Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2021

Of course, we never see ourselves in this mode, yet we need to recognize that all humans see reality differently through a built-in set of “cognitive biases,” based on their own unique background of experiences, training, and mental state. Investing more into a bad idea doesn’t make it good.

Startup 149

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Press 149

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Of course you need to discount any investor competitive positioning, but local investment group leaders will quickly tell you the strengths and terms of active investors in your area. Another approach is to ask the investor for references, where their involvement has made a real difference, leading to success.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. If you need help at this stage, look for a local university teaching online courses on entrepreneurship , or how to build a business plan. If you need money now, is has to come from friends and family.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

One of the investment themes I’ve been focused on in the past 3 years has been Performance-Based Marketing. When I started investing the US advertising market was $300 billion with only 10% of it ($30 billion) of it being online and measurable. But of course Google eventually became the massive winner in this category.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

If the deal is from out of your geography and/or out of your focus area or a deal is being referred by a well-know investor who normally co-invests with similar syndicates – at least ask yourself, “Why am I so lucky to be getting this call.” I wrote here about why I avoid party rounds. I seek out great entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 337

Venture Capital Invest Ideas Entrepreneur 337

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

We both wanted to build a practice that would make Los Angeles proud but where we would travel tirelessly to other locations to make investments in the best entrepreneurs wherever they were. Like any firm we of course invest in the San Francisco Bay Area where 33% of my personal boards are. I made some reference calls.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2023

Where your competitor isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. Of course, it’s important to start with a bounded agreement which clearly lays out expectations and areas that are off-limits. Benchmark your practices against a true peer. Think about the future.

Startup 105

Startup Outsource Competition Entrepreneur 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

I refer back to the classic book, “ A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide ,” by Jamey Stegmaier, one of the biggest thought leaders on crowdfunding, and who has also run several successful Kickstarter projects, that together have raised many millions of dollars. billion globally by 2030, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Startup revenues come later.

Startup 100

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2021

Of course experience is the best teacher, but you need to get the job to get the experience. Invest in career coaching. If you are not starting one yourself, the next best thing is joining one as a partner, or as an early employee. It takes much the same preparation to make you the best entrepreneur, or the best job candidate.

Tips 168

Tips Startup Coach Networking 168

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Of course you need to discount any investor competitive positioning, but local investment group leaders will quickly tell you the strengths and terms of active investors in your area. Another approach is to ask the investor for references, where their involvement has made a real difference, leading to success.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Funding Innocal Offshore 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 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. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2010

I wonder if more college students ought to take a journalism course for a semester or do an internship at their school newspaper in investigative reporting. doing a reference call on a prospective employee. I wanted to understand how he had arrived at his previous investment decisions. I wanted to know what made him tick.

Startup 311

Startup Invest Course Research 311

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

I refer back to the classic book, “ A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide ,” by Jamey Stegmaier, one of the biggest thought leaders on crowdfunding, and who has also run several successful Kickstarter projects, that together have raised many millions of dollars. Don’t assume that any money collected from a winning campaign will go into your pocket.

Startup 151

Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2016

We track which investment firms and which investment partners are a good fit for each company we have back so that we don’t have a scattergun approach to fund raising. We like to know that when we call our peers they truly are the best fit for the company in which we’ve invested.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Course 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2020

Where your competitor isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. Of course, it’s important to start with a bounded agreement which clearly lays out expectations and areas that are off-limits. Benchmark your practices against a true peer. Think about the future.

Startup 126

Startup Outsource Competition Acquisition 126

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A. If I were looking at which VCs to choose I would reference strongly for which ones are supportive in good times and bad. The best way – of course – is to reference check.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 11, 2015

I’ve worked very closely with Matt over the past four years as we share an investment in a company in Los Angeles called NextPlus and we sat on a board together for years. He’s had a ton of recent successes in enterprise software investments but also has a history in doing consumer deals. He’s committed.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Gogii Course Activity 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. If you need help at this stage, look for a local university teaching online courses on entrepreneurship , or how to build a business plan. If you need money now, is has to come from friends and family.

