Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? You probably follow some high-profile entrepreneurs on Instagram and Twitter and see conference pictures of them in Davos, Mexico, Monaco or wherever.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2012

I had a very enjoyable day in Cincinnati meeting many local entrepreneurs, angels and accelerators. In the age of Skype, email, cheap telephony and collaboration tools it’s all too easy to sit in your office and connect with people remotely. And as I was out of town it was a great chance to attempt to get caught up on email.

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InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. What matters is how effectively you change course after each mishap. • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • LinkedIn • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. We were based in London.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2010

Of course when they get there those individuals are no longer young and after years of mental and physical atrophy they lack the ambitions to get these things done. Of course the 4-hour work week and DL plan is a gross over generalization and meant to be shocking. And, of course, now Twitter. If not now, then when?

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I’m very excited to be finally be able to announce that this week we’ve added Sam Rosen to our ranks at GRP Partners in the role of entrepreneurs-in-residence – EIR. We’re excited to continue to grow our investment professional staff and will continue to do so over the course of 2013 & 2014 with our new fund.

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Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2022

Dave’s note: This is a reprint of a 2015 insight that seems to have struck a chord with investors and entrepreneurs. None of this advice has changed… Let me tell you a few short hair–raising stories of entrepreneurs who have raised money and regretted it later. The problem, of course, comes if the business fails.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Today we’re in a world where 10 accelerators are bombarding you with emails to meet their 10-15 companies. Seed investors are aplenty and of course they need downstream money to fuel their early-stage bets. Of course I would like to be in every great deal ever done. And there’s conferences. Oh, the conferences.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

So I recommend a high-level “state of the company” email a couple of times a year but a message that you assume might get shown to others. This is no different than a public company where of course most investors are not given detailed financial and performance information and when they are it is quarterly and after the fact.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2014

It is possible, of course, to recruit great people as an underground startup but it is 10x easier when qualified candidates whom you may not even know read about your company and are excited by your vision. Enterprise Sales – The very first thing a potential customer does when you email or call to set up a meeting is Google you.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

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. This is the easiest one for most entrepreneurs. But most good entrepreneurs do this naturally.

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Berkonomics

MARCH 18, 2021

Well, of course it is. Here’s the ultimate thing about entrepreneurism. The post Entrepreneurism is all about personal risk. So, let’s dig a bit deeper. But the risks don’t stop there. If you don’t directly engage the potential customer at the right time, place and mood, you are at a disadvantage from the start.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

I has been asked to do the keynote speech at a dinner that night but of course hadn’t written a speech in advance. I wrote out 3 pages of bullet point notes on paper and delivered a 20-minute speech to a crowd of entrepreneurs (which included the Minister of Technology for China). Get some seasoned entrepreneurs to come.

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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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InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Design together, the course that introduced the idea for brightblu, they were concurrently taking three other classes: Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Marketing and Art of the CEO. These courses all proved to be serious influences on turning the dream of starting their own company into a reality. Fall quarter of Sr. Share and Enjoy.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

I see it on email even more. ” In it he talked about how he gets daily emails asking for intros to Oprah (he does a lot of work with her) and his advice. One of the most common questions I hear from first-time entrepreneurs is, “How do I meet angels?” It seems we live in an era of “ask.”

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Berkonomics

APRIL 6, 2017

Of course, you have a vision for what you will do to change the world. First, if your vision is limited and you will be happy with a successful local dry cleaning enterprise or small restaurant around the corner, you are not the target for this effort to help entrepreneurs build great businesses that change the world.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Too many entrepreneurs think that expert external advisors are suspect, or will slow them down.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2018

I was recently with an entrepreneur and talking with him about his fund raising process. Note: If you enjoy my posts please subscribe to my newsletter by adding your email below. link] Another entrepreneur was recently in my office. Of course you have to be careful with this. I knew she’s come see you. Want to read more?

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Tech.Co

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Entrepreneurs have become more resourceful since the 80s, and your options are more diverse as well. The Instagram lifestyle may have inspired a slew of would-be entrepreneurs to merge work and travel as never done by previous generations. If you decided to become a work-at-home entrepreneur, then you might as well live up to it.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The surest sign a fund-raising process has stalled is when you aren’t getting follow-up meetings or hearing from the VC or hearing from friends that they got a phone call or email asking about you. Of course there’s no exact number of VCs you should meet?—?these Remember, I was an entrepreneur for 10 years before a VC).

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Berkonomics

AUGUST 22, 2024

A good entrepreneur-turned-CEO listens, takes it all in, responds with reason, and stands up for what s/he believes for the parts that matter most. How to respond to “change the course” suggestions But there is a limit, a point where your gut is more important than your ear. Make your case for staying the course.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” As an entrepreneur it can feel as intimidating as going to buy a car where the dealer knows the price of every make & model of a car and you’re guessing at how much to pay.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

Shervin Pishevar, another person who I respect wrote the following on Twitter, “ Saying you don’t like @AngelList is like saying you don’t like Email. Babak Nivi is one of the most understated, helpful & important people on the entrepreneur / startup scene in NorCal. But it +is+ an anti-entrepreneur stance.&#

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InfoChachkie

AUGUST 4, 2014

If you could share one startup lesson with a young entrepreneur, what would it be? So I ask prospective new entrepreneurs, ''What is it specifically that you can bring to the industry?'' Travel, and the trust it requires, is too personal to rely solely on email and social media. How have you made it work?

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Berkonomics

JANUARY 5, 2012

A good entrepreneur-turned-CEO listens, takes it all in, responds with reason, and stands up for what s/he believes for the parts that matter most. Email readers, continue here.] Make your case for staying the course. It is good to listen. And it is better to assimilate the best suggestions into your cake as you bake it. .

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Berkonomics

JULY 6, 2017

In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons, not the least of which was that I had industry experience and understood the need. Surprisingly, many entrepreneurs immediately respond. There is no competition.”

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2012

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, like Simon Cowell is searching for on the X-Factor , that you can’t quite put your finger on. These moments are always being transformed into options to be explored.

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InfoChachkie

JANUARY 21, 2013

As part, of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, Eucalyptus Systems' CEO, Marten Mickos shared his insights and advice regarding what it takes to be a serially successful entrepreneur. Early in his talk he demystified success, noting that, "I am (a) serially unsuccessful entrepreneur. Learning To Be An Entrepreneur.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). Oh, they didn’t cover that in your Stanford CS course? I know that people have an allergy to lawyers out of fear of being screwed.

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InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of her generation. When I began gathering examples of Oprah’s wisdom, I expected to identify a handful of quotes relevant to entrepreneurs. From these, I collected 23 insightful missives of interest to aspiring entrepreneurs. Of course not. Did this slow her down?

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Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Email users, continue here… ] That is the quandary which entrepreneurs face today in building models for new companies around a web presence. Of course, giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Google have such large eyeball numbers that they can use display and positioning ads to achieve great profits.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting. This is part of a series on how to improve your fund raising game. The first post & the full outline if you click the link.)

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

entrepreneur Wil Schroter (I am an angel investor in Affordit). The idea is that in a world in which companies need to deal with customer support requests from Twitter, Facebook, email, phone, IM, etc. In business you spend your life in email. But the honeypot of information in companies is still in email. Enter Xobni.

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Berkonomics

APRIL 20, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] Innovators make use of golden strands of opportunity left when the unfinished vision of another cries for completion, or when a genuine new concept changes the very way people think about their lives. They had no mantra, and a limited vision to connect mainframe computers to share academic information.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2013

Of course there are people who are great at getting things done, but haven’t had an original idea in their life. Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Some struggling entrepreneurs are totally event driven.

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