Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

Fund raising. But it’s critical for your business, for you as a leader and people who excel at fund raising have an extreme advantage over those who do not. As a VC I also have to fund raise every three years and these posts 100% apply to VCs raising money, too. It definitely has a “d” in it, as in it’s really not fun, raising.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I Know Everybody Told You to Send Your Fund-Raising Decks as a Link. Here’s Why You Should Just Send the Deck I know you have your document sending tool to send your fund-raising deck to VCs and track who read your deck, which pages they read and how much time they spend on each page. What should not be in your deck? A deck is a deck.

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

To grow faster businesses need resources in today’s financial period to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year. The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. You may have leverage when you DO need to fund raise. “COGS” represents the amount that each sale costs you.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

JULY 14, 2021

Los Angeles-based Endgame, a developer of software that links user behavior with sales opportunities, has raised $17M in funding, according to the company. The funding was split between a $12.25M, Series A funding round led by Menlo Ventures, and an earlier $5M Series Seed funding which was led by Upfront Ventures.

Sales 124

Sales Software Seed Funding Los Angeles 124

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2015

I write about sales often both because it’s the lifeblood of any organization and because in my experience it is the area in which more startups are least experienced or inclined. I also write and talk about it frequently because raising capital is a part of sales and this is important for entrepreneurs to understand.

Sales 150

Sales Startup Venture Capital Funding 150

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 29, 2021

Salted , a Los Angeles-based startup creating digitally native quick-service restaurant brands, brought in a new round of $16 million in Series A funding to continue its nationwide expansion. million in annual sales, he added. Creadev led the Series A that also included Proof Ventures and B. Riley Financial.

Funding 186

Funding Los Angeles Invest Examples 186

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Today, a startup that is doing this in the specific area of distressed property is announcing a round of growth funding to ramp up its team and expand its business. The funding is being led by QED Investors; Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, Navitas Capital, and Prudence Holdings also participated.

Sales 282

Sales Demand San Diego Funding 282

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

Many people are too cautious in sales processes and as a result when they present their solutions they end up sounding milquetoast and undifferentiated from anybody else in the market. I recently wrote about the three rules of sales. In sales we often call these USPs (I wrote about them here: Unique Selling Propositions ).

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2018

Every entrepreneur wants to hear “yes” during the fund-raising process but I would argue that being too risk averse and not pushing hard enough and be willing to hear a “no” is what holds back many people from “yes.” These are similar to the pipeline reviews I used to do with sales reps when I was a CEO.

Funding 189

Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Venture Capital 189

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

So when I meet with GRP portfolio companies that do enterprise sales I try to emphasize the following: 1. Hopefully it’s not as a way of avoiding fund raising or finding quick pockets of money. Often your sales engineers can do the customizations without bugging the core eng team. At a minimum co-ownership of the IP.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software Services Company 321

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 11, 2021

Linktree has been around since 2016 and has more funding than its up-and-coming competitors. So, in February 2020, with little to no funding left, the company completely pivoted to its current link-in-bio business. Now, Snipfeed enters the ring with its own $5.5 We only make money if they make money,” Ramdani said. With its $5.5

Platform 286

Platform Commerce Startup Tool 286

socalTECH

JANUARY 3, 2022

The company is backed by Sequoia's China Fund, Hillhouse, and CICC, and received $100M in a Series B investment back in June of 2021. The company said it more than tripled its sales in 2021, the second consecutive year for the growth. The company has benefited from an interest in its batteries for disaster preparedness.

Sales 113

Sales Los Angeles Invest Funding 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

It has historically been the case that VCs would rather fund the promise of 100x in a company with almost no revenue than the reality of a company growing at 50% but doing $20+ million in sales. Our goal is to produce a $10 billion+ winner and remain the market leader in this SaaS category of AI in Sales & Marketing.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 363

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

It also handles the back end as well by automating the posting, sale and shipment of unsold inventory while offering immediate payment to creditworthy sellers. million in new funding for its predictive inventory recommendation platform, joining other similar companies, including Zippedi and Inventa. Last week, Syrup Tech raised $6.3

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2021

San Diego-based Emerged, a new startup which provides qualified leads to healthcare organizations, says it has raised a seed round of funding. The funding came from Round One Capital. Emerged said the new funding will go to scale its software platform and for sales and marketing. Size of the investment was not announced.

Seed Funding 113

Seed Funding Funding San Diego Sales 113

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

Planning and dealing with extra-ordinary events: M&A, fund raising, crises. By now you have many smart people around your board but probably people who don’t totally understand the nuances of your employees, customers, sales reps, marketing messages, technology challenges, competitors and strategic choices. Mentorship.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

My rationale is simple: everything goes wrong and only great teams can respond to competitors, markets, funding environments, staff departures, PR disasters and the like. Your first sales people should be consultative sellers who can fuel evangelical sales. Final startup grind from msuster.

Startup 388

Startup Slides Outsource Development Sales 388

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. As a former angel investor, I look for this level of alignment and understanding in every funding presentation I hear. It forces you to bridge the gap between idea and execution.

