socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

This morning's interview is with Kevin O'Connor , a longtime investor and serial entrepreneur, who is now running venture capital investment firm ScOp Venture Capital. Congrats on the new name for your venture capital firm. It's always hard with venture capital.

Venture Capital 145

Venture Capital Startup Invest Capital 145

Berkonomics

JANUARY 25, 2024

Everyone, even seasoned CEO’s can use a good coach who knows how to bring out the best in a person, is knowledgeable about the business process, and who has an extended list of relationships to call upon to fill needs that become obvious in the coaching process. Business coaches come in all sizes and shapes.

Coach 156

Coach Organization Resource Equity 156

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

In the VC insider baseball world a discussion has gone on about “VC platforms” over the past 5 or so years. While firms define platforms differently, let’s just say they are the services that a VC offers outside of investment capital and partner time on boards or providing intros.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Platform Startup Resource 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Today we’re announcing that my partner Kara Nortman is becoming Co-Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to welcome her to her new role. leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building? She had all of the skills and traits we sought?—?leadership,

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

How important is this issue for your business? The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. It is for this group that we explore the implications implicit in raising money for growth. There is a lot to say about retaining control.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. I wrote the summary notes in this blog post.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2022

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 to a classic Crunchbase article. Individual angel investors and crowdfunding have been adding to the momentum, some say exceeding VCs in total amount invested.

Guide 136

Guide Venture Capital Funding Class 136

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

After years of trying to persuade Kara Nortman to become a partner at Upfront Ventures I can officially announce now that she’s joined us effective immediately. Competitive (Athlete: skier & rowed at Princeton, hates losing at everything she does). Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures).

Venture Capital 408

Venture Capital Startup Outsource Development CitySearch 408

InfoChachkie

MAY 22, 2012

The steps outlined below represent an ideal approach to raising capital from sophisticated investors. The steps outlined below represent an ideal approach to raising capital from sophisticated investors. You might be at Step 2 with one VC and Step 3 with another. I wish that was true. It’s not.” Prep Steps.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Capital Research Customer 236

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

VCs strangely never seem to weigh in on other VC funds. I have no incentive to do so other than to help those reading the WSJ piece better understand how I believe most insiders think. As an entrepreneur I never really knew what to make of VC return data. Let me offer you an insider’s take. Can that really work?”

Venture Capital 264

Venture Capital Invest Funding Competition 264

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

And there’s none that makes me happier than to announce that Jordan Hudson has been promoted to a Principal at Upfront Ventures. What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. Deal screening.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. 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.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. In case VC’s haven’t figured this out yet, shit rolls downhill. No prizes for guessing which VCs I didn’t work with (and still won’t). I hadn’t thought about the fact that he would become aware of my link. My blog was wiped out.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

To see the video of This Week in VC click on this link. What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures).

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Google Web Sites 225

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. . ” I highly recommend reading it. But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Turns out like most things there are no simple answers. Let’s set up a framework.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. I have seen bad behavior from later-stage VCs, believe me. Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

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. Individual angel investors and crowdfunding have been adding to the momentum, some say exceeding VCs in total amount invested.

Funding 125

Funding Venture Capital Startup Class 125

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

There are a number of reasons why Rincon Venture Partners passed on Twilio’s Seed Round. VC's love to talk about their successes. Exceptions exist, such as the highly self-aware Paige Craig, who recently described how he missed out becoming Airbnb's first investor. A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2018

When you have some success behind you as a manager, executive, founder, or CEO, it’s easy to become less open to the advice and signals around you, and believe you should just continue doing what you are doing to keep climbing. The only “sustainable competitive advantage” in business is self-awareness. It’s a recipe for disaster.

Competition 81

Competition Startup Examples Coach 81

socalTECH

DECEMBER 23, 2019

The biggest lesson learned this year has been how hot the LA tech ecosystem has become. Due to this, seed rounds have become more competitive, with more expensive valuations and more oversubscribed rounds. At the same time, more capital continues to be raised in LA. Since 2010, $6.3B Since 2010, $6.3B

Capital 100

Capital Technical Review Truecar Venture Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

It is simply the most important way to proactively control your career development and how the market perceives you. It will affect your ability to get the right jobs and promotions as well as your ability to attract talent and capital. In my next post I will take on the topic of how to control your brand. It is neither.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle , partner at Greycroft Partners , a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Greycroft is an early-stage VC. Closing a VC fund in 2009/10 is a major achievement in and of itself. To be fair to Ben Horowitz – I think he thinks this as well.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

This episode of This Week in Venture Capital featured Michael Montgomery, president of Montgomery & Co. For entrepreneurs who want to learn about how to work with investment banks, how to position yourself to be acquired and what the IPO markets look like this is the episode to watch. This is often in the 5-7% range.

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

Why You Need to Be Sure You’re Not the Sucker ” I talked about how VCs (or other investors) get deals sent to them and how to interpret a referral. In my recent post “ Why Am I So Lucky? I tried to make a simple point: People have motives when they send you a deal.

Venture Capital 337

Venture Capital Invest Ideas Entrepreneur 337

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

I told him I wanted to call it, “My Pal Dave” to explain the disconnect for me between how the public perceives Dave and the real Dave I know. I knew him well before he became a VC. I knew his as he considered becoming a VC and we talked a lot about how it was going for me in my early years. Not much more.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2017

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. 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

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

He and I once took different sides of an debate about whether “VC signaling&# in early-stage deals is a serious problem or not. So it was fun to turn the cameras on him for 45 minutes for a special “NY edition of This Week in VC&# and hearing his views. Such that during that time, Chris “learned how to learn.”.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. But founders need to know how to ask for their advice and when to ignore it. You could just outspend. You could use brute force to get the word out. There is a much better technique.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. But few businesses grow into the sweet spot of $20 million to $30 million in worth to an ultimate buyer without the injection of outside capital.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches?

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

VC funding. We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor over funding until we get huge payouts and ring the bell for more funding until we attract every non-VC on the planet to invest in startups until it crashes and we start the cycle all over again none the wiser. blog here ). Same as I felt.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

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. Thank you, Aaron Sorkin!

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

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. The large investment amounts preferred by VCs are no longer needed to launch winners.

Angel 104

Angel Funding Startup Venture Capital 104

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

But I would posit that in order to sustainably build great products in an intensely competitive industry with skills shortages – people management is one of the most critical soft skills organizations need. One founder who gets more attention from a company’s success while one feels slighted and becomes jealous and resentful.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Venture Capital is a tricky industry. Many questioned whether it could survive under the fail whale, inevitable competition from Facebook, founder fighting, fights with 3rd-party developers let alone become a revolutionary business that could make money. Far from it. Lots of it. Almost nobody believed and now look at it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Competitive sportswoman. Ex Venture Capitalist with Battery Ventures. She learns how to ship product, how to deal with merchants, how to hire product managers. Note: if you’re a parent please check out their website. Kara called me on a Tuesday. She was leaving IAC to start a company. Tasha screamed.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398