Berkonomics

JUNE 29, 2017

If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

Invest 243

Invest Entrepreneur Sales Startup 243

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2022

With the power of the Internet, and the impact of the recent pandemic , the world of business services, such as accounting and marketing, have gone more and more remote. Yet the value of real relationships, as with consumer customers, has become critical to your business services growth and success.

Services 121

Services Technical Review Social Media Case Study 121

Berkonomics

MARCH 28, 2024

Even venture capitalists who sit on boards where they have significant investments often forget this point. They write in their investment documents that they will occupy a seat on the board for as long as they are invested in the company, thinking of this as a protection for their investment and tool for them to influence growth.

Class 282

Class Coach Invest Sales 282

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 3, 2018

million to bring to market a service that basically hits pause on the execution of a contract so it can be arbitrated in the event that something goes wrong. The company’s technology works as a middleware including an SDK and a contract notification and monitoring service. Thus, we are dispute process agnostic.”

Software Review 159

Software Review Outsource Development Services Technical Review 159

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

First, few startups can use that much money today with all the virtual services available and increasingly inexpensive methods of development, prototyping and marketing. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen executive summaries of business plans in which the entrepreneur seeks $5,000,000 to build the business.

Startup 120

Startup Invest Summary Resource 120

socalTECH

OCTOBER 2, 2012

Angel investor Jason Calacanis has made another angel investment and scored another board seat this morning -- this time, all the way out in Manchester, New Hampshire. The investment came as part of a $38M, Series A fund which has been led by North Bridge, as well as Borealis Ventures.

Invest 145

Invest Mahalo Santa Monica Email 145

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 21, 2020

The automaker Tuesday said its Maven car-sharing service, which launched in 2016, will shut down for good. Maven had paused service due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company sent an email to customers Tuesday that after examining the business, the car-sharing industry and COVID-19, it decided to shutter the service permanently.

Los Angeles 215

Los Angeles Technical Review Email Services 215

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2018

As part of the lead in to the conference, and as a part of our sponsor relationship with the conference, we're running a series of interviews with speakers from the conference about their experience in the area of recurring revenues, customer service, and similar topics. The second, was investing in relationship management and support.

Custom 113

Custom Customer Services Conference 113

Berkonomics

AUGUST 18, 2016

Then, when my manager of customer service sent a request up the line asking for funds for equipment or expanded staffing, I would understand the need, sometimes offering suggestions for improvement to try before making the investment. Start by sitting in with customer service. The benefits are immense.

Custom 120

Custom Customer Services Press 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

Having read his latest op-ed on email I know why I erred towards the side of of not loving his book as much as some did. Apparently he’s an “organizational psychologist professor and thinks that it’s rude not to answer email. I also surmise that perhaps organizational psychologists don’t get as much unsolicited emails as some of us do.

Email 250

Email Writing Conference Mobile 250

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

I was chairman of a company that had been offered an investment by a Fortune 500 company offering to make a strategic investment in our business, which would be capable of driving new demand to the large company through a series of new web services creating a greater need for the large company’s products.

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Invest Conference Training 120

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

First, few startups can use that much money today with all of the virtual services available and increasingly inexpensive methods of development, prototyping and marketing. Email readers, continue here.] Giving control over that vision to others early on often dilutes the vision and is a disincentive to the entrepreneur.

Resource 180

Resource Invest Summary Startup 180

Berkonomics

MAY 9, 2024

If your vision is for a product or service that fills a need in a mature industry, you may be flying against the prevailing winds as a market shrinks over time, taking your business with it. Email readers, continue here…] Have you created high barriers to entry? Where in industry life cycle? Are margins high enough?

Patents 156

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 156

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds. 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.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Companies sometime run out of cash in the midst of their increasing success, and often find that sources of loans or investment are not freely flowing at the moment of need. Competitors, seeing a successful development of a niche, flock into the competitive void with products or services built with a fresh view of the current environment.

Pricing 156

Pricing Invest Equity Entrepreneur 156

Berkonomics

JANUARY 25, 2024

Entrepreneurs will have a relative willing to devote time, a school friend with business experience, professionals who charge for the service, investors with a reason to promote your success and more. Some charge by the hour, making themself available much as an attorney, keeping track of hours spent on phone calls and emails with you.

Coach 156

Coach Organization Resource Equity 156

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Later, as CEO of a fast-growing computer software company with over thirty employees in customer service alone, I did learn the lesson, as I sat in on customer service calls on occasion to get a more complete understanding of the process, pressures and opportunities for improvement. Email readers, continue here…] .

Press 156

Press Hollywood Custom Customer 156

Berkonomics

AUGUST 5, 2021

Investment documents usually call for quarterly reporting by the company to the investors. Less than a quarter of companies receiving early-stage investment voluntarily fulfill this promise. Usually, one or more of the investors is placed on the board as a requirement of the investment documentation.

Invest 156

Invest Study Email Activity 156

Berkonomics

MARCH 8, 2018

Give one percent equity to each outside board member vesting over four years of service. Pay early stage board members of companies that are not lifestyle businesses one percent of the fully diluted equity in the form of an option that vests over four years of service. Here is my best advice, based upon many boards and many years.

