Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. As an entrepreneur it can feel as intimidating as going to buy a car where the dealer knows the price of every make & model of a car and you’re guessing at how much to pay.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

One of the hardest things for most entrepreneurs to know is how hard to push in situations where people tell you “no.” They get pissed off if a senior executive at Google doesn’t take a meeting with them, if people are late to their meetings or if they have emails that are unreturned.

Venture Capital 389

Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. It goes something like this … VC: “How much money are you raising?” Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” This is a red flag for VCs.

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Demand 247

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

How important is this issue for your business? Friends, family and fools: [Email readers, continue here…] This term, although pejorative, describes the typical mix of early investors in a small, young growing business. It is for this group that we explore the implications implicit in raising money for growth.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

If you follow the tech media you would be subject to a lot of narrative biases that are completely off base – and this includes the value of email and phone calls. It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. billion email accounts.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Berkonomics

JULY 23, 2020

How about outside investors? Most all experienced VC and angel investors have found themselves in such a situation, since it is the unfortunate truth that half of their investments fail, on average, within the first several years of the investment. Sometimes the end game or sale of the company is not a happy event.

Company 156

Company Companies Sales Venture Capital 156

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

The idea is simple enough: several female VC partners at top funds will hold 1-hour meetings with 40 promising female entrepreneurs looking to get advice on their business and pitch in a friendly, non-judgmental, safe environment. LA Female Office Hours. So why is this initiative so important for men, women and other gender identities?

Venture Capital 256

Venture Capital Examples Screening Help 256

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2017

If you take smart money from a good angel or venture organization, the lead investor usually becomes your board member and has a vested interest in your success. If you take smart money from a good angel or venture organization, the lead investor usually becomes your board member and has a vested interest in your success.

Coach 243

Coach Organization Resource IBM 243

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

How founders get screwed on convertible notes. How party rounds can burn you if it takes time to find your groove. But shouldn’t an investor who has given you $50,000 of his or her hard earned money be entitled to know how you’re doing? We all know that funding markets have changed for startups.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

I see it on email even more. ” In it he talked about how he gets daily emails asking for intros to Oprah (he does a lot of work with her) and his advice. ” In it he talked about how he gets daily emails asking for intros to Oprah (he does a lot of work with her) and his advice. Lots of asking.

Venture Capital 407

Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

Berkonomics

JANUARY 10, 2019

Investors will invariably try to tell you that they know much more about the “how to” than you do, and that you should listen to them. How to respond to “change the course” suggestions. We then sought and received a venture investment from a top tier Silicon Valley VC firm, whose partner came onto the board.

Venture Capital 136

Venture Capital Course Email Ideas 136

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

I told him I wanted to call it, “My Pal Dave” to explain the disconnect for me between how the public perceives Dave and the real Dave I know. Dave is terrible with email. He’s so bad that his email auto-responder tells you he likely won’t email you back. I knew him well before he became a VC. Not much more.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. This is not just the perspective of a VC although I can’t say I have zero VC bias. Raising money is hard. Of course much of it is conflicting. Executive Summary.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Berkonomics

JANUARY 10, 2019

Investors will invariably try to tell you that they know much more about the “how to” than you do, and that you should listen to them. How to respond to “change the course” suggestions. We then sought and received a venture investment from a top tier Silicon Valley VC firm, whose partner came onto the board.

Venture Capital 120

Venture Capital Course Email Ideas 120

Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2023

Now to the reasons to want to impress your banker: How did you open your first bank account? Now to the reasons to want to impress your banker: How did you open your first bank account? Email readers, continue here…] But why bother with a relationship if all you want is a checking account? That’s natural.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Email Examples Company 156

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2021

But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? Plus you will see how the process really works from the other side of the table – the best preparation you could have for your own approach later. Don’t do cold calls or email blasts of your resume and business plan to potential investors.

Entrepreneur 143

Entrepreneur Social Network Activity Networking 143

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

As the end date nears and the cash-out date becomes more predictable the pressure mounts and every decisions becomes more consequential. When you run a startup you’re always on borrowed time. You have cash in the bank, a monthly burn rate and a “cash out” date that few in the company truly comprehend.

Funding 238

Funding Venture Capital Startup Course 238

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. For years I saw myself as the new guy in VC but then you wake up one day and realize that 50% of your peers have been doing it for less time than you and time has moved on. So this becomes your dealflow. It’s exhausting. Perhaps unsustainable.

Startup 317

Startup Technical Review Venture Capital Email 317

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2017

Many of my friends and colleagues also find themselves in the “sandwich years” of aging parents where responsibilities increase for your elders at the same time as for your kids and mortality becomes a reality. Life mattered for more than my pure enjoyment — I had to be responsible for the futures of these two lovable, little boys.

Carson 286

Carson Email Writing Startup 286

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2009

Handling PR with VCs. This is part of my series on How to Raise VC but could equally be filed under Startup Advice more generally. Just notice how many VC emails you get after your TechCrunch article or after you were on stage at TC50. He started the call by telling me he had exciting news.

