Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

I give a sneak peek at a blog post I’m writing on the topic next week. 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. I’m going to make this a regular part of the show since it was really fun.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

Berkonomics

MAY 8, 2014

I am chairman of a company that, as I write this, is twelve years old and has not yet taken a dollar of outside investment. Grant writing takes skill and immense amounts of time. First, here’s a link to my recent TEDx talk, “Smiling at success; laughing at failure.”

Companies 166

Companies Company Writing Education 166

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I will write more about this in the next 2 weeks. But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value. Rational people can disagree and some may argue that today’s prices are rational and under-pinned by economic drivers. I believe that. That’s fine.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

The process for retailers and brands to liquidate excess inventory hasn’t changed very much, if at all, and while some retailers were able to build operational infrastructure to service the off-price channels, it continues to be a constant pain point. The equity will go toward hiring more talent to join Ghost’s 25-person team.

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you know, VCs end up writing sizable checks into their own funds, which is important in better aligning interests. They will have to negotiate price and terms. Therefore of course they need to be more selection when writing checks and can’t spread their bets across 75 deals. million round I might write $1.8 – 2.2

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

The idea that the course asks students to write public blog posts is a testament to its more modern teaching style. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. Feedback isn’t always an excuse – and often sales people can provide the best feedback to your product teams.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When to get a lawyer - If you plan to be a venture or angel backed technology company (what I mostly write about) the best time to start meeting and getting to know lawyers is long before you ever start your company. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Many people start companies arse backwards.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Every investor in your startup, even friends and family, normally expects a share of your company (equity), which means your return for all your effort goes down quickly. This is at least double the time required for most equity investments, and may be a delay you can’t afford in keeping up with the market and your competitors.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

And how do you think the next person who’s thinking about writing you a check going to feel about that sort of cavalier attitude with their money? Let’s assume that the $2 million buys 25% of your company, which is the norm in an equity financing. How does your brother-in-law feel about that? Should you take it?

Startup 319

Startup Venture Capital Capital Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Clearly a startup should consult its lawyer before filing or not filing.But the attorneys I relied on to write this piece told me that they’ve done lots of Section 4(2) deals in the past, and would recommend it to clients who had relatively simple financing agreements (not tranched-out, not too many investors, etc.) They also avoid Reg D.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Redpoint 285

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Three reasons: There is a relative valuation between the price a VC pays and their expectations of what it will exit for in an IPO or trade sale. This came in part due to the huge influx of money into VC but also because hedge funds and private equity shops with no VC experience wanted part of the action. Short answer – yes.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

He did it yesterday, “Mark, I’m going to write a blog post following on from your VC’s aren’t dumb. He is very pleasant when he calls and writes. You may know how much to pay in cash or equity for your new VP Engineering. Ask them for a meeting to review your pricing strategy with you. Rob does it.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

Boards are not appointed to be founder-friendly lapdogs for the 1–3 founders who start companies and usually own the largest equity positions in the company. Executives run the day-to-day so often the board is more involved as a sparring partner at key intervals. The administrative work we actually do at board meetings?

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Big thank you to Darius Vasefi , of EyeOnJewels for the write up. People want to invest in people they trust – once you’ve made money for someone you can always go back, and even get better pricing. o Everything is for sale but it’s the price that moves the timing. Here’s a summary of our interview.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

As BCG writes in its report: The good news for SoCal and any region with tech ambitions is that the Bay Area has in some ways been too successful. In fact, as is well-reported, the luster of Silicon Valley is fading.

Southern California 224

Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 224

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

The Facebook parent-company saw its stock price get bludgeoned after a bad earnings report showcased that Apple’s ad-blocking changes are shaving billions off its books and the company’s crown jewel — the Facebook platform — has stopped growing and actually shrank this quarter. Image Credits: Facebook. the big thing.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I don’t write about LA but I write from LA. I prefer not to do any angel investments because I focus on my VC funds but it was gratifying to write some small checks to support local teams. I’d LOVE to see it become more of a national vehicle. How do we make that happen? It’s important. We know it can be done.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. It pains me to see the typical (and predictable) responses on Twitter, “VCs want prices to drop!” ” “Sure, prices are dropping.

