socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

For today's interview, we sat down and spoke with David Loo , the founder and CEO of Perspectium (www.perspectium.com), a startup which is developing service management applications designed to help connect different, enterprise service management software products together. What's your biggest lesson you've learned as an entrepreneur?

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Custom Customer 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Yet in my experience on both sides of this equation, I find that many aspiring entrepreneurs focus only on the best idea , assuming that it will attract the right investors. Investors love entrepreneurs who come across as constantly on the lookout for new ideas, and able to grasp the larger implications for market change.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch. Marty Zwilling.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2021

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment.

Startup 173

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 173

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2019

Vanessa Dawson: The Vinetta Project is an entreneurial ecosystem and deal flow pipeline that works with early stage, female tech founders, and helps them to access both resources and capital for their business. We've helped entrepreneurs raise over $225M in early stage, venture funding. What is The Vinetta Project?

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Metrics Los Angeles Help 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Savvy investors tell me that startup founders who claim to have never failed are either lying or have never tried anything innovative. Ownership.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

As discussed in Hiring Entrepreneurs, the impact of each new hire during your startup’s early days is tremendous. As noted in Optimistically Pessimistic , successful entrepreneurs are indifferent as to the specific tactics they must employ to accomplish their fervently held strategic objectives. Let’s do it.’”.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Framework Custom 279

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. In the investment community, these leadership elements are often called “goodwill.”

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Funding Organization Coach 129

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Jim Semick (left) with his Co-Founder, Greg Goodman. I have been watching ProductPlan for several years, as the founders are both friends and pillars of the Santa Barbara Startup Community. What makes their story more remarkable, in the age of 20-something billionaires, is that both of the company’s founders are in their 50’s.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2023

There are many components of an ownership thinking strategy, but here are some of the key ones from my own perspective, as a mentor and advisor to aspiring entrepreneurs and new business owners: Willing to take smart risks which lead to long-term growth. Smart business owners realize that no returns occur without some investment and risk.

Startup 111

Startup Satisfaction Metrics Custom 111

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 19, 2013

In the process of raising funds to create and develop a business, entrepreneurs make many statements to those they seek to attract as investors. In my years of investing, I’ve developed a set of tough questions that are sure to elicit both information and a vibrant dialog – questions not on the usual checklists of angel groups or investors.

Invest 264

Invest Metrics Funding Entrepreneur 264

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

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Yet as a business advisor I am convinced that making the jump from a startup to a the next unicorn takes a different mindset, and actions most entrepreneurs are reluctant to face. Then there is the pressure to go public ( IPO ), and open your investment to thousands, maybe millions, of small investors.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product." If you do build the MVP and show it to them, they will ask you about your metrics. They really want metrics, not a product.

Metrics 264

Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

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

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Thus, I was happy to see some real actionable advice on this challenge in a new book, “ The Unicorn Within: How Companies Can Create Game-Changing Ventures at Startup Speed ,” by Linda Yates, the founder and CEO of a leading growth incubator for global businesses. Make sure everyone comes with an entrepreneur mindset for real innovation.

Incubator 143

Incubator Seed Funding Metrics Custom 143

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 once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Friday, March 9, 2007 Map of VC Investments Found this Map of 2006 VC Investments post. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? Product Manager Entrepreneur Mark Geller SEO for Startups Startup Version 1.0 in Computer Science.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Invest CTO Coach Southern California 150

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 9, 2013

The empirical evidence highlights the lack of women and minority founders in the startup world. of privately held companies had a female founder, 6.5% In a similar vein, a 2012 study by the Kauffman Foundation noted that women account for only 10% of all the founders of high-tech startups. During the period studied, only "1.3%

Custom 185

Custom Customer Study Metrics 185

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Cashflow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cashflow personally every day.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day.

Search Engine Optimization 103

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 103

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

We all can intuit the benefits to founders of these trends so there’s little reason to elaborate. How founders get screwed on convertible notes. We led an investment round in a company a while ago in which we wrote a seven-figure check and have taken a board seat. We all know that funding markets have changed for startups.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. In the investment community, these leadership elements are often called “goodwill.”

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Organization Coach Invest 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2013

Media Design Group and Convertro haven''t discussed the financial details behind their relationship, but the two said they have been using Convertro''s platform to analyze traffic, behavior, and conversion metrics associated with individual TV spots. READ MORE>>.

Dollar Shave Club 171

Dollar Shave Club Advertising Media Design 171

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

NOT because the founder of the company has an established credibility working for both Facebook and MINT when those companies were in infancy. Being that the theme of the night was community, it was perfect that the event was held at CoLoft , a workspace in Santa Monica that focuses on start up entrepreneurs. I resisted.

Metrics 87

Metrics Email Startup Technical Review 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2011

A couple of years ago, I saw first hand what can happen to a founder, and the business, when the founder practices unhealthy habits, such as working 20 hours a day. Many entrepreneurs are too focused on their dream to take notice of health warning signs, which leads them to ignore business health signs as well.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Metrics Demand 93

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. This post was prompted by an email exchange I had with a young entrepreneur. That’s fine.

Startup 360

Startup Venture Capital Invest Slides 360

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Or if you’re a VC raising from LPs you have to list all of your deals, your investment value, your carrying value, your multiples, your IRRs, TVPIs, DPIs, etc along with net cashflows plus your previous LPAs. These collective sets of documents form the basis of what somebody looking at investing would call “financial due diligence.”

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2017

We spoke with Julie Novack , the founder and CEO of PartySlate (www.partyslate.com). I tapped my co-founder, John Haro, who I worked for at Agency.com, and at another mobile marketing company, and we talked about the idea, ideated, and I brought him on as co-founder. That's how I came up with the idea. He's based in LA.

Technical Advisors 100

Technical Advisors Technical Review Metrics Startup 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

The VC industry has different segments in it that have different fund sizes, different investment amounts and different risk / return expectations. These days that’s not the case and it’s a great outcome for entrepreneurs and for innovation. If you invest it in startups you’re a VC professional money manager.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

The other founders and I had all been working with personal trainers in some capacity. I am ( Michael Piermont ) co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer amSTATZ. Sergey’s diverse experience as an entrepreneur, technology consultant and software executive qualifies him to lead amSTATZ’s technology development.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day.

Search Engine Optimization 124

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Jackson, CEO and co-founder of CapLinked (www.caplinked.com), which is developing tools to help entrepreneurs and investors connect. Eric is an experienced entrepreneur, and was a very, very early employee at PayPal, where he was recruited by Peter Thiel. Jackson: It's actually two audiences, both the entrepreneur and investor.

Southern California 243

Southern California Entrepreneur Software Review Yammer 243

socalTECH

AUGUST 31, 2009

For today's interview, we thought we'd catch up with Hamet Watt , who was most recently founder of NextMedium , and is now an EIR at True Ventures (www.trueventures.com). Hamet Watt: NextMedium was acquired by the Steelbergs, the founders of several successful ad platforms. It's more the stage and entrepreneur.

Southern California 164

Southern California Venture Capital Advertising Entrepreneur 164

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. These entrepreneurs dream big, go big and too often crash big. It is people who drive successful businesses. Specialist.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2020

As a business investor, I look for investments where I see founders really holding their people accountable for their actions. More importantly, I look for entrepreneurs and owners like you who are not afraid to hold themselves accountable for the success of the business. You have to give them a credible plan and evidence.

Startup 113

Startup Examples Coach Metrics 113