socalTECH

DECEMBER 18, 2018

San Diego-based Seismic , a developer of sales and marketing software, has raised $100M more in a funding round, which values the company at $1 billion, the company said on Tuesday. The funding round came from Lightspeed Venture Partners, T. Rowe Price, plus General Atlantic, JMI Equity, and Jackson Square Ventures.

San Diego 113

San Diego Sales Equity Pricing 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Riot Ventures , the Los Angeles-based, early-stage and deep technology investment firm is going out to market to raise a $75 million second fund to finance the development of startups in LA and beyond, according to fundraising documents viewed by TechCrunch.

Los Angeles 126

Los Angeles Artificial Inteligence Invest Angel 126

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.” These are similar to the pipeline reviews I used to do with sales reps when I was a CEO.

Funding 189

Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Venture Capital 189

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2017

You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process. Every aspect of your business must be about sales. This is the growth equation for a startup.

Sales 82

Sales Entrepreneur Custom Customer 82

Berkonomics

JULY 23, 2020

Sometimes the end game or sale of the company is not a happy event. Especially when outside investors, venture capitalists, or angels, have put in substantial money and the sales price is less than the value of their investment. There are some questions a distressed sale brings to mind. How about outside investors?

Company 156

Company Companies Sales Venture Capital 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 18, 2018

[Email readers, continue here…] Sometimes a secondary fund-raising effort leads to a lower valuation than the last. That one hurts early investors and founders more than perhaps any other action by investors. Simple building blocks for difficult times.

Layoffs 240

Layoffs Class News Email 240

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2021

You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process. Every aspect of your business must be about sales. This is the growth equation for a startup.

Custom 136

Custom Customer Sales Social Media 136

socalTECH

JANUARY 20, 2016

Los Angeles-based CapLinked , the developer of a cloud-based platform for secure, enterprise document sharing for financing and other deal management, has raised $3.5M more in a funding round, according to the company. The funding was led by Subtraction Capital, and also included Peter Thiel and Indicator Ventures.

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles Platform Sales Funding 100

socalTECH

DECEMBER 20, 2016

San Diego-based eSUB Construction Software , a startup developing mobile and cloud-based project management and document control software for the construction industry, has raised $5M in a Series A funding, the company announced this morning. The funding came from Revolution Ventures. The funding came from Revolution Ventures.

Software 100

Software San Diego Mobile Invest 100

socalTECH

JULY 31, 2018

Glendale-based LegalZoom , which provides legal services and documents for the small business and family market, announced on Tuesday that it has sold a $500M secondary stake in the company to a set of private equity investors. The secondary stock sale reportedly values LegalZoom at more than $2 billion.

Legalzoom 100

Legalzoom Equity Glendale Invest 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 15, 2013

in a Series A funding round, to build out its cloud-based platform for enhancing proposals, sales decks, reports, and other materials. The startup said the funding was led by Sigma West, and will go towards fortifying its team and to expand its product for the financial services and insurance markets. READ MORE>>.

Tool 147

Tool Report Platform Software 147

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. If we wanted to we could have sold > 2x the fund easily in the secondary markets with significant upside remaining.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Document processes and build online training videos so new people can come online quickly and consistently. Attract and relish investor funding. In other areas, once you have a documented and proven model, franchising will let you scale much faster than managing every location.

Tips 135

Tips Invest Startup Outsource 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2021

In fact, the process of organizing and documenting these elements is the best way to make sure you understand the answers yourself. It only takes a little extra work to make it a professional document, with a cover page, table of contents, headings, and page numbers.

Sample 137

Sample Writing Mentor Content 137

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone. Make sure all business processes are documented and integrated. If everyone has a different view of reality, you have no reality. Take time to review and resolve any personnel distractions.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 30, 2021

Several times in my investing life, as the final board member making the arrangements to dispose of remaining assets, I have literally been the one to turn out the lights, carry out the documents, books and records to my car, and become the only remaining contact between the failed business and the investors, bankruptcy court, or creditors.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Training Invest Email 156

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

This week, David Steakley returns for another bite at the corporate apple, with just the right amount of tart comments that will keep this document legal for now. How do you judge a company’s prospects, if a corporate business-to-business sale has to be your game? Read on! - DB. Email readers, continue here.] Starting up'

Startup 214

Startup Sales Product Custom 214

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales). What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers. See this anecdote by Steve Blank on how a hotshot sales executive can sink your startup.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Funding Cloud Computing CIO 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

The sales professional. A sales fanatic on the founder team helps to contain that risk. The combination of technical insight, founder authority, and sales experience is a hard-to-beat advantage in a competitive market. These people also have the credibility to attract investors. The operations superstar.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2019

You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process. Every aspect of your business must be about sales. This is the growth equation for a startup.

