socalTECH

MAY 25, 2016

Santa Monica-based March Capital Partners (www.marchcp.com) has just announced a brand new, $240M venture investment fund, led by longtime venture investing veterans Jim Armstrong, Sumant Mandal, Gregory Milken and Jamie Montgomery. What is the investment focus for this fund? Big ideas rule the day.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

This is a blog post I really didn’t want to write. I didn’t want to write it because I have mixed feelings about AngelList. I didn’t want to write it because the bloggosphere doesn’t always do nuance well. So why I am writing it then? It’s a communication tool. A few reasons.

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Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

This is part of my series on Raising Venture Capital. Many businesses that pitch to me have White Elephant issues and I’d like to tell you how to deal with these when you’re raising venture capital. But the VC is thinking about the issue whether you address it or not. You raised $1.5

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Venture Capital Startup Training Sales 264

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APRIL 20, 2011

If you read this blog often you'll know that I'm a huge fan of First Round Capital. 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. In 2008 they raised a much larger fund $132.5

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Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

Most relevant to startups is the push to fund initiatives and technologies that can help prevent or protect against extreme wildfires; rising sea levels and hurricanes; new agriculture resource management; and “climate-smart” technologies. ” Climate resiliency .

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Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

At night I had a group dinner where I met 6 new entrepreneurs and hung out with some old friends from law firms, banks and other VC funds. But I have to catch a flight to New York for a two-day computer vision conference and 2 board meetings, 2 board dinners and a catch up with my LPs to tell them how our fund is going.

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Software Review Startup Email Conference 381

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. 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. What Rob wrote in his post is right.

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Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Yesterday I wrote Part 1 of the series on the changes to the software industry over the past decade that has led to changes in the venture capital industry itself. These trends have put pressure on traditional VCs. So VCs spent a couple of years experimenting with earlier-stage investing, which is OK. Funny, that.

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Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 27, 2014

With the proper tax planning, your company can greatly benefit from tax write-offs. These milestones become a tool for you to seek funding, if necessary, whether that comes in the form of VC capital, a bank loan. A good accountant or CFO will help you to identify when you’re ready to scale—and when you’re not.

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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.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

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. A tool to better help you find bars & restaurants? ” Your VC friends have been egging you on. They told you, “Yeah, man, I’ll gladly write the first $250,000. CEO transparency.

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Startup Course Venture Capital Writing 417

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. Deal evaluations the Foundry way, which continues into a great discussion about VC decision-making processes. “So was starting. Distribution.

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Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

We held a 90-minute demo session where 150 of LA’s VC’s and senior technology executives watched the LPLA V2 group present in small groups of 12-15 each. The VC’s & executives were then asked to make “commitments&# (in writing) to 3-5 of the companies that they felt they could make some sort of contribution to.

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Company Companies Startup Southern California 276

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 7, 2019

Let AI write the script. On the creative front, rct believes Morpheus could be a productivity tool for filmmakers as it can take a story arc and dissect it into a decision-making tree within seconds. Rct wants to take the experience to the next level by recruiting artificial intelligence for screenwriting. . Path to monetization.

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Startup Artificial Inteligence Los Angeles Software 235

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

You’re writing a freaking blog post! I had a pre breakfast with a CEO of a company in which I invested talking about his next fund raising round. I called another about his fund raising (DUDE – you never called me back! ). Fund raising. And trust me, it’s harder / longer / more time consuming for VCs.

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Email Product Startup Writing 314

Xconomy

OCTOBER 1, 2019

Biologists have been using artificially created DNA, produced through what’s known as chemical DNA synthesis, as a research tool for decades. The company has developed an enzymatic approach to writing DNA that can. Molecular Assemblies is among the companies working to commercialize what’s known as enzymatic DNA synthesis.

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San Diego Research Writing Demand 43

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.

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Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

socalTECH

OCTOBER 10, 2012

One way is developing testing tools and infrastructure around that market, to help those manufacturers in their research and development, which is just what Calabasas-based GridTest Systems (www.gridtest.com) is doing. We spoke with founder Neal Roche about his startup, which provides testing tools for the electric vehicle (EV) market.

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Help Startup San Fernando Southern California 178

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

I spoke a lot about the need for “personal branding” which I plan to write about soon. So then when I wanted to go into venture capital, they said, “You can’t do that, you need to be in EIR.” So when I got into venture capital, I thought, “Well, what can I do that’s different?”

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Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Venture Capital 337

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

We talked with Noah about how the company grew out of a business plan competition at the University of Southern California, his recent funding from the Maverick Angels, as well as how the firm hopes to stand out among a crowded list of comparison shopping sites. Finally, what are you using your recent funding round for?

