Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Industry reviews. So the “VC associate” is largely a launching pad job for exceedingly bright and hard-working young tech professionals. 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. Deal screening.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Tech entrepreneurs' consternation with MBAs does not rise to the level of loathing. Rather, entrepreneurs' frustrations are often due to an incongruence between an MBA's expectations versus the value they can deliver to a startup. As I stated in my Quora answer, "hate" is the wrong word. Startups Need Execution, Not Administration.

Entrepreneur 279

Entrepreneur Technical Review Case Study Class 279

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Of course it’s much harder to identify “emerging managers” who it turns out have been some of the best performers over the past 5-7 years such as Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, First Round Capital, True Ventures, Greycroft, Foundry Group, Thrive and Upfront Ventures. .” 2007 was the watershed year.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

Of course, we all realize that this approach will take longer, and could jeopardize both roles if not managed effectively. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Set expectations accordingly.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. They are the lifeblood of many companies yet they are different than the traditional technology startup DNA so the ways that you hire, motivate, compensate and assess performance of these individuals will be different. Customers seldom buy on price.

Sales 382

Sales Help Startup Pricing 382

InfoChachkie

MAY 19, 2011

Agree to Bundling Without a Minimum Price. In some instances, it will be appropriate to grandfather ongoing payments due regional distributors for their past performance. A more complicated negotiating point involves IP that is created in the course of the parties’ collaboration. Serve up World-wide Distribution.

Outsource Development 193

Outsource Development IP Technical Review Entrepreneur 193

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Thus founders seeking funding for a good cause or a new technology often seize on grants from universities, government agencies and philanthropic organizations as free money to solve their problems. Of course, nothing is really free in the business world. Technology is not enough. In the U.S. In the U.S.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. You can be pissed off, but I don’t set prices. That’s stupid.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

I think as a tech industry we have bred a culture that places more emphasis on product excellence than managing human behavior. Of course it makes no sense to have great people management and a crappy product. When they started their company of course they had to pick one to be CEO and the other to have a different title.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Andrew Erskine has developed his legal career along with the rise of the tech startup scene in Los Angeles. And it was just something that founders never really thought to raise and then of course you’re dealing with the huge issue at the most critical point in the company’s history. So, things like that will happen. “A

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Startup Los Angeles Santa Monica 141

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. We short-handed this marketing mix as “ the four P’s ” – product, price, promotion and place (distribution) – this was devised in 1960 and while a little bit dated is still a useful framework. My argument is pretty simple.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

Over the course of the first few months I saw a few people out on the street taking Birds and then a steady uptick in riders. Capital of course drives scale advantages and when you have “winner take most” markets it also has a way of scaring away some investors from investing in the 3–5th “me too” competitors. There is nothing viral!

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

My simple answer is that they keep their focus on customers, rather than technology. They present a convincing story that every entrepreneur has the same potential, but most get sidetracked and bogged down by their technology, competitors, and internal organization. Jeff Bezos has kept his focus on customers.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Of course I went through normal other channels of deal flow. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

Of course, we all realize that this approach will take longer, and could jeopardize both roles if not managed effectively. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Set expectations accordingly.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2011

Finally, we want it cheap (of course). Here’s the latest technology. Of course, you both need to have compatible smart phones with the software already downloaded. I found dozens of software packages available on the Internet for free download, or a nominal price. This is great and it’s free! CardScan Personal.

Technical Review 83

Technical Review Technology Software Review Social Network 83

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Of course I went through normal other channels of deal flow. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

You go to a review site and the search engines to find local vendors, where they are dozens. Once you sift through and pick someone, you have to get pricing. There's zero pricing transparency. We're used to now having pricing at our fingertips for travel, for retail, but for local services, it's a black hole.

ReachLocal 217

ReachLocal Technical Review Woodland Hills Services 217

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

And of course we help with business development introductions and with fund raising events. Often we are asked to get involved in executive-level recruiting. Board work does involve a lot of conflict at moments throughout the company.

