Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Harry was gracious enough to invite me back so this past week we recorded an episode discussing the current market environment. We talked about what startup CEOs should do in these situations and how to think about these renegotiations. Burn through your cash quickly at your peril. Biggest Advice I Give to Portfolio Founders?

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

Last week, we talked about about the “de-stonkifying” of the market. The company’s stock tanked by more than 26 percent, representing a $230 billion reduction in market cap and a $31 billion drop in Zuckerberg’s personal net worth. Hello friends, and welcome back to Week in Review ! other things.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was speaking recently to the team at NuOrder , an LA-based company we’re an investor in about “realism in startups” — an impromptu talk I have given to any of our portfolio companies who ask. During the Q&A I was asked about how I make investment decisions in early-stage businesses. I fall in love.” Early stage.

Invest 254

Invest Writing Pricing Metrics 254

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Seed investments are down by any measure (funds, deals, dollars) over the past 3 years in deals < $1 million AND in deals between $1–5 million. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture. thus the rise of “pre seed” investing). What gives?

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

They actually lost about $175 million in cash in that quarter, FWIW. I know this seems obvious but I promise you that even smart people forget this when talking about profitability. They hired a marketing team to promote their products more broadly. See appendix if you want to know more on this.)

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

I actually really enjoyed many of the points Muhammad made about marketing in general and I found myself nodding through the entirety of the article except for it’s core premise. I believe growth hacking is about all of this. We’ve been doing this online marketing stuff for years and we know what we’re doing.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review SEM SEO Marketing 384

SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 10, 2021

Thursday, August 12, 2021 -- Entering the Japanese Market by Partnering With The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). Please join Biocom Los Angeles and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) for a virtual webinar to learn how Life Science companies in the Greater LA area can enter the Japanese market. Biocom California.

Marketing 100

Marketing Study Organization Resource 100

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. What excites me about this space is that there’s so much low-hanging fruit.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Thus began my marketing campaign. Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures). For starters we’re an LA-based venture fund who invests nationally (and sometimes internationally, but less so). We not only need to be able to help in the trenches with our teams but we also need to have good investment judgment.

Venture Capital 408

Venture Capital Startup Outsource Development CitySearch 408

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.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Berkonomics

MARCH 31, 2022

The obsolete marketing message. And both have become increasingly obsolete as new channels of reach have evolved, allowing direct and personal contact with our potential customers, and better yet, free and near–free forms of marketing just for the asking. Today’s marketing tools and methods. Revert to “old school” marketing.

Marketing 156

Marketing Customer Custom Tool 156

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. Most consulting services, like marketing, are not scalable, since they must be delivered by experts, and cloning experts is slow and expensive. Investors don’t invest in services startups.

Tips 135

Tips Invest Startup Outsource 135

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Mostly it’s because your marketing campaigns suck. Or more directly – they are likely narcissistic resuscitations of your newest features or bragging points that nobody but your marketing team and your mom care about. But mostly they’re thinking, “Will my audience even care about this topic?”

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

How many of us throw away marketing dollars because our paid efforts reach an audience that is much larger than the target or niche audience we need to reach? Whether it be for publications, social marketing, or even those once-necessary postal mailers, we have tools now that were not available just a few years ago. This is easy.

Marketing 266

Marketing Resource Advertising Social Media 266

InfoChachkie

JUNE 30, 2014

Too bad, as they would be well served to study Dirty Franks marketing plan, which has withstood the test of time. Franks didn''t need a sign, let alone a marketing budget. Hurry Up And Stop Marketing. If you have amazing products, the marketing of those products is trivial. say) ‘We’re the market leader in blah.’

Marketing 193

Marketing Software Review Product Social Media 193

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2021

Every business I know is intimately familiar with outbound marketing, or pushing your message out to customers through email, newspaper, and television advertising. Only a few really understand the process and value of inbound marketing, for pulling customers to your brand. Pull marketing is less expensive than push marketing.

