Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2023

Most of the young entrepreneurs I know are classic proof of the old adage that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a short period, and underestimate what they can do over a long period. By writing just 500 words a day in a blog, I suddenly realized that I had enough for a book in just a few months.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. But Tracy did what entrepreneurs do. Sam is the managing director of Launchpad LA and we were about to pick our 2012 class of entrepreneurs.

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Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But for some strange reason they make you file your progress on fund raising, which is the widely picked up by the press. I plan to write about it early next year when we’re all through. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. It’s not.

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Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

Journalists write stories that have an appeal to readers whether the accusations have merit or not. Never Blame the Press. The most tempting thing for inexperienced entrepreneurs to do is to attack the press. But don’t pick a fight with the press. In any event, I’ll take a free press any day.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. But succinctly this press places a marker in the ground for your company.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2020

Most of the young entrepreneurs I know are classic proof of the old adage that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a short period, and underestimate what they can do over a long period. By writing just 500 words a day in a blog, I suddenly realized that I had enough for a book in just a few months.

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Startup Writing Blogging Ideas 173

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal. And there’s conferences. Web Summit.

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InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

An entrepreneur, weightlifter and travel photographer, James offers his readers advice and insights that help them become better leaders, with an emphasis on improving one''s health in the process. One of the biggest challenges of being an entrepreneur is deciding what not to do. The whip gets a lot of the press.

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Entrepreneur Startup Research Social Media 222

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

One of the hardest things for most entrepreneurs to know is how hard to push in situations where people tell you “no.” ” But then again most entrepreneurs fail. I’d say less than 20% of of entrepreneurs fit into that bucket. But my post isn’t for the haters.

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InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Consistent with the statistics cited in Why Entrepreneurs Hate (Most) MBAs , the large majority of John and Kyle''s classmates accepted positions at investment banks and consulting firms upon graduation. Wow, we''ve heard about your newsletter, and it seems to be motivating and inspiring entrepreneurs around the country.

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Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2013

Most of the young entrepreneurs I know are classic proof of the old adage that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a short period, and underestimate what they can do over a long period. By writing just 500 words a day in a blog, I suddenly realized that I had enough for a book in just a few months.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. milestones entrepreneur startup funding business' Marty Zwilling.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

And a few teams of super talented, educated and bright entrepreneurs make a few mill. It has even gone so far that we now have evocative headlines in the tech press such as “ Buy or Die ,” which is what got me thinking about this post. The numbers you see announced in the press for deals are hardly ever right.

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Press Startup Yahoo Venture Capital 357

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

What every entrepreneur needs more than anything else, after they have built an innovative new product or service, is visibility, credibility, and trust by customers, potential employees, and future business partners. If you use a publisher, they may add more visibility with press releases and book-signing events.

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Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches? ” Here’s what I mean … Let’s start with what it takes for a journalist to want to write a story. ” Can you imagine that ever getting inches in the press? I am a VC.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

One of the most frequent questions entrepreneurs ask about when they raise a little bit of money or are getting close to launching their first product is whether they should hire a PR firm. I pointed out the fact that they only ever talked to the press when the had an announcement and that it was a continual process.

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Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

I actually like finding entrepreneurs who are more circumspect, less braggadocios and generally more planned about their actions. Where Stealth is Bad – I do meet entrepreneurs who clearly fall on the other side of spectrum and are totally closed. That’s fine if entrepreneurs are your target market. They come and go.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. Why do many entrepreneurs think they can “wing it” and get the same results?

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Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2016

Most of the young entrepreneurs I know are classic proof of the old adage that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a short period, and underestimate what they can do over a long period. By writing just 500 words a day in a blog, I suddenly realized that I had enough for a book in just a few months.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Blogging 60

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2011

Just as Batman repeatedly avoids Poison Ivy’s kiss of death, so too must entrepreneurs avoid the Kiss of Death provisions which BDCs attempt to include in their agreements. Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. However, avoid writing contracts that may contractually hold the other party to an economically infeasible deal.

Outsource Development 244

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Resource Press 244

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2009

Hint: He was an entrepreneur. A Writer Is Someone Who Writes. A writer is someone who writes, not someone who goes about telling their friends that they are “a writer”. The same is true of entrepreneurs. These would-be entrepreneurs are best classified as Wantrepreneurs, as discussed in Entrepreneurial Enterviewing.

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Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Startup 153

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

Steve is also a Stanford Professor and noted marketing entrepreneur. This was exactly the approach Steve took when he self-published Four Steps via Café Press, at the behest of his then star pupil, Eric Ries , Co-Founder of IMVU and the author of The Lean Startup. I have to thank him for that.”. That was the implicit statement.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I even prefer to fund entrepreneurs who have experience some level of set-backs in their careers or startups because I think it brings a humility to decision-making that I find healthy. In London when founders failed they were ostracized in the press and culturally I believe it became harder to raise capital.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2011

It’s the entrepreneur’s equivalent of “ 10,000 hours.&#. If you wait until you need to fill somebody in a roll you’re losing valuable time as an entrepreneur. Help them write other stories. One day they’ll write yours. It should stick in your head as a metaphor for networking.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2012

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. Why do many entrepreneurs think they can “wing it” and get the same results?

Training 93

Training Media Entrepreneur Social Media 93

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

For starters some funds are small and thus while they put $750k into your company to own 10% of your company they might not be able to write another $2 million if you then raise a $20 million round (10%). Much of this historically didn’t matter to entrepreneurs. Why prorata rights are becoming a bigger deal to angels.

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Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

We not only have our Series A funds that can write $500k?—?$15 The advantage is that in many of our best deals we now have $50+ million invested so we can really support entrepreneurs as their businesses scale. As I tell our LPs, “if I’m not making you slightly uncomfortable when I’m writing my first check I’m not doing my job.

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Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

Many entrepreneurs let the early rejections get to them and it’s normal because when you hear “no” you think “what’s wrong with me!?” Founders read the tech press every day filled with stories about these $20 million fund-raisings by this firm and that firm and it sounds like everybody else is doing it except for you. Happy raising.

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Press Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 232

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DECEMBER 7, 2011

I recently was reviewing a press release for a company in which I’m an investor. I told him that I thought the press release was crap (I think my words, exactly). Of course I can’t write every press release for the company nor would I want to. I get presentations from aspiring entrepreneurs.

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Press Venture Capital Doc Summary 337

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 2, 2013

And ever since then every year we are subjected to the tech press corps writing the annual, “What will the hot company at SXSW be?” Because to write stories every journalist needs an “angle” meaning a storyline or narrative that they form their story around. It’s where FourSquare first broke out.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. We were based in London.

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JULY 19, 2015

Entrepreneurs could learn about loneliness of success: nobody talks about. He suffered publicly as the press called his wife fat and begged people at concerts to be kinder to his wife. Success can be lonely because it is only a heartbeat away from failure and the press love a rise-and-fall story. But needed to be seen.

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Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 26, 2011

Each new customer, each mention in the press or online adds to the feeling of early accomplishment. Because it is yours to write alone, there is no Hollywood script more thrilling than the one you create during those first days when everything is so very new. And it is more satisfying because it is yours, from idea to execution.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

I have blogged about some of the downside consequences of the changes and the private information I have says the consequences are much worse than is reported in the press since few people publicly talk about. We are doing what we do – writing larger checks and playing an active role at the company. Is this investor on AngelList?

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Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

Journalists don’t know enough about your company before the show, don’t have time for proper research, and you will be competing for their time afterward with 49+ other companies that want them to write about you. - Oh, and Demo charges the startups $18,000. Robert’s article is worth reading. Make yourself available.

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Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

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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