Venture Capital 256

Venture Capital Equity Sales Invest 256

Berkonomics

JUNE 22, 2023

If your vision is for a product or service that fills a need in a mature industry, you may be flying against the prevailing winds as a market shrinks over time, taking your business with it. Email readers, continue here…] Have you created high barriers to entry? Where in industry life cycle? Are margins high enough?

Patents 286

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 286

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2013

Los Angeles-based TheBouqs (www.thebouqs.com) thinks so, with its new, cut-to-order online flower delivery service for the iPad generation. The third part of this is the subscription service we offer. We send you reminders by email, and deliver as many times a year as you prefer. What is the Bouqs? Closing this $1.1M

Services 215

Services Technical Review Startup Pricing 215

Berkonomics

AUGUST 31, 2023

In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars (two million six hundred thousand in today’s dollars) into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons, not the least of which was that I had industry experience and understood the need. Let me tell you a short story at my own expense.

Competition 156

Competition Research Summary Pricing 156

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Back when we were all trying to figure out the real value of traffic on the web, investors – and acquiring companies – got a bit crazy with metrics used to value acquisitions and investments. per registered user of ICQ, the early messaging service. Remembering the insanity before 2000. Remembering the insanity before 2000.

Metrics 296

Metrics Sites Advertising Web 296

Berkonomics

MAY 11, 2023

The quest for a great management team is not a fluke, but rather a result of backward looks at the failure rate from past investments by those same angel investors and venture capitalists. Even if you are not considering taking in money from professional investors, this advice would serve you well in protecting your own monetary investment.

Statistics 156

Statistics Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 156

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Of course, you will find yourself in opposition to your investors and some of most of your board members if you do this after taking outside investment. I was able to negotiate a “put” of my shares back to the company at 5x my investment. Investors will not be happy and will usually react. A personal experience that relates.

Equity 156

Equity Course Sales Invest 156

Berkonomics

APRIL 14, 2022

Second, you can make a call to action, using an ad to bring people to your place of offer, buy your services or product, or take advantage of a special incentive. And third, you can invest in direct response advertising. First, you can advertise your brand so that people recognize it when they see it in later materials.

Advertising 156

Advertising Statistics Pricing Email 156

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

DECEMBER 31, 2020

I was chairman of a company that, for twelve years never took a dollar of outside investment. Email readers, continue here…] Grant writing takes skill and immense amounts of time. The company was funded entirely by grants from the National Institute of Health, amounting to millions of non-dilutive dollars in all.

Equity 156

Equity Writing Education Research 156

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 20, 2012

According to the founders, Contur is a virtual assistant that sorts and organizes your emails automatically. The founders add that Contur takes all of your emails, groups the related ones together so that you can see your emails in context. You may get emails related to our apartments at random intervals in your inbox.

Email 63

Email CTO Hire Startup Organization 63

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon comfort with each. Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to. Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service? First: Product risk. . compete in the marketplace?

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Berkonomics

JANUARY 18, 2018

Email readers, continue here…] I was chairman of a company that had been offered an investment by a Fortune 500 company offering to make a strategic investment in our business, which would be capable of driving new demand to the large company through a series of new web services creating a greater need for the large company’s products.

Outsource Development 243

Outsource Development Invest Conference Training 243

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2021

No real investor or venture capital firm asks for money from the company they are intending to invest in. Loan offer in lieu of investment. These solicitations, usually via the Internet, claim to represent a large fund that they can’t disclose, until you have been “qualified” for the investment. Pump and dump stock schemes.

Technical Review 148

Technical Review Tips Funding Startup 148

Berkonomics

MARCH 31, 2022

Email readers, continue here…] My spouse visited a website for women’s clothing, then followed it with a search for a service using a browser. Spend lots and not be sure of the return on investment; or spend much less and offer some of the savings to the customer. A personal story. Old school or new school.

Marketing 156

Marketing Custom Customer Tool 156

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2015

So Why Did We Invest? Second, videos that we do share end up in fragments across Facebook, Instagram, cloud services, email or text messages. The backend services to enable scrolling, click-and-watch, scroll forward with minimal buffering, etc. Yes, we’ve only launched on iOS for now. is non trivial.

Invest 150

Invest Tool Product Startup 150

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2016

The company--which runs both a large set of cloud-based services business in the backup, email, and other software areas, as well as runs content businesses like Ziff Davis--is now sitting on $378.9M in cash and investments. The revenues are significantly higher than the $178.7M the company earned in Q3 of 2015.

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Email Los Angeles Content 100

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

Etsy revealed the change in emails to sellers as well as a report to investors yesterday. It'll help the company invest in marketing, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman says: “We have demonstrated our ability to make improvements that directly translate into more sales for our sellers, as evidenced by record sales per seller in 2021.

Sales 153

Sales Startup Activity Email 153

Berkonomics

MARCH 16, 2023

Early-stage investor groups often list these traits at or near the top of their list when filtering opportunities for investment. Flexibility: the context in which a business plan envisions the enterprise in its marketplace is constantly changing as new products and services challenge competitors to innovate and adapt.

Coach 156

Coach Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Resource 156