Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2011

tl;dr version: If you’re an entrepreneur or VC or will be working in this industry - buy this. When I first started as a startup CEO in 1999 there were no guides on raising venture capital. – entrepreneurs never seem to focus on anything other than ownership percentage. This article originally ran on TechCrunch.

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Guide Blogging 304

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2010

I call it the entrepreneur thesis. I’m not talk about the age old debate amongst investors whether you back entrepreneurs, markets or products (or as people like to hedge – product / market fit). It’s entrepreneurs I back. It’s what I call the “entrepreneur thesis.” So what is the “entrepreneur thesis?”

Entrepreneur 321

Entrepreneur GRP Partners Venture Capital Invest 321

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

But there are a lot of things that become norms in the VC industry that always drove me crazy from entrepreneur’s side of the table. Translation for any first time entrepreneurs can mean one of: a. As an entrepreneur you’re used to being optimistic and finding a way to make things work despite the odds. I get that.

Entrepreneur 297

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Java 297

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

More than ever, the banks and lenders today require personal guarantees from entrepreneurs, and even from CEO’s of angel or some VC funded businesses. Starting and running a small or growing business can be a challenge to the most confident and optimistic entrepreneur. A novel reward for the entrepreneur from the board.

Company 156

Company Companies Venture Capital Entrepreneur 156

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2012

El Segundo-based NanoH2O the developer of high efficiency, reverse osmosis membranes for seawater desalination, announced this morning that it has raised a total of $60M in equity and debt funding. As part of the funding, BASF Venture Capital, Total Energy Ventures and Keytone Ventures will all gain a seat on the firm's board of directors.

El Segundo 237

El Segundo Funding UCLA Equity 237

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

From a venture capitalist’s point of view, there are no “trick” questions. However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. In most cases, professional investors are not looking for a particular answer.

Entrepreneur 253

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 253

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. I was in it for the love of working with entrepreneurs on business problems and marveling at technology they had built. What happened? The tide has gone out.

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Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

Seth Levine of Foundry Group addresses this important topic this morning on his blog with a post, “ Has Convertible Debt Won ?&# I have to say that I didn’t take the question to mean that convertible debt had won for the entire market, but either way it’s clear that convertible debt has become an increasing trend.

Equity 319

Equity Pricing Venture Capital Entrepreneur 319

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2023

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. Each has met legal securities minimums for net worth and professionalism, to reduce the risk to entrepreneurs. Marty Zwilling

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

This is part of my series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Entrepreneurs are inherently risk takers.

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital CTO Hire 293

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. Every good entrepreneur needs to invest skin in the game, to show credibility and leadership to others.

Startup 109

Startup Funding Equity Invest 109

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. Understand how venture debt might shorten your projections. * If you have raised venture debt you might have even less time.

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Startup Company Companies .Net 383

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. With US student debt at over one trillion dollars, startups like Skillshare and Udemy provide top-class vocational training for the price of a Harvard hoodie. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Commerce Social Media Platform 111

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. With US student debt at over one trillion dollars, startups like Skillshare and Udemy provide top-class vocational training for the price of a Harvard hoodie. Marty Zwilling.

Resource 126

Resource Commerce Social Media Platform 126

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. Interest on debt model. m are not for crowdfunding, but actually are matchmaking sites between entrepreneurs and professional investors or banks, or incubators.

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Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2015

Image via Flickr by Jupiter Labs Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. Every good entrepreneur needs to invest skin in the game, to show credibility and leadership to others.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Invest 106

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Most entrepreneurs never forget for a moment that having investors means owing money, even if they can legally argue that equity is not debt.

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Funding Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital 107

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. raise money now to weather any storms). I expect this to continue.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. Every type of investor has comfortable ranges and limits. What business milestones have you met?

Funding 121

Funding Startup Equity Invest 121

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 29, 2012

From a venture capitalist’s point of view, there are no “trick” questions. However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. In most cases, professional investors are not looking for a particular answer.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 145

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I use George Bush vs. Al Gore as allegory and I’ve been using it with entrepreneurs for years to sink in a simple point about how to communicate with the market. Most Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs I know are more like Al Gore. It was a journalist who covered Venture Capital. It is election season. But not Peoria.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Editor's note: All this week, and into the start of next year, we'll be featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. Over the last four years, I watched numerous entrepreneurs raise equity. You'll be able to browse all of those contributions here.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2013

I continue to see stories of really young entrepreneurs, like this article on Business Insider , with pre-teens as young as 9 years old who make millions more than their parents. Another one is The Little Entrepreneur by Michael H. Another one is The Little Entrepreneur by Michael H. They assert, "It's never too early!

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

. - Can you please explain convertible debt and specifically how it pertains to angel deals? Convertible debt is a loan to the company that doesn’t typically get paid back but rather “converts&# into equity when you raise a larger round at a later date. Tags: This Week in Venture Capital. Don’t.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2021

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. Every good entrepreneur needs to invest skin in the game, to show credibility and leadership to others.

Funding 138

Funding Startup Equity Invest 138

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 25, 2019

That’s why one former Goldman Sachs banker has partnered with two entrepreneurs from the traditional agriculture industry to create Bespoke Financial. “Cannabis will become a broad, mature industry just like any other, and if that is going to happen, there needs to be a debt structure that can support that,” Mancheril says.

Capital 103

Capital Company Companies Los Angeles 103

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2021

New entrepreneurs often seem to confuse viability with fundability. Other entrepreneurs skip just a couple of the elements outlined in my original article, “ These 10 Key Elements Make a Business Plan Fundable. Investors know that first-time entrepreneurs who start a business without a good written plan almost always fail.

Funding 171

Funding Startup IBM IBM 171

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. Each has met legal securities minimums for net worth and professionalism, to reduce the risk to entrepreneurs. Marty Zwilling.

Angel 126

Angel Funding Venture Capital Seed Funding 126

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor). Dave’s book and ebook on raising money available on Amazon.com.

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Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

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. Traditional venture capitalists will focus on leading larger rounds of equity in fewer companies. Though we bank companies large and small around the globe, here in L.A.

Santa Monica 124

Santa Monica Southern California Venture Capital SoCalTech 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Most entrepreneurs never forget for a moment that having investors means owing money, even if they can legally argue that equity is not debt.

Startup 124

Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. Every type of investor has comfortable ranges and limits. What business milestones have you met?

Startup 135

Startup Equity Invest Funding 135

socalTECH

JUNE 21, 2013

Instead of equity, the company is aimed at profiting profitable small businesses with business debt funding from investors, to help those businesses grow and get to the next level. They face only two options for financing their companies with debt. Why did you decide to focus on debt, not equity? What is Dealstruck?

Startup 247

Startup Software Review Entrepreneur Equity 247

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. In these cases both the entrepreneur and the friends are the fools. Don’t be one or create one.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Equity Venture Capital 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2013

That’s why Angel investors are so sought after by entrepreneurs. Also, don’t expect enthusiasm for your gambling site, porn site, gaming, or debt collection business. entrepreneur startup investor funding bank loan business' These include food service, retail, consulting, work at home, and telemarketing. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Sites 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2022

As an entrepreneur, you simply use their investor search engine to find appropriate investors for your business according to location, industry interest, and other relevant criteria. This is another very popular website for raising equity or debt investments for startups. Angel Capital Association (ACA).

Startup 135

Startup Keiretsu Platform Invest 135

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I often feel the frustration of someone trying to build a startup in the wrong place and time, and wrongly attributing their struggle to personal limitations. Financial capital – revenue, equity, debt, funding. The best ideas evolve iteratively, and are tested by the ecosystem.

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Resource Startup Capital Mentor 131