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. It’s the first EIR that we’ve had in the years that I’ve been with the firm and I hope will be the start of our investment in this program.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 26, 2011

I have often said that what separates real entrepreneurs from pundits and bystanders is a bias towards getting things done versus over analyzing things. That doesn’t work in a startup. There’s a certain cadence that you can feel when you spend time hanging any well-run startup company. My credo has always been JFDI.

Startup 335

Startup Technical Review Framework Entrepreneur 335

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

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2022

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. As a startup, you need all the leverage you can get. Proceed with your wits about you.

Outsource Development 110

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 110

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Deal screening. Associates often shadow partners at board meetings so that they can help follow up with the company on important initiatives between board meetings. a really wide angle view of the tech industry since you see so many concepts / so many pitches and REAL data points on how startups perform financially.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

In 2017 we began inserting an “Inclusion Clause” into our term sheets because we believe that the culture one establishes at the earliest stages of one’s business will set out the course of how it will grow and develop. We can unequivocally say this has started to work in the companies that we have funded since this clause was inserted.

Venture Capital 284

Venture Capital Coach Ideas Startup 284

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. They are likely taking losses on their first project with the entrepreneur so they select carefully.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. They are likely taking losses on their first project with the entrepreneur so they select carefully.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

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

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2015

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. As a startup, you need all the leverage you can get. Proceed with your wits about you.

Ideas 107

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Tool 107

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2020

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. As a startup, you need all the leverage you can get. Proceed with your wits about you.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2014

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. As a startup, you need all the leverage you can get. Proceed with your wits about you.

Outsource Development 105

Outsource Development Startup Ideas Tool 105

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. I was reminded of a number of these by a recent book, “ The Thing About Work: Showing Up and Other Important Matters ,” by Richard A. Showing up still matters. This is not about clocking in to work.

Startup 93

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 93

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Time sure flies when you’re having fun, or building a startup. Those who are more involved in traditional entertainment are seeing a major shift online which is why an additional one-day seminar was created to coincide with Silicon Beach Fest Hollywood as a partnership called, Idea to Screen. ” Collaboration was also key.

Hollywood 100

Hollywood Screening Ideas Entertainment 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

After listening to hundreds of startup pitches, and reading even more business plans, most new venture investors develop their own favorite list of “red flags” that signal the beginning of the end of their interest. Of course, customers love free, but investors hate it. Entrepreneurs in this category are usually dreamers.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Innocal Entrepreneur 98

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

The Annual TechZulu Startup Forecast is one of our most anticipated events. Peter Csathy – CEO Manatt Digital Media Ventures, accomplished media and digital media entrepreneur. Richard Wolpert – Managing Director of Amplify.LA, startup incubator and Venture Advisor at Accel Partners. Let’s Talk Bitcoin.

Startup 95

Startup Google Education Venture Capital 95

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2010

If your confidence is low about starting your own business, and you are tempted to “reduce the risk” by signing up for one of the many “work at home” startup offers you see, think again! You can also ask them what kind of screening they do for their employees if they do not interview them. The problem is getting worse.

Startup 95

Startup Google Social Network Screening 95

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

We want to give our brightest new startups the connections and interactions they need to help streamline success. And of course we had, TheMan. He teamed up with Jordanna Joaquina, a genetic counselor, to create an online version of what she was already doing in the physical world. Now begins the 6-month journey.

Company 276

Company Companies Startup Southern California 276

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 24, 2013

If you are the first to deliver this, your startup might be the next Google! In today’s mobile hardware environment, that means able to set up meetings, convert text messages to voice, find contact information quickly, and search the Web intelligently for outside info. There are already many examples of startups edging into this space.

Web 98

Web Entrepreneur Software Review Google 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

By Jim Flowers A few months ago, Marty invited me to comment on business incubation and what a startup company ought to expect from an incubator. At VT KnowledgeWorks we screen prospective clients for their Market opportunity, for the Magic that they offer to their prospective customers, and for the Moxie displayed by the start-up team.

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 20, 2013

As the NBA playoffs closes to an end in a grueling road to Game 7 between Miami Heats and San Antonio Spurs, it would behoove every startup founder to learn from key elements and strategies of both teams, as lessons from the sport of basketball can directly translate to the success of a startup company. 1) Identifying Team Chemistry.

Startup 94

Startup CTO Coach Coach Study 94

socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2018

We caught up with Jack Ryan , the CEO of REX, to understand how, exactly, the company sells homes without the MLS. We started offering this in Los Angeles, and have since expanded to Orange County and San Diego. Tesla doesn't just put their car up on Cars.com and wait for buyers, because that's just not how it works.

