socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

Jason Calacanis , CEO of Santa Monica-based search site Mahalo , said Tuesday afternoon that he and TechCrunch's Michael Arrington have parted ways, and will no longer be running the TechCrunch50 conference. Tags: jason calacanis michael arrington techcrunch launch technology startups entrepreneur.

Conference 165

Conference Mahalo Santa Monica Email 165

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

A couple of years ago an entrepreneur had requested a meeting with me to present his business. As the day approached I noticed that there was a conference in LA that I wanted to attend. The day before the conference I thought about rescheduling this meeting but then thought, “oh, well. .” I was furious.

Conference 369

Conference Startup Century City Email 369

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

On why you should be an entrepreneur, “A lot of people do what they have to do. Last night I co-hosted a dinner at Soho House in Los Angeles with some of the most senior people in the media industry with executives from Disney, Fox, Warner, media agencies and many promising tech & media startup CEO’s. He was riveting.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Yet I can assure you that people who are paranoid, or want to avoid all risks, won’t be happy as entrepreneurs, so it’s all about balancing the risk-reward scale. Build trust first.

Ideas 159

Ideas Tips Technical Review Patents 159

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2015

If you think you are the perfect fit for the entrepreneur lifestyle, but you’re not yet sure if you’re ready to start your own, then I recommend that you take a job with an existing startup first to validate the culture realities against your dream. Running or working for a startup is more of a lifestyle than a career choice.

Sample 101

Sample Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup 101

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. Many entrepreneurs who start technology companies are product people, technologists or savvy business people who worked previously for a larger company. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. I know I didn’t. To the contrary.

Sales 319

Sales Startup Platform Tips 319

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2009

Business Etiquette Tips for dealing with VCs and Corporates at Conferences. This is part of my ongoing series with Startup Advice. With the LeWeb conference about to start in Paris I thought the timing of this post would be appropriate. I have a new startup in the space that I think would interest you.

Startup 322

Startup Conference Email Venture Capital 322

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

I recently got an email from a friend who had been approached by a well known VC. He sent me an email asking whether the approach was real and whether he should take it seriously. Here is the email he received (reprinted without names with his permission). “Hi [entrepreneur], I hope all is well.

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Let me start out with my premise: “Data rooms are where fund-raising processes go to die.” I have to back up and give you more context. Most entrepreneurs (and VCs raising from LPs) think this means progress. I’m going to start with the reasons and then explain how to use your best data to your advantage. It doesn’t.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2013

I recently wrote a post about how to manage relationships when you’re at a startup or are busy executive. I had images in my brain of all of the stresses I had placed on my wife in the heyday of my startups. A spouse’s hints for surviving an incredibly busy start-up person. Help encourage him not to.

Tips 418

Tips Startup Email Blogging 418

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 16, 2010

A couple of years ago an entrepreneur had requested a meeting with me to present his business. As the day approached I noticed that there was a conference in LA that I wanted to attend. She responded back that (paraphrasing), “he had gotten stuck at a conference with a very important potential advisor to his company.

Startup 346

Startup Conference Century City Email 346

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2019

Elon Musk via Flickr by TED Conference To be successful as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to be a fabulous person, but it helps. Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, like Ryan Seacrest is searching for on American Idol. Be delightfully authentic and honest.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Social Media .Net Blogging 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2014

If you think you are the perfect fit for the entrepreneur lifestyle, but you’re not yet sure if you’re ready to start your own, then I recommend that you take a job with an existing startup first to validate the culture realities against your dream. Running or working for a startup is more of a lifestyle than a career choice.

Startup 100

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Conference 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2015

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. I hope all this seems obvious to you, but I still get a good number of notes from “entrepreneurs” who have been busy inventing things all their life, but can’t find a partner to start their first business, and others trying to find an executive, an investor, or a lawyer.

Startup 108

Startup Social Network Mentor Entrepreneur 108

InfoChachkie

JUNE 27, 2011

I recently answered the question “ What are good ways to raise your children to be entrepreneurs? ” I believe that you cannot teach someone to be an entrepreneur, but that you can teach entrepreneurs. If your offspring are entrepreneurially inclined, these activities might nudge them in the direction of a lifetime of startups.

Entrepreneur 270

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Resource 270

InfoChachkie

APRIL 1, 2013

Marten began his story by explaining that MySQL was originally founded as a research project and how it was a nascent startup for nearly a decade before he joined the team. I started helping them with strategy in 2000 and then. I was ready to give up. We forced them up on stage to receive the prize. Share and Enjoy.

Oracle 229

Oracle Startup News Press 229

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

There is no skill more vital to an entrepreneur than effective networking. This was illustrated well in the classic book, “ Hopping Over The Rabbit Hole ,” by Anthony Scaramucci, a well-known entrepreneur, financier, and television co-host of Wall Street Week. Psych yourself up for this, if necessary, before you enter a room.

