Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. Of course much of it is conflicting. I’ve raised money as a “hot company” and I’ve raised capital when no one would return my phone calls. And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

All of this has become a lot more relevant lately given social networking. Of course they can be duped. He has founded a new social networking site called AnyBeat to take on this issue. And, harrumph, do I really want to go to another fucking social network. Social networks are like Iran.

Social Network 329

Social Network Startup Blogging Venture Capital 329

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “ Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts? She has a quote from literally every major VC from whom you’d want to hear. I love my dad equally, of course. ” [it's short, you should read it].

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Blogging 341

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Welcome to the Lost Decade (for Entrepreneurs, IPO’s and VC’s) - Steve Blank , July 15, 2010 If you take funding from a venture capital firm or angel investor and want to build a large, enduring company (rather than sell it to the highest bidder), this isn’t the decade to do it. Angel vs VC? - Here’s why. Not so bad.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2010

And this is my chance to give back to all of those people for whom I don’t have enough time in the week for that “15 minute coffee meeting&# that many people wants with a VC. Tags: VC Industry. I have my basic slide decks complete but always happy to add, amend or ad-lib. Hope to see you!

CalTech 222

CalTech Startup Santa Monica Venture Capital 222

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

…” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. Instagram happens to be one of the few social networks I regularly use along with Twitter. Maybe you should just close your VC round? But they are SO FREAKING SLOW.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 27, 2012

Enter social media and its importance as a traffic source. Of course not. I remember a discussion with an older VC who told me that in the early 90′s they wondered whether the VC industry had a future. That’s why I say, “ It’s Morning in VC & the Startup World. Is Facebook unstoppable?

Technical Review 299

Technical Review Venture Capital Yammer Google 299

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. You would think the obvious thing I would tell somebody is, “yes, of course it’s a great idea.&# You’d be surprised.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 384

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. You’ve found a VC partner or principal who has invited you to the Monday partners’ meeting. Congratulations. But … watch out.

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. I know you’re not a tech guy and haven’t done anything other than an HTML course you once took, but if you’re inspirational and a leader you’ll find somebody to moonlight for free to get your prototype built. They might be as hard as raising VC.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

What is the True Sentiment of VCs? I recently survey more than 150 VC friends from all stages and geographies what they thought about the market by asking “Which of the following statements best describes your mood heading into 2016?” ” Of course life is more complicated. So prices start dropping. What hogwash.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. You would think the obvious thing I would tell somebody is, “yes, of course it’s a great idea.&# You’d be surprised.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 176

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2015

I ran a VC AMA (ask me anything) last Monday on Meerkat and had > 1,000 simultaneous people asking me questions. I’m rooting for Meerkat to succeed as an independent network. Should third-party apps be able to port my social graph and then drag audiences to consume in a new location? love Twitter.

AMA 150

AMA Newsletter Startup Networking 150

Steve Reich

MARCH 30, 2012

Oh, and did I mention that their users have mapped 35,000 courses in 127 countries? They did it entirely through social networking. Get Angel capital and build a prototype. Then get VC funding, rent a cool space, hire a big team, rebuild and relaunch. Of course not. No wonder they just raised $1mm.

Incubator 91

Incubator Web Entrepreneur Santa Barbara 91

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

Some, of course, agree with me that BuzzFeed has been and continues to be the gold standard innovator in digital media to emulate. Around 2001 Jonah was studying at MIT Media Lab and began running experiments in viral stories in an era before smart phones (2007) and before social networks took off (2004–2007) and before YouTube (2005).

Buzzfeed 210

Buzzfeed Media Content News 210

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

But of course Google eventually became the massive winner in this category. I believe that many social networks confused this idea. Social networks continue to drive conversion of marketers. And the obvious category, especially for a VC based out of LA, is video. Not necessarily in the shopping mindset.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2011

You just have to deal with some insufferable VCs and journalists for a while. They risk little but of course knew better all along. It is the same movie I saw 10 years ago when every VC would say to me, “yeah, I get that you’re an online document sharing service, but what’s going to happen when Microsoft enters the market?

Google 325

Google Press Marketing Content 325

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

It powers over 1,000 investment Angel and VC groups in 80+ countries. Although relatively new, AngelList already has featured over 42,000 businesses and provided over 28,000 introductions to potential investors in a format that''s, effectively, a social network for entrepreneurs and Angels. Keiretsu Forum. and Dave McClure.

Angel 115

Angel Startup Funding Keiretsu 115

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. I'm Tired of Creating Your Content - Babbling VC , November 12, 2010 Jeff triggered this post in regards to his Check-in Fatigue on Foursquare.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2014

I have thought a lot about anonymity over the years and actually have enjoyed debating the topic with those passionate about anonymity’s benefits because of course that’s how I learn. Of course I know it’s not “private” but I’m dealing with people I know. Contrast that with HackerNews.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Blogging Examples Startup 329

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Asymmetric – Before Twitter most social networks had “symmetric” relationships meaning that when somebody wanted to follow you, you had to follow them back in order for us to be connected. And of course in my 700 are people like Bill Gates and Barack Obama, neither of whom follows me just yet Asymmetric works both ways.

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

And of course there was the F-bomb count that Cathy Brooks and I were keeping on Dave … by the end of the panel we had counted 8. My favorite line from this panel: Feld, “If LA companies still have a chip on your shoulders about not being in Silicon Valley, I have one message for you – get over it!”

Twiistup 228

Twiistup SoCal Southern California Yammer 228

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2011

But before you jump on the bandwagon, you should consider the advice I saw recently from the maven of venture capital, William H. Of course, you’re going to have to perform well to make that stock useful in the acquisitions process. Draper III, in his new book titled “ The Startup Game.” Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 89

Social Media Media Draper Startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 22, 2011

LinkedIn – Lots of people talk about LinkedIn as a social network. It’s no surprise that it has now become one of the most viewed networks of video programming in the world, achieving 500 million video views per month having only raised $3 million in venture capital. is getting 3 million views. All deflationary.

Startup 386

Startup Pricing Marketing Product 386

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

You’ll have no idea when you’re off course. How many social networks, picture sharing sites, new aggregators or blogs can we really spend time on? I got him talking about this on This Week in VC including a quick demo of his dashboard - I think I'll shoot a separate sequence with just a walk-through of their analytics.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 12, 2010

Co-founder and CEO of BlogHer the leading participatory news, entertainment and information network for women online, reaching more than 15 million women each month via annual conferences, a Web hub, and an publishing network of more than 2,500 qualified, contextually targeted blog affiliates. . Rick Heitzmann.

Twiistup 40

Twiistup Riot Games UCLA Media 40

AeA Los Angeles Council

JULY 7, 2008

Approximately 50 executives from the worlds of technology & venture capital piled into the dining hall on June 30th to listen to Dr. Mark Drapeau speak about "innovation" and its sister topic, "STEM education." While this is not slated to change anytime soon, one possible way to bridge this gap is through federal venture capital.

Education 45

Education Technical Review Research Web 2.0 45