Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

“Learn from the mistakes of others. During those same 25-years, I also made innumerable mistakes. 1) Expect Independent Channel Sales Reps To Perform Missionary Sales. Rationale: I cannot afford to hire a direct sales force. Rationale: I cannot afford to hire a direct sales force. 7) Hire A Consultant.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

There’s plenty of capital out there, but there’s also a lot of competition for startup funding. Expect to be diluted by 20-25% with each equity round. They’re typically issued at a 10-20% discount to equity depending on the timeframe; higher range is for longer timeframes. Seed stage valuations can be all over the map.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Don’t and you might make one catastrophic mistake that leaves you in the annals of Effed Companies. Mark: 10% warrant coverage is like stock options. o Everything is for sale but it’s the price that moves the timing. o Put a timeframe/money – competition in the picture. Something so simple. And he said ok got it.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

If you have a team of 10 people then by definition 90% of the time spent on activities is not put in by you and on a team of 100 it’s 99%. In fact, 90% of our investments are either Seed or A-round investments (10% are B-round). You don’t have unlimited equity to dole out. It’s important to get buy in.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. You never got around to agreeing exact equity splits but you had many conversations about it. Consider it a sales & marketing expense for them. But make it competitive. This is one of the biggest source of future problems for the company.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Why MOST smart people are better at solving other people’s problems… - Life Beyond Code , August 10, 2010 And, not their own problems. I've gotten to be a lot more productive as a programmer since I started casually 15+ years ago and seriously about 10 years ago. equity debate. made all of these mistakes in my first companies.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191