InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 15, 2012

One the most frequent questions asked of me by entrepreneurs is, "How can I become a Venture Capitalist?" The inquiry is common because being a VC is (to an entrepreneur, at least) a sexy job. I define a "VC" as, "a professional investor who deploys third-party funds into relatively early-stage companies."

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Venture Capital Technical Review Invest RSS 242

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “what’s it like being a VC?&# I’ve been a VC for nearly 3 years now. I always start my answer to this question with, “you’d have to be a pretty big baby to complain about being a VC.&# At least for the best entrepreneurs. That’s true.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

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Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

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). I'm a bit of an anti-VC, as you know. I love entrepreneurs. What's the theme of your investments?

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 19, 2020

While there have been a number of statements on Twitter from various investors about how they’re doing deals and open for business, Grill is making sure the community can be coordinated so companies no where to turn and investors can find businesses to back in an age of Zoom diligence. PLEASE RT to spread the word.

Venture Capital 135

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Los Angeles 135

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “Pitching a VC&# – the outline is here. You’ve pitched several angels and VC’s. Your friends and advisers tell you that this means you need revenue because in this economy VC’s will only fund businesses with revenue. Unfortunately your advisers are wrong.

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Venture Capital Guide Startup Technical Review 309

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. GUI Fever – Entrepreneurs are often justifiably proud of their clever, clean user interfaces. A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes.

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Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. When the market run started in March people were relieved that “the world wasn’t ending” so they started spending again. This will likely cause the stock market to contract.

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Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Professional investors and advisors, on the other hand, usually refuse to sign these agreements today due to the risk of litigation and administrative workload, and will walk away.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Ideas Sample 101

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. 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.

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Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As noted in Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Pitch Their Ideas To Venture Capitalists , most sophisticated investors place their bets on people rather than opportunities.

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Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan?

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Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

InfoChachkie

MAY 6, 2013

Jim Andelman, my Partner at Rincon Venture Partners , aptly describes the genesis of the Series A crunch, stating that: "Over the next 12-to-18 months, a lot of good companies that have been Seed financed are going to have a tough time raising a Series . There is a similar Darwinian aspect to venture capital investing.

Entrepreneur 246

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Capital 246

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

Back in November I agreed with Nivi over at VentureHacks to do a series on the ten most important attributes of a successful entrepreneur. Unfortunately, I don’t believe it is perfectly correlated with what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Perhaps VC isn’t the vest route for this individual.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Funding 284

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

This is part of my series on Understanding Venture Capital. I’m writing this series because if you better understand how VC firms work you can better target which firms make sense for you to speak with. It in not uncommon to see a VC talk about “total assets under management&# as in “We have $1.5

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. In case VC’s haven’t figured this out yet, shit rolls downhill. My blog linked to Brad Feld’s blog because I was so grateful for his series on term sheets and he was one of the biggest reasons that as a VC I felt compelled to blog. And covered we did.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

And there’s none that makes me happier than to announce that Jordan Hudson has been promoted to a Principal at Upfront Ventures. What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. Industry reviews. VC firm admin.

Help 365

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InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

VC's love to talk about their successes. Yet most VC's bury their failures under six feet of denial. In the startup world, the former happens when a VC makes a bad investment, and the latter occurs when they miss a great opportunity. Tech Diligence - Consider The Source. What’s The Worst Mistake?

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Venture Capital is a game of pattern matching. Whenever a VC assesses a potential investment opportunity, they attempt to match the entrepreneur(s), their solution, and intended markets with a pattern they have previously encountered. A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Hairy Pattern Matching.

Technical Review 244

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital RSS 244

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

Growth will slow, partly due to internal limits and partly because the company is starting to bump up against the limits of the markets it serves.” He talks about making things that people want & going after a big enough market. “Why do founders want to take the VCs’ money? .” And headlines.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Professional investors and advisors, on the other hand, usually refuse to sign these agreements today due to the risk of litigation and administrative workload, and will walk away.

Ideas 159

Ideas Tips Technical Review Patents 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Based on the final report for 2012 from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), it may appear that IPOs are back as a viable startup exit strategy. For the full year 2012, venture-backed initial public offerings raised $21.5 Identify the right people in the right venture firms.

Venture Capital 101

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 101

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

I thought I’d try to look at it from a different lens, that of the entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur you should assume that. But the majority of VCs & Angels all speak. They’re not in search of price fixing or collusion, they’re in search of diligence information about the company. At what valuation?

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions for 2019 from Southern California's technology industry. Are there any technology innovations, gadgets, devices, software, that you found most interesting in 2018?

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

Tech.Co

MARCH 8, 2018

Fortunately, for those headed to SXSW, Startup Night SXSW 2018 , presented by the Kauffman Foundation and TechCo, will be filled with investors from a multitude of industries who are looking to discover and fund startups building the latest solutions and tech innovations. He has over a decade of portfolio management in capital markets.

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Technical Review Startup Software Review Entrepreneur 70

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

Want to be an entrepreneur? According to a recent Forbes article , UC Santa Barbara''s Technology Management Program offers students a superior startup education over the University of Pennsylvania (home of Wharton), as well Harvard, Northwestern and even its acclaimed southern neighbor, the University of Southern California.

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

socalTECH

JUNE 21, 2018

The event featured a keynote by Bill Gross of Idealab , a panel of VC experts, and dozens of pitches by startups spawned by local universities and research institutions from across Southern California.

Southern California 113

Southern California SoCal Dollar Shave Club Cornerstone OnDemand 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

My primary role was “chief psychologist&# and as I’ve learned over the past few years the same has been true as a VC. Some entrepreneurs make the mistake of never devolving power. As things got bigger we hired a head of European sales and a head of European marketing. Both are basically people businesses.

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Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

I wrote this conundrum and the need to take charge of how the market define your skills in my much-read blog post on “ personal branding.” ” If you don’t create the message about yourself, the market will. He or she has worked at some very successful big technology or media companies and went to a great school.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

She worked for 5 years as a VC at Battery Ventures and co-headed M&A at IAC working with Barry Diller. Venture capital is about backing the leaders of tomorrow who imagine the world as it should be and aren’t constrained by what it is today. I promise you, he really said this out loud.) And all the platform stuff.

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Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

We are often asked how companies get funded, why VCs make the decisions we make and what we’re looking for in entrepreneurs. I think this is a Seriously great example of how this process works for at least one VC – Upfront Ventures. Tech Market Analysis Upfront Ventures' Domain Knowledge.

Funding 373

Funding Technical Review Startup Screening 373

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. And sometimes they take part of their prorata right.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2017

Next week is the Montgomery Summit (www.montgomerysummit.com), one of the longest running technology conferences held in Los Angeles. The conference is run by Jamie Montgomery , one of the local industry's pioneers in venture capital and investment. What most excites you about the technology industry here today?

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Technical Review Conference Silver Lake Cornerstone OnDemand 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

Companies like DogVacay solve a real need in the market. They can read reviews, see pictures and even talk to the family before confirming. I then clicked on reviews, looked at pictures and read the owners descriptions of what they were looking for. I told her the story of Aaron, the company, the reviews, etc.

Venture Capital 344

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review San Diego 344

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

I would argue that the shut-down of September 2009 was equally severe yet there are signs that this “VC Ice Age” has begun to thaw. But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary. Why did the VC markets freeze so quickly?

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

We thought today for our interview, that we'd get an update on the angel investment environment here in Southern California from Scott Sangster , the incoming President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Tech Coast Angels , the biggest angel investment group in Southern California. It was actually a really good year last year.

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Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 182