Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

We not only have our Series A funds that can write $500k?—?$15 If you invest early and then pull back in the next 3 rounds your multiples on cash invested are much higher than if you keep writing checks. Of course the media doesn’t do nuance well so this is an emotional topic. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

Since it’s already written (and since I promised not to republish on my blog other than a summary) if you’re interested please have a read over there. Summary notes and then I’ll extend: Should you blog? Don’t just write a carbon copy of what somebody else is doing. And don’t blog drunk.

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2015

If you don’t have the time to write things down, or your writing skills leave something to be desired, don’t be afraid to get some help. No executive I know writes all his own contracts, but every smart one owns every one that is written for him, and understands every element.

Startup 109

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 109

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Of course not. It’s a hard topic to write about because it’s almost an accepted norm that total transparency is good. They told you, “Yeah, man, I’ll gladly write the first $250,000. Of course you need to be open. Of course you shouldn’t f **g buy a house. CEO transparency.

Startup 417

Startup Course Venture Capital Writing 417

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Here is a sample of the reading list for the course that gives you a flavor for just how modern and practical this course is. Jeff (also an HBS alum) co-teaches the LTV course with Professor Eisenmann about a student of theirs who had written a blog post about sales taking on some of my previous assertions. In Summary.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Just 3 years ago there was talk of institutional investors “not being able to write small enough checks.” Many pension funds are simply too large to write small checks and favor the ability to write $50-100 million checks to funds. Of course strongest industry players don’t stand still. Why is this?

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. 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?

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

This strangely may come even more quickly in the more successful funds, because any funds (ours included) who still hold some public stock from a recent IPO will likely be seeing write-downs sooner due to the immediacy and transparency of public stocks being repriced. But there’s no doubt, some will make money.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 10, 2013

Even if you follow this game plan meticulously your board meeting can be taken off course by well-intentioned board members who lead you down a rate hole. Of course there are some sensible introductions that are valuable. Have a scribe write it down. Here’s how it happens … 1. Topic Creep. Photo credit Flickr.

Startup 312

Startup Course Summary Product 312

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2017

of all Statistics are Made Up ” My summary is an example I use often: when I consumed reports from Goldman Sachs about the future predictions of mobile phone penetration for a report I was working on for a client I would call the analyst to ask how she calculated her data because I wanted to be sure of my conclusions.

Venture Capital 182

Venture Capital Statistics Writing Report 182

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

Or if you’re pinched on time the summary is below and the time coding can help you watch a brief snippet on topics that interest you. Oh, and if you didn’t guess, the title, “if you don’t have a discrete hypothesis you are incapable of failing” is, of course, an Eric Ries quote. Will these norms change?

Social Media 301

Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Of course, I provide part-time CTO services. This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? Do I have to write up the overview? Generally I can provide quite a bit of help in that brief time. And I try my best to point them to resources that can help them longer term.

CTO Hire 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Of course, I provide part-time CTO services. This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? Do I have to write up the overview? Generally I can provide quite a bit of help in that brief time. And I try my best to point them to resources that can help them longer term.

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2011

Of course I can’t write every press release for the company nor would I want to. In Summary. I then asked for editing rights to his Google Doc and I rewrote a version of it. I then walked him through the logic of why I changed what I did. It’s the harder path, trust me. You get argued with. It takes longer.

Press 337

Press Venture Capital Doc Summary 337

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2013

Publish a regular blog, contribute to relevant social networks, and write a “white paper” on your technology. Of course, too many or obnoxious advertisements are especially harmful to a site’s credibility. In summary, a startup with no website, or a website with no credibility will kill your business. They will exit quickly.

Search Engine Optimization 105

Search Engine Optimization Startup Advertising SEO 105

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2010

I would take all of the one-on-one conversations that I have with entrepreneurs from the things I’ve learned and just write them up for anybody to read. Yet they of course need to serve notice. No, of course not! I had a tactic of writing out the line of reasoning for the employee so they knew what to say.

Startup 294

Startup Press Course Writing 294

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

I shifted my thinking a few years ago after I read Tim Ferris’s book The Four Hour Workweek (link is to a short summary I wrote). You’re writing a freaking blog post! I never get grumpy that people write. And of course I then see some public forums where somebody complains that they wrote to me and I never responded.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Of course, nothing is really free in the business world. Here is my summary of some major considerations that every entrepreneur needs to evaluate against the cost and effort to attract equity investors: Completing a grant application is real work. Otherwise find an inexpensive class on grant writing.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 3, 2012

In my UC Santa Barbara Entrepreneurial course, I require the students to submit a venture idea every week. The more you play around with ideas and you write them down, the better. This is a lead up into an executive summary. Seth notes that, "Ideas are a lot like exercising. I sit down and I answer these questions.

