InfoChachkie

MARCH 18, 2013

Angel investors are often the sole source of funding for startups at the critical pre-launch stage. Ideally, such early-stage investors should have the experiences and motivation to help their ventures establish a sustainable business model, rather than simply writing a check before moving on to their next investment.

Angel 217

Angel Technical Review RSS Entrepreneur 217

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. but: Something is Still Missing.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2012

Santa Monica-based Demand Media (www.demandmedia.com) has seen its share of ups and downs as one of the highest visibility technology and media companies to come out of Southern California's technology ecosystem in recent years. But, they could not write, and did not know what to write from the travel perspective.

Demand 240

Demand Media eHow Content 240

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

TechZulu caught up with co-founder Calvin Schemanski chat about their upcoming launch, their product and why Long reviews suck. myfab5 is a platform that reinvents the restaurant review. Unlike typical review sites, our platform does not use star ratings or long reviews. What is myfab5?

Software Review 79

Software Review Technical Review Writing Startup 79

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2014

” I have been weighing in slowly on the topic over the past few weeks on Twitter but have avoided writing a blog post about it until now. ” ( as I did very early talking in favor gay marriage - it seems that if you’re an NFL player you don’t have this same latitude , for example. But more to the point.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Blogging Examples Startup 329

Xconomy

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

With public interest in artificial intelligence technologies on the rise, five of the world’s largest corporations—vying against each other in so many spheres—are banding together to support research on the ethical and societal issues raised by machines with increasingly human-like capabilities.

Artificial Inteligence 40

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Technical Advisors Research 40

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

I reviewed a deal for a friend of mine tonight. He wanted to know what I thought of his technology deal. I always ask when somebody sends me a deal, for example, are you already a shareholder in the company? His fund is > $500 million and I guaranfuckingtee he ain’t calling me if that company is crushing it.

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

One example is that they introduced a program where their founders can pool together shares from their company and exchange them for a small portfolio of other First Round Capital companies. 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

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” To grow faster businesses need resources in today’s financial period to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. I acknowledged this in the article.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

For example, I come from a software background, and back in the early PC days, it could easily cost half a million dollars for a team of professionals to produce a commercial product. Unanticipated pivots, quality write-offs, and shrinkage. Obviously, the more detailed your business plan, the better.

Startup 105

Startup Software Review Technical Review Social Media 105

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. Examples: Bin38. I enjoy that. It’s over done.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

They’re not in search of price fixing or collusion, they’re in search of diligence information about the company. I’ll give you an example of information flow at its worst. When I was fund raising for my second company we had agreed a company-wide deal with Salesforce.com to use our product. At what valuation?

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

I wrote a version of this post four years ago but given the hectic nature of today’s tech markets I thought it was worth revisiting and updating. Let me give you an example. We write that into the calendar entry so that I (and any my partners) know this and would only reschedule if extremely urgent.

Conference 369

Conference Startup Century City Email 369

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2010

I’ve talked about how Twitter is a new form of RSS (curated RSS), it’s a a new form of IM / SMS , it’s a place where business is conducted and it’s a place where advertising will drive leads due to the link sharing nature of Twitter. had a great evening talking tech and startup.

Social Network 347

Social Network Networking Blogging RSS 347

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

And it’s the latest in a series of investments we’ve made in building out our practice as the LA technology market continues to grow robustly and attract entrepreneurs and investors. Sam in the perfect example. I told him that he needed to ship product before we could fund it. Help us review a few deals.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

socalTECH

OCTOBER 31, 2011

One of Urbandig's co-founders, Mike Macadaan -- the former VP of User Experience at MySpace, and creator of the technology conference Twiistup--sat down to talk to us about the company. There are lots of knowledgeable people that we find to write these guides--people who grew up there, and who are experts in the area.

Guide 203

Guide Software Review Twiistup Technical Review 203

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

Last week, Santa Monica-based Revolution Prep announced its first, institutional round of funding, worth $15M, from Kennet Partners. I had worked as a tutor for Princeton Review, and Jake for Kaplan. It was us, funding ourselves from credit cards, literally, to a company that is now on par with Kaplan and Princeton Review.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2018

Richard Wolpert is a well known investor in the Los Angeles technology community, through his own fund, Chance Technologies; as a Venture Partner at Amplify.LA and Venture Advisor at Accel Partners; and has a long history in the tech community, having been Chief Strategy Officer at RealNetworks and President of Disney Online.