Venture Capital 291

Venture Capital Press News Startup 291

Berkonomics

MARCH 28, 2019

What VC’s can and cannot do. First, VC’s in general cannot invest in ‘S’ corporations or limited liability companies (LLC’s). More importantly, VC’s will worry over several issues when looking at a company and deciding about an investment. How did you structure your first round? .

Invest 120

Invest Venture Capital Pricing Class 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

But VC is like congress. They see how hard she does her job. “This essay is dedicated to the great VC’s on my board who I am lucky to work with: Sameer Gandhi from Accel, Jeremy Liew from Lightspeed, and Kirsten Green from Forerunner. .” Their data looks at tech VCs. Because they know him or her.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 13, 2011

I know with a title like that I’m going to subject myself to people thinking I’m just being a grumpy, exclusive VC. Here’s my advice: A got an email from a young, super bright entrepreneur today. He responded by emailing the COO and asking him to lunch. You become an easy second date to accept.

Venture Capital 397

Venture Capital Startup Email Networking 397

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2010

I’ve written before about how to turn this equation around and run more effective board meetings. If you want to prevent board meetings simply becoming investor update meetings? VC’s Want to Help! VC’s Want to Help! Most early stage startups having monthly board meetings. You can do calls if need be.

Startup 301

Startup Venture Capital Software Review Email 301

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

I hope I straddled people’s points of view well enough not to have offended anybody while adding a framework for how I think about the service. I hope I straddled people’s points of view well enough not to have offended anybody while adding a framework for how I think about the service. So why I am writing it then?

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

This posting was inspired by an email from Rajat Suri who wrote me an email in response to Chris Dixon’s blog post (link below) from August, which recently re-ran on Business Insider and has generated much Twitter chatter. A few years ago it became fashionable for large VC’s to do seed funding. What gives?

Seed Funding 283

Seed Funding Venture Capital Funding Software Review 283

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

That’s how it felt then and a bit how it feels in May 2011. That’s how it felt then and a bit how it feels in May 2011. Would Zynga have been the smashing success it has become if it weren’t perfectly timed to ride on the back of Facebook’s growth? So which is it? Feast or famine?

Startup 391

Startup Blogging Venture Capital Writing 391

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur?

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 384

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2012

I had been trading emails & Tweets with venture capitalist John Frankel and we were to meet in person in March 2011 at SxSW to talk about Klout and other investments he had made. He was an early investor in Klout and was the most compelling voice I had heard on why the company would become hugely relevant.

Cornerstone OnDemand 303

Cornerstone OnDemand Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup 303

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 30, 2016

We did what many VC funds did – we presented our annual results, we stood up and talked about our portfolio companies, we invited a few to also present and then we had dinner & drinks at some posh restaurant. So I decided to change up our format a bit. Here’s a short sample of what we now do. I had a few objectives in mind.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Course Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2014

We all intuitively know how important human connections are in business but for many people it’s like exercise or eating well – one of those things you keep meaning to get around to. After my first Tweet with the Notorious mothafucka quote , I thought about my role as a VC and I Tweeted the following. How did I get here?

Networking 366

Networking Startup CTO Coach Email 366

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. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know. Thank you. (if

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

InfoChachkie

MAY 22, 2012

You might be at Step 2 with one VC and Step 3 with another. However, the greater degree you can sequentially follow these steps and maintain your discussions with each venture capitalist (VC) at relatively the same stage, the sooner you can spend less time in the company of investors and get back to running your business. Prep Steps.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Capital Research Customer 236

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

How many angel groups are there? Email readers, continue here… ] The Angel Capital Association (ACA) lists over four hundred member groups, located throughout the USA. Let’s take a few minutes to examine the kind of equity financing available to small or early stage businesses. Friends and family investors.

Equity 156

Equity Technical Review Class Organization 156

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2015

I noticed this post today from Ezra Galston titled “ Dear Brad, Fred & Mark: How The Hell Do You Do It? “how the hell do you do it? How are you everywhere at once? How do you produce so much content? How do you maintain thoughtfulness on the forefront of industries? How do you stay balanced?

Blogging 150

Blogging Writing Email Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

It seems to be all the fad in the startup and VC world these days. VCs are paying up at enormous prices to say that they have GroupOn, Facebook and Twitter on their roster irrespective of whether they really venture funded them or bought in late stage. I have had this debate publicly with some other VCs. Collecting logos.

Startup 312

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Help 312

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 18, 2010

How do I basically tell people “I’m sorry, I don’t have time&# in a nice way? How do I basically tell people “I’m sorry, I don’t have time&# in a nice way? How do I punt on people? I’m getting better at it, but it becomes difficult at times.&#. I feel the same way.

Startup 305

Startup Venture Capital Writing Conference 305