Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2020

In our personal lives we’re having to change our routines and figure out how to remain productive?—?often In the words of my friend and a CEO with whom I work, “Yeah, I know I need to make some cuts because our demand has changed, but I want to do this with a scalpel and not with an axe.” What do we eat? Where do we shop? What is safe?

Demand 215

Demand Guide Customer Custom 215

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2022

Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. But with the pressures of the economy, and limited access to outside funding, we all know this isn’t always possible or appropriate. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Keep a written to-do list.

Startup 123

Startup Tips Entrepreneur Mentor 123

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

My view: “Spending any time or energy trying to game the ‘definition’ of your round of fund raising is a total waste. There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.).

Seed Funding 399

Seed Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 399

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. They don’t want high burn rates but they will never fund slow growth. Is it one product line or multiple? million to fund operations in their first year of operations. See appendix if you want to know more on this.)

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

socalTECH

DECEMBER 31, 2018

We do, as of the writing of this in early December, seem to be seeing a correction at this time. On Demand). The biggest news was the continued bullish market now coming on ten years even though historical cycles show markets don't usually last more than 7-8 years. I had expected a correction much earlier in the year and I was wrong.

Southern California 100

Southern California News Class Writing 100

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

Most relevant to startups is the push to fund initiatives and technologies that can help prevent or protect against extreme wildfires; rising sea levels and hurricanes; new agriculture resource management; and “climate-smart” technologies.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

They cite sources like the BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this Forbes article. Most of these scenarios involve attracting outside investors, strategic partners, or key team members: You are the team and you don’t need outside funding. On the other hand, your mother probably won’t read one.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2013

This term refers to the penchant to add just one more feature to the product or service before first delivery, just because you can. The result is a bloated first product which finally collapses under its own weight, or is too late and too expensive for the intended customer. entrepreneur startup funding product features business'

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Startup Software Review High Tech 110

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. But with the pressures of the economy, and limited access to outside funding, we all know this isn’t always possible or appropriate. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Keep a written to-do list.

Tips 86

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Mentor 86

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I even prefer to fund entrepreneurs who have experience some level of set-backs in their careers or startups because I think it brings a humility to decision-making that I find healthy. You also ran the risk that if you hired employees quickly and then demand wasn’t as strong as expected it was incredibility hard to fire people.

Startup 261

Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

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!” To grow faster businesses need resources in today’s financial period to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. I have conversations with entrepreneurs and other VCs on a daily basis about fund raising, the prices of deals, how much companies should raise, etc. I acknowledged this in the article. I’m just making the commentary.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Why you should set up a board at the seed round of funding I know these days with SAFE documents and rolling convertible notes many founders prefer not to set up a board early on. How does control start to change at the B-round of funding? The Limited Partners (LPs) who back funds don’t expect their dollars to be passive.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

InfoChachkie

MARCH 18, 2013

In order to extract value beyond your Angel investors' cash, you must first assess three important parameters: (i) the relative strength of their personal brand, (ii) their ability to add operational value, and (iii) the amount of care and feeding they will demand from you. The Elusive Engaged, High-Profile Investor.

Angel 217

Angel Technical Review RSS Entrepreneur 217

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

For the rest of us, we need a business plan, as well as a product plan. Some of you may be convinced that your product specification communicates the product message even better than a business plan, so why be redundant? Professional investors and even customers invest in people, rather than just a product.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

I had an enjoyable conversation this morning with a young team straight out of college this morning and they were calling to ask advice on how to approach fund raising (angels vs. VCs, how to select a VC, etc.) So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Nail on the head.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

In writing anything positive about any of the companies I’m not suggesting that it means that I prefer them to any of their competitors. 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. Others I have not.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven''t earned a dime of revenue. We started looking at the landscape, and as I was getting my MBA at the time, ended up writing the business plan for ConsumerTrack. We do that methodically.

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Before this South Korean wonder spread across the globe I had written about a trend in global audiences that exists when the costs of production are nearly zero and the costs of distribution are also nearly free. think Amazon) and therefore hits with high production costs were more suited to the medium. billion views. think Apple.

Startup 380

Startup Media Content Platform 380

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Brad Feld hadn’t written his seminal “ term sheet series &# and The Funded hadn’t yet been created. I’m not sure I really even need to write this at length because Nivi absolutely nailed the topic in his article “ The Option Pool Shuffle.&#. Back then VentureHacks didn’t exist.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. But with the pressures of the economy, and limited access to outside funding, we all know this isn’t always possible or appropriate. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Keep a written to-do list.

