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. What is the timeframe?

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Venture Capital Technical Review GRP Partners Email 290

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

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. I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you.

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Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

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. This experience made me want to dig into my archives, re-write & publish this piece. I often tell people that raising venture capital is more difficult than getting married. Not so in venture capital.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Capital Help 298

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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Venture Capital Technical Review Invest RSS 242

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). Follow my startup-oriented Twitter feed here: @johngreathouse. Photo Credit: ralphbijker via Flickr.

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Venture Capital RSS Customer Custom 265

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

He writes with a great perspective and is well worth reading. 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.

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Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

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

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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Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

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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Venture Capital Slides Email Startup 261

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.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

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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Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

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). We are doing what we do – writing larger checks and playing an active role at the company. You betcha. Speaks on CNBC.

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Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. GRP Partners last fund is the single best performing VC fund in the US (prequin data) for its vintage year). Absofuckinglutely.

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Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

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. This post covers the first out of 10 that I’ll write about. I once had a debate with a prominent VC on a panel. If you fold at the first un-returned email what hope to you have as an entrepreneur? Yeah, right.

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Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Google 338

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

OCTOBER 26, 2010

I’ve always thought about writing a few posts on features in products that drive me nuts. We all use email in our daily lives. For the most part you send emails to one or many people and you include them all in the “to&# field. Emailing a list for an event - When I email a large group I almost always use bcc.

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Email Writing Venture Capital Course 276

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

I told him only 2 weeks ago when we were in London together that I wanted to write a blog post that has been in my head for 2 years. 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. He doesn’t email you.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2011

You send them update emails. Help them write other stories. One day they’ll write yours. Raising money from angels and VCs some day? Are You a VC? If you wait until you need to fill somebody in a roll you’re losing valuable time as an entrepreneur. You invite them to cocktail parties. Office hours.

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Startup Writing Press Venture Capital 410

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

This is a blog post I really didn’t want to write. I didn’t want to write it because I have mixed feelings about AngelList. I didn’t want to write it because the bloggosphere doesn’t always do nuance well. So why I am writing it then? As Shervin said, it’s just email. A few reasons.

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Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

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

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Frankly, I think venture capital is that way, too. How do VCs break out of group think when they are shuttling from one board meeting to the next, from one conference to the other and talking with all the same people? How does the world in Los Angeles intersect differently with venture capital?

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Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

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. As a teenager he experimented with writing & producing his own rap music and received a lot of feedback from elders that he had a talent with words. This was in the 90′s.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

That was back when VCs weren’t so quick to respond to emails. People who comment to me privately about how surprised they are by how rapidly I’ve “built a name for myself in VC&# remind me of this fallacy. I hope to offer experiences from being an entrepreneur and being a VC.&#.

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Startup Blogging Venture Capital Writing 391

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 How did you get into VC? (9:30 Thank you. (if

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

As many of you know I run a weekly webcast called This Week in VC that’s getting between 25-35,000 weekly views across ThisWeekIn.com, YouTube & mostly iTunes. He started by using email (send your eCard to a friend) and there he sees 3-4 clicks back per share action. Yesterday’s show floored me.

Startup 303

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Writing 303

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. The value of Pitch Decks; Brad’s personal preferences on deal presentation; and Brad’s practice of accepting cold approaches via email.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

As the authors make clear in the book’s preface, their goal is to create a “definitive guide to venture capital deals” and “demystify the venture capital financing process.” Brad and Jason have been exposing venture capitalists’ secrets since 2005, when they began writing a blog series on Term Sheets at AskTheVC.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

I got three calls from another big name, big check VC. For all the things he’s likely known for, he probably hasn’t yet built a strong relationship as an early stage venture investor (he invests often in later-stage deals where he is very respected). My email back to him was a version of. Why am I so lucky?

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Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

“Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator.

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Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

Now I’m a VC. Don’t just write a carbon copy of what somebody else is doing. OK, well, actually the first thing I did is come up with a list of 50 posts that I wanted to write. I didn’t want to run out of things to write about in the first 6 months. Every time I write a post I send it out on Twitter.

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2014

Fund Raising – No self respecting VC would admit (even to themselves) that they are influenced by what they read about you in the press. Enterprise Sales – The very first thing a potential customer does when you email or call to set up a meeting is Google you. PR pays dividends in Biz Dev. Just like negative press hurts.

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Press Google Course Writing 415

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

Here’s Why You Should Just Send the Deck I know you have your document sending tool to send your fund-raising deck to VCs and track who read your deck, which pages they read and how much time they spend on each page. Your deck should be so good that a VC asks you for permission to show it to his or her portfolio companies.

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Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 18, 2010

Potential employees want to “get together.&# VC’s will want to learn about what you’re up to and later stage VCs will have their 23-year-old analysts call you to tell you how interested they are in your company. “Thank you for writing to me – it’s nice to hear from you (or meet you) via email.

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Startup Venture Capital Writing Conference 305

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. Let’s be clear: AngelList doesn’t scare a single VC I know. But it’s not cutting VCs out. It is additive.

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Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I need to take some VC meetings. But it did take Brad as a public spokesman, consummate networker and successful VC to help create legitimacy to let David’s ideas flourish. When you think about the success that is Silicon Valley, the unfair advantage is not just the huge amounts of available venture capital.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 16, 2010

Being the cheeky bugger that I am, this is the exact email I sent him ( courtesy of X1 – I never struggle to find old emails): “As an entrepreneur myself I COMPLETELY understand that you wouldn’t pass up on the impromptu and opportunistic chance to meet somebody so important to your business. They came from New York.

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Startup Conference Century City Email 346