Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

Think DropBox, Airbnb, Pinterest, Maker Studios, SnapChat, Tinder). Of course the concentration of capital in growth firms and the intense competition to fund the best deals leads to some risks. And of course new entrants are competing to capture the private-market value (hedge funds, mutual funds, corporate funds).

Venture Capital 362

Venture Capital Capital Startup Writing 362

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. While many tech startups do this intuitively (say, SnapChat thinking it would be much better if our photos out partying disappeared) it still happens. Of course reciprocity matters so they would all leap into action. It’s worth a quick read.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2019

Of course, growth is implied in that equation, and is also required for maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage. Of course, growth is implied in every focus, and profit enables growth. But some of you will surely say “What about Facebook and Snapchat, who focused on growth first and are clearly successful?”

Snapchat 74

Snapchat Startup Course Yahoo 74

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2016

I think it’s mostly because when I see local companies (Snapchat, Tinder, DSC, Scopely, Honest Company) that I didn’t invest in do great I’m mostly happy for them more than bitter about missing out. So of course I would love to have been an investor in DSC.

Dollar Shave Club 150

Dollar Shave Club Venture Capital News Snapchat 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 2, 2014

Of course it sounds nicer to live in a utopian socialist society where everybody has the same amount and life is “fair.” And of course it’s impossible to re-create an exact history – especially since no individual actually really knows the “truth” or remembers everything perfectly. Foursquare?

Startup 385

Startup Coach Course Snapchat 385

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2015

Everybody now knows that LA produced SnapChat, Tinder and Maker Studios. And of course thank you to CB Insights. We look for pockets of excellence where we may have skills that aren’t native in other markets or where our home town may have some unique skills or talents. You were right, Alex , he is a superstar. We are a customer.

Marketing 150

Marketing Newsletter Venture Capital Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2016

And of course fudging never produces world-class results, so many companies suffer from mediocrity. Evan Spiegel was thought an idiot for not selling Snapchat for $3 billion. And while leaders set direction, of course it is teams that deliver results. The problem with hard decisions is that you can never make everybody happy.

Organization 150

Organization Course Ideas Class 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 30, 2016

By now if you follow me on Twitter you probably know that I do near daily “Snapstorms” or a collection of short videos (usually < 5 mins in total) with entrepreneur advice on Snapchat. You can follow me on Snapchat at msuster. Of course YouTube has huge traffic, but it’s different. Snapchat is similar.

Snapchat 150

Snapchat Course Media Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

Or you know the other one — the one where Snapchat lost $2 billion in just one quarter. Of course when you think about it it’s kind of obvious but when people make snap judgments about information they hear about companies or read about in the press they often don’t take the time to start to consider the details. Two-f **g-billion!

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 22, 2016

Less than a month ago, Snapchat opened custom on-demand geofilters to everyone. Industry news was excited, but for how amazing of a product they are, custom Snapchat geofilters have remained stunningly under the radar. Well, Snapchat has made it so that anyone can create and upload a custom filter to any area they want.

Customer 40

Customer Custom Snapchat Design 40

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2017

Of course, growth is implied in that equation, and is also required for maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage. Of course, growth is implied in every focus, and profit enables growth. But some of you will surely say “What about Facebook and Snapchat, who focused on growth first and are clearly successful?”

Snapchat 55

Snapchat Startup Course Yahoo 55

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

But it still takes VC to scale a business (thus large capital into industry winners like Uber, Airbnb, SnapChat, etc). Of course strongest industry players don’t stand still. Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 9, 2013

The topic of the conference was “The Sharing Economy” and as I read many of the session title descriptions I realized that people would be talking more about “collaborative consumption” (think airbnb, taskrabbit, uber) than about why people are sharing more on Instragram & Snapchat. Will this Trend Last?

Marketing 361

Marketing Course Pricing Networking 361

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2019

Of course, nothing is totally free, and I have heard the horror stories of relatively small companies finding thirty or more employees spending most of their time scanning and using social media for promotions, or engaging high-priced consultants who never seem to be able to show any real return for all of their efforts.

Social Media 99

Social Media Media Tool Startup 99

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Of course, we have a different focus than, say, a consumer focused fund, where there is a lot more volatility. Something like a CrowdStrike might be worth more than a Snapchat, in the end. There, you end up having big winners but a lot of losers. But, for companies we investment in, those are always useful to big businesses.

Funding 160

Funding Capital Artificial Inteligence Startup 160

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Of course it happens all the time?—?especially Yes, we all know that stories of Facebook, Snapchat and Uber where the founders had either board control or super voting rights by class structure but this is actually the exception and you shouldn’t blow up a good financing option over this issue. Not really. Legally speaking.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

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. The best way – of course – is to reference check. Connections? Nothing blows up great opportunities faster than founders who are constantly fighting. FourSquare. Everywhere.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

When you think about great companies that have survived market changes or platform changes you think about Facebook, Snapchat, Uber and the like and have to respect their great ability to constantly adapt. But we of course now live in a “knowledge economy” that has to constantly adapt to changing market conditions. So Why Imbellus?

Design 150

Design Ideas Startup Writing 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2016

Some of the most well-known include Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat, Xiaomi, and Pinterest. But, of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. I’m sure all of you know one or more of the 200 or more young companies that are currently valued at one billion or more by investors and stockholders. These are popularly called “unicorns.”

Company 100

Company Companies Startup Statistics 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2018

Of course, we love it when people use as as a marketplace, but to be successful, we do not need to be a marketplace, we just need to find people who want to sell their homes, and be able to find buyers for that home, which is all we do. We're now finding people interested in this, spontaneously.

