Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

*. If you are a 20-something tech entrepreneur you could be forgiven for thinking that seed-stage investors, Angellist Syndicates and widely available angel money always existed. Some quick highlights include: The Role of a Seed Stage VC. Jeff and his peer group have done an excellent job at creating a new category of seed-stage VC.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Cloud Computing 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. I would mostly lump me in that category. But take prompts from the VC.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. What kind of deals should I be doing? What stage?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

Had a great chat with Jim Armstrong who is a General Partner at Clearstone Venture Partners today on TWiVC. It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. LivingSocial. eCommerce is hot again!

Clearstone 236

Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

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Venture Capital Marketing Startup Social Network 255

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I often talk about what I’m looking for when I meet with an entrepreneur. Above all else I’m looking for a genuine passion for what the entrepreneur is doing. You can sense when it is a “mission” for this entrepreneur to succeed and she will continue the journey even if success isn’t easy or immediate.

Venture Capital 373

Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

The best entrepreneurs in our industry focus on it year-round as opposed to just once every 18 months. As a VC I also have to fund raise every three years and these posts 100% apply to VCs raising money, too. Below is the outline Upfront. Lemons ripen early The hardest thing about fund raising is how dispiriting it can be.

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Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2016

This is a huge moment for Michael Dubin who had the vision, the market genius, the operating chops and the perseverance to prevail even after the venture funding markets had wrongly written off eCommerce as a category. Frankly, it’s awesome to see a VC articulate a vision for the kind of company they would back in a given category.

Dollar Shave Club 150

Dollar Shave Club Venture Capital News Snapchat 150

socalTECH

AUGUST 16, 2018

Since we're deeply focused on the innovation ecosystem and bank over 50% of venture capital-backed companies, I have the luxury of seeing trends across the startup ecosystem. One of the best things about working at Silicon Valley Bank in Los Angeles is the access to amazing founders and companies.

Mobile 113

Mobile Los Angeles Blogging Venture Capital 113

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.

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Xconomy

OCTOBER 25, 2016

According to the National Venture Capital Association and PitchBook , this past quarter $15 billion was invested in 1,810 deals , which compares unfavorably to both the prior quarter ($22.1 Have investors drifted, becoming less dogmatic about hitting interim milestones with as little capital as possible? The projected $43.2

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Capital Activity Invest 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There has been much discussion about VCs doing seed funding in the past year. I’ve written about it myself (Is VC Seed Funding Dead?) and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2. Short summary of my posts: 1.

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Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Funding for commercial product prototypes is still R&D in the eyes of venture capital investors, but in business areas with large opportunities, this activity will catch the eyes of specialized angel investors. Thus the best entrepreneur strategy for funding is to build solutions, not technology. Marty Zwilling

Resource 102

Resource Ideas Funding Research 102

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. Every type of investor has comfortable ranges and limits. Marty Zwilling.

Funding 121

Funding Startup Equity Invest 121

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

Even if you work every day in the world of new-venture funding, as I do, the options are confusing, and their meanings seem to change on a regular basis. I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. A micro venture capital firm.

Funding 104

Funding Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding 104

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? Do you imagine eventually raising VC and trying to build a faster growing company?” Venture capital isn’t right for many business but if you do want to raise from a VC at some point you need to understand that often investors care more about growth than profits.

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. In many of them I get asked similar questions, including the inevitable “what makes a great entrepreneur?” Tesla is not. It's a great talk.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

He wanted to work in venture capital and I was new to the industry and in no position to hire anybody. Monitor had a little internal VC group so he got some experience there. More like a temporary VC just to get some experience and of course we’d pay him. I said, “This category is going to be huge.

Venture Capital 344

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review San Diego 344

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. They are venture bankers not investment bankers.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2013

There''s been a lot of activity over the past two years in the Southern California accelerator/incubator market, with numerous groups (Amplify, EvoNexus, K5, LaunchpadLA, MediaCamp, Science, StartEngine, and many, many others) looking to help entrepreneurs start and fund their companies. But, how successful have they been? Our analysis.

