Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I only say that because after years as a VC I can always tell when my peer group invested in something because “it seemed like it would make money” versus when they invested out of passion. On reflection of the role that I want to play as a VC it is clearly in the camp of passion. I’m a VC.

Venture Capital 373

Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

Brad wrote up his answer here – you should read it because it’s very instructive for how I believe communities ought to think about naming conventions. I recommend that you start by writing down the attributes you would want people to think about when they think about your brand. This is the list I would start with.

Startup 304

Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles Woodland Hills 304

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. Putting their expensive educations to good use, they aptly named their novelty product a "MouseDriver". It''s gonna highlight our emotions, our ups and our downs.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

This does not mean you shouldn’t solve big, complex problems or write complex code. Partisan rancor aside, we had just come off a boom decade – especially in tech – and many people at the start of the election thought Al Gore was a shoe in. In a VC pitch this type of messaging will do just fine.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. Back to regular writing this week so check back in. What did you do before VC and how did that lead you to VC? (1:00 Startup after Iron Planet? (6:00 1:00 – 3:40).

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

You race back to the office to tell everybody how well it went and you wait for the follow-up call to have a partners’ meeting or talk about term sheets or at least dip into due diligence. This is a very common scenario when entrepreneurs pitch VCs and frankly is a very common scenario when VCs try to raise money from LPs.

Software Review 381

Software Review Startup Email Conference 381

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

I love how open Danielle has been throughout the development of her startup Mattermark including honest reflections of when she has changed her opinion. They now have a strong VC lead from Foundry Group and from experience when you get advice from Foundry it comes with authority, experience, empathy and the right amount of straight talk.

Angel 150

Angel Startup Seed Funding Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 11, 2010

I travelled for a couple of days for work and decided to get some sleep on those days rather than staying up into the wee hours as I often do when I travel. It has also coincided with the kickoff of our Launchpad LA educational series which has taken some of my time. Are all VC’s just a-hole’s?

Email 265

Email Startup Writing Blogging 265

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. Putting their expensive educations to good use, they aptly named their novelty product a "MouseDriver". It''s gonna highlight our emotions, our ups and our downs.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2018

Marlon Nichols: We are a three year old, early stage venture capital firm. How did the fund get started? Marlon Nichols: Right before this, I spent five years at Intel Capital, where I ultimately became Investment Director. When I joined Intel Capital, it was the largest and most active venture firm in the world.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Invest Capital Startup 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

And that was evident on today’s Angel vs. VC panel. There are real changes in the venture capital industry and it would have been fun to talk about them. My friend Ethan Anderson put it best to me after the panel, “You probably shouldn’t have been up there. It’s a shame. We all know that.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. I interviewed Eric for an hour for - This Week in Venture Capital. Importantly we also discussed: should startups raise small amounts of money or large? Check it out.

Social Media 301

Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

For the past 5 years or so Google, Facebook and a handful of tech industry giants have been quietly buying scores of early-stage startups for their talent. And to keep up with the Jones’s it seems that Yahoo! And a few teams of super talented, educated and bright entrepreneurs make a few mill. Go do a startup.

Press 357

Press Startup Yahoo Venture Capital 357

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

By spending more time educating your board on your business you get more valuable advice from them. Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. He did it yesterday, “Mark, I’m going to write a blog post following on from your VC’s aren’t dumb.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

I’ve been meaning to write this post since September of last year when Brad Feld first wrote about the The Founders Visa Movement. I commented briefly on his blog and made a mental note to write a blog post. I filled up with 20 people pretty quickly and realized this schedule was masochistic. Felipe grew up in Brazil.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Startup High Tech Software Review 282

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

We held a 90-minute demo session where 150 of LA’s VC’s and senior technology executives watched the LPLA V2 group present in small groups of 12-15 each. The VC’s & executives were then asked to make “commitments&# (in writing) to 3-5 of the companies that they felt they could make some sort of contribution to.

Company 276

Company Companies Startup Southern California 276

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

Serial entrepreneur, venture investor and startup accelerator pioneer Brad Feld has notoriously mocked traditional marketing throughout his career. For a long time, I had a line which was, ‘Whenever I hear the word marketing, it makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth.’”. Write Your Own Playbook.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

One of the great joys of doing the web series This Week in VC every week is that I get to spend time with great people debating the issues of our day including how our industry is evolving as well as insights into how companies got started, got their initial traction and dealt with adversities. We then spoke about startups.