Startup 150

Startup Companies Company Venture Capital 150

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. Option pool (likely dilution in the future, which is a function of a higher price just not yet defined). So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages?

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

Software-as-a-service companies write good software, and network companies build good networks, but rarely do you find both that do that well as the same time. We're privately funded today, with some equity from Menlo Ventures and Steamboat Ventures. Those two typically don't go together well. There's complexity in being a CDN.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2014

My next pivot after writing down all the good stuff (which of course is actually usual to know) is to say, “Those are some great strengths and some of the reasons we liked Stacy so much, which is great to have confirmed by you. You expected no less. In that post I wrote. “If you’ve never read Freakonomics you need to.

Startup 302

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Report 302

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

Defy teaches them personal finance like how to keep a checking account, the difference between debt and equity, what cashflow is and so forth. Even those have a price in our society … Brock Turner raped an unconscious woman and was released in 3 months. She was smart (she started her career in private equity!)

Writing 150

Writing Startup Design Training 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Investors like to see that you have committed personal funds as well as “sweat equity,” and they like to see real progress at this level.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

We can roll in there, and we tell them we're willing to pay a very fair price to you for this app, so that instead of those monthly checks, we can give you a much more substantial check right now, which they can use to build their next app or take a vacation to the Barbados. And they are all roller coasters, as you know.

Media 153

Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 31, 2012

“In his 2010 offer letter and 2011 Levinsohn will receive severance payments, plus an equity award of 67,000 restricted stock units with stock options of 250,000 which at an exercise price of $15.80 I am writing to let you know that Ross Levinsohn will be leaving the company at the end of July. Do Not Forward.

Yahoo 74

Yahoo Pricing Writing Entertainment 74

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Investors like to see that you have committed personal funds as well as “sweat equity,” and they like to see real progress at this level.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Investors like to see that you have committed personal funds as well as “sweat equity,” and they like to see real progress at this level.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you’re raising a round where a new lead investor would invest $5 million the VC fund must have no less than $100 million and if you’re looking for them to write $15–20 million as the lead their fund realistically should be at least $400 million. can I get 20 minutes to swing by” is a good way to engage.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

We spent a lot of time talking about what type of company we wanted to create, how many employees we’d eventually have, whether we would take funding, our lifestyle, and a dozen other things that had nothing to do with writing software. We focus very much on finding employees who are a cultural fit and we share equity when appropriate.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually have a plan. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Investors like to see that you have committed personal funds as well as “sweat equity,” and they like to see real progress at this level.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

You don’t have unlimited equity to dole out. She can anticipate reactions to price increases or product changes by customers and she can sustain competitive challenges because she knows the customer will stick by her. I wanted to just write. I like writing. What I’m talking about is making tough decisions.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

socalTECH

MAY 25, 2016

We'd do a Series A, and participate in the Series B, but when companies hit breakout, we would call a late stage VC and have them price the deal, and do all of that. We can now write $20M, $25M, and $30M checks to existing, breakout companies in our portfolio. Each and everyone is creating their own equity scenario.

Southern California 113

Southern California Capital Funding Invest 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

They might not actively “collude&# and say “let’s collectively keep the price down&# but in the resulting discussion pricing information will flow – whether intentional or not. They’re not in search of price fixing or collusion, they’re in search of diligence information about the company.

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. If you’re going to play in the big leagues you need to be writing checks from a $700 million?—?$1 Are we in a bubble?” By definition?—?I’m of the fund.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

In those years I learned to properly build product, price products, sell products and serve customers. Starting in 2009 I began writing checks consistently, year-in and year-out. I admit that my writing style back then was a bit more carefree, provocative and opinionated. So now our collective companies are worth less.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

I’m sitting at my computer now at 9.00pm writing this – which is an hour earlier than I normally write (there are about 8 women at my kitchen table having a book club (aka excuse to drink wine & gossip so I’m locked in another room writing. Should entrepreneurs have convertible debt or priced equity?

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

Once you prove that a substantial, addressible market segment is willing to pay a price for your solution that exceeds your costs, you can consider a licensing strategy. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements. Thus, I will let my Big Dumb Company (BDC) partner write our agreement. 4) Perform China Syndrome Market Analysis.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242