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?

Invest 135

Invest Technical Review Startup Ideas 135

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

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. Mostly kidding. Very, very few pan out.

Snapchat 214

Snapchat Invest Technical Review Dollar Shave Club 214

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. What's your role at March Capital?

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2019

Most social media outlets don’t require a subscription charge, but they certainly always require an investment, sometimes large, in people, in technology, your reputation, and your time. Communication and writing skills are required. Return-On-Investment metrics are not new, but the tools are different. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 79

Social Media Media Invest Tool 79

TechCrunch LA

JULY 2, 2020

TechCrunch surveyed some of the city’s leading investors in sectors like property technology and cannabis to get their take on how the city may survive — and potentially thrive — in a new era ushered in by the response to the pandemic. Mark Suster, managing partner, Upfront Ventures.

Los Angeles 277

Los Angeles Venture Capital Capital Invest 277

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 31, 2020

I was chairman of a company that, for twelve years never took a dollar of outside investment. The effort to write a grant request is not trivial. Email readers, continue here…] Grant writing takes skill and immense amounts of time. First, an example of grant-based financing . Other sources of grants.

Equity 156

Equity Writing Education Research 156

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 23, 2020

The proposal sets out four big initiatives, including zero-emissions vehicle manufacturing, assembly and adoption; zero-emissions infrastructure investments; commitments to public transit investments; workforce development; and job training. There’s $25 billion in money set aside for public transit and $12.5

Southern California 261

Southern California Los Angeles Incubator Rosemead 261

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on the skills I’ve developed in my career. To some extent Keith Rabois agreed with me about domain knowledge and argued that most of his investments are in the consumer Internet space as a result. Always have been.

Invest 284

Invest Angel Venture Capital Startup 284

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

This is a post I’ve been dying to write for 18 months. I invested in LA-based Gogii , one of the fastest growing, most exciting mobile social networking companies you’ve never heard of and maker of a product called textPlus. I only recently invested and I only got here through persistence. Mostly, I love writing.

Gogii 310

Gogii Invest Blogging Activision 310

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

These are industries where structural impediments to technology adoption have only recently been broken down by the advent of incredibly powerful mobile devices. “It would present a huge opportunity for a variety of climate tech sectors, ranging from clean electricity to carbon management to vehicle electrification.”

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

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.

Startup 122

Startup Funding Organization Incubator 122

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2022

Most social media outlets don’t require a subscription charge, but they certainly always require an investment, sometimes large, in people, in technology, your reputation, and your time. Communication and writing skills are required. Return-On-Investment metrics are not new, but the tools are different. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Startup Platform 126

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. At the time I pointed out: “If I had realized exits almost certainly it would be because I invested in a company that failed. “Ok, so this guy can write a blog and source deals but can he make any money?”

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

Not only has this helped to raise its profile, it's also allowed them to invest further into their science team, and their cloud-based planning and monitoring tool, Land Tender. Writesonic Writesonic is an AI writing tool designed to help writers overcome writers block and level up their skills. Vibrant Planet's Land Tender tool.

Startup 213

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 213

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the business. Put simply – if you invested early in Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

Invoca is now doing 10s of millions in recurring revenue and is growing > 75% year-over-year but it took the first 3 years to really build out the technology and acquire our initial enterprise clients. We not only have our Series A funds that can write $500k?—?$15 15 million first checks but we also have three growth funds.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 3, 2018

The company’s technology works as a middleware including an SDK and a contract notification and monitoring service. If a dispute cannot be self-resolved, parties then graduate to a dispute resolution marketplace of third party vendors,” Wan writes. Thus, we are dispute process agnostic.”

Software Review 159

Software Review Outsource Development Services Technical Review 159

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on my background. I should say that I agree that naive optimism in entrepreneurs can produce higher beta (upside or flops) and that’s good from an investment standpoint if you’re looking for big returns.

