socalTECH

NOVEMBER 12, 2014

We help early stage entrepreneurs in technology and digital media raise early stage funding rounds. We''re finding that we are adding value to entrepreneurs who come to our platform, and have great co-marketing partners. We''ve helped close 34 seed and Series B deals over the last nine months, and we''re growing really rapidly.

Venture Capital 174

Venture Capital Invest Platform Entrepreneur 174

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. For simplicity I’ll assume you’ve raised some money from angels or seed investors and you’re either raising an A round or a B round of venture capital.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

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. How to go for the close Some Advice Before You Hit the Fund Raising Trail was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

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. The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs. But the people whom I consider best in this industry are quite helpful indeed.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

He can’t help himself: He’s Dave. My pal Dave doesn’t visit the right side of the Haimish Line – he lives permanently on the right side ! Many through history became entrepreneurs precisely because they were unemployable. How to help his companies. My pal Dave has blogger Tourette’s. My pal Dave has problems.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. Your A round?

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

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. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? You probably follow some high-profile entrepreneurs on Instagram and Twitter and see conference pictures of them in Davos, Mexico, Monaco or wherever.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The advantage is that in many of our best deals we now have $50+ million invested so we can really support entrepreneurs as their businesses scale. Accel led the B, Morgan Stanley the C and now HIG the D. It takes all types and helping people realize their best skills and interests is an incredibly important part of the job.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. Long hours.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 176

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

One entrepreneur refrain I sometimes hear is “We want to raise some extra money for M&A activities.” On the other side, VCs often don’t want to see a plan that funds longer than 2 years and seldom do they want to see 3 years. This part of a series to help you raise venture capital ?—?the This is a red flag for VCs.

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Demand 247

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Yet, as an advisor to startups, I see some common disasters, and recommend some anticipation and recovery moves that can save every entrepreneur some painful time and money. While every entrepreneur needs to remain upbeat and optimistic on all of these, it is also smart to anticipate the worst case scenarios that are possible with each.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

He didn’t tell it in the video but, ever the entrepreneur, Scott started a business to take couples up on a “mile high club&# flight on airplanes as a way of getting all of his miles logged to get his next class of airplane license that required a certain number of hours logged. It’s part of what makes him so likable.

Zag 248

Zag Truecar Venture Capital CarsDirect 248

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

Hamet Watt is a longtime serial entrepreneur, who just recently join LA''s Upfront Ventures (www.upfront.com) as a Venture Partner. Hamet was previously co-founder at bLife and MoviePass, founded NextMedium, and was Entrepreneur-in-Residence with True Ventures, among other experience. Congrats on the new position.

Entrepreneur 191

Entrepreneur Startup Metrics Capital 191

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

For entrepreneurs who want to learn about how to work with investment banks, how to position yourself to be acquired and what the IPO markets look like this is the episode to watch. A bank can help you balance fund raising with running your company. They have relationships that are hard for entrepreneurs to build.

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

InfoChachkie

MARCH 1, 2012

Despite the book’s shortcomings, it contains a number of insightful lessons for budding entrepreneurs. Of the 100 business “lessons” articulated in the book, I highlight a few below that I feel are the most relevant and impactful for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs can learn from their achievements as well as their failures.

Tips 259

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Product 259

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2011

Sit closest to the projector – Many times a week I have entrepreneurs who do presentations for me and often I’m with some or all of my colleagues. If you look at Diagram B you’ll see that the people you’re presenting to can look you in the eyes and glance up at the screen. Just smile and say, “Oh, sorry.

Tips 392

Tips Screening Slides Venture Capital 392

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2011

Derek Norton is head of Los Angeles-based Watertower Group (www.watertowergroup.com), a firm which helps companies raise funding, one of the rare companies which has a track record and good reputation helping companies with fundraising, and also runs its own investment fund. Now, time is on their side. READ MORE>>.

Riot Games 199

Riot Games Technology Los Angeles Entrepreneur 199

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

It’s a great one about entrepreneurship, friendship and the collaborative economy that is helping families in need across the world. On the other side, animal loves in need of extra money or stay-at-home parents, the elderly, whoever – can make extra money while just carrying out their normal life routines. The Background.

Venture Capital 344

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review San Diego 344

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” As an entrepreneur it can feel as intimidating as going to buy a car where the dealer knows the price of every make & model of a car and you’re guessing at how much to pay.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Xconomy

JUNE 10, 2016

Seattle’s UP Global, now part of Techstars, oversees the operation of Startup Week and other programs for tech entrepreneurs across the U.S. But while Startup Week San Diego has always collaborated with UP Global, San Diego entrepreneur and Startup Week organizer Austin Neudecker said, “We’ve always been an independent entity.”.

