Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know. Startup after Iron Planet?

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2019

By most definitions of the term, an entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business, incorporating innovative changes to existing products, services, business models, and creating new markets. One way of identifying the right characteristics and approaches is to take a hard look at entrepreneurs who have done it.

Resource 97

Resource Entrepreneur Social Network SpaceX 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). I attended events.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2019

Even worse, many entrepreneurs don’t even take the time to monitor what people are saying about them to others. Even more importantly, owners have no idea how to respond appropriately, or get the offending comments removed. In the end, giving Google something positive to remember is always easier than asking it to forget.

Customer 86

Customer Custom Examples Sites 86

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

My firm, GRP Partners, invested in the company that innovated this entire category – Overture (formerly known as GoTo.com). But of course Google eventually became the massive winner in this category. I believe that many social networks confused this idea. Thus, we click! And it turns out that we click a lot.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). I attended events.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. We discussed whether investing in the second largest player in a category makes sense given that Groupon is 10x the revenue, 3.5x Investors: Google Ventures.

Clearstone 236

Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

socalTECH

JANUARY 5, 2011

The firm is now run by Derrick Oien , who an experience entrepreneur, who was the founder of Intercasting Corporation, and a member of the management team which sold MP3.com We always struggle with what to call the category of the Chumby. Derrick Oien: Chumby invented a category. com to Vivendi Universal.

Startup 159

Startup Google San Diego Content 159

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Guide to Evaluating Startup Ideas - Tony Wright dot com , May 27, 2010 A great developer I once worked with was kvetching at lunch one day. He’d been working at a well-funded startup for about a year and had come to terms with the fact that the startup was really a pretty dumb idea. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. We get it!

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

We set up a digital media fund, which had the goal of investing in new digital media properties, ideas, and concepts. We're including retailers from the Google API, which is something we're depdnding on. We meet with a lot of talented entrepreneurs, with fantastic startup ideas. Mickie Rosen: There are a couple of things.

Incubator 239

Incubator Startup Web Technical Review 239

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Most investors won’t touch a first-time entrepreneur at this stage. Ron Conway , of SV Angels, and Reid Hoffman , LinkedIn's founder, are names often mentioned in this category.

Funding 104

Funding Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding 104

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 2, 2011

At the Technovation Challenge LA Pitch Night hosted by Iridescent , we saw six teams of high school girls from various Los Angeles City Schools pitch a number of mobile app ideas to a panel of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.

Technical Review 82

Technical Review Entrepreneur Software Review USC 82

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Others, like Guy Kawasaki , have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent enhancements or omissions that can kill your deal. Don’t forget that investors look as much at the people as the idea. Entrepreneurs in this category are usually dreamers.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Innocal Entrepreneur 98

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 28, 2013

In this yearly event put on by the Stevens Center for Innovation , 30 teams, selected from a pool of 70 applicants, presented their unique ideas to crowds of students, parents, and judges. Some teams handed out brochures, and other teams did demonstrations of their ideas. We want to give others exposure to our idea as well.

USC 91

USC Ideas Southern California Platform 91

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2016

What every entrepreneur is asking me these days, is “How do I get to be a unicorn?” Yet there are a common set of driving factors that every entrepreneur should know, including the following: Extraordinary marketplace traction. If your new venture is still in the idea or development stages, don’t even think about a high valuation.

Company 100

Company Companies Startup Statistics 100

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Ten Tech Entrepreneurs Who Are Putting LA on the Map. Tech startup accelerators dot the landscape, feeding investments into the waiting arms of the nation’s most intelligent and driven entrepreneurs. Miller was even honored as an Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” for 2011. Follow PandoDaily: Search.

Technical Review 75

Technical Review Entrepreneur Riot Games Southern California 75

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2017

They were putting online advertisements through Google Ads to solicit people to rent equipment, who could not figure it out on their own. We went a little too fast, and took on too many categories at first. Entrepreneurs are great at coming up with ideas, but it takes a different kind of person to really scale a business quickly.

Startup 174

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 174

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). Their memory – the idea was theirs in the first place and you ran with it and didn’t include them. the link is here.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Tanz has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine “Young Millionaires of 2011 Special Report.” After Tanz had sold his pre-Instagram photo-sharing app called MoJungle, he was intrigued with notion of bringing advertising to photos, and had no idea if it was even possible. Buying Google keywords will be popular and expensive.

Advertising 98

Advertising Santa Monica Startup Content 98

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 14, 2016

Our clients are large, Fortune 1000 companies, like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Nike, JP Morgan, Lamborghini, and SpaceX. Silicon Beach is the premiere market for what we're doing, and it is really about attracting talent, getting the right ideas, and getting the right cultural environment, to be able to produce the product we have.

