Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Reverse due diligence on the investor is a comparable process whereby the entrepreneur seeks to validate the track record, operating style, and motivation of every potential partner.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. I realized that he and I see several common patterns that account for a large percentage of new venture failures.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2023

With the advent and growth of crowdfunding over the past few years, many entrepreneurs have predicted the demise of angel investment groups and venture capital organizations. That’s not as high as the failure rate with professional investors, but it should convince entrepreneurs that crowdfunding is still no panacea for funding.

Equity 80

Equity Platform Entrepreneur Statistics 80

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

One of the biggest myths I have found in the entrepreneur community is that every startup needs one or more outside investors for credibility and success, and perhaps is even entitled to at least one. Searching LinkedIn, for example, is a must for contemporary entrepreneurs. Identify customer executives who need your solution.

Funding 173

Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

With the advent and growth of crowdfunding over the past few years, many entrepreneurs have predicted the demise of those demanding angel investment groups and venture capital organizations. These groups are now largely run by volunteers at no cost to entrepreneurs. Lack of checks and balances on startup valuations.

Equity 164

Equity Statistics Platform Entrepreneur 164

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

I recently sat down with Troy Carter to talk about what he does and why he believes it is applicable to venture capital. Troy represents what I believe the best magic of Los Angeles is – the merging together of creative talent with technical talent and he brings the lessons learned from these two fields into investments nationally.

Mentor 150

Mentor Venture Capital Marketing Product 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). What's the theme of your investments? That's why we have investments in Heal, Saucey, and FragMob.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

Berkonomics

MAY 22, 2014

Bill Payne has been actively involved in angel investing since 1980, funding over 50 companies and mentoring over 100 more. In most cases, those entrepreneurs choosing to raise capital using PPMs retain specialists (many of whom are lawyers) to write their PPMs – a rather expensive undertaking. By Bill Payne.

Writing 199

Writing Invest Entrepreneur Equity 199

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Time is too precious to waste trying to close a deal with the wrong investors at the wrong time. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Funding 125

Funding Startup Ideas Equity 125

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2021

As an angel investor to startups, I’m still surprised to find entrepreneurs who expect investors to give them money, and assume no strings attached. If the entrepreneur wants total control of their own venture, with no one looking over their shoulder, they should work within the limits of their own resources, a process called bootstrapping.

Funding 173

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Report 173

InfoChachkie

JULY 21, 2016

The reality television show Shark Tank makes for entertaining content but many of its underlying messages are potentially detrimental to tech entrepreneurs. Thus, emerging entrepreneurs should parse fact from fantasy by watching the show with an experienced business pro. According to David S. Shark Tank Distortions.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Entertainment Technical Review Ideas 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Venture and angel investing has long been considered a man''s world--with domination of the industry, executives, financiers, and others by men, with only a few exceptions. The actual investments made as part of the program are in a social enterprise, rather than just a traditional, female-led enterprise.

Angel 276

Angel Invest Mentor Technical Review 276

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2015

Every entrepreneur should do the same due diligence on a potential investor that smart investors do on their startups. Investors are human and subject to human tendencies, whether they are your rich uncle, an angel investor with personal funds or a venture capital investor with institutional money. Investors who love to litigate.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Coach Invest Sample 108

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

I become a venture capitalist in September 2007 – exactly 6.5 I spent my first year developing proprietary deal flow and learning the business and then the Sept 2008 / Lehman Bros collapse / financial meltdown happened. As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

I then got my MBA at University of Chicago so I secretly pull for local entrepreneurs as long as they don’t make me visit in the Winter any more. They started their company in LA but a couple of years after raising capital from Khosla Ventures in the Bay Area they ended up relocating there. Local mentors matter.

Company 369

Company Companies Startup Snapchat 369

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

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

By now you will likely have read Andy Dunn’s scathing post about Venture Capitalists in which he decries the industry’s masses. 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 second is not.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Reverse due diligence on the investor is a comparable process whereby the entrepreneur seeks to validate the track record, operating style, and motivation of every potential partner.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Funding Innocal Offshore 124

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 11, 2013

Experience has shown that a strong emotional tie to a deal will help more than any other factor when raising venture funding. Entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and effort tracking performance, measuring sales traction and predicting growth in an effort to win over outside investors.

Venture Capital 45

Venture Capital Capital Startup Invest 45

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Union Square Ventures (USV) has been one of the most successful venture capital firms of the past 10–15 years and continues to be a leader in our industry. Lindel is no stranger to thorny venture capital issues — he was arguably amongst the most successful LPs of his generation. And so it goes. Maybe that’s USV, too.

