Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million-dollar investment before they even have a business plan. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Funding or rollout stage.

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Startup Funding Organization Incubator 122

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. It is also a result of pent-up demand. That said, the IMF (international monetary fund) is more bullish. In the following post I argue that this increased pace may be temporary.

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Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Understanding Venture Capital. I recently wrote a blog post on understanding how the size and age of a venture capital fund might affect you when you’re raising money. I believe these VC funds have suffered some amount of reputation fall out.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2018

I was recently with an entrepreneur and talking with him about his fund raising process. She had emailed with a partner at a big VC fund and he had passed the request to a junior associate. it’s just respecting your personal time and your fund-raising process as much as you’d respect the VCs time.

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Funding Newsletter Venture Capital Email 217

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 7, 2015

Jason concludes that: A top founder takes much more risk, at least on paper, but can make a lot more than even the best VC of all time. A pretty good VC probably makes more than a pretty good and successful founder. Jason’s comments caused me to compare my career as an entrepreneur and a VC with Rincon Venture Partners.

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TechCrunch LA

JULY 2, 2020

When it comes to venture capital, Los Angeles is a city on the rise. In the past year, it’s seen one of the most profitable venture-backed exits of any tech ecosystem (with the $4 billion sale of Honey to PayPal) and investors are minting billion-dollar companies in the region at a torrid pace.

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 16, 2019

TDK Ventures , the venture investment arm of TDK Corporation , has made an investment in Los Angeles-based Wheels , the last-mile, on-demand, electric bicycle company led by Josh Viner. According to TDK Ventures, the investment came as part of the recently announced funding round led by DBL Partners.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.

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Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Thus your startup maturity and growth stage is the primary key to success with potential funding sources. Different types of investors tend to specialize in capitalizing on businesses at different stages. My invention and prototype works, but I need funding to continue.” Congratulations!

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Funding Startup Ideas Equity 125

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Culver City-based Clutter , which offers up "on-demand" self storage of your extra stuff, has raised $200M in a Series D funding, the company announced on Wednesday morning. According to Clutter, the Series D funding was led by SoftBank Vision Fund with participation from Sequoia, Atomico, GV, Fifth Wall and Four Rivers.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

This was the first episode where Jason wasn’t on the show, which gave me the chance to have another VC on the show to discuss deals. Rustic Canyon is an LA-based, but geography-agnostic VC that is currently investing from a $200 million fund. VC Financings: 1. Obviously they see big things in Wildfire.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). We feature a prominent speaker at every event.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Southern California Company 241

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

I just cover the companies that were funded that week. Also, some of the deals I write about I have actually seen as part of their fund raising process. I’m always grateful when people point them out. .&# P2P lending networks are revived and brought it a whopping $40 million in investments announced recently.

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Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2010

Santa Monica-based Demand Media , the online media firm run by Richard Rosenblatt, has finally filed for its long awaited IPO. Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, Allen & Company LLC, Jefferies & Company, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel, RBC Capital Markets, Pacific Crest Securities, Raine Securities, and JMP Securities.

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Demand Media .Net Santa Monica 184

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

To see the video of This Week in VC click on this link. What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures).

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SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 5, 2019

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 -- San Diego FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop. Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in San Diego, we're throwing an exclusive PitchFest speed dating event where you will be pitching to over 20 investors one-on-one! We're doing it again!

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San Diego Venture Capital Angel Summary 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels. A sample of three views is adequate.

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Technical Review Funding Innocal Offshore 124

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 7, 2019

Thursday, June 13, 2019 -- Orange County FundingPost VC and Angel Investor PitchFest + Pitch Workshop. Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in Orange County, we're throwing an exclusive PitchFest speed dating event where you will be pitching to over 20 investors one-on-one! We're doing it again!

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Orange County Venture Capital Angel Tech Coast Angels 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2018

Every entrepreneur wants to hear “yes” during the fund-raising process but I would argue that being too risk averse and not pushing hard enough and be willing to hear a “no” is what holds back many people from “yes.” Do they have authority to invest? I had learned that this is a standard line every LP uses to have an “easy no” for VCs.

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Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Venture Capital 189

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels. A sample of three views is adequate.

