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Most innovators don’t have a technical background, so it’s hard to evaluate the truth of the situation. And unless they have a tech background, they can’t look under the hood themselves. The answer is to engage a trusted outside source for a TechnicalReview – a deep-dive assessment that provides a C-suite perspective.
I did a presentation this week at Coloft that looked at how Non-Technical Founders can go about getting their MVP built. Once you build it, they will now ask you about the key metrics that they need proven in order to see if you really are a good investment. And the back-end is something that a non-technical founder can manage.
Some analysis and duediligence along the following lines should be performed on every idea, as a reality check, before committing your efforts and other people’s money to building a business: Look for places where competitors are few. Passion, optimism, and determination are necessary but not sufficient to assure a successful startup.
This is the mysterious and dreaded duediligence process, which can kill the whole deal. Some entrepreneurs do very little to prepare for duediligence, assuming all the talking has already been done, and the business plan and results to-date tell the right story. Communicate what is happening and why to everyone.
But people are still begging for more technology or laws, often to protect them from themselves. No real investor or venture capital firm asks for money from the company they are intending to invest in. Don’t count on ever passing duediligence, or even getting that deposit back. Loan offer in lieu of investment.
Carlsbad-based Life Technologies said this morning that it has hired two investment banking firms, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Moelis & Company LLC, to assist it in what it called an "annual strategic review".
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. The reality is that as a result of two major trends the costs of starting a technology startup went down massively. So What Impact Did the Drop in Tech Founding Costs Have on VC?
The market was down considerably with public valuations down 53–79% across the four sectors we were reviewing (it is since down even further). ==> Aside, we also have a NEW LA-based partner I’m thrilled to announce: Nick Kim. First in late-stage tech companies and then it will filter back to Growth and then A and ultimately Seed Rounds.
The practical uses for uBeam technology is limitless. Did anybody hold patents that would prevent us from using this technology? I seldom hire patent attorneys during duediligence but this was too important. We hired IP specialists to review prior art. Did the physics actually work? Was it safe? It was impressive.
One of the largest concentrations of technical talent in Los Angeles is in Glendale, at YP -- staffed with a surprising number of Los Angeles startup vets. Our whole product and technology team is about 500 people. Talk about the technology behind your operations here? What''s your background and how did you end up at YP?
One of the largest concentrations of technical talent in Los Angeles is in Glendale, at YP (www.yp.com) -- staffed with a surprising number of Los Angeles startup vets. Our whole product and technology team is about 500 people. Talk about the technology behind your operations here? Louis and Atlanta.
This is the mysterious and dreaded duediligence process, which can kill the whole deal. Some entrepreneurs do very little to prepare for duediligence, assuming all the talking has already been done, and the business plan and results to-date tell the right story. Communicate what is happening and why to everyone.
On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). We feature a prominent speaker at every event.
This was certainly the case when I invested in a small YouTube video production company called Maker Studios that recently sold to Disney for just shy of $1 billion. But if it’s a very obvious deal to a group of strong-minded & cynical investment professionals you probably need to think a bit harder as to why.
The press around the raise & company was fantastic and the promise of their technology – wireless charging that works as easily as WiFi – would positively affect many of our lives. uBeam’s tech does work and I have safely seen it demo’d in the real life many times. Working on it. And being ambitious.
Many times they also pick up product and tech, too. Often times you find the CEO who really just likes to do product or tech. Similarly I talk to CEOs who can’t do a sales pipeline review with me. I once did duediligence on a potential investment where the CEO was projecting $9 million in sales for his next 12 months.
If this isn’t you, we’d probably still have a look if you did something truly exception – probably at startup or tech firm. The chosen candidate will probably have worked for a very reputable firm that is either in technology, consulting, investment banking, media or a startup. Are you merging?
Because of the rapid pace with which Venture Capitalists reviewinvestment opportunities, they must employ pattern matching techniques which include identifying common fundraising deal breakers. Surprisingly, most venture investments do not break down over valuation. A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes.
This is the mysterious and dreaded duediligence process, which can kill the whole deal. Some entrepreneurs do very little to prepare for duediligence, assuming all the talking has already been done, and the business plan and results to-date tell the right story. Communicate what is happening and why to everyone.
Los Angeles-based AppOnboard , the developer of mobile app demo technology led by Jonathan Zweig, says that it now has such app developers as FoxNext Games, Game Insight, Superheart Studios, Jam City, Huuuge Games, and Simple Habit using its tools. READ MORE>>.
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 duediligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the duediligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.
Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” But local VCs don’t deserve to get beat up for not investing. I hear tons of ideas for early-stage apps.
I’m very pleased today to announce that I invested, on behalf of GRP Partners, in Burstly alongside Rincon Venture Partners , an early stage VC in Southern California whith whom we love to work (and were our co-investors on RingRevenue ). Naturally I’m excited about this investment or I wouldn’t have done it.