Venture Capital 161

Venture Capital Funding Capital Startup 161

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

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. One senior mentor to Launchpad LA recently said, “I got more out of Launchpad LA than I even put in. For the past 2.5

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Interestingly enough--despite what seems like a frothy environment in Silicon Valley-- Mike tells us that the deal environment his group is seeing is not nearly as robust. Our members are always looking for good deals, but I think we're a bit more discerning these days. That being said, the money is there for good deals.

Tech Coast Angels 231

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 231

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

In 2011 the company was sold to Nordstrom for $270 million in a deal that has been widely seen as a success for both buyer and seller. He co-founded a prominent accelerator in Los Angeles called MuckerLab , that has produced a number of impressive companies and he mentored more than 20 of them. Quantitative & analytical.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Time is too precious to waste trying to close a deal with the wrong investors at the wrong time. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Startup 148

Startup Ideas Equity Invest 148

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. Just ask the people of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Iowa, Princeton, Dallas or countless other cities that don’t have enough venture capital. Thus, a desire to invest more locally where I think I have a competitive advantage.

Venture Capital 365

Venture Capital Marketing Santa Barbara Startup 365

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 11, 2013

Experience has shown that a strong emotional tie to a deal will help more than any other factor when raising venture funding. Entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and effort tracking performance, measuring sales traction and predicting growth in an effort to win over outside investors.

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Capital Startup Invest 40

socalTECH

JUNE 20, 2012

There is a large menu of startup accelerators in the Los Angeles, but one of more established efforts in the area is LaunchpadLA ([link] The effort actually started as an informal mentoring program, but has grown and expanded to follow the accelerator model. It was really just something built for the community to help support entrepreneurs.

Class 261

Class Mentor Startup Santa Monica 261

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2016

My partner Greg Bettinelli (worth following on Twitter) was recently named by The LA Business Journal as the “ Top deal maker in Los Angeles in Venture Capital.” And Greg has had the most influence on Upfront Ventures’ strategy since he joined. Invest more heavily in platform services. I keynoted.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Journal Invest Santa Monica 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans take too much time, are inaccurate, and rarely add value. They cite sources like Profitable Venture Magazine, “ Why Business Plans are a Waste of Time ” and this Forbes article.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 29, 2011

Randy Churchill and his team at PricewaterhouseCoopers meticulously prepare a quarterly report detailing the venture landscape, called Shaking The Money Tree. The Three Enthralling Factors Of Venture Funding. I do not advocate that you perform unnatural acts in an attempt to make your company more advantageous to venture funding.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Capital Funding Technical Review 233

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Are you an entrepreneur hoping to startup a company in the Los Angeles area? Southern California apparently has no shortage of investors, entrepreneurs, and others eager to help budding entrepreneurs. Howard Marks: We're a startup accelerator, which will help entrepreneurs become successful in 90 days. Howard Marks: Yes.

CTO Coach 194

CTO Coach Startup Mentor Activision 194

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2012

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Blank, author of Four Steps To The Epiphany , Stanford Professor and noted entrepreneur. The subject discussed in the video below is Steve’s belief that Venture Capitalists should begin their careers as operational entrepreneurs. free weekly Infochachkie articles!

Venture Capital 239

Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur SaaS 239

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 3, 2015

It spoke to me because it so resonates with my nearly daily advice to entrepreneurs and VCs alike. I am often asked how we make decisions on investments at Upfront Ventures. A typical investment discussion is not a bed of roses. A typical investment discussion is not a bed of roses. A company presents.

Startup 150

Startup Venture Capital Invest Framework 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2010

Mike Wolf is a mentor of mine, and a role model for many technology entrepreneurs and investors in the Phoenix, Arizona, area. More recently, he has invested in numerous local startups, while mentoring and advising hundreds of young entrepreneurs. Vitrix was started in an old tanning salon.

Entrepreneur 84

Entrepreneur Angel Startup Mentor 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. The hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Seed Funding Incubator 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. “My Brad on blogging. How did you start blogging? “My was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2016

I’ve spoken before about our desire at Upfront Ventures to fund really big ideas that solve hard problems, are science led and if successful will both have a positive effect on people’s lives as well as make great financial returns. In short, we’re after venture returns. We’re not Pollyannaish about this.

Company 207

Company Companies CTO Coach Funding 207