Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2012

I’m sure that every one of us who has been out in the business world for a few years can look back with perfect hindsight and name a few college courses that we should have taken. But on the business side, here is my list of useful courses that we wish existed, but as far as I know, still aren’t generally available: Basic Office Politics.

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Course Writing Slides Email 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

The size of the document should be based on your style, but 10-20 pages or slides are usually more than adequate to outline even a complex business. In fact, they are probably in such a hurry to give you money that they don’t want you to waste time writing anything down and passing it along to new investors.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2013

I'm going to be looking at aspects like: Things to consider before building your MVP Features often overlooked when documenting an MVP for developers Understanding important metrics you want to measure Risks and challenges in developing an MVP. Have you Documented Your MVP for Your Developer s? Correct your course quickly.

CTO Coach 219

CTO Coach Metrics Framework Software Development 219

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

I’m just writing verbatim what I wrote in a Quora response years ago. A term sheet is not a legally binding document. Of course you should eventually warn other entrepreneurs you know 1-1 in private. Sorry for using f**k two posts in a row. This isn’t Dave McClure secretly taking over Mark’s blog.

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Venture Capital Content Writing Blogging 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2015

In fact, the process of organizing and documenting these elements is the best way to make sure you understand the answers yourself. It only takes a little extra work to make it a professional document, with a cover page, table of contents, headings, and page numbers.

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Startup Writing Mentor Sample 109

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2017

Ultimately the Goldman Sachs report gets picked up by a journalist who writes a hyperbolic headline with emphatic conclusions because nobody wants to read that tomorrow will be just like today. Since I had built 2 document management companies I knew all the reasons why building a document management company would “never work.”

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Venture Capital Statistics Writing Report 182

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2013

I’m sure that every one of us who has been out in the business world for a few years can look back with perfect hindsight and name a few college courses that we should have taken. But on the business side, here is my list of useful courses that we wish existed, but as far as I know, still aren’t generally available: Basic Office Politics.

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Class Course Writing Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

They cite sources like a recent BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this NY Times article. Of course there are scenarios where a written business plan is not critical, but I haven’t seen one yet where a well-written 15-page document, or at least a 10-slide pitch, is a negative.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 3, 2012

Seth is a design-oriented entrepreneur, with little desire to document details. In my UC Santa Barbara Entrepreneurial course, I require the students to submit a venture idea every week. The more you play around with ideas and you write them down, the better. In his entrepreneurial Tribe, he is the Shaman.

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Ideas Guide Startup Santa Barbara 266

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

They cite sources like the BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this Forbes article. The size of the document should be based on your style, but 10-20 pages or slides are usually more than adequate to outline even a complex business. Writing it down promotes both understanding and commitment.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

Berkonomics

MAY 29, 2014

If you don’t know these things, how are you going to course-correct if things go differently than forecast? But it’s a valuable document for you. Studies found that people who write plans are more likely to put their goals in action and increases your likelihood of success. So why make a plan? Business Plans are not static.

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Startup Guide Help Mentor 166

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Of course it happens all the time?—?especially Why you should set up a board at the seed round of funding I know these days with SAFE documents and rolling convertible notes many founders prefer not to set up a board early on. Well, once people get on boards it’s pretty tough ego-wise to convince them to step off. Not really.

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Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

Large companies write business plans, why of course, that’s the organizing document for a startup. Yet we took this document, the business plan, because we knew nothing else and said, ‘Go write one of these.’. That was the implicit statement. Most startups…(are) dealing with a series multiple unknowns.

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Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Generally speaking in venture capital financings the legal documents will specify that only “major investors” (a threshold set in the agreement – which can be $500,000 investor or more). We are doing what we do – writing larger checks and playing an active role at the company. There is a reason for this.

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Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2017

I’m sure that every one of us who has been out in the business world for a few years can look back with perfect hindsight and name a few college courses that we should have taken. But on the business side, here is my list of useful courses that we wish existed, but as far as I know, still aren’t generally available: Basic Office Politics.

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Training Course Email Social Network 57

TechEmpower

JULY 5, 2016

We should write an alternative to JSON.stringify that produces an exact representation of our number.” If we need to produce JSON from JavaScript, of course we expect that JSON.stringify will be involved. We can no longer write Mustache or Handlebars templates like this: {{! The call will be hidden.