Customer 172

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 172

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2021

For our Insights and Opinions section today, we have an article from Tony Cristiano of Pivotal Arc, talking about 3 Steps to Software Market Entry Success. So, you want to leverage your software or tech offerings to expand in an adjacent market. What is your initial target market niche? Let us know! Will it work?

Software 113

Software Marketing SoCal Southern California 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2022

The power and influence of paid media advertising, including print ads, TV commercials, radio, and even online digital campaigns is waning, in favor of unpaid earned and owned messaging from your website, social media, key market influencers, and existing customer word-of-mouth. marketing is not zero marketing. Real customers.

Marketing 127

Marketing Framework Social Media Media 127

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

With the enormous changes to our economies and financial markets?—?how how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued?

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

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.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

TechCrunch LA

MAY 3, 2022

She worked on Wall Street as an investment banker for a few years in New York before returning to Houston with a job in energy. The other side of the business is a new monthly subscription service for stylists that helps them market their handcrafted wigs, beauty and other digital products and services. Remember Mary J.

Tool 179

Tool Customer Custom Marketing 179

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a long time ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. Develop viral content. Seed viral activity.

Marketing 107

Marketing Invest SEM Startup 107

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

It’s still popular these days for startup founders to operate in stealth mode, meaning no details about the idea or progress are shared with anyone until the big reveal and rollout. The common reason given is that this prevents any competitor from stealing their idea and beating them to market. Get competitors to surface early.

Marketing 105

Marketing Startup Search Engine Optimization Ideas 105

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. I agree with YouTube (that they provide more (hosting, ad sales, etc.)

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

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.

Venture Capital 145

Venture Capital Startup Invest Capital 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2020

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Email marketing. Direct mail marketing. One of these experts, David T.

Customer 146

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 146

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. It’s why opt-in marketing databases can be so incredibly valuable for companies like Gilt Groupe, One King’s Lane and AdoreMe. Much more data in the full post. Google knows it.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

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.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 150

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.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Blogging Examples Startup 329

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2021

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of talking to Samir Kaji on the Venture Unlocked podcast about a wide range of topics that we as venture capitalists think about everyday, including: How to build a generational firm?—?retaining that’s your target market. OK, so you’ve found your target LPs who invest in funds at your stage.

Sales 375

Sales Startup Invest Funding 375

socalTECH

JULY 31, 2018

said this morning that it has launched a new mobile app to help consumer invest and learn about cryptocurrency. Cred says it provides information about cryptocurrency, helps users track investment progress, learn about different kinds of "coins" before investing, provides daily market recaps and news, and much more.

Invest 100

Invest Incubator Santa Monica News 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2021

This is a statement that they are willing and able (and successful) at projecting market and technology turns, not just straight-line innovations. They have the courage to make bold decisions, often contrary to conventional market research. Design is not just about making things look pretty. Practice learning as an action sport.

Marketing 157

Marketing Design Entrepreneur Ideas 157

socalTECH

OCTOBER 9, 2019

There's a new opportunity in clean technology investments, according to venture capitalist Aaron Fyke , the head of a new, Pasadena-based venture capital investment fund, Thin Line Capital (www.thinlinecapital.com). Talk about the new firm and the new fund? Aaron Fyke: I believe we're in a second wave of clean tech investing.

Invest 113

Invest Capital Venture Capital Idealab 113

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. “From day one, my belief was Joymode was going to be huge or dead.

Invest 263

Invest Services Southern California Ideas 263

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2014

This week I wrote about obsessive and competitive founders and how this forms the basis of what I look for when I invest. I had been thinking a lot about this recently because I’m often asked the question of “what I look for in an entrepreneur when I want to invest?” I had invested in myself for years.

Startup 409

Startup Invest Venture Capital Writing 409

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

Our perspectives on the topic wax and wane with market cycles. We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor over funding until we get huge payouts and ring the bell for more funding until we attract every non-VC on the planet to invest in startups until it crashes and we start the cycle all over again none the wiser.

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Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150