Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

I’m very pleased today to announce that I invested, on behalf of GRP Partners, in Burstly alongside Rincon Venture Partners , an early stage VC in Southern California whith whom we love to work (and were our co-investors on RingRevenue ). Naturally I’m excited about this investment or I wouldn’t have done it.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2011

Making the decision to become an entrepreneur is a major commitment, with huge implications for skills and lifestyle. Examine the marketplace and your competition. That should indicate that a lot of entrepreneurs get more than they bargained for. An MBA or other academic credentials just don’t do it. Marty Zwilling.

Screening 99

Screening Startup Statistics Guide 99

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Many entrepreneurs seems to be convinced that the “crowd” of regular people using the Internet will somehow solve their startup funding needs, when they sense a lack of interest from accredited investors. But safely seeking equity investments from the crowd via the Jobs Act of 2012 is problematic and has still not been defined.

Funding 101

Funding Equity Entrepreneur Invest 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Get your Internet domain name and website.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. If you don’t believe in your bones that you’re amazing then it’s no wonder you don’t want to sell them on making the investment.”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Others, like Guy Kawasaki , have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent enhancements or omissions that can kill your deal. It takes a huge upfront investment to attract users, before advertisers are interested. Entrepreneurs in this category are usually dreamers.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Innocal Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2015

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. In reality, it doesn’t take a huge investment of money and time to build a prototype today.

Ideas 107

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Tool 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2013

Many entrepreneurs seems to be convinced that the “crowd” of regular people using the Internet will somehow solve their startup funding needs, when they sense a lack of interest from accredited investors. But safely seeking equity investments from the crowd via the Jobs Act of 2012 is problematic and has still not been defined.

Funding 106

Funding Equity Entrepreneur Sample 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2014

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. In reality, it doesn’t take a huge investment of money and time to build a prototype today.

Outsource Development 105

Outsource Development Startup Ideas Tool 105

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2018

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute.

Ideas 53

Ideas Outsource Development Tool Outsource 53

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

The power of large screen real estate. I think many recent companies make the mistake of not investing enough in web products, if they invest anything at all. Use that as a source of competition. So I thought I’d try a different approach and reword Fred’s title and call it “Web Second, Mobile First.”

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

The AngelSoft Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process. That’s why this item is so important, and is probably the biggest stumbling block I see in getting through the initial angel screening. Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2011

Crowd-pitching is an offline event, but logically similar, which give several candidates an opportunity to pitch to a crowd of interested people for a couple of minutes, after which the crowd “votes” with some play-money to pick the best candidate, who then wins some nominal investment amount or services. Intellectual property is jeopardized.

Funding 92

Funding Startup Social Media Sample 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

At VT KnowledgeWorks we screen prospective clients for their Market opportunity, for the Magic that they offer to their prospective customers, and for the Moxie displayed by the start-up team. They are funded and staffed by groups of accomplished entrepreneurs. The entry screenings are tough. Relationships , I said back then.

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. He started targeting the ad by location and interest, and the number of potential people he was reaching began decreasing on screen (Facebook tells you dynamically). In many of them I get asked similar questions, including the inevitable “what makes a great entrepreneur?” You Can’t Sign This Deal.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2010

Crowd-pitching is an offline event, but logically similar, which give several candidates an opportunity to pitch to a crowd of interested people for a couple of minutes, after which the crowd “votes” with some play-money to pick the best candidate, who then wins some nominal investment amount or services. Intellectual property is jeopardized.

Funding 59

Funding Startup Social Media Sample 59

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

There are now a second generation of entrepreneurs and companies that have learned from their last successes and are producing great new companies like TopSpin Media , Sometrics and GumGum. As should Eric Sikola and ExpenseBay who won the “Showoff&# judges competition ( Photos featured here taken by (cc) Kenneth Yeung – [link] ).

Twiistup 228

Twiistup SoCal Southern California Yammer 228

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. They’re competitive. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. They’re competitive. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

I like to tell entrepreneurs to treat it like a sales campaign. I am really surprised how many entrepreneurs pitch me and then I never hear from them again. ENTREPRENEUR NEXT STEPS. Stay on the radar – You need to find a very polite way to persistently be on the top of the radar screen of your VC.

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

In reading the comments on Bijan’s blog and having discussed this so many times, I know some entrepreneurs only want to talk with VCs that think that Powerpoint causes leprosy. And when you finish the demo you can bring in the other important components such as competition, team, customer acquisition strategy, etc. Mobile app?

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

I ended up going to Harvard for college, and worked at JP Morgan in investment banking, and went to Harvard Law School. I ended up representing people like Kobe Bryant, MGM, and others, but I realized I wanted to be an entrepreneur and that it is in my blood. So, 10 years ago and left to run Charlie Chan Printing.

Startup 233

Startup Tips Web Platform 233

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. They’re competitive. They decided to re-open the competition for 3-4 more weeks. I don’t want to lose next time.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 10, 2012

Park had a screen-printing business in 2004, starting with his own $4,000 investment. He worked with High School and College students, striving to make it easy for anyone to become an entrepreneur. “At There was no competitive advantage once the big guys got involved. Background and experience before Insteegram.

Startup 98

Startup Customer Custom Pricing 98

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. Partners make investment decisions. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. Already invested in one of my key competitors? Do they have money to invest? Meet in person. Tell a friend!

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

When I described to people why I initially invested my calls went something like this, “He’s taken kicks to the face for nearly 2 years and is still standing. Jody didn’t exactly have an easy time fund raising because he’s not one of the prototypical Silicon Valley funded entrepreneurs.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

We were talking about a company, Factual (disclosure my firm is an investor), which was founded by one of LA’s most talented Internet entrepreneurs, Gil Elbaz , who as co-founder of Applied Semantics (purchased by pre-IPO Google for $102 million and now Google AdSense) is responsible for a large portion of the Internet’s monetization.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

When I counsel startup entrepreneurs I give them my blunt dose of reality, “If you can’t easily identify target leads who have a problem you can solve then hang up your cleats – you’re not going to succeed.” Assume competition and assume within the buying organization you have enemies. We are hands on.

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 5, 2015

In his premier film appearance in the blaxploitation send-up “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” Chris Rock inadvertently addresses a key pricing challenge faced by most entrepreneurs. A recurring entrepreneurial challenge is to determine the optimal price of a new product, especially absent a directly competitive alternative.

Pricing 100

Pricing Product Startup Customer 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

The founders felt that having a legitimate site for content would discourage Silicon Valley VC’s from funding entrepreneurs to create the next big TV killer. Because they are anti-competitive most countries ban cartels. We are entering the age of “second screen&# TV viewing. So what does this have to do with OPEC?

Hulu 292

Hulu Technical Review Content Advertising 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2015

Yet I can’t remember the last time any entrepreneur asked me to assess personal potential, despite the fact that most investors will admit they invest in the person more than the product. These people are the ultimate chess players in the game of startups, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106