socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2011

This morning, Pasadena-based Perfect Market (www.perfectmarket.com) announced a new, $9M round of funding for the firm's technology, which is used to help publishers monetize their content. Congrats on funding. Right now, news organizations write off the news cycle. Their content is pretty much event based.

Marketing 232

Marketing Funding Content Writing 232

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. One of the most important aims of a fund-raising process is to keep similar firms at the same stage of your process. Why 8–10 and not just 3–4?

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Berkonomics

AUGUST 17, 2023

Their investment should be structured with the help of a good attorney who understands the mutual goal of maximum leverage of funds with minimum interference in your business decisions. Protect the investor as well as yourself. Mother is surely satisfied as a passive investor who probably would have given her son the money without structure.

Invest 296

Invest Capital Startup Entrepreneur 296

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 23, 2020

There’s also a relatively modest request (of only $4 billion) for funding devoted to pilot projects, startup companies, and public clean technology investment initiatives (like LACI). The funding would include $20 billion for utility upgrades. There’s $25 billion in money set aside for public transit and $12.5

Southern California 261

Southern California Los Angeles Rosemead Incubator 261

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 5, 2019

Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in San Diego, we're throwing an exclusive PitchFest speed dating event where you will be pitching to over 20 investors one-on-one! At this San Diego Event, we will be showcasing some of the newest early-stage venture funds and angel groups in the San Diego area!

San Diego 100

San Diego Venture Capital Angel Summary 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 22, 2019

Register for the FundingPost event on Thursday, March 28th, 2019. FundingPost has hosted 400 sold-out venture events in 22 cities over the past 17 years. At our next event, the panel of Investors will focus on Early-Stage Venture Investing: How to meet investors, pitch them, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check!

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles Venture Capital Angel Conference 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 7, 2019

Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in Orange County, we're throwing an exclusive PitchFest speed dating event where you will be pitching to over 20 investors one-on-one! At this OC Event, we will be showcasing some of the newest early-stage venture funds and angel groups in the San Diego area!

Orange County 100

Orange County Venture Capital Angel Tech Coast Angels 100

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Very few people fund individuals. Professional angels / former entrepreneurs / seed funds – In Silicon Valley there are people like Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Mike Maples and many more. The key to getting money is that the people writing the check trust you. It is also the best thing to send in advance see here.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Ask Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble , who raised over $10 million on the Kickstarter crowd-funding platform for his relatively low-tech wristwatch with programmed clock faces. Kickstarter may take a bit of the credit for this, but they admit the majority of projects without media attention don’t even approach their funding goals.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

amSTATZ is an online community that brings fitness professionals, athletes and fitness events together into one place. Founded in the summer of 2011 and their first product out a few weeks ago amSTATS wants to help users to follow fitness events and programs near them and find a great fitness trainer to help them stay fit.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. These efforts should be started well before you are ready for funding.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2014

If you set around quietly waiting for someone you know to offer you money to fund a startup, you will probably have a long wait. We would all love to have a million dollars of funding to “do it right” and build the company of our dreams. Communicate the risks, and write down the agreement. Don’t be one. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 106

Startup Funding Technical Review Ideas 106

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

If you set around quietly waiting for someone you know to offer you money to fund a startup, you will probably have a long wait. We would all love to have a million dollars of funding to “do it right” and build the company of our dreams. Communicate the risks, and write down the agreement. Don’t be one. Marty Zwilling.

Invest 135

Invest Technical Review Startup Ideas 135

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

I go every year because I love events hosted & moderated by insiders involving discussions by insiders because it maximizes the amount of real discussions people have. I wrote my version here and Scott wrote an excellent write-up of his views here. I believe most LPs still want discipline in fund sizes, fees and focus.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital SaaS Writing Funding 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Don’t let your passion convince you that word-of-mouth and viral marketing will suffice against well-funded competitors and ever more demanding customers. Target income and expense by year, including funding. Here I recommend a 5-year projection of revenues, expenses, and funding requirements. Budget time and dollars for each.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 15, 2010

Last night I attended the inaugural Open Angel Forum event started by Jason Calacanis , a fellow LA resident. Jason started the Open Angel Forum in response to his frustration that entrepreneurs were being charged by some angel organizations to present at their events. The event last night in Los Angeles was great.

Angel 254

Angel Startup Tech Coast Angels MyShape 254

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Weddings are a bit like college degrees – they often set you back financially for many years after the event. So many women aspire to wear Vera Wang, but few can really afford the dresses. And further, Tracy felt the calling to try to build something “green.” So Tracy began keeping a blog about … (what else?)