Funding 94

Funding Startup Organization Incubator 94

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2014

Danielle Steel of course being Tom Perkins ex wife. So perhaps his king reference was fitting. In tech circles one refers to the firm as either Kleiner Perkins, KP or Kleiner. Investment Partner Megan Quinn weighed in publicly. Of course not. It’s why I instantly thought out loud on Twitter.

Education 417

Education Venture Capital UCSD Class 417

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2019

Of course, we never see ourselves in this mode, yet we need to recognize that all humans see reality differently through a built-in set of “cognitive biases,” based on their own unique background of experiences, training, and mental state. Investing more into a bad idea doesn’t make it good.

Ideas 91

Ideas Entrepreneur Press Startup 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2022

Startup investors tell me they invest in a new venture with a higher caliber of people, rather than the product or service, and I agree. Of course, it’s no surprise that most entrepreneurs don’t have a background in hiring teams, and don’t have a budget for training or human resource consultants.

Training 135

Training Case Study Resource Statistics 135

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2014

And of course there are virulent debates about whether publicly funded media should exist at all. Unbiased of course doesn’t exist since we all have biases. Every time I considered a major investment in media: Radio or online video – I called to get Jarl’s no-holds-barred views. What a load of rubbish.

Riot Games 299

Riot Games Media Startup News 299

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. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

Many of us learned about substitute products in undergrad economics courses. Of course branding is many things and this post doesn’t attempt a master class. We of course all instinctively know when we see a brand that is well established what it stands for?—?Warby Here are some ideas of what I believe matters.

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. If you need help at this stage, look for a local university teaching online courses on entrepreneurship , or how to build a business plan. If you need money now, is has to come from friends and family.

Organization 93

Organization Startup Incubator Ideas 93

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management. Usually when an investor is asking you your burn rate he or she is referring to net burn — what cash are you consuming.

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

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. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Often recruiters want to handle the final negotiations on package and/or do the reference calls. I’m also reluctant to hand over reference calling. I know that no recruiter will agree with me on this point, but I’ll tell you that I’m certain there’s a positive bias in reference calls. It happens.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

When you’re hiring most reference checkers focus on the person’s former bosses. Just literally this week I had breakfast with a guy giving a reference who said, “He’s brilliant. In fact, just a short Google search reveals that I’ve referred to him frequently through the years. But he knows it.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2015

Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. Of course, more resources are “better” for marketing, but re-allocating existing resources can be equally effective. The tools and measurements are the same for both. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Marketing Resource 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2017

Of course, we never see ourselves in this mode, yet we need to recognize that all humans see reality differently through a built-in set of “cognitive biases,” based on their own unique background of experiences, training, and mental state. Investing more into a bad idea doesn’t make it good.

Startup 62

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Press 62

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

In the first half of your meeting you get the customer talking about his or her pain points (which I covered in the first post) by showing them references and then asking whether they find they have similar issues as your other clients in their sector. It’s called ROI (return-on-investment) selling. Startup Advice'

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2013

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. If you need help at this stage, look for a local university teaching online courses on entrepreneurship , or how to build a business plan. If you need money now, is has to come from friends and family.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Funding Incubator Startup 102

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2013

Of course, we never see ourselves in this mode, yet we need to recognize that all humans see reality differently through a built-in set of “cognitive biases,” based on their own unique background of experiences, training, and mental state. Investing more into a bad idea doesn’t make it good.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Press 94

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

Of course, we never see ourselves in this mode, yet we need to recognize that all humans see reality differently through a built-in set of “cognitive biases,” based on their own unique background of experiences, training, and mental state. Investing more into a bad idea doesn’t make it good.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Ideas Press Startup 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Of course you need to discount any investor competitive positioning, but local investment group leaders will quickly tell you the strengths and terms of active investors in your area. Another approach is to ask the investor for references, where their involvement has made a real difference, leading to success.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 103

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. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87