Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

Then there is the EIR (entrepreneur in residence) who is usually at a VC for a temporary period of time and other individuals such as venture partners or operating partners. While this post is written about raising venture capital (which I always remind entrepreneurs IS a sales process) the lessons can be applied to any sale or biz dev deal.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Sales Entrepreneur Startup 308

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2011

Many believe that entrepreneurs are born, not made. While I agree that successful company builders usually have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, a good education helps polish that apple. We can all point to examples of successful entrepreneurs who dropped out of college, but still went on to make a big impact.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Course Education 105

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2010

The life of an entrepreneur is filled with 20 second opportunities. You bump into the person you’ve always wanted to chat with or your perfect business development partner who can “make” you. I’ve written about the “elevator” pitch before. One person who doesn’t waste this opportunity is Sam Jones of Formation Media.

Startup 315

Startup Content Conference Media 315

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

I was an entrepreneur for years. I must have pitched 40-50 VCs over the years. As I talked about on many occasions when I was an entrepreneur – and blogged publicly about - I learned a lot about my business and myself in these meetings. Possibly more. It was largely a positive experience. Make sure to watch the video ].

Venture Capital 292

Venture Capital Blogging Conference Google 292

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. They know her personally and know she cares about her constituencies even if she has to make tough trade-offs from time-to-time. But VC is like congress.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

InfoChachkie

MAY 12, 2016

If you are in college, advise a High School entrepreneur club. If you are a seasoned executive, work with a team of aspiring entrepreneurs. Refine Your Personal Pitch. You can easily avoid awkward pauses by weaving your Personal Pitch into your networking conversations. Richard Marcinko , Author.

Company 80

Company Companies Startup Mentor 80

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Your historical trading information including financials and a “customer file” which shows the history of your transactions so that investors can run “cohort” analyses Customer reference, personal references, key team members, compensation, cap table, stock option plan, etc. Entrepreneur : “Sure. Some people find this elitist?—?I

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&#. I recently wrote a blog post here in which I argued that the best VC meetings are discussions and not sales pitches. Many people agreed and added that even the best sales meetings are also discussions and not pitches. A Tale of Two Pitches. is important.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Yahoo 288

Tech.Co

JULY 24, 2017

Especially in the early days of your startup, when you’re often only months from running out of money, hiring the wrong person can be disastrous. But how do you go about pitching your friends? I suggest to customize your pitch for them. Next, figure out a venue for the pitch. First, figure out what motivates them.

Networking 83

Networking Startup Software Review Conference 83

InfoChachkie

MAY 22, 2012

“One of the big misconceptions in baseball is that playing the game keeps you in shape to pitch. Major League baseball pitchers spend far more time preparing to pitch than they actually do pitching. The same should be true of an entrepreneur who is attempting to secure money from sophisticated investors. It’s not.”

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Capital Research Customer 236

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is the second article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). I personally try to avoid many of these club deals. I like to invest where I have a personally strong connection with the entrepreneur and/or a strong intuition on the market from prior experience.

Invest 288

Invest Angel Web 2.0 SEO 288

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2011

To critique requires you to have your own point-of-view, to be able to articulate it and to be able to debate the merits of your point-of-view relative to the the other persons. I then asked for editing rights to his Google Doc and I rewrote a version of it. VC Pitches. I get presentations from aspiring entrepreneurs.

Press 337

Press Venture Capital Doc Summary 337

Jason Nazar

JUNE 1, 2016

Yet, I always get asked: “What’s the secret to win over investors in pitch meetings?” These are the pitch techniques the best entrepreneurs employ to raise billions in capital. None of this can substitute for the business fundamentals, but it never hurts to be the best pitch person in the room. Don’t Slow Play It.

Slides 49

Slides Startup Entrepreneur Metrics 49

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

One of the most frequent questions entrepreneurs ask about when they raise a little bit of money or are getting close to launching their first product is whether they should hire a PR firm. They get pitched by so many blowhards that more genuine people who aren’t in it for just a story stand out from the crowd.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Who was willing to jump on a plan on a Sunday morning with a hang-over to make sure they were there the night before an important biz dev pitch on a Monday morning. When you’re hiring most reference checkers focus on the person’s former bosses. Who in stead said, “That’s what Skype is for?” Back together.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

Skyler Lucci is co-founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based HeyTutor (www.heytutor.com), a startup which has created an online platform which connects and matches students with in-person tutors. After you've done that, and see that it is working, as an entrepreneur, you really start to believe in your product.

Startup 113

Startup Venture Capital Beverly Hills Acquisition 113

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 12, 2017

Since first launching in 2008, Dreamit has received thousands of applications – heck, I’ve personally reviewed thousands of applications in the not quite three years since joining Dreamit. So when we come across an entrepreneur who cannot resist using 20 words when 10 would suffice, it’s painful, really painful. The #LinkerFail.

Tips 70

Tips Startup Statistics Metrics 70

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

As the markets went down, just like any other investor, they were very conscious of investing more carefully--but, that said, it also meant that there seemed to be more entrepreneurs, for various reasons, were newly interested in starting companies. Scott Sangster: I'm a serial entrepreneur, and I have been angel funding personally.

Tech Coast Angels 182

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 182

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. Facebook is about to try to dominate display ads the way Google dominates text ads - Chris Dixon , May 15, 2010 It is customary to divide online advertising into two categories: direct response and brand advertising. 8211; are mostly a loss leaders for Google. You Can’t Sign This Deal.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

I was then brought into a fund as an EIR, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Epic Ventures. One other thing, which is better in Los Angeles over the Bay Area, is my own personal situation. Personally, I think that''s better for me. Entrepreneurs should seek those people out. I missed that in the beginning. READ MORE>>.

