Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The first check I wrote was just over 10 years ago into a company called Invoca who just announced a new $56 million in funding led by Scott Hilleboe at HIG Growth Partners. We not only have our Series A funds that can write $500k?—?$15 15 million first checks but we also have three growth funds.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

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. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

These tensions seep out in some angels or seed funds publicly or semi-privately deriding later-stage VCs for their “bad” behavior. Prorata investments rights given investors the right to invest in your future fund-raising rounds and maintain their ownership % in your company as your company grows and raises more capital.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches? ” Here’s what I mean … Let’s start with what it takes for a journalist to want to write a story. ” Can you imagine that ever getting inches in the press? I am a VC.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal. And when the press releases and the attaboys wear off it still comes down to real work. If an accelerator is writing you they’re also writing 25 other VCs. I don’t. Pay attention.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I even prefer to fund entrepreneurs who have experience some level of set-backs in their careers or startups because I think it brings a humility to decision-making that I find healthy. In London when founders failed they were ostracized in the press and culturally I believe it became harder to raise capital.

Startup 261

Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” Another firm funded them. Of course that was a wrong narrative for both companies.

Snapchat 214

Snapchat Invest Technical Review Dollar Shave Club 214

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 21, 2021

When it comes to content, the group wants Netflix to increase its funding of trans and non-binary talent, bring employee resource groups into conversations about potentially harmful content, hire more trans and non-binary content executives, and revise internal procedures around commissioning and releasing sensitive works.

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Netflix Demand Content Hollywood 300

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. 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.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. And that’s what I love about her narrative. Here’s what I learned about Tracy: 1. She started her business from a personal need. So Tracy began keeping a blog about … (what else?)

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

It has even gone so far that we now have evocative headlines in the tech press such as “ Buy or Die ,” which is what got me thinking about this post. But the press (and I suspect many of the senior execs of these companies) don’t really explore the corrosive downside of these acquisition. Woo the press.

Press 357

Press Startup Yahoo Venture Capital 357

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Are you cynical about their chances in the market just because they seem to be hot in the press and that bugs you? Albert Wenger from Union Square Ventures wrote a great post the other day that reminded me I’ve been meaning to write about this topic. That plus great press & it’s working on some level.

Startup 313

Startup Press Writing News 313

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

According to the SEC we’re not allowed to market the fact that we’re fund raising, so I won’t. But for some strange reason they make you file your progress on fund raising, which is the widely picked up by the press. So it is now publicly known that we have closed $150 million in our 4th fund.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

But don’t let this information get out into the general press and don’t market more than a few months out. Market to Your Target Audience – I’ve seen a lot of startups who like to write blog posts on life as an entrepreneur. You’re reading their press releases or blog posts. They come and go.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

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

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

I’ve tried over the years to write many times about the realism of the downsides of being an entrepreneur because there is a complete cognitive dissidence between what you read about yourself in the press and what you feel internally about where you’re at in the journey. Of course that’s true.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

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

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

And of course we help with business development introductions and with fund raising events. But unlike the popular press reporting of this conflict — 80% of the time it is founder-to-founder conflict and not investor-to-founder conflict. Often we are asked to get involved in executive-level recruiting. Those seldom get reported.

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

This was exactly the approach Steve took when he self-published Four Steps via Café Press, at the behest of his then star pupil, Eric Ries , Co-Founder of IMVU and the author of The Lean Startup. According to Steve, “The original version (of Four Steps) was printed on tree bark at Café Press. I have to thank him for that.”.

Startup 229

Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

It’s a hard topic to write about because it’s almost an accepted norm that total transparency is good. They told you, “Yeah, man, I’ll gladly write the first $250,000. We funded one in 2005 and lost a lot of money. CEO transparency. It almost sounds uncontroversial. A CEO should tell her staff everything!

Startup 417

Startup Course Venture Capital Writing 417

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Only naive people believe that but for inexperienced entrepreneurs you can be fooled into the narrative by the press who sometimes write stories without the actual data. THE FULL STORY.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most newspapers are written at a third-grade reading level, White House press releases average a fourth-grade reading level and the New York Times is easily digestible by the average fifth grader. No VC Fit - Match your venture with appropriate funding source. Who do I write the check to and where do I send it? Financials.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

I said, ''Hey, listen were going to start writing this newsletter and it''s going to highlight our trials and tribulations, our failures and our successes. The opening paragraphs of that first newsletter are indicative of the captivating and accessible writing style, which eventually cultivated a huge audience. And of those 35 people.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

socalTECH

JUNE 11, 2018

For those not familiar with the writing process in Hollywood works, fill us in? We saw that there were a lot of talent discovery programs out there, such as screenwriting fellowships, labs, film festivals, workshops, and writing competitions. John Rhodes: It's been bootstrapped from day one, and is completely self funded.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Hollywood Platform Competition 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. He did it yesterday, “Mark, I’m going to write a blog post following on from your VC’s aren’t dumb. Rob does it. On steroids.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Getting involved with political events and fund raisers. 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. Sheryl Sandberg leans in? Kara perfected that. Kara as CEO.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

I am inspired by the constant innovation in our industry by First Round Capital like the Dorm Room Fund , their expansion to Philadelphia (I hope they also have a secret plot to replace Andy Reid while there), the exchange fund and other initiative. And I don’t want to be complacent. How does this changing world affect me?

Venture Capital 400

Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

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. Mostly during the day I’m in meetings or doing work.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

I said, ''Hey, listen were going to start writing this newsletter and it''s going to highlight our trials and tribulations, our failures and our successes. The opening paragraphs of that first newsletter are indicative of the captivating and accessible writing style, which eventually cultivated a huge audience. And of those 35 people.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

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. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

To grow faster businesses need resources in today to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year. They don’t want high burn rates but they will never fund slow growth. million to fund operations in their first year of operations. They raised $5 million in venture capital to fund growth. What did they actually do?

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

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. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

I even had some reservations about writing this blog post this because I have no desire to p**s off other investors or great entrepreneurs. You may already know all this since it occurred a couple of weeks ago and was already in the press. I almost never read anything on Quora but tech, startup and funding articles.

Blogging 328

Blogging Content Press Startup 328

InfoChachkie

JUNE 9, 2015

With top-ranked accelerators Lauchpad LA closing its doors and Y Combinator rebranding itself as a seed fund, it seems fair to ask the question, “Are Accelerators Dead?”. My Forbes co-contributor Geri Stengel concurs that something is happening in the Volunteer State, writing last month about that state’s emerging women entrepreneurs.

Startup 100

Startup Class LAMP Santa Barbara 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

The press around the raise & company was fantastic and the promise of their technology – wireless charging that works as easily as WiFi – would positively affect many of our lives. . If anything I’d like to fund 5 more teams and projects this ambitious. ” **. Now they are partners. Time will tell.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

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. I suppose I should have imagined that this line would get more press than all other comments combined. I believe that.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

We want to invest in early-stage technology enabled startup businesses – upfront in the funding cycle. We like to hire people and fund people who are deeply ethical and we try to be long-term in our investment thinking. We established our brand to lay out our belief system codified in a word: Upfront.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150