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

AngelList 101 : As you know, AngelList is a platform where angels can invest in semi-screened tech deals. They will have to negotiate price and terms. Therefore of course they need to be more selection when writing checks and can’t spread their bets across 75 deals. Of course the same goes with traditional VCs.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. When they look at buying your company they often think in terms of “how long will it take until I earn back the profits to pay for my acquisition price?” You may have leverage when you DO need to fund raise.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Of course, we all realize that this approach will take longer, and could jeopardize both roles if not managed effectively. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Set expectations accordingly.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 10, 2011

The big price increase : 5 out of 5 stars. The remainder of this article will deal with this decision but it comes down to the different economics of DVD rentals due to “ the first sale doctrine ” which gives Netflix a complete library of films and the fact that the first-sale doctrine doesn’t apply to digital downloads.

Netflix 287

Netflix Customer Custom Pricing 287

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2021

I’m a very logical guy, so I still fondly remember when new solutions and technologies started trends on the basis of their logical strengths. Today consumers reveal themselves online, with pictures, opinions, ratings and reviews, interests and locations, and expect businesses to adapt to them, and honor the implied relationship contract.

Marketing 127

Marketing Social Media Technical Review Product 127

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

And even when calculated correctly often CAC’s are assumed to be constant but of course they’re not. If you acquire 10 customers a month at $100 per customer and this scales to 100 customers at the same price you may make assumptions about 1,000 customers that don’t hold.

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. They are the lifeblood of many companies yet they are different than the traditional technology startup DNA so the ways that you hire, motivate, compensate and assess performance of these individuals will be different. Customers seldom buy on price.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

But VC is an “illiquid asset&# so funds didn’t disappear quickly - In 2000/01 the stock market quickly adjusted punishing investors in the NASDAQ and in individual public technology stocks. It takes less to start a business these days – We all know that it takes less to start a technology company these days.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 22, 2018

[Update: TechCrunch has confirmed Lime’s plans for the store, and that the deal to build it came through Lime’s investor Fifth Wall Ventures that arranges partnerships between tech companies and real estate developers. And with similarly cheap pricing, the decision of which to use comes down to brand affinity.

Santa Monica 221

Santa Monica Startup Technical Review Education 221

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2015

Every entrepreneur with a new technology tells me that his innovation will be industry-disrupting, meaning that it will render the existing technology obsolete, and create a new market. Pick a technology that somehow seems inferior to the major incumbents. So why would any investor ever believe any of these claims?

Marketing 102

Marketing Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 102

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

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 thought, we could put out a better product than Kaplan or Princeton Review, which would be more compelling, and also would tie in a strong social mission.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

We All Know That Dollars into Venture Have Gone Up … As a starting point, we know that the dollars into venture have steadily rebounded to pre great-recession levels, with just under $30 billion committed to US technology venture capital in 2015. …But LPs Have Been Putting Out More Money Than They Are Getting Back.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

The larger the round, the higher the price, the harder the next hurdle is to hit But the bigger point I want to make is what happens when the coffers are depleted and you need more money? Constraints can spark creativity Of course it never feels this way when you’re the founder, but constraints can actually force creativity.

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Some pundits argue that the E-Myth principle is now outdated, due to the instant access to information via the Internet, pervasive networking via social media, and courses on entrepreneurship at all levels of education. Hence most fail. Perhaps an innate business savvy is no longer a requirement for starting a successful business.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Technical Review 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

Of course, we all realize that this approach will take longer, and could jeopardize both roles if not managed effectively. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Set expectations accordingly.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. Yet I can’t help thinking there are many predictable failures that come from a lack of basic planning.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There are many things a VC is looking for in reviewing your business plan but beyond things the like the quality of revenue, margins, OPEX and CAPEX there’s a really simple rule I call, “Cash In, Cash Out, Milestones Achieved.” Will these milestones be enough that a VC would pay a higher price in the next round of financing?

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Demand 247

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Good entrepreneurs can admit when their course of action was wrong and learn from it. Most of them are completely mundane such as choosing which: bank, office space, 1-year lease vs. 2-year lease, logo, URL, pricing structure or which VC. The technology team disagrees on direction and wants resolutions. What lovely charts!

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414