TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 5, 2022

A few minutes away from downtown Atlanta, Collab Studio ATL describes itself as “a tech-based one-stop shop for content creators, HBCU students and young entrepreneurs to achieve their business goals.” A recent report in The Washington Post supports claims that Black creators were underpaid.

Platform 210

Platform Social Media Netflix Content 210

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

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

But the reality is that “global warming” massively blunted the effects of winter and my prognosis for VC fundings of entrepreneurs in 2017–2018 is now very sunny indeed. So VCs made fewer investments at lower prices and generally on terms that were more favorable to investors relative to 2015. billion into Uber.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In my experience as an angel investor for new startups, I’m always surprised by how many entrepreneurs are looking for funding without outside advisors. For example, I once was approached by an entrepreneur, passionate that his new algae strain would cure world hunger and make him rich. Bandwidth is a constraint we all feel.

Startup 142

Startup Technical Review Equity Entrepreneur 142

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

According to a well-researched Motly Fool report, the challenge is very real, since around half of all businesses fail in the first five years. The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. With Sarbanes-Oxley, the CEO, CFO, and the Board of Directors are all assumed to have full knowledge of all government standards of compliance and reporting. Annual reporting and audit requirements continue to increase.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Report Summary 95

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

With the current volatile economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is thus not viable for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Yet reverse mergers are not all bad.

Funding 104

Funding Summary Entrepreneur Acquisition 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2012

The average entrepreneur is not the one who dumped a promising career, sketched his idea on the back of a napkin, and accepted millions from an investor to make billions of his own. Born to be an entrepreneur may not be enough today. People who don’t learn from other’s experience pay a high price just to get to the starting point.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Tips Education Ideas 111

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Greathouse: Your collective experiences have clearly made bootstrapping a viable option for you, more so than might be the case for a typical, younger entrepreneur who needs more direction, doesn’t have cash discipline, etc. We both made personal investments in the company. I’m not claiming that bootstrapping has been easy.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. With Sarbanes-Oxley, the CEO, CFO, and the Board of Directors are all assumed to have full knowledge of all government standards of compliance and reporting. Annual reporting and audit requirements continue to increase.

Startup 94

Startup Entrepreneur Report Summary 94

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2019

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Smart entrepreneurs are just now starting to look at this option again, due to its unpredictability and the challenges of running a public company. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

Startup 84

Startup Technical Review Report IBM 84

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 normally offer this advice in the capacity of really wanting to help entrepreneurs so please bear with me. There are other problems with “legacy&# deals.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is thus not viable for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Summary 121

Summary Startup Entrepreneur Funding 121

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Smart entrepreneurs are just now starting to look at this option again, due to its unpredictability and the challenges of running a public company. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Report Entrepreneur 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2012

This Founder holds staff meetings only to report crises, rally the troops, and get status reports on assignments. With that revelation, the Founder killed the investment deal, and every other potential deal which raised the same issue. Staff meetings are for one-way communication. Of course, no situation is this simple.

Startup 99

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Organization 99

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

He shared tons of information about how how they were using marketing to quantitatively make marketing decisions at HauteLook and acquire customers for prices that were far cheaper than similar companies. Like any firm we of course invest in the San Francisco Bay Area where 33% of my personal boards are. What does that mean?

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

According to a well-researched Motly Fool report, the challenge is very real, since around half of all businesses fail in the first five years. The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Smart entrepreneurs now avoid this option like the plague, due to its unpredictability and the challenges of running a public company. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

Startup 98

Startup Technical Review Report Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2012

Entrepreneurs sometimes assume an initial agreement with an Angel is a commitment, so they start spending before any money is received. It’s true that Angel investors typically do not present entrepreneurs with overly complicated deal structures, especially when compared to venture capitalists. Seat on the board.

Pricing 89

Pricing Startup Entrepreneur Angel 89

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

As I have pointed out in previous posts , 91% of VCs surveyed believe prices are declining (30% believe substantially) and 77% believe that funding will take longer than it has in the past. I’m surprised how few entrepreneurs have this open conversation with their investors. Wouldn’t you rather know where you stand?

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of someday taking their startup public, and making it a multi-national powerhouse. According to an Ernst & Young report , the number of startups that have gone public in the US over the past decade is down about 75% from the previous decade, to about 10% of startup exits.

