Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

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 was telling him that it was much easier when I started because there were fewer deals, life was less public and somehow the world seemed to be spinning more slowly.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2021

These days I see a surge of new startups as businesses seem to be recovering from the pandemic. If you are not starting one yourself, the next best thing is joining one as a partner, or as an early employee. He and I believe that these next few months are the perfect time, especially with the pandemic, for starting a new career.

Tips 168

Tips Startup Coach Networking 168

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

I wrote a post about how to build relationships with VCs over time and about investing in lines & not dots (which cuts both ways). How do you then reference check your VC to be sure that you’ve chosen a good firm and partner? When you finally get back up on your feet again, Everybody wants to be your old long-lost friend.

Venture Capital 298

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Capital Help 298

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

New research has found that San Francisco and London have become two of the world’s leading hubs for VC investment into tech solutions that address one or more of the 17 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), more commonly referred to as “Impact Tech” They are followed by Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Shanghai and Beijing.

Venture Capital 357

Venture Capital Press Invest Research 357

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2023

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools).

Startup 92

Startup Funding Offshore Invest 92

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2021

John Bradberry, in his classic book “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ,” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making. I challenge any entrepreneur to honestly tell me they have never fallen victim to any of these in making startup decisions: Confirmation bias.

Startup 149

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Press 149

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2021

Three Rules of Fundraising “Sales” One of the common mistakes I see startups as well as VCs make is spending too much time on top of funnel prospecting. than it is to start narrowing down and doing the work to close the deal, or risking hearing a no. it’s not just startups who do it. But here’s the thing?—?it’s Why Buy Me?

Sales 375

Sales Startup Invest Funding 375

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

Launching and growing a startup is one of the biggest missions an entrepreneur can undertake. But while competition remains fierce, the advancement and accessibility of smart solutions are making it easy than ever for startups to find their feet. VPN Startup tool: VPN Price: Free Hide.me While Hide.me

Tool 128

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 128

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Let me start out with my premise: “Data rooms are where fund-raising processes go to die.” I have to back up and give you more context. These collective sets of documents form the basis of what somebody looking at investing would call “financial due diligence.” It doesn’t. The data room is where your process goes to die.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Associates often shadow partners at board meetings so that they can help follow up with the company on important initiatives between board meetings. Most associates need some entrepreneurial experience before actually making investments. a top-down view on HR challenges at startups; and, obviously: a great network. And so forth.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Kara said “no” because she wanted to start her own company, which she did and I backed. In any job you either find leadership opportunities for your best people BEFORE they ask or other people start asking them to become leaders somewhere else. Leadership is about recognizing your next generation of talent and helping lift them up.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2022

As an advisor to many startups, I’m convinced it’s an expensive and painful approach, but I do see it used all too often. In the rush of a startup, it’s tempting to start spending the money you expect any day from a rich uncle or a major new customer. But things do go wrong, and you will be left holding the bag.

Startup 100

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management.

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

socalTECH

AUGUST 7, 2014

Los Angeles has been in the midst of a technology boom over the last few years, with many of high profile startups growing in the area. We spoke with Bryce Maddock , founder of TaskUs, about the company and how it has been providing the manpower behind a lot of LA''s technology startups. So, what is TaskUs?

Startup 231

Startup Technology Outsource Santa Monica 231

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. In reality, crowdfunding has become a major startup funding vehicle, expected to reach $3.62

Startup 100

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Set expectations accordingly.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Set expectations accordingly.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2017

In my activities as an angel investor, and my work with new ventures seeking investment, I find the “due diligence” stage to be fraught with the most risk. Usually this stage only really starts after an investor has expressed serious interest, or already informally agreed to invest. Be prepared to follow-up as required.

Invest 59

Invest Startup Doc Slides 59

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. It starts as a debt instrument (e.g. a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. Many people start companies arse backwards. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2020

As an advisor to many startups, I’m convinced it’s an expensive and painful approach, but I do see it used all too often. In the rush of a startup, it’s tempting to start spending the money you expect any day from a rich uncle or a major new customer. But things do go wrong, and you will be left holding the bag.

Startup 125

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 125

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools).

Invest 96

Invest Startup Offshore Tips 96

TechEmpower

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Structured Data refers to information organized in a defined manner, making it easier to search and analyze. Initial Query Refinement: Initial query is the starting point in any search process where a user provides an initial query to the system. Broadly speaking, data can be categorized as either structured or unstructured.

Generative AI 346

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence Tool Knowledge Base 346

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined some time ago from a funding perspective. Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.

Organization 93

Organization Startup Incubator Ideas 93

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

[if you're not old enough to get the reference between this image and the title you can click on the image for a prompter]. I recently wrote a blog post about why I believe that startup teams in close proximity perform better. In fact, this is the set up Jeff had as he was between gigs.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Incubator Entrepreneur 285

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

socalTECH

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Earlier this week, Good Growth Capital (www.goodgrowthvc.com) announced it has started looking at investments in Southern California, adding Krisztina Holly as West Coast Venture Partner for the firm. What kinds of areas does the fund make investments in? It looks like there's some link to MIT with the fund?

Southern California 124

Southern California Capital Technical Review Startup 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2023

Always start with a formal proposal, limited in scope to a specific common objective or technology, for a limited amount of time, bounded by a two-way non-disclosure statement. Every startup has a core competency which should not be shared. Up-sell related products or cross endorsement. Think about the future.

Startup 105

Startup Outsource Competition Entrepreneur 105

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2010

doing a reference call on a prospective employee. I wanted to understand how he had arrived at his previous investment decisions. We started presenting our company and talking about our views of the industry. He started opening up. He then started to get a little bit negative on our industry.

Startup 311

Startup Invest Course Research 311

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Startups need to build a large passionate group of fans before the campaign. Startup revenues come later.

Startup 151

Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2021

I strongly support the key principles he outlines as required to drive the mindset to make business leaders successful in this new world, both in established companies as well as startups. They wake up each day re-energized and optimistic, curious about the world around them, but always committed to getting real things done.

Startup 174

Startup Cloud Computing Ideas Entrepreneur 174

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Large companies can be strange sometimes. Sometimes it actually does.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

He had joined a young startup in LA called HauteLook and was interested in getting to know the local tech community. So I started introducing him to portfolio companies. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence. I made some reference calls. Approachable.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360