Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I can’t help feel a bit of rear-view mirror analysis in all of “VC model is broken” bears in our industry. They are, in fact, great news for traditional venture capitalists. This article originally ran on PEHub.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

The funding came from First Round Capital, Crosslink Capital, InterWest, and SK Telecom. Silicon Valley-based SchoolFeed said it raised $1.75M to create a new service which helps people find their classmates via online "yearbooks", in conjunction with Facebook. READ MORE>>.

Social Network 145

Social Network Startup Sites Competition 145

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

…” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. Instagram happens to be one of the few social networks I regularly use along with Twitter. Maybe you should just close your VC round? But they are SO FREAKING SLOW.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2019

In fact, he had four development co-founders, built a relationship with Peter Thiel, a top VC who invested early, and enticed Sheryl Sandberg to fill the COO role he sorely needed. With the pervasive internet, and global social networks, it’s easy to be visible and connect to your customers, and they expect it.

IBM 87

IBM IBM Ideas Technical Review 87

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series about Raising Venture Capital. A few years ago it became fashionable for large VC’s to do seed funding. If the large VC doesn’t agree to do your A round then you’re in a bit of trouble. If a VC term sheet comes in they begin their due diligence process.

Seed Funding 283

Seed Funding Venture Capital Funding Software Review 283

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

accredited investors in 1,000 angel groups and venture capital funds to. How excited am I likely to be when I see a plan for a new generation of buggy whip, or another me-too social network? Described by BusinessWeek as a “world conquering. 500 CEO, serial entrepreneur and the founder of New York Angels.

Startup 189

Startup Sales Ideas Entrepreneur 189

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 13, 2010

Social Networks and Citizen Commerce: Reinventing Ecommerce. Entrepreneurism / Monetization Funding, psychology , vc. . Collaboration Over Competition: Competitors as Business Partners. Entrepreneurism / Monetization competition, ecommerce, small business. . In corporate America people say: "That's not my job!"

Guide 69

Guide Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur 69

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

I was talking a month ago with a founding team who was lamenting the fact that their competitors got way better coverage than they did when they felt that their traffic numbers were > 2x the competition. And as a result their competitors were able to raise a considerable VC round from well-known firms.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We had a special edition of This Week in Venture Capital this week shooting out of the Next New Networks offices in New York. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital. Topics we discussed in the first 45 minutes of the video include: What is VC like in NY? We discussed NY vs. Silicon Valley and NY vs. Boston.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

As should Eric Sikola and ExpenseBay who won the “Showoff&# judges competition ( Photos featured here taken by (cc) Kenneth Yeung – [link] ). Twiistup 6 featured 12 showoff companies as the opening act of a 2-day conference. From this crowd of 12 I believe you’ll see 4-5 companies with the potential to rise to prominence.

Twiistup 228

Twiistup SoCal Southern California Yammer 228

socalTECH

DECEMBER 3, 2008

They want a means of representing themselves that is animated, and changeable, and actively communicates in places like MySpace, Facebook, and other social networks. One problem with other avatar technology, is that in most competitive cases what people are doing is using a standard head model and trying to apply a face to that model.

Entertainment 100

Entertainment Clearstone Venture Capital Media 100

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

In attendance we had startups galore with VC's and Angle's mixing and mingling all through the night. TechZulu captured the entire VC/Angle panel and we also had a chance to interview every StartupDemo startup company that participated. VC/Angel Panel. However, you know we always bring a little something back just in case.

Social Media 60

Social Media Technical Review Tech Coast Angels Venture Capital 60

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

The service can be accessed by computer, mobile phone ( iPhone , Android ) or social network ( Facebook ). Any competition back home? All over Europe, there are hundreds of carpooling platforms at a regional level but actually we believe that our biggest competition comes from bus and train companies. Any user stats?

Training 82

Training Marketing Competition Platform 82

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. This is not just the perspective of a VC although I can’t say I have zero VC bias. This is not just the perspective of a VC although I can’t say I have zero VC bias. I now observes the fund raising process as a profession. Why buy me?

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2021

Here are six key reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. Social networks. The spend is still going up.

Sites 134

Sites Social Network Competition Networking 134

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

How many social networks, picture sharing sites, new aggregators or blogs can we really spend time on? But there are other reasons people churn – low product quality, inability to understand the value of the product, costs, competitive products, etc. The biggest limitation we tech consumers have is our time. It's brilliant.].

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2010

Back to VCs, Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still the most active. So what can you do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue? Mass mailing your business plan to every VC in the book won’t get you any credibility or traction. Massachusetts and NY states also have high numbers.

