Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets. Investors don’t invest in services startups. Here are some pragmatic tips on how to make your startup more scalable and investable: If you need investors, start with a scalable idea.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2020

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. They have enough confidence in their ability to deliver that they don’t worry about someone stealing the idea to get there first, and they don’t forget to listen carefully to critical feedback.

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TechCrunch LA

JULY 29, 2020

After raising $15 million in financing from one of technology’s most successful global investment firms, the Los Angeles-based consumer goods rental company Joymode is selling itself to an early-stage retail investment firm out of New York, XRC Labs. “We got to iterate through every possible idea we had.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

In fact, most investors “require” that you already have some investment from friends and family before they will even step up to the plate. You see, investors invest in people, before they invest in ideas or products. If they won’t do it, they why would I as stranger invest in you? Be passionate about the idea.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). I don’t.

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socalTECH

APRIL 24, 2020

Carey tells us a bit about what OC4 is doing, how it invests and works with companies, and also gives startups some advice about how to approach moving forward in light of the pandemic. A couple of things I learned, is that most studios are borne out of ideas they had. I've also invested in those companies.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Now, I’m pretty on the record that being an entrepreneur is about being great at The Do. I’ve talked in the past about how I manage my own creative process. I zone out and think about how things could be different. I can feel the ideas needing to come out and I know if I get distracted I will lose them.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. Most VCs did well academically and had enough career success that a venture firm was willing to give them an investment role or they were able to raise their own fund.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2021

If you want people to invest in your idea, then my best advice is first write a business plan, and keep it simple. This means writing at the level of an average newspaper story (about eighth-grade level). The one-page Oprah plan is a good executive summary, but it’s not enough to get the investment.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. If you haven’t read Adam Lashinsky’s awesome new book about Apple , you should. And that leads me to today’s post. Specifically, 1.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

In other news we announced the closing of $61 million in funding at Maker Studios , which I’ll talk publicly about soon. But as sweet as that success has been (we invested pre-revenue in a small team) today my even more important news was the further expansion of our partner ranks. The idea immediately resonated.

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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. I have thought a lot about anonymity over the years and actually have enjoyed debating the topic with those passionate about anonymity’s benefits because of course that’s how I learn.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

However, to be a great VC you have to hold two conflicting ideas in your head at the same time. On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. They might be ideas they hatch internally (via a Foundry) or a founder who just left SpaceX and raises money to search for an idea.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it. What do we like about OpenTable? Let me not bury the lede.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

This morning's interview is with Kevin O'Connor , a longtime investor and serial entrepreneur, who is now running venture capital investment firm ScOp Venture Capital. Tell us a little bit about the firm? What types of companies are you making investments in? Congrats on the new name for your venture capital firm.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

You can read the full article at The Cryptic VC's Guide to Saying "No" On Investments in our Insights and Opinions section. VCs say a lot of cryptic stuff when we pass on an investment � partially because it make us appear smart, but mostly because we simply don't want to be a s.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

I’m not saying that lawyers were my screening process – simply that they knew about deals early on and they had voted with their time and pocketbooks so I knew I had a degree of filtering. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. I like to hear their passion for the idea.

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socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

We spoke with Meredith Finn a new Partner at March Capital--who headed up that the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur sessions this year--to hear more about her perspectives on investments, what the Rise of the Female Entrepeneur was all about, March's interests in artificial intelligence and more. A big vision is part of it.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

I saw him on stage at the event talking about how he used social media to engage audiences. What Cham rarely tells people – he’s both private and humble – is that he started making some small co-investments with me in tech firms starting with Maker Studios where he was one of the earliest investors.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

It’s that time of year where we think about new beginnings. Most associates need some entrepreneurial experience before actually making investments. Great networking skills, which are critical when you want to be about to reference entrepreneurs & concepts and bounce your ideas off of other people in the industry.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

We also are dependent on money, advice and support of many of our friends & colleagues in the venture industry who co-invest with us in nearly every deal we do. Every year we try to write up and publish our thoughts publicly both to help other investors & entrepreneurs and also to test our thoughts in the public market of ideas.