Invest 152

Invest Angel Venture Capital Startup 152

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Responding to Elizabeth Warren’s call to regulate and break up some of the nation’s largest technology companies, the venture capitalists that invest in technology companies are advising the presidential hopeful to move slowly and not break anything. This too shall pass.” — Balaji S. . ” .

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Startup Chief Technology Officer Social Media 144

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

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 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 31, 2016

In addition to his investing efforts, Brad has been active with several non-profit organizations and currently is chair of the National Center for Women and Information Technology (link is external), co-chair of Startup Colorado (link is external), and on the board of Path Forward (link is external).

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Activity 100

Berkonomics

MAY 8, 2014

I am chairman of a company that, as I write this, is twelve years old and has not yet taken a dollar of outside investment. Grant writing takes skill and immense amounts of time. First, here’s a link to my recent TEDx talk, “Smiling at success; laughing at failure.”

Company 166

Company Companies Writing Education 166

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

In my experience as a business advisor, one of the best ways to get all of these, is to publish a book on the technology, the journey, or some relevant lessons learned. In addition, the discipline of producing it, like writing a business plan, will help you immensely in understanding the key elements that drive you and your business.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

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

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Food production and distribution, group collaboration, remote training or education, sensor technology (tracking people movement, temperatures, etc), certain biotech deals. There are large sums of money to be invested and if investors can get comfortable with “downside protections” they’ll still write checks.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

Most business advisors I know will say that writing a business plan is the first step to starting your own business, but I believe that a better first step is to do a self-analysis of your real drivers, strengths, and assumptions before committing to this lifestyle. You can’t really succeed in life if you are not happy.

Social Media 105

Social Media Writing Ideas Resource 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

In fact, I think the evidence is clear that many entrepreneurs started their journey while still in college, and capitalized on all the resources there, before moving on: Extend your technology focus with business basics. Write a business plan and pitch deck for learning. Good business basics are not intuitive.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2021

This may seem counter-intuitive to technologists, especially in an era when technology seems to be driving the world. Yet the sad truth is that a technology not focused on a real problem is not a business, and will probably fail in the marketplace. Learning is a never-ending requirement for every entrepreneur.

Mentor 139

Mentor Entrepreneur Ideas Networking 139

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

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.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I only say that because after years as a VC I can always tell when my peer group invested in something because “it seemed like it would make money” versus when they invested out of passion. I have placed a much bigger emphasis on falling in love as a criterion for my making an investment. Does she live your journey?

Venture Capital 373

Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

Earlier this week, Derek Norton , a long time advisor to the media, Internet, and technology industry in Los Angeles, announced a brand new venture capital fund called Watertower Ventures (www.watertowerventures.com). Where are you planning making investments? Derek Norton: We're investing in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and New York.

Invest 145

Invest Funding Capital Startup 145

socalTECH

JUNE 21, 2019

I've been going through the startup journey, and just finished our Series D investment. What does TenOneTen Ventures invest in? Minnie Ingersoll: We do early stage investing. We write checks from $500K to a million dollars, and we like to fund engineers turned entrepreneurs. Why did you decide to move to venture capital?

Southern California 133

Southern California Startup Layoffs Venture Capital 133

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. So we help them a lot with this.

Capital 164

Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 164

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

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. ” Here’s what I mean … Let’s start with what it takes for a journalist to want to write a story.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

We All Know That Dollars into Venture Have Gone Up … As a starting point, we know that the dollars into venture have steadily rebounded to pre great-recession levels, with just under $30 billion committed to US technology venture capital in 2015. …But LPs Have Been Putting Out More Money Than They Are Getting Back.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

James (chairman of the Althea Foundation) and appointed Adam Sroka as Senior Vice President of Technology in a move to make business transactions simple and secure. . Jackson , “This financing round, coupled with hiring Adam Sroka as our head of technology, puts CapLinked in a position to further enhance our enterprise product offerings.”.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88