital – revenue, equity, debt, funding.

Resource 131

Resource Startup Capital Mentor 131

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In reality, they need a separate pitch about the business, carrying over only a slide or two about the solution. These don’t get funded, nor bought by customers.

Product 103

Product Slides Custom Customer 103

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

You company is the product and you’re selling an equity ownership in your company but much more broadly you’re selling trust & confidence that you’re going to build something enormously valuable and that you’re going to be enjoyable to work hand-in-hand with over the coming decade of each other’s lives. Good luck with your raise!

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. Yet there are many things about business and work that haven’t changed for a long time, and don’t need to change anytime soon. This is not about clocking in to work. Anything less makes you non-competitive.

Startup 93

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 93