Networking 171

Networking Startup Entrepreneur Conference 171

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

I recently returned from a 5-day visit to Ireland, my first time back in 10 years and the start of what I hope will be a more regular travel schedule there. Paddy got the idea to invite a bunch of founders together in an anti-conference that just focused on building founder relationships and sharing war stories. It will not.

Conference 392

Conference Startup Web Truecar 392

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2013

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network through all available channels, like business-oriented social networks online (LinkedIn), local business organizations (Chamber of Commerce), and events or conferences in your domain.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Social Network 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2019

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? Another place to start is the local Chamber of Commerce.

Networking 90

Networking Entrepreneur Social Network Activity 90

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

He has it on stage, too, at conferences. Dave is terrible with email. He’s so bad that his email auto-responder tells you he likely won’t email you back. And so are most startup CEOs for that matter. Many through history became entrepreneurs precisely because they were unemployable. He doesn’t email you.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Yet I can assure you that people who are paranoid, or want to avoid all risks, won’t be happy as entrepreneurs, so it’s all about balancing the risk-reward scale. Build trust first.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Ideas Sample 101

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 18, 2010

As a startup entrepreneur you’ll have many demands for your time. Especially if you start to have a degree of success or build a high public profile. Everyone will want you to speak at conferences. The problem is that the scarcest resource in any entrepreneur’s life is your time. I feel the same way.

Startup 305

Startup Venture Capital Writing Conference 305

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2010

Let me start by saying I’m a huge business book cynic. But Net had told me that he picked up some valuable lessons from the book, so I thought, “WTF? They can travel the world, take classes in interesting subjects, spend time with loved ones or start new hobbies. You’re on the DS (deferred startup) plan.

Startup 295

Startup Email Technical Review Course 295

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. In my post “ Measure twice, cut once ” I’ve outlined how to plan before you start raising. Should You Start with Your “Safety Schools?”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

socalTECH

JANUARY 17, 2013

The last few years in Los Angeles has been a heady one for the technology startup community, with hundreds of new startups, and a tangible enthusiasm in the air along Silicon Beach. They've also become a de-facto gathering place for the local community, hosting events, meetings, and more. READ MORE>>.

Culver City 256

Culver City Santa Monica SoCal Southern California 256

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). I was telling him that it was much easier when I started because there were fewer deals, life was less public and somehow the world seemed to be spinning more slowly. Web Summit.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2011

For starting relationships today that won’t pay off for a year. It’s the entrepreneur’s equivalent of “ 10,000 hours.&#. It is a piece of actionable advice that if you put into practice starting next week will start paying dividends in the near future. You send them update emails.

Startup 410

Startup Writing Press Venture Capital 410

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2012

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? Another place to start is the local Chamber of Commerce.

Activity 97

Activity Networking Entrepreneur Startup 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2013

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? Another place to start is the local Chamber of Commerce. Marty Zwilling.

Networking 100

Networking Entrepreneur Social Network Activity 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network through all available channels, like business-oriented social networks online (LinkedIn), local business organizations (Chamber of Commerce), and events or conferences in your domain.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Social Network 96

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2012

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network through all available channels, like business-oriented social networks online (LinkedIn), local business organizations (Chamber of Commerce), and events or conferences in your domain.

Startup 97

Startup Tips Social Network Networking 97

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

As the dinner progressed, the prospect executive started, and then continued to excuse himself from the table, looking paler each time. Email readers, continue here…] Our CEO then returned to the restaurant and met with the chef to have him list all the ingredients from the meal the executive was eating.

Sales 156

Sales Conference Startup Course 156

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2010

Like you, I struggle to return everybody’s emails because I get too many. So I often try to stay off of email during the day. I scan it for the most important messages to be sure nothing urgent has popped up. They taught us to write down questions when they came up and batch them together in point sheets.

Product 280

Product Startup Email Technical Review 280

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

The promised to follow up with: calls, using your product, talking to customers or “noodle on things.&# Will they? Despite best intentions they probably won’t follow up on their actions. Why don’t VC’s follow up? Plus, now they need to Tweet, use Facebook, attend conferences and keep a blog!

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2010

I sat on two panels in the past week – once at LeadsCon (** see appendix if you’re interested in a back story here) and today at the America’s Growth Capital conference. Things to know: mix of entrepreneurs, big tech company execs, service providers, media people, VCs, etc. So it’s fresh on my mind.

Startup 284

Startup Conference Venture Capital Tips 284

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 4, 2016

Nowhere is this more apparent than working in a startup where you are definitionally under-resourced and trying to make big accomplishments in compressed periods of time. Modern-society is also littered with over-networkers and over-introducers and professional conference attendees. It starts seemingly innocent enough.

Innocal 255

Innocal Conference Help Study 255