Tips 107

Tips Entrepreneur Startup Mentor 107

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. But with the pressures of the economy, and limited access to outside funding, we all know this isn’t always possible or appropriate. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Keep a written to-do list.

Startup 59

Startup Entrepreneur Tips Mentor 59

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

In 1999, I was involved with GE Financial, launching a broker platform, so that they could self-score and autodoc their funding deals. That's what we were trying to build into our product at H&R Block, and that's what I envisioned when I started my own company in 2003. How are you funded? How did the company start?

Startup 150

Startup San Diego Entrepreneur Tool 150

socalTECH

OCTOBER 30, 2008

to the business of script writing, and is looking to combine a free online tool for writing scripts with matching those scripts with content producers. You mentioned funding--you're raising a round? The funding is a requirement to get to the next step. Are you targeting Hollywood and existing script writing software?

Content 138

Content Writing Software Review Hollywood 138

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. So when Sam Rosen came to me with the idea of disrupting storage with a product that is priced cheaper than existing incumbents and he could build a product that is a better service I was intrigued. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2012

Santa Monica-based Demand Media (www.demandmedia.com) has seen its share of ups and downs as one of the highest visibility technology and media companies to come out of Southern California's technology ecosystem in recent years. What is Demand Media doing nowadays? Can you explain that process? Can you explain that process?

Demand 240

Demand Media eHow Content 240

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

They suffered in trying to live up to public perceptions and the demands to continue their successes. In both cases the biopics portray suffering souls who find extreme and sudden success that casts them into the public eye in a way that they weren’t prepared for. Mark Suster (@msuster) July 19, 2015. Of course that’s true.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. But with the pressures of the economy, and limited access to outside funding, we all know this isn’t always possible or appropriate. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Keep a written to-do list.

Tips 101

Tips Entrepreneur Startup Mentor 101

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2013

Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. But with the pressures of the economy, and limited access to outside funding, we all know this isn’t always possible or appropriate. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Keep a written to-do list.

Company 96

Company Companies Startup Entrepreneur 96

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2010

My partner was in product management at Demand Media. So 2 things reminded me of that story and got me thinking about writing this post: I was on a panel this week talking to a crowd of a couple of hundred aspiring entrepreneurs. If I’m interested in your product I naturally will check it out. He took the mic, “Hi.

Startup 315

Startup Content Conference Media 315

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2011

Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. But with the pressures of the economy, and limited access to outside funding, we all know this isn’t always possible or appropriate. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Keep a written to-do list.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Startup Tips Mentor 110

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 1, 2013

Aspiring creators learn by connecting with top web filmmakers and YouTubers on a topics specific to the web: developing a web series, producing web series, writing for genres like comedy & sci-fi, directing, editing, camera, Kickstarter funding, show hosting, distribution, and marketing. Who are its founders? How does it work?

Web 93

Web USC Course Guide 93

Jason Nazar

MARCH 22, 2011

In the bay area it’s quite common for the entrepreneurs starting a company to be developers or technologists who can build the first versions of their products. When he had the idea for his company, he didn’t write a long business plan or try to raise money to hire an agency to build a website for him.

Company 111

Company Companies Startup Twiistup 111

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

He had a partially built product. In my experience, it’s naive to think you can just “get developers to build the product” although it does sometimes work. It is important to realize that most people who are willing to work for sweat equity are not a) the best, b) in demand, and c) going to put their heart and soul into your project.

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does. Run great meetings (don’t be a productivity drain on the company). It is such an under-discussed issue as we spend our time in startups mostly talking about products, marketing and fund raising. Lived it.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

Ever had a meeting with a CEO who was really short with you, demanded the answer quickly and was fidgety while you spoke? Can we do a really quick run through your deck so that we save tons of time for a product demo & questions at the end?&#. It’s in their personality type. Can I make a small suggestion? Others wing it.

Slides 358

Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

It was a pleasure to write them myself. He wanted to build direct customer relationships to get product feedback but only 2% of customers would ever return their registration cards. He thought, “This way any product you launch you can talk instantly with and get feedback from customers.&# Overture (Goto.com). Shopping.com.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350