In a move which threatens the growing Silicon Beach technology industry, the Santa Monica City Council voted last night to downsize the Santa Monica Airport. The move comes due to the concerns of Santa Monica residents, who have complained of the noise and pollution from the private jets and general aviation operators who use the airport.
The main thrust of the post is that with YouTube taking a 45% of revenue and talent taking 70% of the remaining revenue, YouTube Networks didn’t have sustainable businesses unless they invested heavily in technology as a tool to increase margin and provide defensibility. That is the definition of Disruptive Technology.
The Tech Coast Angels says it has launched a new, annual fund, and is continuing to invest--despite the pandemic. The angel group, the largest in the nation, said it invested over $19M in 2019, in part due to a similar fund created by its San Diego chapter, the TCA-San Diego, last year. READ MORE>>.
So how did a company that provides storage grow so fast (we’ll exit 2017 with 10’s of millions in recurring revenue), why is it so defensible and is it really a tech startup? If you buy that Amazon is a tech startup then essentially you’ve already answered the question. In short — how the hell did we raise $30 million?
It’s the whole basis of my investment philosophy, which I call “ The Entrepreneur Thesis.&#. It is often the fortuitous mixture of new technologies, customer awareness and then acceptance of the technology and then the slow adoption into our daily lives that leads to markets exploding. He was tech.
However, he did confirm to TechCrunch that he had to reduce staff due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Divergent 3D made Blade — which was on the auto show circuit in 2016 — to demonstrate the technology platform. Divergent 3D and Czinger Vehicles are wholly owned subsidiaries under Divergent Technologies. A core team remains, he said.
Companies that have leveraged technology to make the procurement and delivery of food more accessible to more people have been seeing a big surge of business this year, as millions of consumers are encouraged (or outright mandated, due to Covid-19) to socially distance or want to avoid the crowds of physical shopping and eating excursions.
By 2008 I had gotten more serious about championing companies through our investment process. And just when I thought I had the deal that was worthy of bringing to investment committee the world changed. Let’s review all of our existing investments. Eventually you have to invest. It was September 2008.
1) has escaped the attention of the major Internet companies, which are better run than ever before; (2) is capable of being launched and proven out for ~$5M, the typical seed plus series A investment; and. (3) We once thought Microsoft was a monopoly on the Internet due to IE. How many ideas like that are left?” ” My 3.5
Construction tech startups are poised to shake up a $1.3-trillion-dollar As more people spent time at home last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the startup saw its contract revenue spike by 5x, Wu says. Eano also works on projects like building ADUs (accessory dwelling units). trillion-dollar industry.
seems like an unlikely place to grow one of the next billion-dollar startups in the booming Los Angeles tech ecosystem. By and large, these workers have not benefitted much from recent technology improvements available to office-based workers—think new email and workplace-collaboration technologies, or advanced sales and HR systems.
The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. So the people who invest in VC funds have two problems.
Every year, we feature the year end reflections of founders, CEOs, investors, sposors, and others in Southern California's high tech community. As you may recall the Alliance's mission is to elevate the region as a global leader in innovation, technology & entrepreneurship. We've been posting these throughout the next two weeks.
Hello friends, and welcome back to Week in Review ! This writeup from industry analyst Karl Guttag showcases how Magic Leap has turned away from several of the key technologies it raised billions of dollars to develop with its latest hardware which he nevertheless believes will “blow away” the HoloLens 2 in image quality.
And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ? Consider what Ryan Waggoner tells us How to Find a Technical Cofounder : When I was doing freelance development, I had about one pitch per week for an equity-only opportunity. Go to tech (or other relevant industry) events. Go to user groups.
Gevo , a startup which is developing renewable chemicals and biofuels technology, has filed for an IPO, according to an S-1 filing by the firm Thursday afternoon. Gevo--which is now based in Englewood, Colorado--was started in Pasadena, and has licensed technology from both the University of California, Los Angeles, and Caltech.
San Diego-based Qualcomm says that its board of directors has decided to stay the course, and will make no change to the company's corporate and financial structure, after a strategic review by a special committee of its board. READ MORE>>.
Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. The ingredients are all here.
The technology team disagrees on direction and wants resolutions. There’s a guy in Los Angeles that I met at several tech networking events. He was a really nice and personable guy who had deep domain knowledge in an industry that he’d worked in for 10 years that is in need of technological advancement.
I myself recently covered the topic when I spoke about why GRP Partners invested in Ad.ly. I know that advertising is important to inform consumers of offers – the same reason many tech companies use SEM. GRP Partners invested in GoTo.com which rebranded as Overture. I assure you Ad.ly We care deeply about that.
My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. we are not going to invest. Brad on blogging.
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