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Berkonomics

APRIL 6, 2023

Or the important one: “Is this idea on mission?” Some ideas sound unbelievably creative – and may be that. But sometimes there is a barrier, an impossibly high cost not considered, a social backlash never thought of, or competition already covering the idea that is unknown to the originator. Is this idea sustainable?”

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. But how does any entrepreneur know which ideas to implement, and which ones are best left behind? Separate nice-to-have ideas from ones solving painful problems.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 29, 2020

This week, Los Angeles-based Crosscut Ventures announced a brand new effort to provide health and wellness to the founders of companies it invests in, helping those founders with well being, mental health, stress management, coaching, and leadership development. Tell us about this new program? It's a comprehensive bucket.

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Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2022

Some relatives believe that a family bond is an insurance policy, and that all investments or notes will always be repaid, no matter what the circumstance. Consider whether the family member being asked to invest has the capacity to walk away “happily” from a lost cause. even if your hair is on fire and the idea is worth billions.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2013

Even with great credentials, it is all too possible for an entrepreneur to come across as a high risk investment. Some entrepreneurs seem to never stop talking about themselves, and all their accomplishments. The best ones talk more about how they have assembled a well-rounded team, and will continue to fill in the gaps.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. But how does any entrepreneur know which ideas to implement, and which ones are best left behind? Separate nice-to-have ideas from ones solving painful problems.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2015

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. In reality, I like most ideas, but I have to tell them that the real challenge is taking the inspiration from a dream to a business. Now you see why no one should judge business success potential by the idea alone.

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socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2018

Richard recently published a new book, The Soul Of A Deal , talking about his experience with deal making and interviewing such others as J.J.Abrams, Deepak Chopra, Peter Guber, Reid Hoffman, Penn Jillette and many others on their own experiences. We caught up with Richard to learn more about the book and deal making.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2015

I’m sure she had no idea just how powerful that word and that concept would become. Fred Wilson immediately weighed in on her analysis , a meme was born and we were off to the races talking about “Unicorns.” I’m not talking about raising money at a billion dollars. ” Are there enough unicorns?

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socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

Can tapping the power of the crowd not only help you find customers and help fund your project, but also help you shape your startup idea and find funding? A new, Los Angeles area startup, JumpStartFund (www.jumpstartfund.com) recently launched, offering up a combination of crowdfunding and crowd-advice for entrepreneurial ideas.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2016

Investors invest in people, not ideas. The simplest way to express appreciation is to simply say, “Thank you” for an idea, some good feedback, time spent together, or an order. Entrepreneurs who like to be argumentative, complaining, or disagreeable, will have a hard time closing a contract, investment, or a customer contract.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

Why You Need to Be Sure You’re Not the Sucker ” I talked about how VCs (or other investors) get deals sent to them and how to interpret a referral. I wrote here about the importance of proprietary dealflow . I wrote here about why I avoid party rounds. In my recent post “ Why Am I So Lucky?

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2015

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. In reality, it doesn’t take a huge investment of money and time to build a prototype today.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2014

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. In reality, I like most ideas, but I have to tell them that the real challenge is taking the inspiration from a dream to a business. Now you see why no one should judge business success potential by the idea alone.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2017

Based on my own experience as a startup investor, and feedback from like-minded friends, we all get pitches for at least ten startup ideas for every one new business plan. New business founders need to remember that investors fund business implementations, not ideas. Show evidence that your solution will create a viable business.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2017

Entrepreneurs are people who dream up new ideas, and then commercialize them into new businesses. Most people believe that the hard part is coming up with the idea, and the easy part is turning it into a business. Normally the goal is to make enough money to be sustainable and provide a return on the investment of constituents.

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