Startup 231

Startup Technology Incubator Silver Lake 231

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 15, 2012

Even if you’re the shiest of shy, you’re bound to interact with at least one person while you’re there. The visible press pass label is a people magnet – most people you pass want to talk, discuss, pitch. I received dozens of long emails each day with press releases, pitches, news and information.

Press 103

Press Email Tips Conference 103

Steve Reich

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

A great entrepreneur and company who were just turned down at a notable LA VC firm. When a pitch fails, it’s tempting (and emotionally satisfying) to blame the audience. go in person. Go In Person. An in person meeting creates a much deeper understanding, and is better remembered than a phone meeting. A turndown.

Venture Capital 65

Venture Capital Google Satisfaction Ideas 65

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). But I’m sure he’ll never remember your company when Google buys you for $500 million and he’s still eating Ramen – right?

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

Your parents want to know why on Earth you’d leave a job at Google. A cautious person wouldn’t try to pry people out of Twitter right before their IPO to” join my cause!!” A rational person would have assumed that the taxi unions would have made it impossible. “Honey? ” “Yeah, Ma.

Startup 417

Startup Course Venture Capital Writing 417

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2012

Having been on both sides of this sensitive topic, the following is my personal advice. I have seen some entrepreneurs go into first meetings willing to share almost anything about their company. I’ve seen this back fire on entrepreneurs who say things like, “Well, we’re not talking financials with investors yet.”.

Technical Review 316

Technical Review Venture Capital Customer Custom 316

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

What I enjoyed was that Derek did his homework on me and allowed me to talk about a lot of personal topics, which I rarely have the chance to do. I know my title is a bit goofy since it talks in third person but I figured if any of you hit the Tweet button (feel free to!) Then everyone just started calling me a serial entrepreneur.

Startup 337

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Venture Capital 337

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 5, 2009

We created Superfriends, a group of local entrepreneurs that will gather to share ideas and help each other grow personally and professionally. About a month ago, I met @lewishowes at the Perfect Pitch conference in LA. Tags: Eric Greenspan 140conf Google Voice jeff pulver santa barbara social media tech news Twitter.

Social Network 196

Social Network Networking Social Media Yahoo 196

Tech.Co

MARCH 8, 2018

Getting face time with VCs or people of influence is an ongoing challenge for startup founders, and it may take layers of introductions to get to the right person. She has created a successful model to bridge entrepreneurs, investors and the federal government. Whenever you get the opportunity to talk with an investor, do it.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Startup Software Review Entrepreneur 70

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Keynote address by Jim Farley (Ford Motors CMO) and Tarun Bhatnagar (Director of Google Maps for Business). Splunk Fastpitch – Auto tech Entrepreneur pitch hour. How Entrepreneurs Will Change the Automotive Industry. Tarun Bhatnagar echoes Jim’s thoughts with his Google perspective.

Mobile 94

Mobile Google Startup Technology 94

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 17, 2012

Facebook, Google, Zynga, (can we count Disney Interactive?), Richard is not the only person pulling from big tech companies in the city and the ecosystem of startups is certainly gaining traction. They are used by almost all the entrepreneurs I met with and have gained some serious traction in the marketplace.

Startup 109

Startup Incubator Seed Funding Platform 109

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 31, 2011

When LASW kicked off Friday evening at Coloft, we had over 100 on the wait list and countless requests from others to join the event — even folks sneaking in and pitching (without a ticket). With the pitching energy escalating in the room, regular pitches began short after. Team formation and recruiting was underway!

Los Angeles 73

Los Angeles Startup Angel Tech Coast Angels 73

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 13, 2010

TechZulu is helping the startup community out by listing all the great startup/entrepreneur oriented panels. Bootstrapping advice, entrepreneur, startups. . Scratching Your Personal Projects Itch. The step by step story of an entrepreneur’s journey from idea to bootstrap web startup from her vi. Ash Maurya, WiredReach.

Guide 69

Guide Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur 69

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Finally, myfab5 is a great personal tool for keeping track of all the fabulous restaurants you’ve tried or want to try while exploring new neighborhoods and cities. Omeid Seirafi-Pour is the CEO and Domain Expertise, John Gulbronson is the CTO or Software Developer and I am Calvin Schemanski, the CMO or 2-Time Entrepreneur.

Software Review 79

Software Review Technical Review Writing Startup 79

Jason Nazar

MAY 2, 2016

Check Google , Yellow Pages , and local directories to ensure your business name is not taken. If seeking investors, create a business pitch deck. Set up an online phone system ( Ring Central , Google Voice , Onebox ) or set up a traditional land line ( Verizon , AT&T ). Learn how to select a good business name.

Outsource Development 40

Outsource Development Startup Google Mentor 40

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 17, 2012

Facebook, Google, Zynga, (can we count Disney Interactive?), Richard is not the only person pulling from big tech companies in the city and the ecosystem of startups is certainly gaining traction. They are used by almost all the entrepreneurs I met with and have gained some serious traction in the marketplace.

Startup 56

Startup Incubator Seed Funding Platform 56

Jason Nazar

AUGUST 15, 2013

Solve a Personal Compelling Need. Increase the production of your content.It’s a simple formula, go to Google and type in this query site:“ name of your site.com ”.The To make sure you maximize the potential for traffic by solving a compelling personal need ask yourself: 1.) Referring Traffic / Press. Social Media.

Web 61

Web Social Media Content Sites 61

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. As the founder & CEO I personally went and met with as many people at Thames Water as I could. I hate losing. I don’t want to lose next time.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333