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Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. I have seen bad behavior from later-stage VCs, believe me.

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Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Venture Capital is a tricky industry. If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea.

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Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

socalTECH

OCTOBER 3, 2019

Santa Monica-based scooter startup Bird has gone back to the well once more, and has raised a big, $275M Series D funding round, the company said on Thursday. Bird said the round was led by CDPQ and Sequoia Capital, and gives the company a $2.5 billion pre-money valuation. READ MORE>>.

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Funding Santa Monica Demand Capital 100

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 18, 2022

The alternative protein space is hot, hot, hot as evidenced by both the number of companies developing products and the venture capital going into the space. Investment into alternative proteins, for example, plant-based meats and dairy substitutes was $5 billion in 2021, according to both the Good Food Institute and Crunchbase data.

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Software Review Metrics Startup Technical Review 187

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Last year at this time, SpotOn was on the brink of announcing a $60 million Series C funding round at a $625 million valuation. Advisors Douglas Merritt, CEO of Splunk, and Mike Scarpelli, CFO of Snowflake, also made individual investments as angels. With the new capital, SpotOn has raised $628 million since its inception.

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Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 10, 2020

In response to VCs’ sudden rush to invest in more Black founders , Black venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have penned a bunch of advice on the best way to tap into talent. It held a city-based internship program with Los Angeles, which connects students to venture capital firms in the area.

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Equity Technical Review Venture Capital Blogging 220

Berkonomics

MAY 15, 2014

Each one of these terms includes aspects of fairness, ethics, law, business, entrepreneurship, psychology and investing. Angel investing today is similar to where venture capital investing was in the mid-1980s. Very often, the initial opinions of the people around the table are radically different. Raising money'

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Back in 1999 when I first raised venture capital I had zero knowledge of what a fair term sheet looked like or how to value my company. Brad Feld hadn’t written his seminal “ term sheet series &# and The Funded hadn’t yet been created. But this example above is all entrepreneur math, not the VC’s.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 21, 2019

Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a weekend newsletter that dives into the week’s noteworthy news pertaining to startups and venture capital. Landline , the operator of a bus network in the Midwest, is one of the latest companies to raise venture capital. Ginkgo Bioworks raises capital at a $4B valuation.

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Services Startup Venture Capital Redpoint 207

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 24, 2019

March Capital Partners , the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, has raised $300 million for its latest fund. Portfolio successes with investments in companies like CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company which was founded in Irvine, Calif.;

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Artificial Inteligence Capital Los Angeles Incubator 225

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined some time ago from a funding perspective. Funding or rollout stage.

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Funding Startup Organization Incubator 94

TechCrunch LA

MAY 3, 2022

She worked on Wall Street as an investment banker for a few years in New York before returning to Houston with a job in energy. Obviously, there’s a huge demand for it, and it shouldn’t be this difficult to access high-quality convenient hair solutions.”. One of Britney Winters’ goals is to “live a less tangled life.”

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Tool Customer Custom Marketing 179

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 23, 2019

One year after a $38 million Series B valued on-demand aviation startup Blade at $140 million, the company has begun taxiing the Bay Area’s elite. Blade, led by founder and chief executive officer Rob Wiesenthal, a former Warner Music Group executive, has raised about $50 million in venture capital funding to date.

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Van Nuys Help Startup Google 279

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

To grow faster businesses need resources in today to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year. Do you imagine eventually raising VC and trying to build a faster growing company?” They don’t want high burn rates but they will never fund slow growth. million to fund operations in their first year of operations.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Berkonomics

JANUARY 17, 2019

With the first round of funding, there should be agreed-upon milestones to be achieved. If they are not achieved within the expected time, the reasons must be analyzed by you and by your board and acted upon to avoid loss of capital beyond plan or expectation. Rules to consider as tests of early success.

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Incubator Venture Capital Invest Capital 120

Berkonomics

JANUARY 17, 2019

With the first round of funding, there should be agreed-upon milestones to be achieved. If they are not achieved within the expected time, the reasons must be analyzed by you and by your board and acted upon to avoid loss of capital beyond plan or expectation. Rules to consider as tests of early success.

Incubator 120

Incubator Venture Capital Invest Capital 120