Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Your historical trading information including financials and a “customer file” which shows the history of your transactions so that investors can run “cohort” analyses Customer reference, personal references, key team members, compensation, cap table, stock option plan, etc. Some people find this elitist?—?I It doesn’t.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references. Status of the solution.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

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).

Startup 122

Startup Funding Organization Incubator 122

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

The fact that Kara doesn’t have what my wife likes to refer jokingly as my “Y chromosome problem” is beside the fact. The core of the investing job of course is investing dollars into startup companies and helping as a mentor, advisor and board member on the companies in which you’ve invested. So What Does All This Mean?

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

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

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

But there are a lot of things that become norms in the VC industry that always drove me crazy from entrepreneur’s side of the table. Translation for any first time entrepreneurs can mean one of: a. As an entrepreneur you’re used to being optimistic and finding a way to make things work despite the odds. I get that.

Entrepreneur 297

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Java 297

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

“Hi [entrepreneur], I hope all is well. It's big, well known & we've invested in all of these really cool companies]. I know the firm well and I know the entrepreneur & his business well. There is no chance they’re going to invest and it’s not even a close match. What fits your schedule?

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 30, 2021

Several times in my investing life, as the final board member making the arrangements to dispose of remaining assets, I have literally been the one to turn out the lights, carry out the documents, books and records to my car, and become the only remaining contact between the failed business and the investors, bankruptcy court, or creditors.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Training Invest Software 156

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2021

I’m sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. John Bradberry, in his classic book “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ,” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making.

Startup 149

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Press 149

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

If the deal is from out of your geography and/or out of your focus area or a deal is being referred by a well-know investor who normally co-invests with similar syndicates – at least ask yourself, “Why am I so lucky to be getting this call.” I seek out great entrepreneurs. End of story.

Venture Capital 337

Venture Capital Invest Ideas Entrepreneur 337

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

A few months ago I wrote a post called “ Invest in Lines, Not Dots.&# It was my investment philosophy that observing teams’ performance over time was far more insightful than reacting to how good of a product demo they do, how good they present Powerpoint slides or how great tech blogs say they are. Let me explain.

Entrepreneur 330

Entrepreneur Marketing Venture Capital Hulu 330

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2021

One of the business ironies that many entrepreneurs have learned the hard way in the past is that ideas which are truly disruptive carry the highest risk of failure, take the longest to gain traction, and thus are the least likely to get external funding. Great entrepreneurs aren’t just dreamers, they are doers.

Startup 174

Startup Cloud Computing Ideas Entrepreneur 174

Berkonomics

JANUARY 25, 2024

Entrepreneurs will have a relative willing to devote time, a school friend with business experience, professionals who charge for the service, investors with a reason to promote your success and more. The post Do you even need a business coach? first appeared on BERKONOMICS.

Coach 156

Coach Organization Resource Equity 156

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. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

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).

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2014

One of the business ironies that many entrepreneurs have learned the hard way in the past is that ideas which are truly disruptive carry the highest risk of failure, take the longest to gain traction, and thus are the least likely to get external funding. Great entrepreneurs aren’t just dreamers, they are doers.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Startup Cloud Computing Ideas 107

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

One of the investment themes I’ve been focused on in the past 3 years has been Performance-Based Marketing. When I started investing the US advertising market was $300 billion with only 10% of it ($30 billion) of it being online and measurable. I hope to announce one investment in this space in the next few months.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2018

We sat down with Kelly ahead of the announcement to chat about the new fund, why they think military veterans are particularly well suited as startup entrepreneurs, why the two went from organizing individual deals for funding to a formal fund, and more. We did our first close on the fund, and have made a number of investments.

Capital 164

Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 164

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2017

In my activities as an angel investor, and my work with new ventures seeking investment, I find the “due diligence” stage to be fraught with the most risk. Usually this stage only really starts after an investor has expressed serious interest, or already informally agreed to invest. Update reference customers, partners, and vendors.

Invest 59

Invest Startup Doc Slides 59

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

I’m sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. John Bradberry, in a recent book called “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Ideas Startup Press 108

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2023

Entrepreneurs seem to have blinders on when looking at competitors. Where your competitor isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. No entrepreneur has all the insights they need, and none should be so arrogant as to assume they hold all the cards.

Startup 105

Startup Outsource Competition Entrepreneur 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2013

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). Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Funding Incubator Startup 102

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools). By commission?

Invest 96

Invest Startup Offshore Satisfaction 96

InfoChachkie

JULY 7, 2016

The entrepreneur cannot wait to show me their product via a demo. Most entrepreneurs seem confused by my reaction and often say something like: “VCs love demos. Note: I invest almost exclusively in b-to-b software companies. GUI Fever – Entrepreneurs are often justifiably proud of their clever, clean user interfaces.

Venture Capital 176

Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I had dinner this week with a top new customer at one of our enterprise software investments. I wish I did more enterprise software investing because when I attend meetings like this I realize that this is my core DNA – rolling out business software solutions to customers. If they want to invest that’s great.

Customer 341

Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. In these cases both the entrepreneur and the friends are the fools. Marty Zwilling.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Equity Venture Capital 123

socalTECH

APRIL 4, 2014

However, in a bid to rejuvenate and re-energize the industry, a new effort-- Swarm --has just launched to bring together local software entrepreneurs, venture capital, and angel investors, in an attempt to bring new life to the region. growth investment industry software diego swarm' READ MORE>>.

San Diego 185

San Diego Software Equity Invest 185

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment. If there are financial anomalies, or someone on the team doesn’t know the current strategy, or is unhappy with you or the company, the investment will be jeopardized.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Satisfaction Startup Summary 152

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

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. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

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

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Most entrepreneurs, and members of any small team, naively assume that the key to their success is hard work, dedication, and long hours in the business. It behooves all entrepreneurs and team members to recognize the positives and negatives of each type of relationship. That’s why investors say they invest in people, not ideas.

Mentor 91

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 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. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

A while back, I published an article on “ Startup Due Diligence Is Not a Mysterious Black Art ,” describing what investors do to validate your startup before they invest. The investment community in any geographic area is not that large, and most investors have relationships or knowledge of most of the others.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Offshore Invest Social Network 96

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

We both wanted to build a practice that would make Los Angeles proud but where we would travel tirelessly to other locations to make investments in the best entrepreneurs wherever they were. Like any firm we of course invest in the San Francisco Bay Area where 33% of my personal boards are. I made some reference calls.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references. Status of the solution.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

Make sure that every interaction with every customer is positive, the service delivered is exemplary, and always follow-up for reference and repeat business. They tell these entrepreneurs to sell themselves, execute well, and grow organically. You are the ultimate critical success factor for your business.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2014

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. Perceived authorities guide decision making, by investing time, resources, and activity in earning a position of influence, leading to a community of loyalists who follow their recommendations.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Social Media Technical Review Startup 100