Venture Capital 49

Venture Capital Capital Startup Invest 49

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. You’ve found a VC partner or principal who has invited you to the Monday partners’ meeting. Congratulations. But … watch out.

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

It is an opportunity to get frank feedback from VCs, angels, peers and the technolust. Mixergy and AsAble are also joining us to bring you an amazing VC/Angel Panel. Bring your products to your Customers, their social network and their influencers with DoTogether Hosted Facebook Applications.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

I hope you’ll excuse me when I do the latter in combination with the former to try and explain how I see macro trends and help you think about the mind of a VC. I first met the founder of Pose, Dustin Rosen , when he was a junior person with an LA-based venture capital firm called The Mail Room Fund. Pose is no different.

Invest 303

Invest Company Companies Web 2.0 303

SoCal CTO

MAY 4, 2010

Redeye VC , April 13, 2010 Startup Development - SoCal CTO , April 23, 2010 Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering? . Redeye VC , April 13, 2010 Startup Development - SoCal CTO , April 23, 2010 Want to Know the Difference Between a CTO and a VP Engineering?

CTO Hire 150

CTO Hire Venture Capital Startup Social Network 150

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Pricing models, the freemium myth and why you may not be charging enough for your product - Seth Levine's VC Adventure , August 12, 2010 I’ve been pulled into a number of product and pricing meetings recently (for reasons unknown I’ve become the Foundry pricing and productization guy). clearly didn’t cause this.” How it happens.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

AeA Los Angeles Council

JULY 7, 2008

Approximately 50 executives from the worlds of technology & venture capital piled into the dining hall on June 30th to listen to Dr. Mark Drapeau speak about "innovation" and its sister topic, "STEM education." While this is not slated to change anytime soon, one possible way to bridge this gap is through federal venture capital.

Education 45

Education Technical Review Research Web 2.0 45

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. What is the True Sentiment of VCs? Brad was openly writing about this and it felt like he was giving the VC playbook away for free! Now for every dollar a VC raises $2.50

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. I'm Tired of Creating Your Content - Babbling VC , November 12, 2010 Jeff triggered this post in regards to his Check-in Fatigue on Foursquare.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2011

You just have to deal with some insufferable VCs and journalists for a while. It is the same movie I saw 10 years ago when every VC would say to me, “yeah, I get that you’re an online document sharing service, but what’s going to happen when Microsoft enters the market? Expect big competition in the group messaging market.

Google 325

Google Press Marketing Content 325

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2013

Here are six key reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. Social networks. The spend is still going up.

Sites 86

Sites Social Network Networking Patents 86

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2011

Here are six key reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. Social networks. Intellectual property is tough.

Sites 91

Sites Social Network Competition Patents 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2010

Here are a few of the reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. Social networks and search engines.

Sites 49

Sites Social Network Statistics Patents 49

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2013

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. VCs and angel investors hear this one all the time. We have no competitors.” More features than anyone.”

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network IBM 111

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Asymmetric – Before Twitter most social networks had “symmetric” relationships meaning that when somebody wanted to follow you, you had to follow them back in order for us to be connected. If you were to run an analysis on me you’d find that I tend to follow a number of people in the VC industry as well as tech professionals.

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. VCs and angel investors hear this one all the time. We have no competitors.” More features than anyone.”

Startup 95

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2011

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. VCs and angel investors hear this one all the time. We have no competitors.” More features than anyone.”

Startup 98

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 98

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 22, 2011

In the simplest form, new startups have a product that is INFERIOR to that offered by the competition but at a dramatically lower price with the seller opting for a very thin margin on their product. LinkedIn – Lots of people talk about LinkedIn as a social network. Why Deflationary Business Win. is getting 3 million views.

Startup 386

Startup Pricing Marketing Product 386

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2010

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. VCs and angel investors hear this one all the time. We have no competitors.” More features than anyone.”

Startup 52

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 52

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Welcome to the Lost Decade (for Entrepreneurs, IPO’s and VC’s) - Steve Blank , July 15, 2010 If you take funding from a venture capital firm or angel investor and want to build a large, enduring company (rather than sell it to the highest bidder), this isn’t the decade to do it. Angel vs VC? - Here’s why. Make it unique.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

https://medium.com/media/cc969482e7abf6b75d3c0958c8ee409d/href I moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and as a VC who had built his career as a programmer, database designer, program manager, CEO then VP Products at Salesforce, I wanted to build a portfolio of software investments. I asked Jonah in my interview how he became this viral guru.

Buzzfeed 210

Buzzfeed Media Content News 210