Both Sides of the Table

MAY 11, 2010

But what has really killed me is email. I live in email hell. And for the last few evenings I decided to get through email rather than blog. I’m always so completely behind on email. I have a love / hate relationship with email. Email is a chore. People expect too much when they email you.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2010

I’m often asked by people, “how do I get into VC?&# Well, I know 3-4 VC jobs that are publicly available. Well, aside from it showing discipline and intelligence – we always get flooded with emails when we recruit and when you have to manage volume you need to go for obvious filters. So how do I apply?

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Venture Capital Technical Review GRP Partners Email 290

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

They had received a term sheet from a VC and were wondering whether to work with this firm. I often tell people that raising venture capital is more difficult than getting married. Not so in venture capital. You’re tied at the hip to your VC. But what was the VC like when the chips were down?

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Capital Help 298

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

I recently got an email from a friend who had been approached by a well known VC. He sent me an email asking whether the approach was real and whether he should take it seriously. Here is the email he received (reprinted without names with his permission). Why do VCs send generic outbound emails like this?

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2009

This is part of my blog series “ Pitching a VC.&#. I’ve sat through a lot of VC pitches and having been CEO of an enterprise software firm for many years I’ve also sat through many customer meetings with sales teams. The following are some tips for the debate style VC meeting. Tips in a debate led VC Meeting.

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Venture Capital Sales Slides Startup 275

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

This was the first episode where Jason wasn’t on the show, which gave me the chance to have another VC on the show to discuss deals. Rustic Canyon is an LA-based, but geography-agnostic VC that is currently investing from a $200 million fund. VC Financings: 1. Investors: Google Ventures. 5.0mm in Series B.

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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. What was the post money on your last round (and how much capital have you raised)? So why does a VC ask you? In the first place they’re looking for “fit” with their firm.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. Today we’re in a world where 10 accelerators are bombarding you with emails to meet their 10-15 companies. If an accelerator is writing you they’re also writing 25 other VCs.

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Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 15, 2012

One the most frequent questions asked of me by entrepreneurs is, "How can I become a Venture Capitalist?" The inquiry is common because being a VC is (to an entrepreneur, at least) a sexy job. I define a "VC" as, "a professional investor who deploys third-party funds into relatively early-stage companies." Microscopic Industry.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The typical VC process is as follows: They say there are three rules in property: Location, location, location. The surest sign a fund-raising process has stalled is when you aren’t getting follow-up meetings or hearing from the VC or hearing from friends that they got a phone call or email asking about you. Same with VC.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners. I had to laugh a bit reading it.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting.

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InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 8, 2012

As noted in 6 Steps To Raising Venture Capital , as you accomplish your previously communicated milestones, send your target VCs a brief email update (think eye-candy graphics and charts, not dense text). Photo Credit: ralphbijker via Flickr. Share and Enjoy.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

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. The 70% of entrepreneurs that simply can’t get past an un-responded-to email. You need to know how to write good & action oriented emails.

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Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. To provide an opportunity for VCs and senior executives to engage with the community by giving back rather than just attending more cocktail parties.

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2013

The company''s backers include Anthem Ventures, La Costa Investment Group, Right Side Capital Group, Promus Ventures, Social Leverage, plus angels, including Howard Lindzon, Eric Otterson, and others. embarke venture capital funding seed email marketing optimization' The company is led by Al Bsharah.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

I would argue that the shut-down of September 2009 was equally severe yet there are signs that this “VC Ice Age” has begun to thaw. But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary. Why did the VC markets freeze so quickly? Short answer – yes.

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SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. - First Principles.

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Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

socalTECH

DECEMBER 2, 2014

SendGrid , the developer of email delivery platform used heavily by app developers, has raised $20M more in a Series C, venture funding round, the company said this morning. The company--which has significant operations in Orange County--said the Bain Capital Ventures, along with Bessemer Venture Partners and Foundry Group.

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Orange County Email Venture Capital Platform 173

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2010

One of things I’ve loved the most about doing now 11 weeks of This Week in VC is a chance to have an hour-long recorded conversation with investors. And in my interviews with many VCs I feel that people can watch these and get to know the VC’s as human beings a bit better. So how did Mike get into VC?

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Venture Capital Blogging Startup Fandango 230

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&# Getting a meeting with a prominent angel or VC is difficult enough. Some advice on how to do that was covered in this link – Getting Access to a VC. If you haven’t read how to build VC relationships and demonstrate traction make sure to read it.

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Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Generally speaking in venture capital financings the legal documents will specify that only “major investors” (a threshold set in the agreement – which can be $500,000 investor or more). Does he blog about venture capital and try to advise entrepreneurs? Has written a book on venture capital.

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Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

socalTECH

APRIL 24, 2013

Silverpop , an Atlanta-based email marketing automation provider which also has operations in Irvine, said today that it has raised $25M in a venture debt funding. The funding came from Escalate Capital Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. Silverpop is venture bcaked by D.E. Shaw & Co and Draper Fisher Jurveston.

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Email Marketing Draper Venture Capital 168

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. In your VC pitch your PR page should take no longer than 30 seconds – Wait.

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Venture Capital Press News Startup 291

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. It’s why I talk about building VC relationships early – Lines, Not Dots. “I’ve never been a VC before. ” I see it on Twitter.

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Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Email updates frequently.

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Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2009

One of the questions I’m most often asked as a VC is what I’m looking for in an investment. I once had a debate with a prominent VC on a panel. The moderator asked the question, “if an entrepreneur writes an email to a VC and doesn’t hear back what should they do?&# This VC responded, “Move on.

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Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Google 338

Berkonomics

AUGUST 24, 2023

Smart money at the table… I have served on the boards of several companies with just such VC talent at the table, partners in firms that made subsequent investments in companies where I either made early investments or led a group of fellow investors in early rounds of finance.

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Invest Venture Capital Demand Resource 296

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. We met at a private party hosted by his venture partner Mike Yavonditte and I outlined my concerns for the lack of precision of the algorithm.

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Cornerstone OnDemand Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup 303

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. This post was prompted by an email exchange I had with a young entrepreneur. And VC’s are tough customers.

Startup 360

Startup Venture Capital Invest Slides 360

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

My friend and fellow SoCal venture capitalist Peter Lee wrote a post about the different roles within a VC and spent much time on the role of an associate. These are the permanent members of a VC. The process for raising money from a VC is a sales process and as such much of what is taught in enterprise sales can be applied.

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Venture Capital Sales Entrepreneur Startup 308

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

So it was my great pleasure to host Chamillionaire on This Week in VC this week talking marketing, entrepreneurship, old media and, of course, music. In his early career he realized the importance of email lists. His email list became his power. He would occasionally give away free music in exchange for email addresses.

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Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2010

VC’s Want to Help! To understand what most VC’s want between board meetings I think it’s useful to start with a quote from Mark Solon ’s blog for which I’m in complete agreement (along with agreeing with his entire post, which was brave, honest and accurate ). Most VC’s want to help.

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Startup Venture Capital Software Review Email 301

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. It can be great for second VC meetings.

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Venture Capital Startup Email Networking 397

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

I have served on the boards of several companies with just such VC talent at the table, partners in firms that made subsequent investments in companies where I either made early investments or led a group of fellow investors in early rounds of finance.

Invest 243

Invest Venture Capital Demand Resource 243

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

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. I knew his as he considered becoming a VC and we talked a lot about how it was going for me in my early years. He doesn’t email you. Not the Dave I know.

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Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

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

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