Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

I started my first company in 1999 and was admittedly swept up in all of this: Magazine covers, fancy conferences, artificial valuations and easy money. In those years I learned to properly build product, price products, sell products and serve customers. Between 2006–2008 I sold both companies that I had started and became a VC.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2012

I often hear the qualms of business-smart but non-technical entrepreneurs, wondering if they really have a chance in this high-technology marketplace. I tell them that if their idea or solution is technology intensive, they clearly need technology strength on the team. Interview former employers, more than the candidate.

Technical Review 92

Technical Review Technology Startup Outsource Development 92

Tech.Co

AUGUST 27, 2017

It’s not about checking off as many technology trends, it is about finding useful and valuable trends that align with your goals and strategy for the rest of the year. Blockchain Technology. The Harvard Business Review recommends two low-risk applications of blockchain technology that startups can try.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Startup Mobile Software Review 70

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

Many times they also pick up product and tech, too. Often times you find the CEO who really just likes to do product or tech. Similarly I talk to CEOs who can’t do a sales pipeline review with me. I once did due diligence on a potential investment where the CEO was projecting $9 million in sales for his next 12 months.

Startup 325

Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

James (chairman of the Althea Foundation) and appointed Adam Sroka as Senior Vice President of Technology in a move to make business transactions simple and secure. . Jackson , “This financing round, coupled with hiring Adam Sroka as our head of technology, puts CapLinked in a position to further enhance our enterprise product offerings.”.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

Unfortunately, I see too many new entrepreneurs who let their passion for a new idea or invention blind them to the stark realities of customer need, opportunity size, or pricing and cost implications. The sooner you face these issues, the more success you will garner from investors and customers. Bandwidth is a constraint we all feel.

Startup 142

Startup Technical Review Equity Entrepreneur 142

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. Consistently review and respond to relevant online feedback. Every future entrepreneur should start by networking.

Product 127

Product Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Technical Review 127

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

These haven’t changed much over the years, but still seem to be often overlooked by business professionals and leaders in their haste to keep up with peers, competitors, and customers in today’s volatile environment. I have seen too many careers and businesses fail due to projects that went off the rails. Loners need not apply.

Startup 121

Startup Satisfaction Technical Review Ideas 121

socalTECH

MARCH 17, 2016

There has been a lot of worry recently in the high tech industry and from venture investors about "headwinds" in the technology market, particularly with valuations of "unicorn" companies dropping, investors shying away from investing in rounds, and even employees looking for safer jobs.

Southern California 100

Southern California Cornerstone OnDemand Technical Review SoCal 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2012

The New York Times recently ran an article titled, “ Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind.” Tech Companies most certainly do take calls. But only from customers. That’s because you are not their customer. The customer are advertising agencies and brands themselves. Let me explain: 1.

Mobile 311

Mobile Technical Review Google Screening 311

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 13, 2011

For the next four days if you’re in the tech industry you’re going to hear a non-stop stream of information about SXSW. You may choose some where your customers aggregate, others where you hope to find biz dev partners & still others where you want to meet investors. Yes, it’s partly due to ADHD.

Conference 289

Conference Startup Technical Review Writing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2018

As the rate of change continues to increase in business and technology, the more I’m convinced that marketing is the primary key to success for a new venture. Yet I find that many technical founders don’t feel they need it at all, or at best point to one person on the team who is marketing. The result is no deal.

Marketing 71

Marketing Tips Technical Review Social Media 71

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

I wrote a version of this post four years ago but given the hectic nature of today’s tech markets I thought it was worth revisiting and updating. As the day approached I noticed that there was a conference in LA that I wanted to attend. ” So I didn’t go to the conference. Customers do come first.

Conference 369

Conference Startup Century City Email 369

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

And of course the most successful technology companies: Google, Facebook, Salesforce.com [duh], Oracle, Microsoft all have loads of sales people. The most important way to sell a product for an early-stage business (or frankly any stage) is to have strong referenceable customers. How do you get referenceable customers?

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

You get to have interesting conversations with founders and review business plans and then see how these businesses evolve over the years. Payback periods on customer acquisition way more important to you in the near-term. One thing that comes with being a venture capitalist is you see hundreds and hundreds of businesses.

Software Review 242

Software Review Technical Review Pricing Metrics 242

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 31, 2013

01% conversion rate again to the people who clicked over to the website from the YouTube video, that’s 185 new customers, 185 people who would have never thought to google search for a tampon service, who will now be signing up to spend the 15 bucks a month to get tampons delivered to their door. If we apply that.01% A great script.

Dollar Shave Club 101

Dollar Shave Club Customer Custom Marketing 101

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 16, 2012

Just like the sky scraping investment banks of Wall Street, the technology industry tends to be a sausage party. A Silicon Valley conference is a room full of suits, with the occasional skirt suite. Explaining that customers were. Katie started with personal stories and spoke of her mission in social as humanizing technology.

Conference 77

Conference Startup Technical Review Software Review 77

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 9, 2019

With a standard tech startup I can tell you in my sleep that your two biggest cost items by a long shot are people (between 60–75% of total costs) and space (10–20% of total costs). I fund startups for a living and before that I ran two software startups that I founded. People often ask me, “why don’t they just use cameras?”