Funding 133

Funding Activity Customer Custom 133

socalTECH

OCTOBER 8, 2021

Size of the seed funding was not announced. The company said its tools provide sales and financial training, tools to understand financial benchmarks, and education around understanding key data analytics. The startup is led by two co-CEOs, Izhak Musli and Terri Ross.

Seed Funding 113

Seed Funding Platform Beverly Hills Funding 113

socalTECH

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Costa Mesa-based Givsum , which develops online software to help charitable organizations with their operations and fundraising, says it has received both new funding, as well as support, from two accelerators. Givsum is led by co-founder and CEO Shawn Wehan. READ MORE>>.

Funding 124

Funding Coach Organization Platform 124

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

There are obvious reasons the industry has had less-than-desirable returns, including: massive over-funding of the sector, huge increases in inexperienced venture capitalists that took a decade to peter out, and the massive correction in the value of the public stock markets that closed many exit opportunities for half a decade.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 10, 2020

Los Angeles-based Signal Automotive , a startup which develops software for managing buying, selling, and inventory allocation for automobile dealers, has raised $20M in a funding round. The funding was led by Kayne Partners Fund, the growth private equity arm of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP.

Software 124

Software Sales Southern California Equity 124

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 21, 2017

Once a company founder has tapped the funds available from his or her resources and from friends and family, if the company needs more cash for growth, the most obvious next step is to look for money from angel investors and venture capitalists, typically in the $300,000 TO $3,000,000 range.

Invest 243

Invest Sales Resource Email 243

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. The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. They don’t want high burn rates but they will never fund slow growth. COGS” represents the amount that each sale costs you.

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I spend a lot of time with startups and thus hear many companies talk about their approach to sales and their interactions with customers. Given customers & sales are the lifeblood of any organization you’d imagine everybody would respect their customers. Contrast that with a VC conversation I had. Startup Lessons'

Customer 341

Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

TechCrunch LA

JULY 29, 2019

Los Angeles-based Ordermark , the online delivery management service for restaurants founded by the scion of the famous, family-owned Canter’s Deli, said it has raised $18 million in a new round of funding. The round was led by Boulder-based Foundry Group. Canters restaurant royalty raises $9.5

Services 195

Services Los Angeles Sales Funding 195

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Today, one of the companies that is supplying produce and other items both to consumers and other services that are in turn selling food and groceries to them, is announcing a new round of funding as it gears up to take its next step, an IPO. Source tell us it is now between $400 million and $500 million.

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2016

It is an heroic accomplishment in a brutal fund-raising market in which only market leaders can bring in that sort of money. We started planning our fund raising as much as 14 months ago. forward sales with some as high as 12x sales. forward sales with some as high as 12x sales.

Funding 150

Funding Startup SaaS Venture Capital 150

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2021

Playa Vista-based iLife, a startup which is developing tools to help life insurance agents set up their own, branded "digital insurance agency", has raised $4M in a seed funding round, according to the company. iLife said the funding was led by Foundation Capital, and also include AME Cloud Ventures and Cherubic Ventures.

Sales 113

Sales Seed Funding Startup Tool 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 24, 2020

Santa Monica-based Quid , which offers up a way for private company employees to gain liquidity even before their startups are purchased or have an initial public offering, said on Monday that it has raised $320M in a second fund. Quid's service is an alternative to secondary market sales.

Funding 113

Funding Anthem Santa Monica Capital 113

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

There is a mythology amongst some LPs (funds that invest in VCs) and some VCs that “entry price doesn’t matter – only investing in the absolute best entrepreneurs.” Bimodal returns are a fallacy, many great VC funds are built on the power law curve. I’m assuming that’s for positive outcome deals.

Startup 323

Startup Technology Venture Capital Santa Barbara 323

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2021

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs and occasional angel investor, I often see and hear innovative product pitches that sound exciting, but are missing one or more of the key business elements that investors deem critical for funding consideration. Specify a primary customer channel for sales.

Funding 132

Funding Template Resource Competition 132

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

On sales I often talk about “ Why Buy Anything, Why Buy Now, Why Buy Me ” as a tool to think about a sales process. On teams I have a framework for tech teams “ CTO vs. VP Eng ” or on sales I have “ Journeymen, Mavericks & Superstars ” 5. “ Level Up ” 9. Fund raising ?

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2014

Fund Raising – No self respecting VC would admit (even to themselves) that they are influenced by what they read about you in the press. It’s much hard to get funded as a company nobody has heard of. but didn’t convert to sales. There is no attribution on that inbound phone call. PR pays dividends in Biz Dev.

Press 415

Press Google Course Writing 415

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

That company was Invoca, which just announced a $20 million fund raise led by Accel. So I think it’s now fair to rate me at 9/10 on follow-on fundings. I am closing 3 new fundings in April (2 new, 1 follow-on). As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

TechCrunch LA

JULY 10, 2019

My favorite car blog Jalopnik said it best: “Cars Sales Could Be Heading Straight Into the Toilet.” ” Citing a Bloomberg report, the site explains automakers may have had the worst first half for new-vehicle retail sales since 2013. Car sales are tanking, but people still need cars. Don’t buy, lease.

Services 212

Services Truecar Sales Blogging 212

Berkonomics

AUGUST 17, 2023

Preparing for the game… If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

Invest 296

Invest Capital Startup Entrepreneur 296