Artificial Inteligence 113

Artificial Inteligence Woodland Hills Orange County Startup 113

Berkonomics

JUNE 11, 2015

It’s good advice; the theory being that entrepreneurs can discover the flaws in their business models sooner, make course corrections and move in a more favorable direction. In my case as a young software entrepreneur, I had a different approach: Fail Locally, one customer at a time. I became an entrepreneur by default.

Customer 120

Customer Custom Writing Southern California 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was speaking recently to the team at NuOrder , an LA-based company we’re an investor in about “realism in startups” — an impromptu talk I have given to any of our portfolio companies who ask. Of course I also have to the concept. I prefer to compete more with other startups than with giants.

Invest 254

Invest Writing Pricing Metrics 254

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

You know the steps to startup fundraising: Target potential investors. Set up tons of meetings. Startup Fundraising: Planning. The more you organize in advance, the better your chances of startup fundraising success. Startup Fundraising: Pitching. Startup Fundraising: Pacing. Get warm introductions.

Startup 40

Startup News Invest Entrepreneur 40

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 31, 2011

Coming hot off the coat tail of earlier this year’s Startup Weekend LA where Zaarly launched, this LASW was nothing less than amazing and as someone put, one of the best tech events in LA they had ever been to.

Los Angeles 73

Los Angeles Startup Angel Tech Coast Angels 73

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

I do what I wish all entrepreneurs would do. The same kind of tasks that a startup team has. It’s an entrepreneur with whom I’ve been wanting to work for 6 years. I met for coffee with one of my favorite “startup advisors” in LA. It was a young, first-time entrepreneur who wanted to meet.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 14, 2016

How did you start the company? Ryan Costello: I started out as an event producer in Washington DC. I actually tried to put on an event to raise money for a charity in Washington DC, and at the time I was super young and super na�ve, and helping that charity ended up turning into a ten year long project.

Sales 100

Sales Santa Monica Startup Orange County 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

One of the most common questions I hear from first-time entrepreneurs is, “How do I meet angels?” It’s why long before you ever want press coverage you need to spend time actually helping journalists, respecting their profession, taking their calls (not having your PR department screen them) and knowing what interests them.

Venture Capital 407

Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Naturally, the next step in Bernstein’s evolution from blogger to businesswoman was a technology startup. ‘People say we’re crazy’ As venture capitalists wake up to the business opportunity, they’re seeding startups that help influencers go from hobbyists to professionals. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage).

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

InfoChachkie

MARCH 3, 2011

In the spirit of the “land grab” mentality of the day, we emphasized usage of our screen sharing technology with no thought applied to how we would convert such users into paying customers. These users will sign up for multiple free trials with a variety of email addresses and user names simply to avoid payment.

Customer 162

Customer Custom Technical Support Startup 162

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2019

How do you create a tool to help address unconscious bias in the workplaceand why would you create a new startup in that area? We caught up with Michele and Dan to better understand why they founded the company, and why this market was such an interest to them. That's what we do over the course of our two year contract.

Content 150

Content Training Education Outsource Development 150

Eric Greenspan

APRIL 9, 2013

It’s a flat screen. Starting to get my point? This opens up an opportunity for recurring revenue and membership. Per course: $9.99. Offer certifications and course bundles. Crazy entrepreneur tricks' Lets switch gears to home theater. Ya we went from plasma to LCD to LED, but who cares? Will it happen?

Pricing 229

Pricing Course Technology Screening 229

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

My favorite part of the interview with Nanxi starts right off the bat as she recalls the string of fortuitous events that brought the founding team together. Her career path was pointing her toward a future in Biotech (she’d also cofounded a biotech company around the time), but one simple introduction recharted her course completely.

Social Media 106

Social Media Startup Screening Advertising 106

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

Of course that website isn’t completely up to date but it’s a great resource for seeing the overall picture. Of course unsolicited spam has very low open rates and is filtered by the major providers. But let me start with some data. 62% of adult US Internet users check or send email on a daily basis.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

socalTECH

MARCH 4, 2010

Jason is also behind the popular "Startups Uncensored" events in Los Angeles, so we also pinged him on how those events have been going. Do you screen all of the documents on the marketplace, or how does that work? Jason Nazar: We screen the profiles, but we don't screen the content. We've had to turn away people.

Technical Review 171

Technical Review Rustic Canyon Screening Startup 171

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

Then there is the EIR (entrepreneur in residence) who is usually at a VC for a temporary period of time and other individuals such as venture partners or operating partners. While this post is written about raising venture capital (which I always remind entrepreneurs IS a sales process) the lessons can be applied to any sale or biz dev deal.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Sales Entrepreneur Startup 308