Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

Had a great chat with Jim Armstrong who is a General Partner at Clearstone Venture Partners today on TWiVC. It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. LivingSocial. Read more: peHUB.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. But take prompts from the VC.

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Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

This form of thinking has been unusually true during the current rise of social media platforms, where market share became the primary goal of a company, with revenues and profitability to follow later. Many, many companies accepting venture capital lost it all following this instruction. But beware.

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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.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

To see the video of This Week in VC click on this link. What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures). Read More: TechCrunch.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2020

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

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Entrepreneur Tips Startup Education 137

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2016

My partner Greg Bettinelli (worth following on Twitter) was recently named by The LA Business Journal as the “ Top deal maker in Los Angeles in Venture Capital.” Invest more heavily in platform services. Greg truly is a prolific deal maker and is amongst the most helpful people to entrepreneurs in our ecosystem.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

Many entrepreneurs who start technology companies are product people, technologists or savvy business people who worked previously for a larger company. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. This is the easiest one for most entrepreneurs. But most good entrepreneurs do this naturally.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Nearly four months ago we rebranded at Upfront Ventures. You can watch the video above for a very brief overview of why we rebranded and where we see our place in the VC ecosystem along with what has changed in our industry. Relaunching our brand is part of our larger initiative to build a VC firm of the future.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2015

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. In Europe, other investors can buy equity, with platforms such as Seedrs. are actually matchmaking sites between entrepreneurs and professional investors or banks.

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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 post shared by Collab Studios (@collabstudiosatl). Image Credits: Robiiiworld (Brandy Merriweather via BStarPR).

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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. In retrospect, our decision was both perfectly rational and completely lame. > -jeff.

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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. And all the platform stuff. Does This Mean You’re Retiring?

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Equally, I encouraged entrepreneurs to spend time getting to know their future VCs early because getting a feel for your chemistry is far more important than how the VC is ranked in some survey. I felt the exact same way when I was an entrepreneur. Lines vs. Dots is all about people. Market Opportunity. Let me explain.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. In Europe, other investors can buy equity, with platforms such as Seedrs. In the U.S., Other popular sites for startups, including StartupNation and Startups.co

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

He didn’t tell it in the video but, ever the entrepreneur, Scott started a business to take couples up on a “mile high club&# flight on airplanes as a way of getting all of his miles logged to get his next class of airplane license that required a certain number of hours logged. It’s part of what makes him so likable.

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InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

The reality is that most venture capitalists are not very venturesome. Thus, it is incumbent on entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into viable businesses before seeking venture funding. Entrepreneurs Are Never Stuck. Wiley entrepreneurs pre-sell their products and get customers to fund their businesses. I’m stuck.”.

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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. VC firm admin. Portfolio community building.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2023

With the advent and growth of crowdfunding over the past few years, many entrepreneurs have predicted the demise of angel investment groups and venture capital organizations. billion by 2030, exceeding the amounts contributed by either angel groups or VCs alone. billion to USD 3.62

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From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 11, 2013

Experience has shown that a strong emotional tie to a deal will help more than any other factor when raising venture funding. Entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and effort tracking performance, measuring sales traction and predicting growth in an effort to win over outside investors. The VC did not see the necessity of such a move.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

With the advent and growth of crowdfunding over the past few years, many entrepreneurs have predicted the demise of those demanding angel investment groups and venture capital organizations. These groups are now largely run by volunteers at no cost to entrepreneurs. Lack of checks and balances on startup valuations.

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Equity Statistics Platform Entrepreneur 164

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. ” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” for $565 million to Excite.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

I am thrilled to announce that we have added Hamet Watt as a Partner at Upfront Ventures. It was a software platform for allowing advertisers to purchase brand integration (product placements) as a standardized unit through a marketplace. I’ve known Hamet for 5 years. The idea immediately resonated. I stayed close.

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Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” Bowery Capital).

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Plus, many VC rounds traditionally didn’t guarantee angels prorata rights unless they were “major investors” which often means they wrote large checks in the angel round. A day after I published this Changing Structure of VC article I noticed at least one “Angel Prorata Fund” on AngelList.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I don’t think most VC’s do. But in most situations a VC will want to be able to judge how you perform over time. Great entrepreneurs pivot.

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From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 11, 2013

Experience has shown that a strong emotional tie to a deal will help more than any other factor when raising venture funding. Entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and effort tracking performance, measuring sales traction and predicting growth in an effort to win over outside investors. The VC did not see the necessity of such a move.

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Capital Startup Invest 40

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2023

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Startup 108

Startup Education Entrepreneur Tool 108

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 12, 2014

Chance Barnett: Crowdfunder is an equity crowdfunding platform. We help early stage entrepreneurs in technology and digital media raise early stage funding rounds. As an example is Neil Young''s Pono Music, his new digital music hardware and software venture, which is restoring sound quality to digital files.

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TechCrunch LA

MAY 23, 2019

The Los Angeles ecosystem is $76 million stronger today as Fika Ventures , a seed-stage venture capital firm, announces its sophomore investment fund. Fika invests roughly half of its capital exclusively in startups headquartered in LA, with a particular fondness for B2B, enterprise and fintech companies.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know.

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Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Xconomy

DECEMBER 28, 2016

Many coastal VCs and entrepreneurs believe that Trump’s America-first, anti-immigration platform could put the brakes on the venture industry’s core globalization strategies. While this may be true, regardless of which candidate you supported, most would agree that with chaos and disruption comes opportunity.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2015

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 112

Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 112

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2021

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Here again, the entrepreneur will be the one hurt most, by having fewer funding sources to access.

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Funding Startup .Net Invest 144

TechCrunch LA

MAY 29, 2019

Los Angeles-based PlayVS (pronounced “play versus”) wants to become the dominant platform for amateur esports, starting at the high school level. Eric P: You have a fascinating background as a serial entrepreneur while you were a teenager. Below is the transcript of our conversation (edited for length and clarity) : Founding PlayVS.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

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