Startup 97

Startup Report Entrepreneur Statistics 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

One or more of the following parameters are viewed by most investors as traction indicators, but good entrepreneurs are often creative and define their own to supplement these: Start with sales to-date for a priced offering. In the consumer world, groups like Consumer Reports , will give you similar credibility, if positive.

Startup 121

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 121

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. So the people who invest in VC funds have two problems.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. With Sarbanes-Oxley, the CEO, CFO, and the Board of Directors are all assumed to have full knowledge of all government standards of compliance and reporting. Annual reporting and audit requirements continue to increase.

Startup 89

Startup Entrepreneur Report Summary 89

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2014

Most entrepreneurs struggle with financial projections, not wanting to commit to numbers they can’t deliver, and having no clue what investors might consider reasonable. According to a recent Dow Jones VentureSource report, the average time to liquidity of an equity investment in a startup is now about five years.

Equity 99

Equity Venture Capital Invest Pricing 99

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2013

Most entrepreneurs struggle with financial projections, not wanting to commit to numbers they can’t deliver, and having no clue what investors might consider reasonable. According to a recent Dow Jones VentureSource report, the average time to liquidity of an equity investment in a startup is now about five years.

Startup 97

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2015

Well, if you choose the price, I choose the terms.” Many entrepreneurs pitching err on the side of too much information. Entrepreneurs literally started asking for billion-dollar valuations just because the market is talking about unicorns. Here is from a great report by Fenwick & West. ” “Ok.

Startup 150

Startup Venture Capital Course Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Think USV is only invested around Union Square in NYC? And in many communities that are new to building tech startups I’ve found that a lot of angel money is not very sophisticated at investing in startup companies. Think the next big startup can’t come from Dallas, TX? Think again. Angry Birds?

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Press San Diego 378

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 22, 2011

It’s intended in a discussion with an entrepreneur to get them to question whether there is really amazing underlying value in the product or service they’re offering. I talked in specifics about a bunch of my investments including Factual , MongoLab , Maker Studios and Gogii (maker of TextPlus ). GroupMe to Skype.

Company 295

Company Companies Gogii Google 295

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 3, 2010

This was really a fun week at TWiVC because we decided to have an entrepreneur come and talk about raising capital rather than having a VC come on. It’s always such a pleasure for me to spend time with Farb because he has all of the enthusiasm and energy you love to see in entrepreneurs. He’s also candid, humble and helpful.

Venture Capital 214

Venture Capital Startup Design S3 214

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

Venture Capital funds: the different between “closed funds&# (which typically have a 10-year time horizon) and “evergreen funds&# which re-invest profits back into the fund. industry investors rather than VCs) a good idea for entrepreneurs. His view: sometimes entrepreneurs expect too much value from the partner.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Google Web Sites 225

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2015

This founder holds staff meetings only to report crises, rally the troops, and get status reports on assignments. With that revelation, the founder killed the investment deal, and every other potential deal which raised the same issue. business entrepreneur founders syndrome startup' It could save your startup!

Startup 106

Startup Ideas Organization Report 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is not for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Being a public company isn’t cheap or easy.

Summary 79

Summary Startup Entrepreneur Funding 79

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund As I outlined last week, trophy angel investors are always looking for trophy entrepreneurs. In many areas, not enough entrepreneurs meet the criteria, so it’s still a buyer’s market. We see many entrepreneurs who grossly over value their company when attempting to obtain outside investment.

Funding 106

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Activity 106

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Helping entrepreneurs succeed. Middle Market Investment Banking. An on-line community for entrepreneurs. Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth (www.sycr.com) Sponsoring socalTECH's Orange County High Tech Report. Contact Scott Herson for an overview, pricing and information at herson@joyent.com or 949-861-1069.

Southern California 113

Southern California Tech Coast Angels IP Orange County 113

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

Let’s be honest – as professional investors we have ALL been to meetings with other groups of investors where we talk about whether there’s a bubble, price creep, etc. Here’s the thing: entrepreneurs who aren’t at all of our private meetings really didn’t know what do think about the situation.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

socalTECH

OCTOBER 6, 2017

Why are these colleges using you, rather than investing in their own custom applications? The platform approach we took allows teams and companies and venues to access the best functionality, at a subcription price, rather than a custom development price. That provides much better reporting to sponsors.

Mobile 162

Mobile Platform El Segundo UCLA 162