SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 4, 2012

At the inception of a company the entrepreneur typically focuses on product development, RandD, customer relationships and sales and marketing.Often, accounting and taxation are overlooked. In addition, we'll discuss tax filing requirements, document retention and tax pitfalls to avoid for startups. See [link] (more)

OCTANE 100

OCTANE Startup Equity Sales 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team. Thus I was happily surprised when I found the classic book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The sales professional.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Startup High Tech 123

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

What used to be an “A” round in 2011 is now routinely called a Seed round and this has been so engrained that founders would rather take less money than to have to put the words “A round” in their legal documents. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. You have seed rounds but you now have “pre-seed rounds.”

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

If you do a capped note it’s bad for the entrepreneur. Fred, who also wrote his views about convertible debt (significantly more succinctly than I) believes that the price of a single round should be the same for everybody. ” If you remember the three rules of sales : it’s. You can do it with equity & a price.

Pricing 294

Pricing Venture Capital Writing Equity 294

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2009

Everyone in the outside world is talking about how great you are but internally you know that your sales aren’t ramping, your product isn’t shipping on time, you have doubts about the quality of your code, you’re not convinced you’re doing a good job on marketing – whatever. Your solution? My advice: don’t.

Startup 327

Startup Sales Class CIO 327

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2017

This shortcut to avoid hard discussions and signed documents leads to more dysfunctional businesses and broken relationships than you could imagine. Very few people are experts in all facets of a new business, including finance, sales, marketing, and operations. Retain maximum equity by requesting minimal funding.

Entrepreneur 72

Entrepreneur Competition Customer Custom 72

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2020

In reality, the opportunities are greater for starting with a micro-business , ideally from your special expertise or passion, with fewer than five employees, and just enough sales to comfortably support you and your team. Just because you want to start a business doesn’t mean you are entitled to outside equity, loans, or crowdfunding.

Customer 125

Customer Custom Tool Writing 125

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. . Example: salary, equity, joint venture, etc… Can the business afford it? By JJ Richa. Is it by committee?

Technical Review 204

Technical Review Startup Examples Metrics 204

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team. Thus I was happy to see a recent book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The sales professional. The industry veteran.

Technical Advisors 105

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Startup High Tech 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team. Thus I was happy to see a new book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The sales professional. The industry veteran.

Technical Advisors 98

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 98

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

As an entrepreneur and startup investor, I have helped create companies which achieved two IPOs which collectively raised over $100 million, as well as two acquisitions which totaled $385 million. 1) Expect Independent Channel Sales Reps To Perform Missionary Sales. Rationale: I cannot afford to hire a direct sales force.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team. Thus I was happily surprised when I found the classic book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The sales professional.

Technical Advisors 57

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 57

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2019

Image via Pixabay Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. You really need a partner who is complementary, and can tackle the operational roles, like marketing, finance, and sales.

Startup 70

Startup Satisfaction Writing Entrepreneur 70

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Unless you are a serial entrepreneur with a string of successes behind you, you need a business plan to convince investors that you can build a business out of the dream that has been driving your passion to change the world. Marketing, sales, and customer experience. The details can be added later. Skip the acronyms and jargon.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2016

In the new business world, many entrepreneurs are so excited with large initial orders that they don’t anticipate the cash flow challenges that can quickly kill their startup. Seasonal sales fluctuations eat cash. Fluctuating sales means more inventory is required to cover the ups and downs.

Startup 64

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 64

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2013

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. You really need a partner who is complementary, and can tackle the operational roles, like marketing, finance, and sales. Most startups can’t afford that.

Startup 96

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Writing 96

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2017

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. You really need a partner who is complementary, and can tackle the operational roles, like marketing, finance, and sales. Most startups can’t afford that.

Startup 59

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Writing 59

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2012

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. You really need a partner who is complementary, and can tackle the operational roles, like marketing, finance, and sales. Most startups can’t afford that.

Startup 97

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Writing 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

The approach I recommend is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans. Exit strategy.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

An alternative approach, which I prefer, is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans.

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

These are usually the first sources entrepreneurs tap. Expect to be diluted by 20-25% with each equity round. They’re typically issued at a 10-20% discount to equity depending on the timeframe; higher range is for longer timeframes. According to Shayne, only 1 out of 1000 business plans might get VC funding. Venture debt.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2011

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. You really need a partner who is complementary, and can tackle the operational roles, like marketing, finance, and sales. Most startups can’t afford that.

Startup 95

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Writing 95

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). You never got around to agreeing exact equity splits but you had many conversations about it. Consider it a sales & marketing expense for them.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

socalTECH

JUNE 17, 2009

I became general counsel, an investor, and an entrepreneur, and played a bunch of different roles at companies--so I know security laws intimately. We came to it, because we'd been around private equity, and it's always surprised me how inefficient the marketplace is. The way sales are handled is as old as the 1930's securities laws.

Startup 124

Startup Zag Venture Capital Equity 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

The approach I recommend is to build the investor presentation first, by iterating on the bullets with your team, and then fleshing out the points into a full-blown text-based business plan document. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe marketing strategy, sales plan, licensing, and partnership plans. Exit strategy.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2010

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. You really need a partner who is complementary, and can tackle the operational roles, like marketing, finance, and sales. Most startups can’t afford that.

Startup 82

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Writing 82

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

When an entrepreneur takes on investors who take equity (i.e. The board is where large equity investors get their representation. I’ve been on boards with independent directors who are hugely responsive, read important legal documents, get briefed by the CEO and company counsel and know the company’s financials.

Startup 187

Startup Writing Venture Capital Oracle 187

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

Jason Nazar

MAY 2, 2016

Set up a collaboration method for business documents, spreadsheets and presentations ( GoogleApps ). Create a sales forecasts and financial projections regularly. Speak to entrepreneurs and leaders in your industry and consider asking them to be your mentor. Clarify who gets equity , and how much. Choose a tax year.

Outsource Development 40

Outsource Development Startup Google Mentor 40

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

500 Hats , January 10, 2010 Developing new startup ideas - Chris Dixon , March 14, 2010 Batch Processing Millions and Millions of Images - Code as Craft , July 9, 2010 jQuery Plugin: Give Your Characters a NobleCount - The Product Guy , March 23, 2010 How do the sample Series Seed financing documents differ from typical Series A financing documents?

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378