Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And there is so much money around being thrown at so many entrepreneurs that many firms don’t even care about board seats, governance rights or heaven forbid doing work with the company because that would eat into the VCs time needed to chase 5 more deals. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2021

Every entrepreneur seeking funding loves the challenge of getting customers and investors excited, but dreads the thought of negotiating the terms of a deal with potential investors. You may end up negotiating both sides of the deal, which is sometimes harder than having a real adversary. The Curmudgeon (aka Archie Bunker).

Funding 131

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Customer 131

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? You probably follow some high-profile entrepreneurs on Instagram and Twitter and see conference pictures of them in Davos, Mexico, Monaco or wherever.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

InfoChachkie

MARCH 3, 2011

In the spirit of the “land grab” mentality of the day, we emphasized usage of our screen sharing technology with no thought applied to how we would convert such users into paying customers. In fact, the lessons we learned allowed us to effectively convert the majority of our 50,000 free GoToMyPC Beta users into paying customers.

Customer 162

Customer Custom Technical Support Startup 162

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2012

Every entrepreneur seeking funding loves the challenge of getting customers and investors excited, but dreads the thought of negotiating the terms of a deal with potential investors. You may end up negotiating both sides of the deal, which is sometimes harder than having a real adversary. The Curmudgeon (aka Archie Bunker).

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Funding 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2015

The grass is always greener on the other side. It seems that everyone I know who works in a corporate environment dreams of escaping to become an entrepreneur, and every entrepreneur wishes he or she had the security of a regular paycheck. Customers can be very tough bosses. A self-centered view of performance.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Statistics Startup Class 104

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

Moving a VC from an A to a B doesn’t mean they aren’t still your top pick, it just means your chances are less likely and your extremely limited resources should be allocated elsewhere. For simplicity I’ll assume you’ve raised some money from angels or seed investors and you’re either raising an A round or a B round of venture capital.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

But like the company Kyriba, where we recently sold our position at above $1 billion, it took time until the revenue exceeded $100 million recurring and then the industry really competed to back this amazing company since it had scale, defensible technology and long-term, committed customers. Over the past 2.5 Why does that matter?

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs. He said, “I prefer to do Enterprise A rounds and Consumer B rounds. But VC is like congress.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

We both agree that the later-stage valuations are being driven up to a point that feels irrationally priced [he uses b-round SaaS valuations as an example and I am willing to be even more broad based]. While this is temporarily a good thing for entrepreneurs it will turn sour when we go through the next inevitable downturn.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital SaaS Writing Funding 309

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Yet, as an advisor to startups, I see some common disasters, and recommend some anticipation and recovery moves that can save every entrepreneur some painful time and money. While every entrepreneur needs to remain upbeat and optimistic on all of these, it is also smart to anticipate the worst case scenarios that are possible with each.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? 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.&#. Long hours.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 176

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? I want to understand how many units the company is selling, whether this is increasing over time and how well they’re doing at retaining the customers that they do acquire. Company A lost $2 million in Year 2 while Company B broke even.

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

InfoChachkie

APRIL 30, 2012

In his book Enchantment , Guy Kawasaki encourages entrepreneurs to immerse their audience in their “cause”, in order to enchant them. One of the immersion techniques Guy promotes is to offer a hands-on trial, in which the prospective customer can touch, feel and experience your product before purchasing it.

Study 243

Study Advertising Research Customer 243

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. How many customers will have any idea what this means to them?

Tips 75

Tips Marketing Technical Review Startup 75

InfoChachkie

MARCH 1, 2012

Despite the book’s shortcomings, it contains a number of insightful lessons for budding entrepreneurs. Of the 100 business “lessons” articulated in the book, I highlight a few below that I feel are the most relevant and impactful for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs can learn from their achievements as well as their failures.

Tips 259

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Product 259

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Founder, Founder, Founder At Upfront we talk regularly about how 70% of our investment decision in Seed and A rounds is the quality of the entrepreneur and 30% is the quality of the idea. Jamie Siminoff is not only one of the single best true entrepreneurs in Los Angeles, he’s amongst the best we’ve worked with in the country.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 27, 2013

Join TechZulu as we celebrate LA’s most exciting tech creations of the moment with the brightest digital minds and engineering talents this side of Fresno. If you prefer an elevator, take the ground level entrance on the west side of Building B. Custom ad deals and partnerships. Signs will direct you to Korn Hall.

UCLA 104

UCLA Southern California Santa Monica Pricing 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. How many customers will have any idea what this means to them?

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2018

You can keep this simple as: A, B, C and Passed. As you work deals they might move up or down in the priority list but when you start you should have no more than 8–10 priority A’s (more is unrealistic) and no more than 8–10 priority B’s. The down side is you don’t yet know if they have the political clout to get deals approved.

Funding 215

Funding Startup Venture Capital News 215

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

” I mention journalists here because they perpetuate the myth that focusing on profits is ALWAYS the right answer and then I hear many entrepreneurs (and certainly many “normals”) repeating the same mantra. I have had this discussion with many a first-time entrepreneur. If you don’t, somebody else WILL!”

