Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners. I had to laugh a bit reading it.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. But VC is like congress. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.”

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

MBA’s are an easy target for entrepreneurs’ scorn. I too have taken shots at MBA’s, describing why they are not typically well suited for startup life in Why Entrepreneurs Hate (Most) MBAs. Ventures In Which An MBA Education Is A Plus. Situationally, MBA’s Can Be Effective Entrepreneurs. “When M.B.A.’s

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Allegis Startup Competition 113

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

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2015

After studying at UC Santa Barbara''s entrepreneurial program , he returned to Spain, excited to start a venture and make a positive impact on his homeland. Fredi''s email is worth reading, as it reinforces how lucky American entrepreneurs truly are. A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Fredi''s Plea.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Santa Barbara Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2014

Obviously, a key factor is always the state of the economy and the mood of the venture capital community. According to the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index® for the First Quarter 2014, the Q1 increase marks seven consecutive quarters of positive sentiment among Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

Funding 108

Funding Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2010

Last week at an angel investor forum I was privileged to meet Stephanie Spong, who is a Principal with EPIC Ventures, an increasingly rare early stage VC firm. Stephanie: I am a venture capitalist currently based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with EPIC Ventures. Stephanie also speaks Spanish and Japanese.

Venture Capital 65

Venture Capital Capital Entrepreneur Competition 65

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 12, 2010

In the VC & Private Equity world there’s a small number, too, with one of the most respected being PEHub. I always wanted to have Dan on This Week in VC with Dan Primack ( to see video click link ) because he’s blunt, honest, opinionated and well informed. Question: Some people are saying traditional VC is dead.

Venture Capital 232

Venture Capital Slides Seed Funding Google 232

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Or if you’re a VC raising from LPs you have to list all of your deals, your investment value, your carrying value, your multiples, your IRRs, TVPIs, DPIs, etc along with net cashflows plus your previous LPAs. So what does a VC do when he or she isn’t ready to say “no” or perhaps might like to talk with you in a year but not now?

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

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

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 8, 2011

I recently reviewed Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson’s book Venture Deals , in THIS ENTRY. I concluded that it is an effective tool for leveling the playing field between sophisticated investors and emerging entrepreneurs. We felt it was a topic that we could create something that would be really lasting for entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 224

Venture Capital Writing Entrepreneur Blogging 224

SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 18, 2012

Please join LAVA, PwC and a distinguished panel of industry experts and local VCs for their insights on the results of the Q1 2012 PwC/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Report based on data from Thomson Reuters. The MoneyTree Report is a quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the United States.

LAVA 113

LAVA Study Venture Capital Press 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

According to a Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with a majority of new ventures that don''t attract investors failing within the first three years. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Applied research is still primarily scientific study, seeking to solve practical problems, but doesn’t yet focus on a commercial product. While all forms of technology research and development will always be required, entrepreneurs need to understand that the funding for these efforts comes from many different sources, depending on the stage.

Resource 102

Resource Ideas Funding Research 102

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2012

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Blank, author of Four Steps To The Epiphany , Stanford Professor and noted entrepreneur. The subject discussed in the video below is Steve’s belief that Venture Capitalists should begin their careers as operational entrepreneurs. The Alchemy Of A Great Venture Capitalist.

Venture Capital 239

Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur SaaS 239

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 2, 2011

Please join LAVA, PwC and a distinguished panel of industry experts and local VCs for their insights on the results of the Q4 2010 PwC/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Report based on data from Thomson Reuters. The MoneyTree Report is a quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the United States.

LAVA 124

LAVA Rustic Canyon Mission Ventures Venture Capital 124

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. In many of them I get asked similar questions, including the inevitable “what makes a great entrepreneur?” Tesla is not. It's a great talk.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2015

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, or an existing business, and haven’t yet sized any of these opportunities, you may be already late to the game. Idling capacity is a notion that was first systematically studied and measured in the context of industrial processes. There is value in the “idling capacity” of all assets.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Commerce Social Media Platform 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

According to a classic Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with a majority of new ventures that don't attract investors failing within the first three years. In reality, the financing valley of death tests the commitment, determination, and problem solving ability of every entrepreneur. Are you ready to start?

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

SoCal Tech Calendar

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

The MoneyTree Report is a quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the United States. As a collaboration between PwC and the National Venture Capital Association, based upon data from Thomson Reuters, it is the only industry-endorsed research of its kind.

Press 124

Press Venture Capital Study Report 124

SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 31, 2012

The MoneyTree Report is a quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the United States. As a collaboration between PwC and the National Venture Capital Association, based upon data from Thomson Reuters, it is the only industry-endorsed research of its kind.

