Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

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Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

To keep you out of this statistic, I recommend the following steps to all aspiring business owners as they step into this new and exciting world of managing your own business: Solidify your funding plan before you start spending. The remainder use outside funding, including crowdfunding, friends and family, banks, and investors.

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Social Media Metrics Media Tool 98

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

If a round of funding does happen then this debt is converted into equity at the price that a new external investor pays with a “bonus&# to the inside investor for having taken the risk of the loan. They might put the kibosh on company travel and not attend some key meetings or conferences. And it adds up.

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Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

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. Prorata investments rights given investors the right to invest in your future fund-raising rounds and maintain their ownership % in your company as your company grows and raises more capital.

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Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

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. ” So I didn’t go to the conference. ” They were stuck at the same conference that I had wanted to attend. .”

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Conference Startup Century City Email 369

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Every industry organization has regular local meetings and annual conferences for education purposes and bringing the right people together. Assess potential for funding or bootstrapping. Raising money is difficult, even with the best idea, so don’t assume any entitlement to loans, grants, or seed funding.

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Startup Tips Coach Satisfaction 114

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

At night I had a group dinner where I met 6 new entrepreneurs and hung out with some old friends from law firms, banks and other VC funds. But I have to catch a flight to New York for a two-day computer vision conference and 2 board meetings, 2 board dinners and a catch up with my LPs to tell them how our fund is going.

Software Review 381

Software Review Startup Email Conference 381

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. ” Stated simply – if you seed funded Uber at $4.5m Why is this?

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Seed deals, for example, are easier to get funded than a late-stage deal for obvious reasons. But there are some deals that will get funded even though not necessarily seed: If you’re in an anointed category that will serve a post Covid-19 world well. It may take much longer to close deals than you’d like. In a word: Yes.

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Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

In that article I talked about how PR drives: recruiting, employee retention, biz dev deals, funding and even M&A and that often “attribution” to your PR activities is unknown. Contrary to popular opinion I actually believe crowd-funding is best used after seed capital or venture capital. I have no money?

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Press Startup Writing Training 319

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

I recently attended and presented at Dave McClure’s PreMoney conference in San Francisco. I wrote my version here and Scott wrote an excellent write-up of his views here. I believe most LPs still want discipline in fund sizes, fees and focus. tl;dr version. Either way it turned into a heated debate. And we ended.

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Venture Capital SaaS Writing Funding 309

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy is knowledgeable enough to talk tech and swap design & product stories with other founders, but she realized early that networking amongst this group and reading and writing in their journals would not bring her more customers. So Tracy began keeping a blog about … (what else?) She became part of the fabric of her community.

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Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. We had over 400 attendees, including some who came from the core conference. I think it's a fantastic program.

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Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

.” And even the venerable Fred Wilson weighed in with how people “ leading vs. following ” in funding rounds play different roles and have different skills. If you know, VCs end up writing sizable checks into their own funds, which is important in better aligning interests. So there you have it.

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Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

I have found that the process of writing down your idea, with a plan for implementation, and reviewing that plan with a business advisor, will force you to learn and acknowledge the real requirements for implementation. Create a written plan, with target milestones and metrics.

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Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Conferences. How do VCs break out of group think when they are shuttling from one board meeting to the next, from one conference to the other and talking with all the same people? I was at the Lobby Conference a few weeks ago in Mexico. Board Meetings. I get sucked up in “Do” mode. Startups Are for Doers.

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Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 17, 2019

Harris writes: “The figures, dating back to 2016, paint a picture of a company desperate to meet over-ambitious autonomy targets and one that is willing to spend freely, even recklessly, to get there. .” Uber is in talks with Softbank Vision Fund and Toyota to raise $1 billion for its self-driving unit Uber ATG.

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San Fernando Los Angeles Commerce News 217

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 16, 2010

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’ll honor the commitment I made.&# So I didn’t go to the conference. It’s too close to the meeting date.

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Startup Conference Century City Email 346

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

And there’s conferences. Oh, the conferences. I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal. If an accelerator is writing you they’re also writing 25 other VCs. Hedge funds, other public investors, corporates, etc.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

He has it on stage, too, at conferences. I told him only 2 weeks ago when we were in London together that I wanted to write a blog post that has been in my head for 2 years. I would love for prospective investors in Dave’s fund to call me personally to learn about “the real Dave.”. My pal Dave has blogger Tourette’s.

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Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

I’m going to write a pure admiration piece. He was the guy you always saw at a conference or networking event and would give you a great big hug and smile. “Pishevar was turned down by Uber in its 2nd round of funding. ” Shervin has done much since then including founding his own fund, Sherpa Ventures.

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Startup Conference Ideas Writing 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

You’re writing a freaking blog post! I had a pre breakfast with a CEO of a company in which I invested talking about his next fund raising round. I called another about his fund raising (DUDE – you never called me back! ). Fund raising. I run a conference – could you speak? “But WAIT !!!

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

Market to Your Target Audience – I’ve seen a lot of startups who like to write blog posts on life as an entrepreneur. Say hello to them at conferences. Understand that for every article they write they need “an angle&# and if you can’t help shape that you’re not likely to get inches.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

CapLinked says the round of funding and new appointment are an advancement in their move to displace the legacy left by Virtual Data Room (VDR) with their intuitive new product for coordinating on complex business deals such as asset sales, financings, and mergers and acquisitions. 25 Years of Writing Code.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88

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. We end up out a lot at events: dinners, cocktail parties, conferences. We travel together.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

.” Here’s what I mean … Let’s start with what it takes for a journalist to want to write a story. Do I have an “angle” from which to write the story (first company to do X, company does biggest X, consumer behavior is doing X)? I hand out money. How differentiated is that? Think about Luma Partners.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had seen many cycles and decided that since I was going to do it all over again I should write about it. I decided to write about my experience and to be blunt. It became a huge kerfuffle with many VC partners writing to thank me for the post, which exposed those that gave their industry a bad name. Tempus Fugit.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

According to the SEC we’re not allowed to market the fact that we’re fund raising, so I won’t. But for some strange reason they make you file your progress on fund raising, which is the widely picked up by the press. So it is now publicly known that we have closed $150 million in our 4th fund. You’re not.

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Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2010

It starts in a crowded room at a conference or networking event. So many times when I get off stage after speaking at a conference and people rush up to speak to me they go on-and-on and after the first 2 minutes I start zoning out and thinking “I really should talk to the 20 people behind you – just to be polite.” Most are squandered.

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Startup Content Conference Media 315

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. He did it yesterday, “Mark, I’m going to write a blog post following on from your VC’s aren’t dumb. Rob does it. On steroids.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2014

For Friday''s interview, we spoke with Terry Kay ithe new Chairman of the Pasadena Angels (www.pasadenaangels.com) on the group, and its relevance in the technology funding world today. How is an angel group like the Pasadena Angel relevant in today''s world of accelerators, incubators, crowd funding, and more? READ MORE>>.

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Pasadena Angels Pasadena Angel Startup 162

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2015

VC meetings are easy to come by but money in the bank is the only thing that will fund your next 12 months. They are the “shiny object chasers” who love to go to conferences, talk about “blue sky ideas” about what is possible and set vision for others to execute. Lots of people start, very few finish.

Startup 150

Startup Framework Sales Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

In the original version of his post, Andy writes. Most top tier VCs return about 3x invested capital and outlier funds (the best of a vintage) might return 6-8x. But the larger funds usually have lower returns because they are often investing bigger dollars at later stages with less risk and therefore lower returns. Yeah, true.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61