Southern California 222

Southern California Incubator Report Startup 222

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Venture Capital is a game of pattern matching. Whenever a VC assesses a potential investment opportunity, they attempt to match the entrepreneur(s), their solution, and intended markets with a pattern they have previously encountered. A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Yippee-Ki-Yay.

Technical Review 244

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital RSS 244

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. As I’ve written about before, You’d Have to be a Big Baby to Complain about Being a VC. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? I’m reminded of this feeling. And so it goes again.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. Thinking out loud – I’m sure that’s important for entrepreneurs as well. If you haven’t spent time over there you should.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Customer 306

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2019

Every entrepreneur I know is dismayed by the number of friends who approach them with a line such as “I have an even better idea that will change the world, and one of these days I’m going to get around to starting my own business.” Focus” is the key to success as an entrepreneur. Irrational fear of failure or embarrassment.

Startup 126

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Knowledge Base 126

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. VC’s money comes from mostly institutional investors called LPs (limited partners). Maybe the market views this as not worth the price you paid?

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

socalTECH

DECEMBER 26, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. Today, we share the thoughts of Brett Brewer , co-foudner and Managing Director of Crosscut Ventures (www.crosscut.vc). in 2005 for $680M.

Southern California 100

Southern California News Platform Class 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

Funding for commercial product prototypes is still R&D in the eyes of venture capital investors, but in business areas with large opportunities, this activity will catch the eyes of specialized angel investors. Thus the best entrepreneur strategy for funding is to build solutions, not technology. Marty Zwilling.

Help 165

Help Research Startup Funding 165

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Recently I’ve been debating with a number of young startup companies that are raising money in the next few months, “what is the right about of capital to raise at a startup?&#. I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs try to do things on the cheap.

Startup 319

Startup Venture Capital Capital Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

I don’t think any serious VC or angel thought it was “collusion.&# Here’s the thing: entrepreneurs who aren’t at all of our private meetings really didn’t know what do think about the situation. It sure wasn’t when I was a first-time entrepreneur. But to entrepreneurs can be gold.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. And I would rather, even before the executive summary, have something to play with (a demo)…” It falls in the category of show don’t tell. This time frame – 2005/2006 – web 2.0

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2021

ClickUp has raised $135M in venture capital so far. We compete in several different categories within the market. What is ClickUp? Zeb Evans: ClickUp is a workplace productivity platform, for putting all of your work in one place, including tasks, docs, goals, and chat. Zeb Evans: Great question.

Doc 203

Doc San Diego Demand Product 203

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. Every type of investor has comfortable ranges and limits. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 135

Startup Equity Invest Funding 135

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2016

Why would a VC do that? Now here is the important thing for you to understand — many of my target customers — entrepreneurs between ages 21–35 — are on Snapchat! And virtually none of my competitors — VCs between the ages of 35–55 — quite understand (or have the desire) to put out content on this media channel.

Snapchat 200

Snapchat Blogging Venture Capital Writing 200

socalTECH

JULY 16, 2014

The way we view it, is we''re finding the best entrepreneurs in Southern California, and finding ways to work with them at the seed and pre-seed stage, and working pre-seed and smaller investments that are raising $1M to $3M in funding. Having been here for awhile, is there anything you think entrepreneurs ought to be doing more of here?

Startup 206

Startup Capital Incubator Invest 206

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. Only naive people believe that but for inexperienced entrepreneurs you can be fooled into the narrative by the press who sometimes write stories without the actual data. PHONE CALLS.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

I’d like to do a few posts on what life looks like on the way up and perhaps how to keep your head on straight and avoid drinking your own Kool Aid because as I often advise entrepreneurs on irrational exuberance, “ In a strong wind even turkeys can fly.” Poorly implemented this category was the definition of shelfware.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Yesterday I wrote Part 1 of the series on the changes to the software industry over the past decade that has led to changes in the venture capital industry itself. These trends have put pressure on traditional VCs. .&# Surprisinly, this strategy works well with many entrepreneurs. Or at least venture-style returns.

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Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296