Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

Prime examples include Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat. People are even talking about “decacorns" -- investable companies with net worth now exceeding $10 billion -- like Dropbox and Pinterest. Seed-round investment. This term refers to an initial venture-capital investment, often wrongly sought to seed early product development.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capitalists) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than the more risky research and development efforts. The positives are that you give up no equity, and these apply to the early startup stages, but they do take time and much effort to win.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The problem is that professional investors (Angels and Venture Capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than the more risky research and development efforts. The positives are that you give up no equity, and these apply to the early startup stages, but they do take time and much effort to win.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than the more risky research and development efforts. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Solicit funds from friends and family. Apply for contests and business grants.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capitalists) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than the more risky research and development efforts. The positives are that you give up no equity, and these apply to the early startup stages, but they do take time and much effort to win.

Develop 70

Develop Development Product Startup 70

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2016

If your team has a depth of expertise in software, that won’t help you get funding for a new hardware solution. Investors all know that the startup road is long and hard, so they look for people who have put and will continue to put “skin in the game” -- time, sweat equity, and money. Focus on prior results, not titles.

Startup 60

Startup Entrepreneur Software Review Technical Review 60

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. So the people who invest in VC funds have two problems.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The problem is that professional investors (Angels and Venture Capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than the more risky research and development efforts. The positives are that you give up no equity, and these apply to the early startup stages, but they do take time and much effort to win.

Startup 123

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary. Join a startup incubator.

Startup 53

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 53

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

That refueling is when you will need more investment, or when you will break even and begin that steep profitable growth curve. As a rule of thumb, investors expect each investment round you get to last at least a year to 18 months. As a rule, you need to review your burn rate every month, and manage it every day.

Startup 92

Startup Outsource Development Development Team Review Equity 92

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

Darren Clark: It was officially May 9 of 2012, when David and I and others within YP and AT&T decided that given where we were with AT&T, their core focus on wireless, we should figure out how to take the business out of AT&T, so that we would not be constrained on our investments, and we could go after markets in a more strategic way.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 223

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

We also know we''re not a startup, and don''t have equity to offer. Yelp and Agie''s List has been fantastic in the reviews path. But, going down that review path was not where we wanted to take it, or at least, not where we wanted to start. guide directory software team technical yelllopages interview clark darren'

Technical Review 211

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 211

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

It’s like people arguing that there’s a beautiful beach house in 2006 that represents great long-term value due to scarcity of similar property. million pre-money valuation is now raising $1 million at a $12 million valuation the next investor has nowhere to go but up (or sit out the investment). And well they should be.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

socalTECH

DECEMBER 1, 2008

In what looks to be a challenging funding climate for entrepreneurs, we thought it would be interesting to talk to one fund which is still making investments--Saban Ventures (www.saban.com)--a new, digital media focused venture capital fund located in Los Angeles. We're looking to build out our investment portfolio.

Southern California 100

Southern California Media Venture Capital Invest 100

socalTECH

DECEMBER 1, 2008

In what looks to be a challenging funding climate for entrepreneurs, we thought it would be interesting to talk to one fund which is still making investments--Saban Ventures (www.saban.com)--a new, digital media focused venture capital fund located in Los Angeles. We're looking to build out our investment portfolio.

Capital 100

Capital Southern California Media Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2011

That refueling is when you will need more investment, or when you will break even and begin that steep profitable growth curve. As a rule, you need to review your burn rate every month, and manage it every day. The cost of giving up more equity early is often more than offset by the increased flexibility to recover from mistakes.

Startup 92

Startup Outsource Development Development Team Review Equity 92

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. A couple of quick stories / examples: 1. I usually try to avoid getting stuck reviewing people’s PowerPoint decks (I get this request too often and frankly I’m already behind on my own work!) Making Things Happen.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 11, 2011

This drove Mike to follows his passion in lieu of returning to the private equity world he had been in prior to business school. Bill pay aggregation software has been around for a few years now and is nothing revolutionary, but PayDivvy is not just an aggregation service.

Conference 96

Conference Orange County Technical Review Software Review 96

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2010

That refueling is when you will need more investment, or when you will break even and begin to make a profit. As a rule, you need to review your burn rate every month, and manage it every day. The cost of giving up more equity early is often more than offset by the increased flexibility to recover from mistakes. Great strategy.

Startup 48

Startup Outsource Development Development Team Review Equity 48

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Once you build it, they will now ask you about the key metrics that they need proven in order to see if you really are a good investment. Examples might be a recommendation engine, search engine, matching engine or something with a complex interface. Review the code being built. Plan for past the initial MVP.

Technical Review 338

Technical Review CTO Hire CTO Coach Software Review 338

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

Yet, despite his exceptional courtroom theatrics, you would be foolhardy to hire good old Johnnie to review your software cross-licensing agreement. Some startup attorneys will accept a portion of their initial fees in the form of equity. Bill Review – Believe it or not, lawyers and their staff are human (insert “gasp” here).

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due. Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. These are probably the two sites where I've posted the most reviews.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175