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USC CPC Sites Startup 207

socalTECH

DECEMBER 9, 2010

Last night, Santa Monica-based Factual (www.factual.com), the data provider and data tools firm, announced a big, $25M funding round from Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures. This is a pretty big round and is a lot of funding--what are you using it for? Gil, thanks for the time today.

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Artificial Inteligence Century City Web Santa Monica 203

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

Last week, Santa Monica-based Revolution Prep announced its first, institutional round of funding, worth $15M, from Kennet Partners. It was us, funding ourselves from credit cards, literally, to a company that is now on par with Kaplan and Princeton Review. We wanted to be able to invest in our software and our learning tools.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 17, 2012

He started his journey in tech with local startup success, Freshbooks, a digital invoicing tool, which has been a hit in the Toronto scene. Available seed funding, check; another one down for the startup ecosystem checklist. We had celebrities ordering hand drawn Twitter avatars made on shit tools like Mac Paintbrush.

Startup 109

Startup Incubator Seed Funding Platform 109

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. GRP Partners last fund is the single best performing VC fund in the US (prequin data) for its vintage year).

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 8, 2011

I recently reviewed Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson’s book Venture Deals , in THIS ENTRY. I concluded that it is an effective tool for leveling the playing field between sophisticated investors and emerging entrepreneurs. Writing a book is very different from writing a blog. The incentives of the VCs matter a lot.

Venture Capital 224

Venture Capital Writing Entrepreneur Blogging 224

socalTECH

AUGUST 3, 2009

Sean McDonald is founder of Jute Networks (www.jutenetworks.com), which is in a startup developing highly visual, graphical tools to help people use their professional networks and connections to further their business. Their relationship with you is not as important as the one they have with the people that write them checks.

Networking 113

Networking Startup Social Network Software 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

It’s always fun chatting with Jason because he’s knowledgeable about the market, quick on topics and pushes me to talk more about VC / entrepreneur issues. We’re staring to get the hang of how to divide the show up into talking about deals but also talking about issues for entrepreneurs during funding. But it does happen.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Redpoint 285

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We had a special edition of This Week in Venture Capital this week shooting out of the Next New Networks offices in New York. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital. Topics we discussed in the first 45 minutes of the video include: What is VC like in NY? Google Analytics vs. Facebook’s new analytics tool.

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Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

9) In Getting The Band Back Together , I write about the power of serial Founding teams. Why aren’t there a half-dozen well-funded startups running up your tailpipe? When we raised our Series A, we put a lot of effort into meeting with VC’s to find the right fit for us. We met with a ton of VC’s and angels. You’re right.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

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. You’ve found a VC partner or principal who has invited you to the Monday partners’ meeting. tip: write it down when asked / parked).

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Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 17, 2012

He started his journey in tech with local startup success, Freshbooks, a digital invoicing tool, which has been a hit in the Toronto scene. Available seed funding, check; another one down for the startup ecosystem checklist. Although, unlike Rocketr, Perez is on the prowl to raise a non-government funded seed round.

Startup 56

Startup Incubator Seed Funding Platform 56

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.

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Sales Startup Venture Capital Funding 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

The company recently raised a round of funding from Santa Barbara-based ScOps Venture Capital. The second thing, is tools. With HeyTutor, we track those lessons, let you write notes down about your clients, we create a tutor profile for you and a hub. It's the hub. I'm a bootstrapper, and super-scrappy.

Startup 113

Startup Venture Capital Beverly Hills Acquisition 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 22, 2019

We were of course there to work with incarcerated men on developing entrepreneurial skills on behalf of Defy Ventures. We had met previously when Trevor was a product manager at YouTube and Upfront had funded the largest video producer on YouTube, Maker Studios. Why don’t our work tools offer the same modern communication style?

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Startup Social Media Slides Design 191

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. Let’s be clear: AngelList doesn’t scare a single VC I know. But it’s not cutting VCs out. It is additive.

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Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

Luckily there are tools like Storify – so you can actually see a synopsis here. I would never as a VC fund a round and then expect somebody else to pay a higher price right after me. I also would never expect another VC to do that to me. The trouble is, nobody has an incentive to agree to write the first check.

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Pricing Venture Capital Writing Equity 294

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

All of that are in this week’s episode of This Week in VC. It was a pleasure to write them myself. So when he saw the browser it instantly dawned on him that this would be the greatest customer development tool ever. His impact has even helped a small country gain admission to the United Nations. Overture (Goto.com).

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