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2011

We also put together the Series B with Redpoint for Machinima. I think the benefit here we have in Los Angeles, unlike any other place in the world, is we have a skill set to understand those consumers, we understand marketing to consumers, and we understand the importance of customer experience. Now, time is on their side.

Riot Games 199

Riot Games Technology Los Angeles Entrepreneur 199

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

AppMyForm, an environmentally conscious new service offered by RGBmobile, enables any paper form to easily be converted into a customized Mobile Content Capture app, digital record and process launch mechanism. If you prefer an elevator, take the ground level entrance on the west side of Building B. 8:35 – 9:00pm – “Superdemo”.

UCLA 97

UCLA Santa Monica Mobile Web 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

And these ideas have ways of seeping into board discussions with portfolio companies as in, “have you ever thought about trying A, B or C?&# I actually like finding entrepreneurs who are more circumspect, less braggadocios and generally more planned about their actions. I call this “marketing futures.&#

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Customers heavily adopted in-person returns. We saw the steady stream of customers Nordstrom Rack was getting from HauteLook shoppers, and we realized that we could do that same thing with any retailer. Customers expect the retailers to pay for those returns, they expect returns to be free, and they expect outbound shipping to be free.

Training 100

Training Customer Custom Software Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2019

Image via Pixabay Every entrepreneur seeking funding loves the challenge of getting customers and investors excited, but dreads the thought of negotiating the terms of a deal with potential investors. You may end up negotiating both sides of the deal, which is sometimes harder than having a real adversary.

Entrepreneur 80

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Funding 80

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

That view from me isn’t surprising since on the topic of Nature vs. Nurture in entrepreneurs I’ve clearly come down on the side of nature more than nurture (again, that doesn’t mean nurture has NO influence, just less than nature). They work through ROI calculations with customers. They’re always on time.

Startup 350

Startup Sales Framework Organization 350

socalTECH

APRIL 2, 2014

It''s a perfect opportunity for data geeks in marketing and the business side to get information on customers in real time. We''re heading into our Series B round of funding, and we''re growing quickly. There are companies much bigger than Smartify trying to solve the challenge of how to create a unified database of customers.

Marketing 196

Marketing Pasadena Platform Email 196

Berkonomics

JANUARY 16, 2014

JJ is a successful entrepreneur and technologist giving back to the entrepreneurial. community in many ways, including his weekly Internet TV program on entrepreneurism, and participation in several mentoring programs. . From Basic Berkonomics: Available Amazon, B&N, berkus.com and booksellers everywhere. By JJ Richa.

Technical Review 204

Technical Review Startup Examples Metrics 204

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

It can start 2–1 founders to investors and then sometimes moves to 3–2 but sometime around the A, B or C round the idea of “independent” directors comes up. When an entrepreneur takes on investors who take equity (i.e. They therefore often play the role of the “voice of the customer” and bring important relationships.

Startup 187

Startup Writing Venture Capital Oracle 187

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

For entrepreneurs who want to learn about how to work with investment banks, how to position yourself to be acquired and what the IPO markets look like this is the episode to watch. They have relationships that are hard for entrepreneurs to build. Allows customers to select potential inventory through Be the Buyer program.

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

socalTECH

AUGUST 22, 2018

For this morning's interview, we have an interview with two of Southern California's most successful serial entrepreneurs, Alex Kazerani and James Segil , now of Los Angeles-based OpenPath. However, we are both entrepreneurs, and needed to build and do something positive. There are a bunch of different constituents who are customers.

Startup 100

Startup Customer Custom Mobile 100

socalTECH

MARCH 8, 2013

I've been a serial entrepreneur for about 20-odd years, and I didn't want to sit at a big company. I decided to become a parallel entrepreneur, and started a whole series of companies in big data. On the customer side, we have companies like Samsung, GE, Kaiser Permanente, Accenture. It's been great.

Incubator 208

Incubator Startup CTO Hire Ideas 208

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2013

Overall, 90% of small business failures are caused by poor cash flow, according to the D&B Small Business website. I will outline here ten key principles and disciplines that every entrepreneur must understand and practice to minimize surprises and failures in this area: Failure to document cash flow projections is a disaster.

Startup 114

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 114

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2009

Last month, San Diego-based Advanced Telemetry (www.advancedtelemetry.com) announced that the company had scored a Series B round of funding from clean technology investor Quercus Trust and 21Ventures, for the firm's energy monitoring solutions. Can you talk about how you've managed to get so many wins on the commercial side of your business?

Startup 100

Startup Customer Custom Outsource Development 100

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2010

One of Southern California's successful, serial entrepreneurs is Winston Damarillo , who founded Gluecode, which he sold to IBM in 2005. Earlier this month, his latest startup, El Segundo-based Morphlabs announced it had raised a Series B funding worth $5.5M. We thought we'd catch back up with Winston to hear about the Morphlabs.

Southern California 242

Southern California Startup Cloud Computing El Segundo 242

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2013

Every entrepreneur seeking funding loves the challenge of getting customers and investors excited, but dreads the thought of negotiating the terms of a deal with potential investors. You may end up negotiating both sides of the deal, which is sometimes harder than having a real adversary. The Curmudgeon (aka Archie Bunker).

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Customer Custom 98