Artificial Inteligence 113

Artificial Inteligence Woodland Hills Orange County Startup 113

socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2017

They want to advertise on Facebook and Instagram, and they want to see what they can do with Waze, Snapchat, and Yelp. We had wanted to understand what we were doing before doing it everywhere, so we want to grow our sales and marketing efforts, and of course our client success organization.

Google 127

Google Paid Search Mobile Activity 127

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

I was reminded of this yesterday watching my friend Justin Kan on Snapchat with this 10-second reminder, “No matter how much you raise at your company you’ll end up spending it in 12–24 months” https://medium.com/media/8594cb16d022a083932b0f3d60b79ebd/href I would probably amend it to say 12–18 months.

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 14, 2016

Of course the media took her sarcastic statement to the moon. Surprisingly, as I turned my phone towards us to take a pic to post on SnapChat, she smiled right on cue. But to my entertainment and yours, I didn’t leave her without getting the SnapChat must of a face swap! Sophia, The Selfie Queen. You’re welcome!

Artificial Inteligence 40

Artificial Inteligence Snapchat Design Hollywood 40

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

The initial Apple/AT&T deal was of course limited to the geography in which AT&T operated and thus after its initial success Apple had a template for exclusivity agreements in other countries. Why Exclusivity Matters to Your Customers or Business Development Partners. Why Exclusivity Gives You Extra Leverage in a Negotiation.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Startup Customer Custom 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

There are so many events to attend that one could become a full time conference attendee and you could easily feel like you’re missing out with each event that happens without you and of course there is Twitter and Instagram and Snapchat to remind you just how fun it was for everybody else.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Of course this can be done and of course I am a big proponent of the rise of startup centers across the country as the Internet has moved from the “infrastructure phase” to the “application phase” dominated by the three C’s: content, communications and commerce. But we still need more funds.

Company 369

Company Companies Startup Snapchat 369

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 26, 2016

Of course, just like any other update, there will be winners and losers depending on how you play the game. If Zucks was able to acquire Snapchat 18 months ago like he wanted to, and if they were to developed an OTT (over-the-top) network that competed with Netflix, Facebook would basically be the anointed winner of the entire Internet.

Buzzfeed 40

Buzzfeed Blogging RSS Netflix 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2015

What are the chances that SnapChat or WhatsApp would emerge without getting crushed like a bug? ” “Of course I won’t sting you. It’s a Hobbesian calculation. Frog, will you please carry me to the other side of the river bank?” ” A skeptical frog says, “No way. You’re a scorpion!

Startup 150

Startup Google Software Review Snapchat 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

You may have raised money across multiple rounds of investors from 3-4 different VCs and of course most of them would like board seats or at a minimum board observer rights. Unless you’re SnapChat, Instagram or similar this is probably 3-5 years into your existence. In the Growth Years.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

LATechDigest

MAY 13, 2016

Trakfire : a platform that enables its community to curate the best music from emerging artists, the third company founded founded by 19 year old USC Iovine Young Academy sophomore Arjun Mehta. SMASHD LABS First-Round Cohorts.

Mentor 75

Mentor Venture Capital Draper USC 75

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

Of course, anyone can maximize any skillset, but it doesn’t necessarily make them successful at it. And he saw it with Snapchat too, but that deal didn’t pan out. So little thought is given to that fact that just like the top athletes in the world, entrepreneurs who build successful businesses come from a certain breed.

Entrepreneur 40

Entrepreneur Startup Snapchat Product 40

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2016

And of course SnapChat is relevant for younger video consumers. But ignoring SnapChat for video is a mistake. You create and aggregate videos. And they’re only valuable if people watch them. And if they love your brand and want to watch more. I’ll talk about this another day. The future of online video is bright.

Content 150

Content Snapchat Platform SEO 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 16, 2016

Computer Vison Startup Nanit If you follow me on Snapchat ( msuster ) you might already know that I’ve been looking at and investing in a number of companies in the computer vision space. Of course in recent years voice as I/O is becoming mainstream. And of course Nanit is securely encrypted and HIPAA compliant.

Invest 150

Invest Course Startup CTO Hire 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

I don’t need to tell you what else is LA … SnapChat, Whisper, Tinder. Fred Wilson has done this for the NY startup scene but of course you also have mass media located there. Maker Studios, the largest producer of online short-form videos (content) recently sold to Disney for nearly $1 billion. KickStarter? Venture Capital.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 7, 2015

Or SnapChat won’t compete and ephemeral video them. Of course I spotted it early like many because I noticed people I’ve long followed like Ryan Hoover, Danielle Morrill at Matt Mazzeo somewhat obsessed with it. Of course the tech existed to do all this before. I watched for 5-10 minutes while I did email.

Course 150

Course Venture Capital Startup Snapchat 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 12, 2016

Think about Snapchat. The trailblazer in the category of course was Twitter and David Sacks quickly spotted the use case for enterprise and launched Yammer, which was purchased by Microsoft for more than $1 billion. And of course we welcome Microsoft Ventures.

Software 105

Software Mobile Artificial Inteligence Oracle 105

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 23, 2015

And this is following mega financings at Honest Company ($75 million), JustFab ($85 million), Victorious ($25 million) as well as the obviously known standouts like Tinder and SnapChat. Few will know the kinds of risks you guys took in charting your own course but I had a ringside seat. This is not your dad’s LA.

News 150

News Funding Venture Capital Dollar Shave Club 150