Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

VC’s keep different titles but the most common that I’ve come across that are investment professionals are (in ascending order of seniority): analyst, associate, principal and partner. The process for raising money from a VC is a sales process and as such much of what is taught in enterprise sales can be applied.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Sales Entrepreneur Startup 308

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

Many entrepreneurs I know don’t realize that the language they learned in the corporate world, or even their recent MBA class, won’t get them ahead in the startup world today. As a reality check, try this quick test of your entrepreneur savvy. As a reality check, try this quick test of your entrepreneur savvy. Super-angels.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup Web Equity 109

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

I’m very pleased today to announce that I invested, on behalf of GRP Partners, in Burstly alongside Rincon Venture Partners , an early stage VC in Southern California whith whom we love to work (and were our co-investors on RingRevenue ). Naturally I’m excited about this investment or I wouldn’t have done it.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 176

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

The theme for Silicon Beach Fest Hollywood is startups and Hollywood, featuring leaders from movie studios, music labels, agencies, and startups in entertainment – how Hollywood studios are investing and working with startups, and how Silicon Beach startups are making entertainment businesses. See you there!

Hollywood 100

Hollywood Screening Ideas Entertainment 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

MARCH 9, 2011

Investors and entrepreneurs who won at the fundraising game during and after the Great Recession offer advice on landing equity money. To help you get a jump-start with fundraising, I’ve gathered tips from active early-stage investors and entrepreneurs who managed to beat the odds by raising capital during and after the Great Recession.

Tips 100

Tips Capital Tech Coast Angels Screening 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Others, like Guy Kawasaki , have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent enhancements or omissions that can kill your deal. It takes a huge upfront investment to attract users, before advertisers are interested. Sales projections are less than one percent market penetration.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Innocal Entrepreneur 98

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

Most of them are telling you that they just need to see a bit of traction before they’d be prepared to invest. Investors are giving you a version of the “soft no,&# which basically means that they’re not prepared to invest now. Everybody seems to like you but nobody seems to be getting out their checkbooks.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital Guide Startup Technical Review 309

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 13, 2012

We're providing a very unique benefit, which is an entrepreneur-friendly incubator. Is there a screening process or criteria for firms to use the facilities? Kevin Hell: Yes, we have a selection committee, comprised of folks who are venture capitalists and also have been in the investment arm of large companies.

Incubator 212

Incubator San Diego Technical Review Development Team Review 212

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

All the data actually suggests with the growth of mobile, inbound sales calls will double from 30 billion to 60 billion in 3 years (source: Kelsey). It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Much more data in the full post. PHONE CALLS.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

The power of large screen real estate. They are more likely to be the “bottom end of the sales funnel” or in other words close to “point of purchase.” I have talked with people in the industry who tell me that mobile movie sites convert ticket sales much higher than desktop websites.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 21, 2011

When I first got into VC I decided I better have some investment themes. My macro theme was “great entrepreneurs&# who mapped to my belief system about the kind of entrepreneurs I wanted to work with. To be clear, that is excluding the sales uplift from the calls. “People still want calls …&#.

Mobile 329

Mobile Advertising Media Marketing 329

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. Through advertising or direct sales, these sites harvest intent. He started targeting the ad by location and interest, and the number of potential people he was reaching began decreasing on screen (Facebook tells you dynamically). friend of mine asked me to chat with a startup he’d invested in.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2011

Here are some basic principles: Angels invest in people, more often than they invest in ideas. They probably won’t respond well to high pressure sales tactics, information overload, or bribes. Angels like to “touch and feel” their investments, so they are generally only interested in local opportunities.

Angel 102

Angel Keiretsu Organization Template 102

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Rincon is part of the new breed of Seed Stage VCs and with the leadership of Jim Andelman has charted out the most authentic early-stage investment strategy in Southern California. Any SoCal entrepreneur raising early-stage money should put Rincon on their short list. Nowhere is social proof more prevalent than in angel investing.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 13, 2016

I started with a list of companies already screened by the San Diego Venture Group’s annual venture summit, and consulted with investors and startup mentors to refine the list. million in a Series D round of investment capital, according to founder and chairman Tony Farwell. I widened my net this year.

San Diego 40

San Diego Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Startup 40

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

I do what I wish all entrepreneurs would do. I had a pre breakfast with a CEO of a company in which I invested talking about his next fund raising round. It’s an entrepreneur with whom I’ve been wanting to work for 6 years. It was a young, first-time entrepreneur who wanted to meet. ” I never said that.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is not unlike a major biz dev deal you’re trying to sign or a big sales campaign into the VP of a major company. I like to tell entrepreneurs to treat it like a sales campaign. EXACTLY like a sales campaign. I am really surprised how many entrepreneurs pitch me and then I never hear from them again.

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 26, 2011

I have often said that what separates real entrepreneurs from pundits and bystanders is a bias towards getting things done versus over analyzing things. The startup entrepreneur knows that they’re going to be wrong often. I’m not arguing that no screening is required. Great entrepreneurs find a way. But here’s the thing.

