Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. When the market run started in March people were relieved that “the world wasn’t ending” so they started spending again. This will likely cause the stock market to contract.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. 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.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

Are there any technology innovations, gadgets, devices, software, that you found most interesting in 2018? I continue to be intensely interested in the growing integration of AI across multiple products and industries, from simple applications on up to highly sophisticated software and services. READ MORE>>.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 18, 2022

The alternative protein space is hot, hot, hot as evidenced by both the number of companies developing products and the venture capital going into the space. The latest company to attract venture capital is Nowadays , a company founded in San Francisco in 2020 as a Public Benefit Corporation by Max Elder and Dominik Grabinski.

Software Review 187

Software Review Metrics Startup Technical Review 187

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

help you integrate your product with other systems making it harder for your product to be replaced by competitors. deliver profitable revenue that while on gross margins of 50% vs. software at 85-95% it is still profits to help you cover fixed costs. Only Work on Projects That Support Your Core Product Effort.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software Services Company 321

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

VC's love to talk about their successes. Yet most VC's bury their failures under six feet of denial. In the startup world, the former happens when a VC makes a bad investment, and the latter occurs when they miss a great opportunity. Tech Diligence - Consider The Source. However, they seldom acknowledge their mistakes.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

Startups in a world of massive markets can be confusing. The law of large numbers, platforms that can make your company blow up unexpectedly and the trendy nature of tech markets can be deceiving. This is why I loved Brad Feld’s recent post about the “ illusion of product / market fit.”

Product 150

Product Startup Metrics Technical Review 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). We want to have startups we can get productive or generating revenue pretty quickly. It's all about leverage.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Fast forward to almost exactly one year later, and a lot has changed for the payments and software startup. Since its 2017 inception, SpotOn has been focused on providing software and payments technology to SMBs with an emphasis on restaurants and retail businesses.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. We’re going to start aggressively spend money on marketing our product. We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. Blogs weren’t popularized yet so it was an oddity for me to read the founder of a software company spewing out advice.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

Companies like DogVacay solve a real need in the market. They can read reviews, see pictures and even talk to the family before confirming. I typed in my brothers zip code and ton of houses popped up in his area and I was able to search out on a map view. I told her the story of Aaron, the company, the reviews, etc.

Venture Capital 344

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review San Diego 344

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

Today’s $24 billion storage market in the US has these same key disadvantages and that was the genesis of Sam Rosen’s initial idea for MakeSpace , which I initially funded 15 months ago. He spent a few months building out the software because just taking stuff from people isn’t that difficult. 10x the experience.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire Startup 380

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

As a business advisor, I have to recommend even to established companies that they review and revamp their competitive strategy now, even if it appears to be working today. As a simple example, the Wal-Mart website now shows shoppers more products that they may like, based on previous purchases.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Custom 142

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

This is a story of one of the risks of venture capital. But some companies have entrepreneurs that seem talented on paper, are in a space that seems interesting to investors and are able to raise venture capital early in the company’s existence. 2 weeks later and we may never have raised any more VC.

Startup 299

Startup Venture Capital Technical Review Training 299

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. So, I’ve had about 4 years on the “inside” of a fast-growing, venture-backed B2B SaaS startup. You're probably making a lot of these errors too.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series of posts and I need to file this one under both Raising Venture Capital and Startup Advice. People mistook extra doses of Ajax for a successful product. In all of these new product and cost-focused new trends, a big problem has emerged that all of these movements have not addressed.

Web 2.0 334

Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due. Five Reasons You Haven’t Launched - Software By Rob , November 10, 2010 Photo by stevendepolo. But I don’t think so. call to arms.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 29, 2020

Kleiner Perkins , one of the most storied franchises in venture capital, has already invested much of the $600 million it raised last year and is now going back out to the market to raise its 19th fund, according to multiple sources. We went out to market to LPs. — Dan Primack (@danprimack) January 29, 2020.

IBM 164

IBM IBM Venture Capital Invest 164

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 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. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2020

He comes from a background in venture capital from inside and outside the Valley, as well as entrepreneurship work with startup efforts around the world. I second his list of top innovation challenges and strategies to capitalize on untapped global startup opportunities: Create new markets rather than disrupt existing ones.

Ideas 124

Ideas Venture Capital Software Review Technical Review 124

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

As I like to say, “If you’re really on to an enormous idea then other people in the market are going to spot that and want to compete with you. If you have a market lead then raising capital and making investments now will help you as others enter the market. Is it one product line or multiple?

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. A deep dive into the Foundry Group investment philosophy including an interesting discussion of their investing Themes. “… our lens is: Internet Software Companies anywhere in the U.S. was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. Rinse & repeat. It takes options off of the table.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Reviewing financial & operational performance. In the Early Days.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Our interview today is with Andrew Schydlowsky , the CEO and founder of Santa Barbara-based TrackStreet (www.trackstreet.com), a startup which is backed by Okapi Capital, The Cove Fund, Early Light Ventures, SaaS Venture Capital, and Stage Venture Partners. What is TrackStreet?

Artificial Inteligence 140

Artificial Inteligence Startup Commerce Sales 140

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. We only want software revenue.” I believe it’s flawed. ” This is a huge mistake.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

An alternate outcome that I also unfortunately observe in some cases are companies who had extreme early success with an initial product adoption but failed in key areas that limited the growth and therefore the ultimate financial outcomes. As an early-stage VC I love this phase. How profitable is my product or service?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Custom Customer 286

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

If the recruiting manager’s job consisted solely of reviewing your resume it would be an easy task. VC Pitch Decks. The great thing about the VC pitch deck is that you can have 30 slides. Give them the iPod not Microsoft Office products. If you can pick up a product and use it with no manual it is well designed.

Slides 346

Slides Software Review Blogging Venture Capital 346

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

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. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Develop 70

Develop Development Product Startup 70

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. I often tell people that in some ways it’s easier to build great companies in down markets. We are experiencing a frenetic time.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

If you don’t know, Ring offers home security products that started with a video doorbell, then video floodlights, outdoor stickup cams and now in-home security features that innovate in-home security alongside outside protection. But why did Ring succeed when the entire market kept saying that Nest was going to be the winner?

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

It says that selling an airplane ticket for $500 and getting paid a $5 fees by the airlines (1% gross margin) is not the same thing as selling $500 of software that you built (>90% gross margin). The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

OCTOBER 2, 2012

Southern California's technology community--despite all of the recent excitement around Silicon Beach--continues to be underserved in terms of capital, with a lack of venture capital funds (with money), and other private technology investors. Jeb Spencer: We consider ourselves a private equity firm.

Acquisition 168

Acquisition Software Review Technical Review Equity 168

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The vast majority of those are nowhere up to modern codes. “From the invention of the semiconductor to the creation of the Internet, new engines of economic growth have emerged due to public investments that support research, commercialization, and strong supply chains,” the White House wrote. ” Climate resiliency .

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 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. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128