Startup 147

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Software Review 147

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. Brad on blogging.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

He said, “They need an unbiased view of the fund raising environment because there is too much misinformation and everything seems to be changing fast.&#. I will write more about this in the next 2 weeks. – you’re very well positioned as a fund. This post originally ran on TechCrunch. I believe that.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

The easy answer of splitting it equally among all co-founders, since there is minimal value at that point, is usually the worst possible answer, and often results in a later startup failure due to an obvious inequity. Expertise can be marketing, technical, financial, or sales. Building a product doesn’t get it distributed and sold.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity CTO Hire 101

socalTECH

OCTOBER 30, 2008

We're always interested in how technology is influencing the business of Hollywood, and recently ran across Los Angeles-based Scripped. to the business of script writing, and is looking to combine a free online tool for writing scripts with matching those scripts with content producers.

Content 138

Content Writing Software Review Hollywood 138

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. Below is a quote about Gus from The Funded. One quick example. He also had experience in setting up tech development centers in India. He also had experience in setting up tech development centers in India. Gus has been amazing.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur 297

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. How to raise money with no lead - Venture Hacks , July 31, 2010 Paul Graham says “The future [of funding] is no fixed amount, no fixed closing date, and no lead.”

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

The easy answer of splitting it equally among all co-founders, since there is minimal value at that point, is usually the worst possible answer, and often results in a later startup failure due to an obvious inequity. Expertise can be marketing, technical, financial, or sales. Building a product doesn’t get it distributed and sold.

Equity 91

Equity Startup CTO Hire CTO Coach 91

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

Value is created through diligent hard work. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements. Thus, I will let my Big Dumb Company (BDC) partner write our agreement. Fallacy: No investor is so vital as to justify shielding them from the effects of future funding rounds, granting options or issuing warrants. Fallacy: Yes.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 19, 2012

The industry had seen unprecedented growth in the past decade due to a combination of factors, one of which was the United States’ economic recession. Due to the combination of these factors, marketers began to more heavily fund digital platforms. Resolving Mobile Couponing’s Redemption Pitfalls.

Mobile 85

Mobile Software Review Statistics Technical Review 85

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

We've basically taken advantage of all the new technology out there--especially, the web-based service model. Can you talk about some concrete examples of what you're managing? If you've taken a course, and need an application to do chemistry or math analysis, there's a store where you can write, share, sell, or buy those applications.

Education 124

Education Startup Course Tool 124

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 31, 2011

Messenger : Ian Siegel , Co-Founder |CEO ZipRecruiter , Former Executive Product and Technology roles at: MyLife, CitySearch, Stamps.com, Rent.com and Pictage. How about reviewing the Commission Junction user agreement! )”. Rent.com was a great example of that. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for.

MyLife 160

MyLife CitySearch Web Technical Review 160

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 31, 2011

Messenger : Ian Siegel , Co-Founder |CEO ZipRecruiter , Former Executive Product and Technology roles at: MyLife, CitySearch, Stamps.com, Rent.com and Pictage. How about reviewing the Commission Junction user agreement! )”. Rent.com was a great example of that. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for.

MyLife 157

MyLife CitySearch Web Technical Review 157

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

I have been writing a series on how startup boards get selected, who sits on them and what to avoid. This is often management’s fault because a long-deck plus financials that arrive the night before a board meeting don’t allow for directors to properly review them. Another example is proactively reviewing executive compensation.

Startup 251

Startup Help Technical Review Writing 251

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

How Most Board Meeting Prep Works I’ve been sitting on tech boards for two decades so I have some experience with what goes wrong. This can include: Fund raising, product development choices, sales, marketing effectiveness, competition, business development, M&A … whatever. This is part of a broader series on Board Meetings.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. Other times the partner wants to test whether there is support before sinking in tons of due diligence time. tip: write it down when asked / parked).

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

No rule is ever absolute no matter how it sounds when one writes a blog. I learned how to establish a technology center in India and how to manage disparate development teams (and this has drive my thoughts also about what does NOT work.). I learned how to do a pipeline review with sales people without getting bullshitted to.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. Microsoft Office ended up beating its competitors because it was able to read and write to file formats other than its own.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285