Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2021

Initial funding. Many incubators do provide seed funding for entrepreneurs selected, usually in small amounts like $10,000 to $20,000, and usually taking 5% to 15% of your equity in return. Follow-on funding and connections. Why spend years struggling and all your money if entrepreneurship is just not your thing?

Incubator 146

Incubator Technical Review Entrepreneur Mentor 146

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

Of course much of it is conflicting. And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. I now observes the fund raising process as a profession. This is the fund raising perspective from both sides of the table. Fund raising (as is much of life) is a sale – pure and simple. Why buy me?

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding. Set expectations accordingly.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

Of course you could start your own company. Of course I’m not suggesting people shouldn’t start a company. For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.”

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding. Set expectations accordingly.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Industry reviews. VC firm policy or fund analysis. So the “VC associate” is largely a launching pad job for exceedingly bright and hard-working young tech professionals. And we’ve begun relaunching our “platform services” for entrepreneurs. Portfolio company support & analysis.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. Of course, I provide part-time CTO services. What's you believe is your biggest technology risk, if any? What Is This?

CTO Hire 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. Of course, I provide part-time CTO services. What's you believe is your biggest technology risk, if any? What Is This?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

For example, Bill Gates founded and grew Microsoft, and Michael Dell built a great technology company, both with no outside funding until they went successful enough to go public years later and sell shares to common stockholders. Of course, this can be positive if you really need the help and experience in making key decisions.

Startup 124

Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital Entrepreneur 124

socalTECH

JUNE 4, 2018

com) recently , announced a new healthcare focused venture capital fund, worth $25M. We caught up with one of the co-founders, Jay Goss, about what the new investment fund is looking for in a startup, and the types of investments it makes. First, tell us about the fund and what you are looking to invest in?

Startup 113

Startup Technical Review Software Review Artificial Inteligence 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2017

The key is to look hard outside the world of “professional investors,” to regular people who share your vision and dreams, friends and family who believe in you, and crowd funding your ideas that have a popular appeal. The basic categories include equity, straight debt, convertible debt, services, and agreements for future equity.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Equity Capital Entrepreneur 88

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

There are obvious reasons the industry has had less-than-desirable returns, including: massive over-funding of the sector, huge increases in inexperienced venture capitalists that took a decade to peter out, and the massive correction in the value of the public stock markets that closed many exit opportunities for half a decade.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2019

Those airport drone incursions shut down Gatwick over the course of three days, which caused major delays at Heathrow and Newark. However, there is already the technology out therefrom San Luis Obispo-based Whitefox Defense (www.whitefoxdefense.com)  to both detect, and neutralize those drones. Explain how your technology works?

Startup 187

Startup Technical Review Technology Competition 187

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

If you need investors, it’s important that you understand their filters, and even if you are funding your own efforts, you need to recognize the red flags. These historically have included work-at-home, restaurants, telemarketing and social-service providers. New drugs usually fall in this category, due to side-effect testing.

Invest 98

Invest Sites Technical Review Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding. Set expectations accordingly.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2016

For example, Bill Gates founded and grew Microsoft, and Michael Dell built a great technology company, both with no outside funding until they went successful enough to go public years later and sell shares to common stockholders. Of course, this can be positive if you really need the help and experience in making key decisions.

Funding 57

Funding Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 57

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

If you need investors, it’s important that you understand their filters, and even if you are funding your own efforts, you need to recognize the red flags. These historically have included work-at-home, restaurants, telemarketing and social-service providers. New drugs usually fall in this category, due to side-effect testing.

Startup 126

Startup Sites Technical Review Social Media 126

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

“You have to look like America looks, because right now the tech sector doesn’t look like America.” And of course he’s right. Magic spoke about how when he left basketball he wanted to bring businesses to African American communities that were lacking in basic services. And we shouldn’t deny it.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Course Entrepreneur 150

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due. These are probably the two sites where I've posted the most reviews. One out of ten of Americans are out of work.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund As I outlined last week, trophy angel investors are always looking for trophy entrepreneurs. The result is that the Main Street Venture Fund consistently has more money available than good opportunities for investment. By Joseph A. Proposition. Participation.

Funding 106

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Activity 106

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2009

One company, Startup Exchange (www.startupexchange.com) is taking an interesting angle on the problem, with a financial fund which allows startup founders to put some of their stock into a pool of other companies--providing them with more opportunities for some liquidity, and a little bit of diversification. What is Startup Exchange?

Venture Capital 165

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Technical Review 165

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. Of course, every company needs these, in due time. You need a prototype. You need specialized equipment. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Equity 100

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 1, 2014

Visions pan of endless cold emails and long days attending meetups and pitch nights while your operations/tech team grind away. But you can’t secure the funding needed to scale. . Not that good old fashioned leg work isn’t still required of course.). But of course, this isn’t to be mixed up.

Invest 100

Invest Startup Technical Review Software Review 100

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

Last week, Santa Monica-based Revolution Prep announced its first, institutional round of funding, worth $15M, from Kennet Partners. The company provides SAT, ACT, and other similar test preparation courses and related software. I had worked as a tutor for Princeton Review, and Jake for Kaplan. We started in 2000.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding. Set expectations accordingly.

Startup 123

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2010

Of course, there are pros and cons to each of these. Self-funding from your savings is the preferred source of cash for your startup – if you have it. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering services for equity. Small business grants.

Funding 59

Funding Startup Technical Review Equity 59

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding. Set expectations accordingly.

Develop 70

Develop Development Product Startup 70

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

The company--which is in the business of operating a content delivery network (CDN) to accelerate the delivery of web graphics, multimedia, applications, and more to end users-- recently disclosed it more than doubled its revenues in 2012, and has grown to over 230 employees--all due to a huge amount of demand for CDN services by its customers.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. Of course, every company needs these, in due time. You need a prototype. You need specialized equipment. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 95

Technical Review Startup Equity Entrepreneur 95

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

It’s always fun debating companies with Dana because she’s always so knowledgeable on deals – particularly those in the digital media, ad-tech and eCommerce spaces. Their first fund was a $75 million fund raised in 2006 and they very recently announced a brand new $130 million fund. Greycroft is an early-stage VC.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2012

Of course, every approach has pros and cons. Self-funding is the preferred source of cash for your startup – if you can do it. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups. Bartering services for equity. A large percentage of startups never apply to either.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Equity Incubator Venture Capital 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2014

Initial funding. Many incubators do provide seed funding for entrepreneurs selected, usually in small amounts like $10,000 to $20,000, and usually taking 5% to 15% of your equity in return. Follow-on funding and connections. Why spend years struggling and all your money if entrepreneurship is just not your thing? Marty Zwilling.

Incubator 103

Incubator Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

Startup 53

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 53

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Of course I have. Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. You need to have passionate tech entrepreneurs who want to build businesses locally. I’m in Seattle this week.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2013

Initial funding. Many incubators do provide seed funding for entrepreneurs selected, usually in small amounts like $10,000 to $20,000, and usually taking 5% to 15% of your equity in return. Follow-on funding and connections. Why spend years struggling and all your money if entrepreneurship is just not your thing?

Incubator 115

Incubator Help Startup Technical Review 115