Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Some larger communities have organizations of corporate directors, composed of a combination of service providers and professional corporate directors. If you take smart money from a good angel or venture organization, the lead investor usually becomes your board member and has a vested interest in your success.

Coach 243

Coach Organization Resource IBM 243

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.” But that is a number in a vacuum without at least two other measures: return on investment (ROI) and percentage of net profit to revenue. The three measures of progress.

Company 156

Company Companies .Net Google 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according the Crunchbase. Institutional venture capital dispensed in 2019 was down a bit from record highs the previous year, but up significantly over the last few years.

Funding 125

Funding Venture Capital Startup Class 125

InfoChachkie

JULY 11, 2011

Startup blogger and venture capitalist extraordinaire Fred Wilson recently published a great article on Venture Debt, which I strongly suggest you review HERE. In the past, venture debt was often viewed as a funding vehicle of last resort. In the past, venture debt was often viewed as a funding vehicle of last resort.

Equity 235

Equity Startup Invest Funding 235

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2015

He has served as advisor to and member of numerous financial exchanges, and was the founder and CEO of Arthur Lipper Corporation and co-founder and Chairman of New York & Foreign Securities Corporation. Being one or the other is neither good nor bad, but the needs and investment considerations are very different.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Equity Competition Pricing 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

This Advisory Board is a good test drive for the more formal Board of Directors required later, when going public (IPO) or the entrance of venture capital investors. Legally, Directors are accountable for corporate conduct. It’s a resource that you can’t afford to ignore if you intend to stay competitive today.

Allegis 139

Allegis Startup Acquisition Entrepreneur 139

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. When should a VC invest? Between TechCrunch today and my former roles in venture capital, I’ve had the opportunity to practice timing a lot. When should you start a company? What company should you start?

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

This episode of This Week in Venture Capital featured Michael Montgomery, president of Montgomery & Co. If you don’t know Montgomery & Co it is one of the premier technology & media focused investment banks in the country (and as Michael corrected me they also have a strong Healthcare / Med tech practice).

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over 60 times as many companies, according the Center for Venture Research. Individual angel investors have been filling the gap, and now match VCs in total amount invested.

Angel 104

Angel Funding Startup Venture Capital 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

So what should you do to prepare for this stage in your venture, and optimize your chances of making it through the process? The corporate entity lends itself best to the concept of “sharing” equity required by investors, and unincorporated entities don’t get funding. Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. And that leads me to today’s post.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Berkonomics

JULY 3, 2010

Some larger communities have organizations of corporate directors, composed of a combination of service providers and professional corporate directors. And some will willingly work for stock options, an amount to be negotiated based upon time spent and stage of corporate development.

Coach 179

Coach Organization Resource Equity 179

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. So the people who invest in VC funds have two problems.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

The first thing to remember is that banks only do loans – they don’t do equity investments like angels and venture capitalists (and vice versa). You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition''s, and why it will succeed.

Technical Advisors 75

Technical Advisors Entrepreneur Equity Ideas 75

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2013

Speaking of the new investment, CapLinked CEO Eric M. Jackson said, “We’re using the proceeds from our financing round to invest in our technology, build new features, and increase sales and support.”. Jackson funding Google Inflection Ventures Investing Lee Essener' Over $3M Raised. million in the Series A round.

Draper 68

Draper Google Software Engineering Invest 68

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. According to the Angel Capital Association , at least 300,000 people have made angel investments in the last two years, totaling $24 billion in the U.S.

Angel 65

Angel Startup Technical Review Social Media 65

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2019

This Advisory Board is a good test drive for the more formal Board of Directors required later, when going public (IPO) or the entrance of venture capital investors. Legally, Directors are accountable for corporate conduct. It’s a resource that you can’t afford to ignore if you intend to stay competitive today.

Startup 98

Startup Allegis Entrepreneur Acquisition 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2016

There is a common belief in the angel and venture capital community that you put your money on the best team, rather than the best idea. Building a startup business is not the same as corporate executive experience, so prior titles in a big business may actually be seen as a negative. Solo entrepreneurs rarely find an investor.

Startup 60

Startup Entrepreneur Software Review Technical Review 60

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

Whether that''s for competitive analysis or market analysis, our product is basically able to monitor--on a very large scale--things that are important to your particular company. One of the folks was the CTO of an investment bank in New York, who immediately saw what we did, and said he had a problem he wanted us to approach.

Orange County 245

Orange County Startup News IBM 245

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

The first thing to remember is that banks only do loans – they don’t do equity investments like angels and venture capitalists (and vice versa). You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition's, and why it will succeed.

Technical Advisors 80

Technical Advisors Startup Equity Ideas 80

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

Many entrepreneurs I know don’t realize that the language they learned in the corporate world, or even their recent MBA class, won’t get them ahead in the startup world today. See how many you have personally experienced already, or are currently mentioned in your business plan: Crowd-sourcing equity. Super-angels. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup Web Equity 109

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. Line up an experienced team.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

From the Venture Trenches

MARCH 27, 2013

The recent firing of Groupon’s CEO Andrew Mason is a cautionary tale of the increased scrutiny and heightened expectations that come from accessing increasingly larger amounts of investment capital. It can give you a foundation from which to launch, but usually requires subsequent rounds of capital from larger investment sources.

Venture Capital 45

Venture Capital Capital Anthem Startup 45

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2017

This Advisory Board is a good test drive for the more formal Board of Directors required later, when going public (IPO) or the entrance of venture capital investors. Legally, Directors are accountable for corporate conduct. It’s a resource that you can’t afford to ignore if you intend to stay competitive today.

Allegis 69

Allegis Startup Entrepreneur Acquisition 69

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Quiet-as-a-mouse Roger Ehrenberg of IA Ventures. True-to-his-heritage Rory O’Driscoll from Scale Ventures. What Rob wrote in his post is right.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

So what should you do to prepare for this stage in your venture, and optimize your chances of making it through the process? The corporate entity lends itself best to the concept of “sharing” equity required by investors, and unincorporated entities don’t get funding. Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2009

It’s just that many companies waste equity on advisory boards, pick the wrong advisers or set up advisory boards with the wrong expectations. The first is a “board member.&# This is a person who had legal, corporate governance rights to vote on initiatives that require board approval. Is it just me?

Startup 215

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Capital 215

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 13, 2010

Publicity and positive word-of-mouth can help grow your start-up into a successful venture. Your Interactive Life Venture starts much earlier than the Ideation Phase (3). Entrepreneurism / Monetization Corporate, empowerment, Entrepreneurship. . In corporate America people say: "That's not my job!" Easy as 1 + 2-->3.

Guide 69

Guide Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur 69

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. He listed all of the product releases that were up coming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving. Imagine Apple without Steve Jobs. Or less obvious, imagine Facebook without Sheryl Sandberg.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

In all my years in business, I have yet to hear someone say: “I love corporate politics.” On the other hand, I meet plenty of people who complain bitterly about corporate politics—sometimes even in the companies they run. Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done on a convertible note.”.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. In this sector of startupland, company creation is up, investment is up, there are plenty of success stories, and not all of them are based on quick flips and takeouts.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization. Most venture capitalists who have been in this business for a long time foresaw this correction and have been talking about it privately for the better part of the last year or two.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150