Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Launchpad LA today announces it will accept applications for its third class of Los Angeles-based tech startups. 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.

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2023

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Startup 108

Startup Education Entrepreneur Tool 108

socalTECH

JUNE 26, 2013

A new, startup incubator-created by the Art Center College of Design and the California Insitute of Technology --said this morning that it has launched a brand new, design-focused incubator, housed at Idealab. The new incubator is headed by Mark Breitenberg and Erik Hovanec. READ MORE>>.

Incubator 178

Incubator Idealab Design CalTech 178

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Solicit venture capital investors.

Startup 106

Startup Capital Equity Funding 106

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."

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest RSS 242

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). Early or embryonic stage.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2014

More and more entrepreneurs are hearing about the successful graduates and investors queued behind a few well-known startup incubators, including Y Combinator, TechStars, and the Founder Institute. According to the National Business Incubator Association (NBIA), there are currently over 1,900 members in over 60 nations.

Incubator 103

Incubator Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor 103

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy.

Incubator 98

Incubator Startup Help Resource 98

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. With this model, a startup pre-sells their product early, at a cheaper price, in exchange for a pledge. Startup equity model. Product pre-order model. In the U.S.,

Funding 141

Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2020

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 137

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Education 137

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. I’ve seen too many companies go off track by a VC hell bent on the team pursuing the VCs strategy which at times is about chasing the next shiny object.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

socalTECH

MARCH 26, 2013

Add another startup accelerator to the growing list of Southern California startup accelerators: this time, from the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering. The startup accelerator is behind headed by Ashish Soni. Last a pilot middle school at the L.A.

USC 187

USC Startup Southern California Incubator 187

socalTECH

MARCH 8, 2013

Stuart Frost is head of Frost Venture Partners (www.frostvp.com), and the founder of DatAllegro, which he started in Orange County and eventually sold to Microsoft for $275M in 2008. he's been spinning out of his incubator. he's been spinning out of his incubator. What's the idea behind the incubator?

Incubator 208

Incubator Startup CTO Hire Ideas 208

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2013

More and more entrepreneurs are hearing about the successful graduates and investors queued behind a few well-known startup incubators, including Y Combinator, TechStars, and the Founder Institute. According to the National Business Incubator Association (NBIA) , there are currently over 1250 incubators today in the US alone.

Incubator 115

Incubator Help Startup Technical Review 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2015

Yet I can’t remember the last time any entrepreneur asked me to assess personal potential, despite the fact that most investors will admit they invest in the person more than the product. We all have strengths and special interests, and it always pays to capitalize on these, rather than assume all opportunities are the same.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2016

A question I often get as an adviser is whether or not to join a business incubator or accelerator as a way to move forward faster and smarter and increase the odds of business success. I find that this type offers the most value to new entrepreneurs or startups in the early idea stage.

Incubator 58

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Equity 58

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2021

An underutilized, but valuable resource, every startup should investigate is a formal or informal connection to your alma mater, including any local university. Here is a short list of the areas where you should be able to find help, whether you are a student or an independent entrepreneur: Exploring hot ideas. Early-stage funding.

Incubator 172

Incubator Mentor Class Resource 172

Tech Coast Venture Network

APRIL 22, 2010

Virgina Lorimor There are several options for financing a start-up business that tend to follow a natural course in a business’ development: Personal Investment. This is where all entrepreneurs have to start. Angel Investors & Venture Capital. Looking forward to launching our new LA incubator soon!

Startup 124

Startup Tech Coast Angels TCVN Incubator 124

socalTECH

JULY 16, 2014

For the last few years, startup accelerator MuckerLab has been helping very early stage companies define and grow their businesses, using the accelerator model and small investments to get companies to the next stage. Talk about the shift from MuckerLab to Mucker Capital? I hadn''t worked or lived in LA, in the ecosystem.

Startup 206

Startup Capital Incubator Invest 206

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

This past December I spent a week in Boston to try to get to know some of the local VC’s and entrepreneurs a bit better. One of the meetings I had (organized by my good friend Jeff Yolen ) was with New Atlantic Ventures held the at the CIC, aka the Cambridge Innovation Center (no prizes for guessing where it’s located).

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Incubator Entrepreneur 285

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. where we totalled up $33.85M in funding.

Southern California 222

Southern California Incubator Report Startup 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2020

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. With this model, a startup pre-sells their product early, at a cheaper price, in exchange for a pledge. Startup equity model. Product pre-order model. In the U.S.,

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Satisfaction Equity 129

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2013

Since the recent recession, and at least partially sparked by it, I’m seeing a real resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. is already well above the dot.com bubble of 15 years ago, although we have slipped a bit this year from the high point of 320 new entrepreneurs out of 100,000 adults in 2011.

Startup 109

Startup Entrepreneur Social Media Satisfaction 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Solicit venture capital investors.

Funding 174

Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

Founded by Steve Poizner last year to accelerate the growth of a startup entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southern California, The Alliance is building a network of investors, entrepreneurs and universities to provide ballast in the south to the dominance of the Northern California tech industry.

Southern California 224

Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 224

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Solicit venture capital investors.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 8, 2012

Qualcomm Labs , the incubator subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies , has announced the first set of companies funded through its new QualcommLabs@EvoNexus program today, saying that it has funded three companies with a round of seed funding.

Incubator 140

Incubator Company Companies Seed Funding 140

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Set expectations accordingly.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2019

With the current strong economy I’m seeing a continued resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. There is additional encouraging news for aspiring entrepreneurs on many fronts, just in case you are thinking about joining the existing ranks: Valuations of successful startups have hit an all-time high.

Startup 128

Startup Social Media Satisfaction Entrepreneur 128

Berkonomics

JANUARY 17, 2019

My favorite story of a fast failure was of a technology incubator started in the year 2000 with optimistic money from several angel investors, including me. He volunteered to close the incubator and he returned 96% of our investments to all of us angel investors. Is it the end of your entrepreneurial world to fail quickly?

Incubator 120

Incubator Venture Capital Invest Capital 120

Berkonomics

JANUARY 17, 2019

My favorite story of a fast failure was of a technology incubator started in the year 2000 with optimistic money from several angel investors, including me. He volunteered to close the incubator and he returned 96% of our investments to all of us angel investors. Is it the end of your entrepreneurial world to fail quickly?

Incubator 120

Incubator Venture Capital Invest Capital 120

SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 4, 2016

Meet Tech Executives, Entrepreneurs, Inventors, Angel/VC Investors, Joint Venture Partners, Deal Makers, Start Up Mentors, CTC and 101 Incubator founders. Bring your friends and join CTC members for loads of fun, games, great food and drinks (5-6pm earlybird specials!) See [link] (more)

Technology Council 100

Technology Council CTC Technology Incubator 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Set expectations accordingly.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

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

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Solicit venture capital investors.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Funding 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Set expectations accordingly.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128