Custom 107

Custom Customer Sales Social Media 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

Finally you create and document your recipe (business plan). Have you projected sales and marketing costs, cash flow, and capital requirements? Any startup coach or business advisor will tell you that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start your journey by inventing the ultimate entre.

Startup 112

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business. Executives, marketing & sales, financial projections, and funding. Development schedule and checkpoints.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2022

In many cases, the ideas may be small ones, such as starting a promotion to kick-start sales on a stalled item, or suggesting a huge strategy move to acquire Netflix and supplement an already healthy Blockbuster DVD rental business. Here I recommend that you narrow your focus, if possible, and document specifics of impact, cost, and value.

Ideas 116

Ideas Netflix Resource Custom 116

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2015

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business.

Outsource Development 99

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 99

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Document processes and build online training videos so new people can come online quickly and consistently. Attract and relish investor funding. In other areas, once you have a documented and proven model, franchising will let you scale much faster than managing every location.

Funding 67

Funding Startup Outsource Ideas 67

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

So when I meet with GRP portfolio companies that do enterprise sales I try to emphasize the following: 1. Hopefully it’s not as a way of avoiding fund raising or finding quick pockets of money. Often your sales engineers can do the customizations without bugging the core eng team. At a minimum co-ownership of the IP.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software Services Company 321

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2020

Document processes and build online training videos so new people can come online quickly and consistently. Attract and relish investor funding. In other areas, once you have a documented and proven model, franchising will let you scale much faster than managing every location.

Startup 154

Startup Outsource Ideas Research 154

InfoChachkie

JUNE 1, 2010

Find out how getting he got his start-up funded using his knowledge of persuasion, sales, and even hypnotherapy: Full Bio: Jason Nazar CEO and Co-Founder of Docstoc. Jason is the Co-Founder and CEO of Docstoc.com, the premier online community to find and share professional documents.

Pepperdine 153

Pepperdine Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles 153

Berkonomics

JULY 19, 2010

Once a company founder has tapped the funds available from his or her resources and from friends and family, if the company needs more cash for growth, the most obvious next step is to look for money from angel investors and venture capitalists, typically in the $300,000 TO $3,000,000 range. Email readers continue here.]

Pricing 120

Pricing Invest Startup Sales 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

Don’t send investors documents and notes that would be rejected by any high-school teacher. It’s always impressive to have stand-alone supporting documents for product specifications, sales plan details, and backup financial reports. Excuse the typos and cleanup -- I’ve been too busy to finalize.”

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Berkonomics

AUGUST 29, 2013

Sometimes the end game or sale of the company is not a happy event. Especially when outside investors, venture capitalists, or angels, have put in substantial money and the sales price is less than the value of their investment. There are a number of questions a distressed sale brings to mind.

Sales 166

Sales Venture Capital Invest Guide 166

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2010

In simple terms, it is a document which describes all the what, when, where, and how of your business for you, your cohorts, and potential investors. Finally, hone the result into a professional document. You really need a business plan for you own efforts, even if external funding is not a requirement. No problem.

Startup 91

Startup Funding Sample Writing 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. On the product side, once you have a proven product and business model, all you need is money to build inventory, and a sales and marketing operation to drive the business.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2022

You really need a partner who is complementary, and can tackle the operational roles, like marketing, finance, and sales. I’m not suggesting that co-founders should be equal contributors on both sides, but the parameters for “equality” better be well understood and well documented. and the answer better not be ambiguous. “We

Startup 140

Startup Satisfaction Writing Entrepreneur 140

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

Finally you create and document your recipe (business plan). Have you projected sales and marketing costs, cash flow, and capital requirements? Any startup coach or business advisor will tell you that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start your journey by inventing the ultimate entre.

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156