Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. I had seen many cycles and decided that since I was going to do it all over again I should write about it. In case VC’s haven’t figured this out yet, shit rolls downhill. No prizes for guessing which VCs I didn’t work with (and still won’t).

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

We all know that funding markets have changed for startups. The trends are well understood: more angels, more seed funds, more crowdsourcing and so forth. We are doing what we do – writing larger checks and playing an active role at the company. Does he blog about venture capital and try to advise entrepreneurs?

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note. In the old days there usually weren’t convertible notes on early-stage deals and there weren’t party rounds with 20 angels or 6 seed funds. It’s very simple.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

There seems to a perpetual shortage of local venture capital investors in the region, despite the huge growth in startup activity here, particularly along Silicon Beach. We''ve also had a pretty wide range of check writing in terms of amount. Is there anything specific you are looking for in an entrepreneur or company?

Seed Funding 220

Seed Funding Santa Monica Funding Startup 220

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. When I was fund raising for my second company we had agreed a company-wide deal with Salesforce.com to use our product. How did VCs respond?

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

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).

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

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.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

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. Usually, an entrepreneur, hearing that, won't say no.

Capital 164

Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 164

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

This is a blog post I really didn’t want to write. I didn’t want to write it because I have mixed feelings about AngelList. I didn’t want to write it because the bloggosphere doesn’t always do nuance well. So why I am writing it then? But it +is+ an anti-entrepreneur stance.&# A few reasons.

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

One of my favorite entrepreneur-Twitterer weighed in, “You want to keep tapping into their collective intelligence so you keep saying ‘Thank you for the feedback’ and they keep sending it,” Ms. I save room in literally every deal to invite angels (or seed funds) to co-invest with me. Morrill said.

Angel 150

Angel Startup Seed Funding Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. VC’s money comes from mostly institutional investors called LPs (limited partners). Maybe the market views this as not worth the price you paid?

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

In a world where the economy only heads in one direction (read: 2009-2014) most investors & entrepreneurs forget to pay attention to gross burn. ” Stay lean and only raise a big round if you DO find product / market fit and which point you want to loosen the belt quickly and raise the capital to do so. .”

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 30, 2013

As a fourteen-year veteran of the venture industry I have often heard the phrase, “value added investors”, which is usually touted by certain VC’s as their biggest differentiating quality. The value that is being “added” is often at arms length or via a specialist who interacts with the entrepreneur.

Web Design 103

Web Design Social Media Seed Funding Design 103

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

As has been pointed out by Dan Primack based on FLAG Capital data, there are fewer than 100 “real and active” tech VCs in the country. If we count seed funds and large angels maybe that number goes up by 2x? And most VCs are over-whelmed with deals. ” (before fund raising).

Pricing 302

Pricing Seed Funding Invest Venture Capital 302

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. In most cases if you can’t get a prototype done you’re probably not an entrepreneur. Professional angels / former entrepreneurs / seed funds – In Silicon Valley there are people like Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Mike Maples and many more.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Bain Capital Ventures' Jamison Hill. People say we’re crazy, but we know creators are legit businesses,” Karat writes on its website — the company didn’t respond to a request to chat about what they’re working on. Podfund , for example, writes checks sized between $25,000 to $50,000 to emerging podcasters.

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” I often tell people in this scenario to focus on a VC “fixer upper.” I’m just pointing out that it’s not for most people.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

As I have pointed out in previous posts , 91% of VCs surveyed believe prices are declining (30% believe substantially) and 77% believe that funding will take longer than it has in the past. I’m surprised how few entrepreneurs have this open conversation with their investors. Wouldn’t you rather know where you stand?

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 30, 2013

As a fourteen-year veteran of the venture industry I have often heard the phrase, “value added investors”, which is usually touted by certain VC’s as their biggest differentiating quality. The value that is being “added” is often at arms length or via a specialist who interacts with the entrepreneur.

Web Design 40

Web Design Social Media Seed Funding Design 40

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 17, 2012

They are used by almost all the entrepreneurs I met with and have gained some serious traction in the marketplace. Almost, two years since the inception, he has built up a team and product making a name for himself as one of the city’s most promising entrepreneurs. Same space, different spin. This is one hectic place, I tell you.

Startup 109

Startup Incubator Seed Funding Platform 109

Steve Reich

AUGUST 15, 2015

If you can’t raise from a few strong angels, from seed funds or from a VC then raising from a ton (let’s say 20+) angels is a perfectly acceptable strategy. ” Everyone has a vision that one or two “Super Angels” will write million dollar checks and all will be well. ” Well said, Mark. .

Angel 40

Angel News Pasadena Angels Seed Funding 40

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 17, 2012

They are used by almost all the entrepreneurs I met with and have gained some serious traction in the marketplace. Almost, two years since the inception, he has built up a team and product making a name for himself as one of the city’s most promising entrepreneurs. I met the team briefly while on the facility tour with Nasser.

Startup 56

Startup Incubator Seed Funding Platform 56

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

I’d like to explain as best I can my opinion on what is going on because most of what I hear from entrepreneurs is not only wrong but is reminiscent of what I heard in 1997-2000. What is the True Sentiment of VCs? It pains me to see the typical (and predictable) responses on Twitter, “VCs want prices to drop!”

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Pricing models, the freemium myth and why you may not be charging enough for your product - Seth Levine's VC Adventure , August 12, 2010 I’ve been pulled into a number of product and pricing meetings recently (for reasons unknown I’ve become the Foundry pricing and productization guy). We had to write a CRM to keep track of them all.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

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!?” I’d like to repeat, “It only takes one yes to have a successful fund-raising round.” When investors hear that somebody else wanted to fund you it gets their FOMO going and they pile on.

Press 232

Press Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 232

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

No rule is ever absolute no matter how it sounds when one writes a blog. My company had raised venture capital in April 2001 but we were told that there may never be any more coming. Hell – we fought against the VC’s together! So how did I come to work in the world of venture capital?

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

► August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? StrongMail Systems (Digital Messsaging Infrastructure Software) Status: VC-backed (Sequoia Capital, Globespan and Evercore) Lesson: Trust your gut. . Venture Capital Funding 7. I'm 30, now will you take me seriously? Zondigo, Inc.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. So I agreed to offer my current thinking on the economy and what it portends for the VC industry & fund raising for entrepreneurs. VCs get paid to “put money to work.&#.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. - First Principles.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

In my ongoing quest to get you good transcripts of the wonderful interviews we’ve done in the past, I present you with one amazing interview here with Tom McInerney – a friend, co-investor, former entrepreneur turned angel investor and “wizard of Oz&# behind the scenes at the uber hot startup Klout. 0:28:00) & (0:31:27).

Angel 302

Angel Startup Ideas .Net 302

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Welcome to the Lost Decade (for Entrepreneurs, IPO’s and VC’s) - Steve Blank , July 15, 2010 If you take funding from a venture capital firm or angel investor and want to build a large, enduring company (rather than sell it to the highest bidder), this isn’t the decade to do it. Angel vs VC? - Not so bad.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217