Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Be accessible on social media, write a blog or articles for industry publications, and participate in conference panels and speaking engagements. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Berkonomics

MARCH 13, 2014

For example, while Steve Jobs was abusive, rude, and unappreciative, he had what his colleagues referred to a reality distortion field. None of the angels in my group is likely to write a check without hearing and believing a story about how something dramatic is about to happen. They wanted to come to pitch to my angel network.

Invest 237

Invest Examples Networking Writing 237

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Be accessible on social media, write a blog or articles for industry publications, and participate in conference panels and speaking engagements. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

Sometimes those motives are positive (they really want the chance to work with you, they think you have unique skills) and sometimes they are less positive (their first-tier of “go to” referrals passed on the deal, they don’t want to write another check themselves, etc.). I seek out great entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 337

Venture Capital Invest Ideas Entrepreneur 337

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. It was impressive.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. If I were looking at which VCs to choose I would reference strongly for which ones are supportive in good times and bad. Fred Wilson wrote perfectly about sticking with struggling investments. Most VCs are book smart.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

We are going to write checks of between $100,000 and $500,000, and we are going to invest in what we are calling first institutional capital. Where are you planning making investments? Derek Norton: We're investing in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and New York. Our investment thesis we refer to as the connected consumer.

Invest 145

Invest Funding Capital Startup 145

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2018

In 2014, a West Point buddy of mine, and also a serial entrepreneur, Craig Cummings started working together to find entrepreneurs we liked, to help them an invest in them, along with Luis Villalobos of the Tech Coast Angels. We did our first close on the fund, and have made a number of investments. or $2M on a round.

Capital 164

Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. If you are not sure on this matter, then don’t take their money. Be professional about it.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Equity Venture Capital 123

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

” In the article I discussed the downside of raising capital at a too high of a price and referred people to a previous article I had written encouraging founders to raise “ At the Top end of Normal ” as opposed to stratospheric prices. There is an important psychology that exists in investments. A down round.

Pricing 302

Pricing Seed Funding Invest Venture Capital 302

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

Whenever you write your deck and send it out I think you should actually think to yourself, “my competitors are probably going to read this one day and this will be forwarded widely” and if your response isn’t “so what!” Because I invest in “ lines, not dots ” it’s actually the delta that I’m investing in.

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Support organizations are investment banks, similar to the preceding stage.

Funding 94

Funding Startup Organization Incubator 94

InfoChachkie

APRIL 25, 2011

Although many are entertaining, most fail to provide entrepreneurs with a sufficient return on their time investment. It has also influenced my thoughts, as evidenced by the six infoChachkie blog entries which reference Art. At the beginning of the index, Guy writes, “I hope Robert Cialdini checks this index.” No doubt, he did.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Blogging Class Entrepreneur 279

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. He literally pulled out a list of all of his investments in the area and started walking us through why he had invested. THE REFERENCE CALL: Reference calls are hard.

Startup 311

Startup Invest Course Research 311

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

You join teams that got good write-ups on TechCrunch, have great VCs, have star CEO’s, whatever. When you’re hiring most reference checkers focus on the person’s former bosses. Just literally this week I had breakfast with a guy giving a reference who said, “He’s brilliant. You REALLY know.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

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. The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Support organizations are investment banks, similar to the preceding stage.

Organization 93

Organization Startup Incubator Ideas 93

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

I’m writing this series because if you better understand how VC firms work you can better target which firms make sense for you to speak with. I’m writing this post to explain to entrepreneurs what you should be thinking about in terms of the VC’s you approach and the size and stage of their funds.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Be accessible on social media, write a blog or articles for industry publications, and participate in conference panels and speaking engagements. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2014

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. Cohen entrepreneur family fools friends investment John Kador' Be professional about it.

Funding 101

Funding Startup Equity Entrepreneur 101

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Often recruiters want to handle the final negotiations on package and/or do the reference calls. I’m also reluctant to hand over reference calling. I know that no recruiter will agree with me on this point, but I’ll tell you that I’m certain there’s a positive bias in reference calls. It happens.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2018

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. If you are not sure on this matter, then don’t take their money. Be professional about it.

Funding 59

Funding Startup Equity Entrepreneur 59

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

The other worthwhile exercise is to write down what your competitors uses as its USPs – even ones that you don’t think are really valuable to customers. It’s called ROI (return-on-investment) selling. It’s equally useful to know what your weaknesses are against your key competitors and honestly capturing those.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

I told him only 2 weeks ago when we were in London together that I wanted to write a blog post that has been in my head for 2 years. These engagements went well and he came highly referred by my friend Gary Swart who runs oDesk. When he writes them online his Tourette’s comes out and sometimes the substance gets lost in the style.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. If you are not sure on this matter, then don’t take their money. Be professional about it.

Startup 97

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2013

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Support organizations are investment banks, similar to the preceding stage.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Funding Incubator Startup 102

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Brad and Jason have been exposing venture capitalists’ secrets since 2005, when they began writing a blog series on Term Sheets at AskTheVC. For instance, in a section describing the ramifications of a No-Shop clause, Matt writes, “Insist on spelling out key terms prior to a signed term sheet if it has a no-shop clause in it.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 15, 2011

Despite the ease at which someone can determine my investments and past operating roles, the caller asked me if I knew the CEO of RightScale. Before contacting me, the consultant should have explored how well the referring party knew me. Yes”, I replied, “I was a seed investor and an Advisor to the company.”

Networking 231

Networking Blogging Santa Barbara Startup 231

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

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. Usually when an investor is asking you your burn rate he or she is referring to net burn — what cash are you consuming. million for 18 months.

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Be accessible on social media, write a blog or articles for industry publications, and participate in conference panels and speaking engagements. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

After you have successfully attracted angels or venture capital with your business case, your million dollar product idea, and you have a signed term sheet, there is still one more hurdle to overcome before investors write the check. A dysfunctional team, or even one naysayer in a critical position can stall your investment.

Technical Review 94

Technical Review Startup Writing Competition 94

socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2008

In their case, people write their scripts on a web site, and when they're done, they can submit them to contests with a single click. If you're doing freelance writing, have a story you're trying to sell, there's a whole process of finding out where you're doing well, not doing well, and what responses you have received.

Writing 209

Writing Hollywood Startup Sites 209

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2012

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. The first step toward a business with any idea is to write it down, and build a business plan around it. Support organizations are investment banks, similar to the preceding stage.

Resource 94

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 94

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Be accessible on social media, write a blog or articles for industry publications, and participate in conference panels and speaking engagements. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 23, 2013

I’ve been writing a series on a simple methodology that we used at my first enterprise software company. Often the business case is made in an ROI format – a high-level spreadsheet that outlines the return on investment. There are many out there and many books have been written on the topic.

Sales 328

Sales Customer Custom Examples 328

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

Thus, you must first create the playbook by which an independent sales rep can readily sell your product, including: identifying objections and developing strategies to overcome them, creating reference accounts and establishing meaningful customer adoption. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements. 8 ) Grant Exclusivity.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

to “where can I get help writing one?” While it may be tempting, with everything that you have to do, to try to find someone else to write your executive summary, you really need to do this yourself. An executive summary needs to be a compelling statement of why investors should invest in you and your startup.

Summary 40

Summary Outsource Development Writing Outsource 40

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2013

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. If you are not sure on this matter, then don’t take their money. Be professional about it.

Startup 92

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 92