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

I worked with an entrepreneur who was to appear at a startup networking event where he was to talk about his company’s plans. He considered pulling out of the event because he wanted to stay in “stealth mode&# and felt an event like this compromised him. A funding announcement is a stand-alone event.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

In that article I talked about how PR drives: recruiting, employee retention, biz dev deals, funding and even M&A and that often “attribution” to your PR activities is unknown. Contrary to popular opinion I actually believe crowd-funding is best used after seed capital or venture capital. I have no money?

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

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. I have publicly said many times that there is a positive to crowd funding.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 21, 2021

The exact turnouts of the employee walkout and solidarity rally are unclear, but there was enough hype around the event that Preston preemptively moved it to a location with more space. But Sarandos doubled down on his defense of the special, writing an internal email that “content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.”

Netflix 300

Netflix Demand Content Hollywood 300

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2019

Ask Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble , who raised over $10 million on the Kickstarter crowd-funding platform for his relatively low-tech wristwatch with programmed clock faces. Kickstarter may take a bit of the credit for this, but they admit the majority of projects without media attention don’t even approach their funding goals.

Press 96

Press Entrepreneur Social Media Training 96

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. A normal VC fund raises a new fund every three years if they are strong performers.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 17, 2019

Harris writes: “The figures, dating back to 2016, paint a picture of a company desperate to meet over-ambitious autonomy targets and one that is willing to spend freely, even recklessly, to get there. .” There were mutterings at the event, and wild cries on Twitter, of disappointment (there were plenty of platitudes as well).

San Fernando 217

San Fernando Los Angeles Commerce News 217

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2019

Even if it’s only a few PowerPoint slides or typed paragraphs, writing something down is the first step toward making it real. Always write in the future tense, what you will do, and name yourself as the key person responsible. The process will force you solidify the specifics, and mentally commit to them.

Ideas 99

Ideas Slides Writing Startup 99

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

I speak a lot on college campuses and entrepreneur events and amongst the most common things I’m asked to talk about are: What do VCs fund? Do VCs really take risks on ground-breaking ideas any longer or do they just fund businesses once there is proof of traction? How does one come up with the right idea to start a company?

Design 150

Design Ideas Startup Writing 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

And of course we help with business development introductions and with fund raising events. I have been meaning to write this for a while as I’ve noticed that much of my board time is involved in trying to be an independent referee for founders who themselves are trying to resolve their own conflicts. Those seldom get reported.

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

Berkonomics

MARCH 13, 2014

In a movie, the inciting incident is the event at the beginning of the story which causes the hero’s life to be completely transformed and irrevocably changed, and which makes the whole story unfold. This event totally changes the life of Michael Corleone and makes the rest of the story happen. By David Steakley.

Invest 237

Invest Examples Networking Writing 237

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If angel investors are pressuring you to set up a board and if you don’t have the leverage to push back a little then I might suggest a 3-person board in which all 3 seats are appointed by the common stock and you agree to appoint one of these seats to the angel investor but perhaps make it either time based or event based.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

If you set around quietly waiting for someone you know to offer you money to fund a startup, you will probably have a long wait. We would all love to have a million dollars of funding to “do it right” and build the company of our dreams. Communicate the risks, and write down the agreement. Don’t be one. Marty Zwilling.

Funding 93

Funding Technical Review Startup Ideas 93

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

It took about half of one day for the event, focused on the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur, and showcasing what women are building. It's a great event. You want to get some candor from the executives who are presenting as part of the event. However, I don't want to see we are there.

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management. If you are burning $250k / month then you need $3 million to fund a year or $4.5 Each investor would need to write $1–1.5 million for 18 months.

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

Yager outlines in her book just a few of the reasons why an entrepreneur needs to overcome the fear, and master the art of speaking in public, and I’ve taken the liberty of adding a few occasions from my own business experience: You need funding, and have to address a group of investors.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Customer Custom 113

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. As a courtesy if you enjoyed his write-up please check out his startup company, ChannelStack. In 2008 they raised a much larger fund $132.5

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Getting involved with political events and fund raisers. And still able to make it out to LA networking events. She helps write press releases. When I told them I really wanted to work with them and lead their funding round they each had their, “but can you please save some space for …” moment.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2012

I got a call from a VC friend of mine who said, “we’re looking at this deal but can’t write the full check. But I had just seen the company present at a recent tech event and thought highly of what they were building. I decided to write a $2+ million check along with my co-investor who offered $750k.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Writing 356