San Diego 74

San Diego Guide Tech Coast Angels Startup 74

InfoChachkie

APRIL 30, 2012

In his book Enchantment , Guy Kawasaki encourages entrepreneurs to immerse their audience in their “cause”, in order to enchant them. A/B Testing – We learned that orange was the ideal color and that a burst was better than a circle via rigorous A/B testing. Common Name – As Cialdini, et al note in Yes!

Study 243

Study Advertising Research Customer 243

socalTECH

MAY 25, 2016

At Idealab, we saw many shots on goal with companies who were consumer focused, and we have found the quality of entrepreneurs going to consumer Internet companies has changed dramatically, which represents a real opportunity. On the B2B marketplace side, that area has been an interest of our fund, and has been for awhile.

Southern California 113

Southern California Capital Funding Invest 113

socalTECH

APRIL 19, 2018

Brett Crosby: The big news, is we announced our Series B funding round, led by World Innovation Lab, as well as Andreessen Horowitz, Thomvest, Colchis Capital, Felicis Ventures, plus a couple of new investors, Solon Mack and Navitas Capital. One thing that also really helped us, is having Steve Pretre on our board.

Funding 113

Funding Platform News Capital 113

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

If I can help you avoid some of my first-time mistakes it would be a victory. And these ideas have ways of seeping into board discussions with portfolio companies as in, “have you ever thought about trying A, B or C?&# In my experience, entrepreneurs who are overly paranoid or are information hoarders rarely do well.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

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. Many view themselves as shepherds who help with building your initial team, helping with product launch and promotion.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Cloud Computing 150

socalTECH

APRIL 2, 2014

We are the only, data-driven incentive platform that helps marketers optimize their audience participation across the channel. We can help brands achieve, on average, conversions that are 10 times higher than the industry. We''re also part of Innovate Pasadena, and helping to drive the growth of technology in digital marketing here.

Marketing 196

Marketing Pasadena Platform Email 196

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

If you ever have to interview, hire, judge the performance of, decide whether to promote, assign clients/regions to them or have to decide whether to fire sales people, I think having a framework for thinking about them is helpful. Thank you to the lovely Jacqui for helping me with the Balsamiq mockup graphic. LOVING Balsamiq!

Startup 350

Startup Sales Framework Organization 350

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

On September 10th of this year I spent an entire day in California State Prison with people who had committed felonies and worked with them on business plans to help them create legal enterprise upon their release as part of Defy Ventures 6-month training program. I am committed to finding ways to help graduates get jobs.

Writing 150

Writing Startup Design Training 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

Yet I see many entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. On the marketing side of the equation, there are so many “marketing gurus” and “marketing resources” out there, the real challenge for most of us is to sort out the basic do’s and the don’ts that apply to startups. They will call you back.

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

socalTECH

AUGUST 31, 2009

Hamet is now helping True Ventures look at investments in Southern California, and we thought it would be worthwhile to talk to him about the firm's new interest here, his role, plus his insights into where the advertising industry is now. It's more the stage and entrepreneur. How has being involved on the venture side been for you?

Southern California 164

Southern California Venture Capital Advertising Entrepreneur 164

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2013

Overall, 90% of small business failures are caused by poor cash flow, according to the D&B Small Business website. I will outline here ten key principles and disciplines that every entrepreneur must understand and practice to minimize surprises and failures in this area: Failure to document cash flow projections is a disaster.

Startup 114

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 114

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

It’s meant to be a bit provocative but the reality is that I give this advice to entrepreneurs all the the time and I usually leave the “e&# off of the end. I learned all of this myself on your side of the table raising money at my first company. It is 2010. The list goes on. Legacy deals have “hair.&#.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 289

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

I often have career discussions with entrepreneurs – both young and more mature – whether they should join company “X&# or not. They raised $5 million in their B round. I only emphasize the question before I find it much more helpful to join a company with realistic expectations of what you want to get out of it.

Startup 418

Startup Technical Advisors Venture Capital Santa Monica 418

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2017

Venice Beach-based Signal Sciences (www.signalsciences.com) has created sofdtware designed for those application developers to help protect those web applications. We decided we'd take this solution out, and help solve that same pain for a broad group of people. We want people to hear about us and our product, and how we can help them.

Web 138

Web Startup Southern California Software 138

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

” I mention journalists here because they perpetuate the myth that focusing on profits is ALWAYS the right answer and then I hear many entrepreneurs (and certainly many “normals”) repeating the same mantra. If you have a market lead then raising capital and making investments now will help you as others enter the market.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

DECEMBER 4, 2017

We help busy families get kids to where they need to go, safely, dependably and with very highly vetted drivers. Sometimes a school needs a school bus to get sixty kids from point A to point B. We've been learning how to expand neighborhood-by-neighborhood here, which helps us understand how to expand elsewhere.

Orange County 100

Orange County Startup Services Design 100