Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2017

Every year Upfront Ventures surveys Limited Partners (LPs) who are the main source of capital that invests in VC funds and thus the main source of capital that goes to startups to get an early-warning sense of the year ahead, leaving aside any Black Swans.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. In fact, far better if you haven’t raised venture capital. Do it early.

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Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Most of the venture capital firms covered in TechCrunch and other tech publications compete for a spot on the cap table of the hottest Bay Area, New York or Los Angeles companies of the moment. Revolution Ventures managing partner Tige Savage. Today, Washington, DC-based Revolution is announcing its latest fund.

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socalTECH

APRIL 15, 2020

Pasadena-based Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health , a healthcare innovation fund led by Jay Goss and Dr. John Nackel, says it has launched a new venture capital fund, Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health Fund II. Size of the new fund was not announced. READ MORE>>.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Do you need a board when you first start you company? If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards.

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TechCrunch LA

MAY 19, 2018

In startup-land, however, the presumptions about where housing demand is going looks a bit different. Seeking roommates and venture capital. Funded shared and short-term housing startups are cropping up across the globe, from China to Europe to Southeast Asia. This isn’t a U.S.-specific

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Personally visit another startup funded by this investor. It’s no fun for either side.

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Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 7, 2021

An edtech startup called Entity Academy — which provides women with training, in areas like data science and software development; mentoring; and ultimately job coaching — has raised $100 million on the heels of strong growth of its business, and an ambition to improve that ratio.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

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TechCrunch LA

MARCH 29, 2021

an on-demand repair app for electric vehicle charging stations, has seen these issues firsthand. Demand for ChargerHelp’s service has attracted customers and investors. million from investors Trucks VC, Kapor Capital, JFF, Energy Impact Partners and The Fund. Powering up.

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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. Some started asking him for very specific analyses to be completed on his data and wanted his company to crunch the numbers. She had emailed with a partner at a big VC fund and he had passed the request to a junior associate.

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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. Before I jump into today’s topic, let’s catch up a bit. Last week, I profiled an e-commerce startup Part & Parcel. Startup Spotlight: Landline.

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Services Startup Venture Capital Redpoint 207

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. I’ve seen too many companies go off track by a VC hell bent on the team pursuing the VCs strategy which at times is about chasing the next shiny object.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

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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TechCrunch LA

APRIL 4, 2020

Late Friday night, the Treasury Department updated its rules regarding the “affiliation” of private entities to include religious organizations but keep in place the same rules that would deny most startups from receiving loans. (b) “ But most startups are getting killed because, you know, the economy is mostly dead.”

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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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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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socalTECH

MARCH 26, 2015

Santa Monica-based HONK , the on-demand, roadside assistance app startup led by Corey Brundage, said this morning that it has raised $12M in a Series A funding round. The funding was led by Altpoint Ventures, and also included Structure Capital, Karlin Ventures, Expansion VC, and Venture51.

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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).

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socalTECH

MAY 13, 2021

Los Angeles-based Cartwheel, a startup that develops on-demand delivery management software, says it has raised $1M in a seed funding round, which came from TenOneTen Ventures, Act One Ventures, as well as famed hot dog restaurant chain Portillo's Hot Dogs, along with other angels.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited angel investors. They fail to realize that the considerations are quite different for each, which can make or break their investment efforts, and ultimately their startup.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Startup Invest 125

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

Tech.Co

JUNE 29, 2021

You know what a startup is, right? Or at least you have an idea of what a startup is like to work in? Don't forget the pizza parties and deskside beers funded by a seemingly endless stream of venture capitalist money, either. Or, as can happen, when the money dries up and the business goes under.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

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Startup Ideas Equity Invest 148

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. No VC will be so naive as not to see straight through it. ” Here’s how all the drama started for me. When I first became a VC, seed rounds were typically $500k – $1.5

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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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socalTECH

MAY 3, 2018

On-demand, car wash startup Washe , which lets users connect with professional mobile car washers, said this week that it has raised $3.5M in a seed funding, to help it to "greatly expand" its operation sin Los Angeles, as well as expand into other new markets. READ MORE>>.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. I now observes the fund raising process as a profession. This is not just the perspective of a VC although I can’t say I have zero VC bias. This is not just the perspective of a VC although I can’t say I have zero VC bias.

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Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

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. I keep meaning to get him drunk to spill the stories.

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socalTECH

MARCH 29, 2021

Los Angeles-based ChargerHelp, a new startup focused on offering up repair to electric vehicle charging stations, has raised $2.75M in a funding round, the company disclosed on Monday. The startup, founded by Kameale C. Terry, said the funding came from Trucks VC, Kapor Capital, JFF, Energy Impact Partners and The Fund.

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Venture Capital Training Demand Los Angeles 113

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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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. In reality, crowdfunding has become a major startup funding vehicle, expected to reach $3.62

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2014

Too many entrepreneurs tell me they are looking for an investor, and can’t differentiate between venture capital (VC) investors versus accredited Angel investors. They fail to realize that the considerations are quite different for each, which can make or break their investment efforts, and ultimately their startup.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Angel Startup 106

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. So there is likely robust demand from borrowers. They have done 3 startups in the customer support space and one that wasn’t. Others I have not. LendingClub.

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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?” The Motive for Speaking Up. ” “Sure, prices are dropping.

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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. The latest company to attract venture capital is Nowadays , a company founded in San Francisco in 2020 as a Public Benefit Corporation by Max Elder and Dominik Grabinski.

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