Startup 286

Startup Venture Capital Web Ideas 286

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Today Upfront Ventures is announcing that we’ve backed Rebecca Kantar ’s startup Imbellus , a company designed to assess human potential and ultimately change the way we teach children. We led a $4 million investment along with Thrive Capital, GLG and Sound Ventures.

Design 150

Design Ideas Startup Writing 150

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 11, 2013

TechZulu catches up with the founder of Assignmint, Jeff Koyen, as he talks about Assignmint, freelance, and LA startups. There are no surprises on how and when you are going to get paid and everything leading up to that point. We have a lot of writers signing up from all over the place. Where did Assignmint come from?

Journal 90

Journal Startup Writing Media 90

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Of course that website isn’t completely up to date but it’s a great resource for seeing the overall picture. But let me start with some data. Higher education.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2010

By Adam Hoeksema According to a report distributed by the Angel Capital Education Foundation , total startup funding from venture capital funds, state funds, and angel investors totals approximately $20.8 Angel investors and venture capitalists want to know how you intend to grow their investment.

Funding 90

Funding Startup Blogging Invest 90

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2010

A little known, but valuable resource, every startup should investigate is a formal or informal connection to your local university. Start by contacting a professor in your area of interest or expertise. Every university has educational courses and can provide assistance on creating your initial plan. Research and development.

Help 94

Help Startup Mentor Incubator 94

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2011

Value Prop Twitter Style : AngelList is the productization of raising startup funding. 6) Naval, why does the startup world need AngelList and Venture Hacks? . “As Venture Hacks is educating entrepreneurs on the game theory of how to raise venture capital. free weekly Infochachkie articles!

Startup 273

Startup Software Review Summary Technical Review 273

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

How did Revolution Prep start? We started in 2000. Using that, and a partnership model where we go into schools and partner with them to provide SAT and ACT service, we've been able to build up a private tutoring service from basically nothing. Ramit Varma: I've been sort of in and out of the venture space since we started.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

I sat standing 1 foot away from somebody who’s been in prison for 15 years of his life and I had 60 seconds to open up to him about something that causes me pain in my life while he stairs into my eyes I found myself going deeper than I would with even friends or family. She was smart (she started her career in private equity!)

Writing 150

Writing Startup Design Training 150

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

Natalia not only wants to increase the number of women in investment, but bring more people in total to help startups and other businesses get the capital they need. Natalia Oberti Noguera: Pipeline Fellowship is a program to educate and bring more women into the investment side of business. What is Pipeline Fellowship about?

Mentor 84

Mentor Invest Entrepreneur Startup 84

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. He blogs to 10,000 web entrepreneurs at Software by Rob and co-hosts the podcast Startups for the Rest of Us. How it happens.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. Startup Grind was a truly awesome conference and Derek the consumate host. Disruption of Education.

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

This is especially true for companies with expensive and complex products or services that are more consultative in nature, like insurance, financial services, home services, education and travel, etc. 9) In Getting The Band Back Together , I write about the power of serial Founding teams. Accountability starts at an individual level.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2015

He was also surrounded by business colleagues: Maker Studios employees, Disney leaders, YouTube leaders, VC investors and so forth. In it there is one small ask – a small donation to Vic’s cause – which is helping build a school in Tibet to educate young girls. Startup Lessons'

Entrepreneur 150

Entrepreneur Blogging Course Help 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “ Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts? I would love to see Tara follow up with blog posts on: why she believes this is the case & what we can do about it. We need to start encouraging it in our youth.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Blogging 341

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Great content again in September that meets at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. If you asked me to tell you a list of three of the best decisions in my life, I can certainly tell you that regularly writing is one of them. Why You Should Write. It's human nature," he writes.

Startup 191

Startup Product Technology Venture Capital 191

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2015

As I write these words I already imagine my next deposition in which I’m asked to read this out loud. There is not a single case I’ve been involved with in any of the startups I’ve backed that has even a small bit of merit. So why exactly have lawsuits (anecdotally) picked up so much in the past 5 years?

Startup 150

Startup IP Writing Ideas 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We had a special edition of This Week in Venture Capital this week shooting out of the Next New Networks offices in New York. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital. Topics we discussed in the first 45 minutes of the video include: What is VC like in NY? The Spark Capital website (it’s one of my favorites).

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to influence journalists, business partners, potential employees, customers and VCs. So I thought I’d write a piece on how to not suck when you give a presentation. Stories have starts, middles and ends.

Startup 362

Startup Twiistup Slides Screening 362

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. Oh, and Demo charges the startups $18,000. Too many startup execs place too much emphasis on the big stage launch. I’ve heard many startup CEO’s (and VCs!) It started socially. Robert’s article is worth reading.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307