Ideas 266

Ideas Guide Startup Santa Barbara 266

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

I must admit I discuss this very frequently with portfolio companies but hadn’t thought to write about it. 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.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Startup Customer Custom 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

Of course there’s no exact number of VCs you should meet?—?these If you’re raising a round where a new lead investor would invest $5 million the VC fund must have no less than $100 million and if you’re looking for them to write $15–20 million as the lead their fund realistically should be at least $400 million.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

Of course, we all need friend relationships in our private lives, and some of these may evolve from or lead to business relationships. Here is my summary of how business relationships relate to friends. You can’t start a business with friends alone. You need business partners, investors and customers.

Entrepreneur 66

Entrepreneur Social Network Technical Review Social Media 66

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2012

Publish a regular blog, contribute to relevant social networks, and write a “white paper” on your technology. Of course, too many or obnoxious advertisements are especially harmful to a site’s credibility. In summary, a startup with no website, or a website with no credibility will kill your business. They will exit quickly.

Search Engine Optimization 96

Search Engine Optimization Entrepreneur Sites Advertising 96

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Summary Version. Of course you know Gangnam Style , which is now the most viewed video in history at 1.3 For those who still don’t know the origins, the Harlem Shake started as a small skit from a YouTuber named Filthy Frank (10 million views as of this writing) on January 30, 2013. Chart a different course.

Startup 380

Startup Media Content Platform 380

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

If you haven’t read Reed’s explanation of this split make sure you read it (of course, after you’re done with this post ) —> here. In my opinion it’s the most natural fit and it would give Netflix a very strong presence in Los Angeles and in TV (obviously subject to getting the right writes from the studios).

Netflix 329

Netflix Evite Pricing Hulu 329

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. And one that you get to write. And if you want to be a CEO one day you need the messaging to reflect that. For many people that’s the right answer. If you can and if you want to – you should.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

I recommend that you start by writing down the attributes you would want people to think about when they think about your brand. And of course a place of idyllic weather, culture and a lifestyle. ” And of course it’s not a true assessment. In Summary. This is the list I would start with.

Startup 304

Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles Woodland Hills 304

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2010

Publish a daily blog, contribute to relevant social networks, and write a “white paper” on your technology. Of course, too many or obnoxious advertisements are especially harmful to a site’s credibility. In summary, a startup with no website, or a website with no credibility will kill your business. They will exit quickly.

Tips 92

Tips Search Engine Optimization Startup Advertising 92

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. One of them is profitability.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Tech.Co

MARCH 9, 2020

You don't have to write out an hour-by-hour schedule or even keep track of your daily activities. Summary – Best Ways to Work from Home Effectively. If you're worried about the added work of creating a routine, don't stress yourself out too much. Working in an office can be nice, if only because you have a desk to call your own.

Tips 157

Tips Software Review Study Email 157

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

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. The key to getting money is that the people writing the check trust you. That’s OK.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

In the original version of his post, Andy writes. And let the entrepreneur decide the course of action. In Summary. They see how hard she does her job. They know her personally and know she cares about her constituencies even if she has to make tough trade-offs from time-to-time. So the VC’s job is to challenge.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 10, 2012

He thought, ‘of course they haven’t read them, when would they get time?’ The ‘learn, experience, memorize, act’ platform meant video, PDF summary and a related workbook to help you put the information to use in your workplace or company. In fact, many times they write a book to point you to these other tools.”.

Startup 76

Startup Social Media Content Web 2.0 76

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

But when they’re trying to get David Pogue, Walt Mossberg or Kara Swisher to write a story for you, they’re also thinking about their other clients – now and in the future. I want to decide what the right “angle&# on the story it (with their input, of course). For them, this is just a deal. Highly ethical.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Watch the 30-minute interview to hear why but summary notes below. Today’s higher education is responding by making more courses online and available to people outside of physical boundaries. In many ways I think general purpose writing & thinking skills are as valuable as math skills.

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

We of course felt it was a misunderstanding of our product but I knew the story would stand anyhow. They were about to write a blog post defending the privacy issue and calling out why that journalist misunderstood the story. ” And of course the Twitter impact was minuscule and passed like a brief storm. Summary Lessons?

Press 336

Press Blogging Journal News 336

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2017

Writing a business plan is hard work, so I get lots of pushback from prospective new venture founders that it’s just a waste of their valuable time in this rapidly changing environment. They all claim to have the plan in their head, and writing it down will only slow down their success.

Writing 71

Writing Startup Slides Entrepreneur 71