Report 100

Report OCTANE Press Venture Capital 100

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

This offline event was successful in helping Kaviani find his own cofounder, Culin Tate, and a new venture. Together they envisioned a Match.com type of site for entrepreneurs to find each other and make things happen. s first accelerator called The Fort and raised VC funding. Soon after CoFoundersLab was accepted into D.C.’s

Entrepreneur 87

Entrepreneur Santa Monica Startup CTO Hire 87

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2013

There''s been a lot of activity over the past two years in the Southern California accelerator/incubator market, with numerous groups (Amplify, EvoNexus, K5, LaunchpadLA, MediaCamp, Science, StartEngine, and many, many others) looking to help entrepreneurs start and fund their companies. But, how successful have they been? Our analysis.

Southern California 222

Southern California Incubator Report Startup 222

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).

Platform 210

Platform Social Media Netflix Content 210

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2016

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 58

Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, or an existing business, and haven’t yet sized any of these opportunities, you may be already late to the game. Idling capacity is a notion that was first systematically studied and measured in the context of industrial processes. There is value in the “idling capacity” of all assets.

Resource 126

Resource Commerce Social Media Platform 126

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 17, 2012

Program Overview: This interactive workshop educates and empowers angel investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in access to capital on a variety of ways to value pre-revenue companies. It will explain three valuation methodologies: the Venture Capital Method, the Scorecard Method and the Risk Factor Summation Method.

Tech Coast Angels 113

Tech Coast Angels Case Study San Diego Study 113

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2016

we're proud to be part of one of the world's most vibrant innovation ecosystems with some of the fastest growing companies and most creative entrepreneurs. Despite the Q1 correction in valuation, and subsequent drop in VC funding, we saw numerous LA companies not only survive, but thrive - despite the macroeconomic trends.

Santa Monica 124

Santa Monica Southern California Venture Capital SoCalTech 124

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

Want to be an entrepreneur? In addition, Entrepreneur Magazine recently included UCSB in its Top 50 Schools For VC Backed Entrepreneurs at number 37. A decent showing, but well below a number of larger schools, as the ranking is based on the number of graduates who secured VC funding. Techpreneurs.

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

The MoneyTree Report is a quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the United States. As a collaboration between PwC and the National Venture Capital Association, based upon data from Thomson Reuters, it is the only industry-endorsed research of its kind.

Press 100

Press Venture Capital Study Report 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 3, 2010

Please join LAVA, PricewaterhouseCoopers and a distinguished panel of industry experts and local VCs for their insights on the results of the Q4 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Report based on data from Thomson Reuters. See [link] (more).

LAVA 100

LAVA Study Venture Capital Press 100

Xconomy

APRIL 11, 2017

All three were former Laguna Pharmaceuticals executives who spent the past 16 months scouting for Frazier as entrepreneurs-in-residence. As part of the financing, Kalamazoo-based Octeta Therapeutics has been rechristened Cirius Therapeutics, and three San Diego-based biotech executives are stepping into key executive roles.

Study 55

Study San Diego Entrepreneur Venture Capital 55

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

There have been many studies done on the topic including looking at twins raised in separate families. There have been studies of adopted children to their natural parents versus the parents that raised them. I have also seen studies on “birth order.&#. I’m an ex entrepreneur. I’m biased, too.

Startup 289

Startup Statistics Entrepreneur Study 289

socalTECH

JULY 9, 2019

in Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences from West Virginia University, and told us a bit about the fund, its investments, and his advice to entrepreneurs looking for investment from the company. Chris Bostick: We're a mid-Wilshire venture firm, with a $260M fund. What are you looking for in a company and entrepreneur?

Venture Capital 113

Venture Capital Invest SaaS Entrepreneur 113

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Please join LAVA, PricewaterhouseCoopers and a distinguished panel of industry experts and local VCs for their insights on the results of the Q3 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Report based on data from Thomson Reuters. See http:­/­/www­.lava­.org.

LAVA 100

LAVA Study Venture Capital Press 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

Applied research is still primarily scientific study, seeking to solve practical problems, but doesn’t yet focus on a commercial product. While all forms of technology research and development will always be required, entrepreneurs need to understand that the funding for these efforts comes from many different sources, depending on the stage.

Help 165

Help Research Startup Funding 165

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. Deal evaluations the Foundry way, which continues into a great discussion about VC decision-making processes. “So Brad’s start in Venture Capital. was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288