Product 214

Product Software Review Technical Review Startup 214

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 3, 2018

However, it remains fairly rare within the tech world. Intrigued, I conferred with Brett after the meeting and identified a number of advantages (some obvious, some less so) that a tech company can derive from a non-traditional fiscal year, especially one which does NOT end on the last month of a calendar quarter (i.e.,

Technical Review 89

Technical Review Startup Resource Organization 89

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

Compelling in the sense that you solve a real problem a target group of potential customers has with a product that is significantly better than the alternatives on that market. In my opinion no amount of clever marketing or chest beating at conferences can create a market if you don’t have an amazing product to begin with.

Startup 401

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 401

Tech.Co

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

From apps to hardware, to KickStarter successes and international startups, we’re inching closer to finding out who will take home the title of Startup of the Year competition at our annual Celebrate Conference in October. Clinicians must be convinced that this positively disruptive technology will indeed help them provide better treatment.

Competition 123

Competition Mobile Startup Technical Review 123

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

Some people do the conference circuit too much, get involved in lots of side projects and attend every entrepreneur dinner. When I go to conference I never sit in the meeting section – I always cruise the halls meeting people. You get on a plane at a moment’s notice because a senior customer agreed to meet you.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

I remember going to an Under the Radar conference in 2006 in the heat of the Web 2.0 Unfortunately this was reinforced by the many conferences that rushed to espouse the benefits of Web 2.0 It should talk about how many customers you think you will acquire and how much you’ll charge for your product.

Web 2.0 334

Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

socalTECH

MARCH 19, 2019

We started focusing on that, and at the time we were doing only phone verification, but then we started adding in data analytics because of customer demand, we added in some other things like straight messaging rather than pin codes. What enabled you to get that first customer on board? We were really focused on customer acquisition.

Marina Del Rey 113

Marina Del Rey Software Review Startup Incubator 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2015

Professional investors and advisors, on the other hand, usually refuse to sign these agreements today due to the risk of litigation and administrative workload, and will walk away. The same is true for people who may approach you at networking events or industry conferences. How can you make this a win-win opportunity?

Ideas 106

Ideas Technical Review Patents Entrepreneur 106

socalTECH

MAY 7, 2010

Marc Friedmann: SciVee serves the STM - Science, Technical, Medical - market. However, it's a very large market--we peg it at around $11 billion a year, and some estimate it to be as big as $20 billion a year, including scientific journals, academic journals, scientific societies, and conferences. Can you describe how that works?

Journal 124

Journal Technical Review UCSD Web 124

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 26, 2011

At the big consulting firms, investment banks and established large technology companies we’re taught to produce long reports, make sure that every document is perfect quality and that every possible bit of diligence has been done. It says that you need to take due care in selecting team members. Good enough isn’t.

Startup 335

Startup Technical Review Framework Entrepreneur 335

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

The technology team disagrees on direction and wants resolutions. Getting suppliers to accept terms that they said they never normally agree, getting accepted to speak on a panel when the conference organizer initially said “no,&# getting people to moonlight for you until you have the cash to bring them on board.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Eric Greenspan

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

I spent my week applying the new skills I obtained from attending conferences, reading and engaging in Twitter activities. This is an important piece for Make It Work as it allows us to post all the emails, tweets, and FB posts we share with our followers and customers daily. I think our customers will appreciate it.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Santa Barbara Blogging Yammer 100

Eric Greenspan

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

I spent my week applying the new skills I obtained from attending conferences, reading and engaging in Twitter activities. This is an important piece for Make It Work as it allows us to post all the emails, tweets, and FB posts we share with our followers and customers daily. I think our customers will appreciate it.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Santa Barbara Blogging Yammer 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

I have never felt prouder of the team & product at awe.sm ( please visit to check out our latest & be ready for our next big product announcement due out in next month or so) and yet we just brought in a new CEO to the company, Fred McIntyre. ” We had inbound M&A requests from some of the biggest names in tech.

Startup 303

Startup Technical Review Product Blogging 303

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Angels are most interested to help you scale the business, once you have real customer traction and ready to break out. A business needs technical, marketing, financial and many other skills. Remember that angel investors are buying equity in your business, so they are not impressed with a customer presentation.

Angel 65

Angel Startup Technical Review Social Media 65

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 8, 2012

Being an entrepreneur is about, “The journey through the ‘NO’ to get to the YES’ ” said by Ryan Caldbeck, CEO of CircleUp , on a panel at the Connections Conference in Indianapolis. We are in a different age now where technology is so important and I wanted to be connected with people along the way.”

Startup 104

Startup Technical Review Search Engine Optimization Los Angeles 104

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. 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.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

From his own successes and failures in this domain, he explains how the rules and customer expectations have changed in today’s world, and he offers some practical guidance on how to survive in this new world. They expect reviews and testimonials from other clients. Passively waiting for transactions only makes you a commodity.

Social Media 56

Social Media Pricing Technical Review Demand 56

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). And they have access to some of the most talented technology entrepreneurs so this is a worthy goal for them. I like to debate with them how they will land customers and how they deal with the press. I spent time on college campuses. I attended events.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 9, 2009

As 2010 approaches, a whole new year of exciting start-ups, tech news, gadgets, and much more is ahead. TechZulu wants to thank not only the Los Angeles tech community but the entire tech community for all the awesome support you have given us throughout this past year. We already have a jammed packed schedule for 2010.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Stickam Web Conference 40