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JavaScript Java Class Framework 294

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. And covered we did.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

There is a common misconception that an idea can be protected by documenting it, placing it in an envelope and then mailing it to yourself. Underlying this presumption is the belief that if the envelop is unopened, the postmark will “prove” the date the idea was conceived (or at least when it was documented). Know Thou Prior Art.

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IP Patents Company Companies 256

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

They write into their investment documents that they will occupy a seat on the board for as long as they are invested in the company, thinking of this as a protection for their investment and tool for them to influence growth. Of course they should not. All other board functions are secondary.

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Class Coach Invest Sales 179

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

If you look at what you go through, starting high school, and maybe even middle or grade school, you go through your educational life managing courses, relationships with your teachers, and relationships with your parents. It's started with managing courses and grades, on to a whole array of other services.

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Education Startup Course Tool 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

I was happy to see a real focus on preparing for tomorrow highlighted in a new book, “ Start a Successful Business ,” by Colleen DeBaise, who has made a career of studying and writing about entrepreneur challenges. Regularly follow reviews and influencers in your industry.

Customer 57

Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 57

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

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Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2013

I will outline here ten key principles and disciplines that every entrepreneur must understand and practice to minimize surprises and failures in this area: Failure to document cash flow projections is a disaster. No matter how small your company is today, there are more moving financial parts than you can manage dynamically in your head.

Startup 114

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 114

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Packaging, pricing & discounts – In the early days of my first company we always had “list prices&# we quoted to customers and of course we were always willing to negotiate based on who the client was, how important the business was to us, who the competition was and how well the deal was negotiated.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

And precisely because buyers usually prefer to have limited money go to investors – investors almost always have the ability to say “no” to transactions in the terms of their funding documents (aka “blocking rights”). And few in the press are willing to call this out. Sarah Lacy did.

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Press Startup Yahoo Venture Capital 357

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2016

Over the years, I have identified ten key principles and disciplines that every entrepreneur must understand and practice to minimize surprises and failures in this area: Failure to document cash flow projections is a disaster.

Startup 64

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 64

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

You thought it was going to be as easy as just having term sheet transferred to a longer form document. But every freakin’ week there are delays in getting the lawyers to “turn around&# the documents. I want to decide what the right “angle&# on the story it (with their input, of course). Trust me, that happens.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When to get a lawyer - If you plan to be a venture or angel backed technology company (what I mostly write about) the best time to start meeting and getting to know lawyers is long before you ever start your company. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Many people start companies arse backwards.

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Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

In writing anything positive about any of the companies I’m not suggesting that it means that I prefer them to any of their competitors. Also, some of the deals I write about I have actually seen as part of their fund raising process. I just cover the companies that were funded that week. Really!). 2.2mm in Series A.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

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. I don’t really care if I’m wrong as long as I’m not dogmatic if evidence later shows we need to change course.

Startup 335

Startup Technical Review Framework Entrepreneur 335

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2010

Of course I knew that they sat on other boards that kept them busy but somehow it seemed like I had all of their attention to myself during the fund raising process – especially the ones who seemed to like me and spend time with me. What’s less clear is which airplanes are in the sky and waiting to land.

Venture Capital 275

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Capital Ideas 275

Tech.Co

MARCH 9, 2020

This could be as simple as someone around you glancing at the private documents on your screen. You don't have to write out an hour-by-hour schedule or even keep track of your daily activities. Scare stories abound of false WiFi networks that are set up near coffee shops, aimed at stealing your personal information.

Tips 160

Tips Software Review Study Email 160

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Here are some tips which will signal traction to investors, as well as your team: Document your business plan. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. Of course, a real contract or purchase order from a big customer is even better.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 13, 2010

Start by writing a draft of your reference. Step-by-Step – If the reference involves completing an online form and uploading the reference document (as is the case with most graduate school applications), specify each step the Referencer must complete. John is a CPA and holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School. Copyright © 2007-10 by J.

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Startup .Net Organization Networking 113

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

Of course there is usually an inverse relationship between how senior the person is, how much time they have available and on the other side how much time they’ll spend helping you and getting involved in details. Of course great VCs play this role and many founders rely on VCs for input to hard decisions. obviously make an exception.

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Startup Writing Venture Capital Oracle 187