Sales 100

Sales Santa Monica Startup Orange County 100

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 13, 2013

App developers are coming up with new ideas daily to make our lives easier. Today, we support four categories: house cleaning, dry cleaning – pickup and delivery, wash and fold – pickup and delivery, and dog walking. We have played around Facebook; we are now going to do some Google AdWords and AdSense.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Mobile Startup Los Angeles 87

SoCal Delicious

NOVEMBER 8, 2012

Next → As startup ecosystems evolve and mature, validation of their viability comes in waves from entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers alike. Rather, we will provide a platform for them to get interim office space and sophisticated legal services, and to ultimately grow their ideas from business concept to funded startup.

Sherman Oaks 44

Sherman Oaks Riot Games Tips Redpoint 44

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2011

You don’t want sycophants - don’t get me wrong – you want people who challenge your thinking and a meritocracy of ideas. It means a welter weight who wants to fight in the heavy-weight category. In the entire time I was an entrepreneur I think I never really stopped recruiting. At least not publicly. It’s a boxing analogy.

Startup 399

Startup Class Blogging Company 399

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

” I mention journalists here because they perpetuate the myth that focusing on profits is ALWAYS the right answer and then I hear many entrepreneurs (and certainly many “normals”) repeating the same mantra. I have had this discussion with many a first-time entrepreneur. It allows you many more exit opportunities.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 12, 2008

Matthew spoke to us to give us a better idea of what the company offers and why it was started. What's the idea behind Zubican? Personally, I've been an entrepreneur for 15 years, running companies with P and L responsibility for divisions, and watched with frustration as the Internet has grown up around us.

SEO 100

SEO Advertising Gogii Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 28, 2014

Will it be the next big thing after Google and Facebook? If there’s an app that is very simple in nature, the Yo app belongs to that category. They had the idea that usernames should be in emojis too. Apps & Software Entrepreneurship Mobile Social Media Startups Applications Emoji Entrepreneurs funding Snapchat Yo'

Snapchat 82

Snapchat Social Media Social Network Media 82

socalTECH

JANUARY 17, 2017

Santa Monica-based Tala , backed by Google Ventures and Lowercase Capital, has developed a tool that allows anyone with a cell phone to build a financial track record, specially for people in emerging markets. It really goes into two categories, around capacity and affordability.

Startup 100

Startup Santa Monica Customer Custom 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. In our industry we call that a TAM (total addressable market) and I’m sure you can even Google methods for calculating a TAM. Let me be very direct.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

He invented the category of sponsored search. He presented the idea at the TED conference in the mid 90′s and was literally boo’d while he was on stage. At the time when you did a search on Lycos, Alta Vista or similar for a category such as Cars you ended up getting 9 spam results and 1 proper website to meet your needs.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2017

As an angel investor, I sometimes worry that all the viable unique ideas must already be taken. We all want to get out there ahead of the crowd, and invest in that truly innovative idea that seems so obvious in its appeal that you wonder why nobody ever thought of it before. For other ideas, the wave has simply passed.

Ideas 87

Ideas Sites Social Network Startup 87

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

As Marketing Guru Guy Gabriel of Idea Engineering points out in Max Brand , viral marketing has made many an entrepreneur terminally ill. Thus, avoid link farms, mindless keyword content and similar techniques designed to make your site more Google friendly. Tags: Entrepreneur Strategic Planning The Fringe.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

InfoChachkie

APRIL 9, 2012

These entrepreneurs do not risk everything, work outrageous hours and put themselves under extreme pressure because they want to. If it were a decision to be an entrepreneur, then most right-minded individuals would decide to turn back when they encountered the first inevitable startup crises. Entrepreneurs want to matter.

Startup 243

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Statistics 243

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2018

Given the limited nature of how many people you’ll approach (ie not that many) I actually just do these in Google Sheets. I literally have a Google Sheet for nearly every portfolio company who is in the process of raising a round. Investment professionals tend to fall into the following categories: Not an investment partner.

Funding 215

Funding Startup Venture Capital News 215

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. Who’s going to help you with improving your marketing / positioning to become a clear platform category leader like Twilio?

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

ask microsoft, aol/time warner & google]. Fox bought MySpace for $580 million and then did a deal with Google worth more than the purchase price to serve up ads. Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 Google turned YouTube into one of the most valuable future Internet properties. The Past (1985-2002). Enter Facebook.

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Startup 318

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2016

Aspiring entrepreneurs often approach me as an angel investor, touting their innovative idea for yet another online dating site. Thus, I encourage you to consider these challenges as reality checks for your own business idea -- dating or otherwise -- before spending all your time and someone else’s money in vain.

Sites 51

Sites Ideas Statistics Google 51

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.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Redpoint 285