Startup 335

Startup Technical Review Framework Entrepreneur 335

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 5, 2013

That kind of vote isn’t exactly encouraging to companies and entrepreneurs with new and potentially disruptive business models looking to plant roots here. I also heard a lot of chatter about increasing the area’s overall investment in infrastructure, including fiber, which is highly critical to the region as a whole.

Los Angeles 98

Los Angeles Startup Angel Southern California 98

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won. I hate losing. I don’t want to lose next time.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won. I hate losing. I don’t want to lose next time.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 18, 2013

Okuno has been investing in Los Angeles startups for the past three years after selling his own company E-Z Data. Okuno said, “I have invested in over 40 startups almost always in the six-figure range.” He is looking to find more. The Blayze network already reaches or 200 million viewers and has generated thousands in sales.

Class 100

Class Startup Tech Coast Angels CTO Coach 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

In reading the comments on Bijan’s blog and having discussed this so many times, I know some entrepreneurs only want to talk with VCs that think that Powerpoint causes leprosy. It’s the same as in any sales-oriented meeting and make no mistake raising money is sales. That’s an awesome suggestion.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2010

As an entrepreneur, simply enter your location online, and it will list the angel and VC organizations near you. You can then begin your application to one or more of these organizations right on the same screen. New England Investment Network. Tags: entrepreneur startup angel investors flock of angels. Marty Zwilling.

Angel 48

Angel Keiretsu Startup Template 48

Tech.Co

JULY 31, 2017

Yet as an entrepreneur, you can rarely hide under the rock and pretend there’s nothing else happening around you and no one is demanding your attention. Despite those pitiful stats a lot of B2B businesses still pour hundred thousands of dollars into direct sales and keep complaining about low ROI.

Snapchat 66

Snapchat Product Email Social Media 66

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

Many people are too cautious in sales processes and as a result when they present their solutions they end up sounding milquetoast and undifferentiated from anybody else in the market. I recently wrote about the three rules of sales. In sales we often call these USPs (I wrote about them here: Unique Selling Propositions ).

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

socalTECH

JULY 25, 2012

Edward Park: My background is screen printing and production. My previous company did production runs for small clothing lines, promos, and trade show giveaways, and one of the things we realized it's such a volume industry, and the technology of screen printing has been around for 10,000 years, developed by the Egyptians and the Chinese.

Startup 174

Startup Commerce Web 2.0 Screening 174

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 11, 2012

The idea was pioneered by renowned and award winning high impact serial entrepreneurs, Robert Sussman and Lance Fanaroff. ABSA Jewish Entrepreneur of the Year – WINNER (This award was actually presented by Gill Marcus) – (Annex.13). Ernst & Young – World Entrepreneur Awards – FINALIST (Annex 13). Amongst many others.

Software Review 92

Software Review Social Network Platform Technical Review 92

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

Speakers listed: Brock Pierce – Digital currency pioneer investing in Bitcoin, games, and online gambling businesses; Clearstone Global Gaming Fund. Peter Csathy – CEO Manatt Digital Media Ventures, accomplished media and digital media entrepreneur. The company hopes to prepare advertisers for varying screen sizes.

Startup 95

Startup Google Education Venture Capital 95

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Yet a critical mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is that they hand over too much control to their third-parties. They’re also good at screening candidates. I have investment money at stake so I’m a principal in the negotiation, too. We’re both principals in a sale. Recruiters. You name it.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

That users get the PIN code, enters it into the registration screen, and if they typed in the right code, they can complete registration and get access to all of what a service provider gives them. He called me and said--this is a company you might be interested in, maybe taking a board seat, or co-investing in, or helping them get funded.

Marina Del Rey 238

Marina Del Rey Startup IP Examples 238

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. I was working hand-in-hand with my close friend and associate Stuart Lander who was running our UK office and with one of our local sales reps.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 10, 2012

Park had a screen-printing business in 2004, starting with his own $4,000 investment. He worked with High School and College students, striving to make it easy for anyone to become an entrepreneur. “At Just as Park wanted to help people become entrepreneurs in his previous company, he plans on doing the same with Insteegram.

Startup 98

Startup Customer Custom Pricing 98

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. Fund raising (as is much of life) is a sale – pure and simple. As with any sales campaign you need to: Qualify your buyers early so you focus your scarce resources on people likely to buy your product. Why buy me?

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

We were talking about a company, Factual (disclosure my firm is an investor), which was founded by one of LA’s most talented Internet entrepreneurs, Gil Elbaz , who as co-founder of Applied Semantics (purchased by pre-IPO Google for $102 million and now Google AdSense) is responsible for a large portion of the Internet’s monetization.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Tech.Co

JANUARY 19, 2016

The round is led by Subtraction Capital, and includes investments from PayPal co­founder Peter Thiel , Indicator Ventures, and venture debt lender Western Technology Investment (WTI). Investing in Caplinked was an easy decision for us,” explained Subtraction Capital General Partner Jason Portnoy. They are great filing cabinets.

Doc 122

Doc Invest Screening Capital 122