Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. ” I love businesses that don’t lend themselves well to VC Panels at conferences or Demo Days. What kind of deals should I be doing? What stage?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. - First Principles.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures). As a result we need somebody well networked into these communities already. Her network from her educational institutions alone has friends in all of the top tech, media & banking institutions. Upfront Ventures VC Industry' So there you have it.

Venture Capital 408

Venture Capital Startup Outsource Development CitySearch 408

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture.

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 16, 2019

Dozens of impeccably dressed women outfitted in jumpsuits and Rothy’s gathered at the Greylock offices last week for a “structured networking” session hosted by All Raise , an 18-month-old nonprofit organization that seeks to amplify the voices of and support women in tech. The idea was how do we hack the old boys’ network?

Venture Capital 184

Venture Capital Ideas Los Angeles Tool 184

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

And it applies to business relationships & networking as much as it does to remuneration in the workplace. But less as a complaint and more as advice to younger networkers, the more you invest in relationships the more you will get when you need. It’s why I talk about building VC relationships early – Lines, Not Dots.

Venture Capital 407

Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. Over the past 2.5

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

And there’s none that makes me happier than to announce that Jordan Hudson has been promoted to a Principal at Upfront Ventures. What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. Portfolio community building.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

I once went to a startup event where a VC told the audience that if a VC doesn’t respond to your email to move on to the next VC – that VC is clearly not interested. Well, for starters you need to be a great networker. The 70% of entrepreneurs that simply can’t get past an un-responded-to email.

Venture Capital 389

Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

My friend and fellow SoCal venture capitalist Peter Lee wrote a post about the different roles within a VC and spent much time on the role of an associate. These are the permanent members of a VC. The process for raising money from a VC is a sales process and as such much of what is taught in enterprise sales can be applied.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Sales Entrepreneur Startup 308

socalTECH

JANUARY 29, 2018

With the new fund, Bonfire Ventures said it has already invested in a total of nine companies, including Shippabo, Branch, Trinity Mobile Networks, Saferide Health, Postie, Fuel50 and Tray. READ MORE>>.

Venture Capital 157

Venture Capital Southern California Funding Capital 157

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” My favorite new VC blogger, Hunter Walk, weighed in with some thoughtful comments about how Syndicates might actually pit, “ angel vs. angel.” Bowery Capital).

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

Today's video interview is with Richard Wolpert , a well known Southern California venture capital and angel investor. Richard previously was the CSO Real Networks & former President, Disney Online, and is also Venture Partner at Amplify.LA.

Venture Capital 113

Venture Capital Capital Angel Southern California 113

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Most of the venture capital firms covered in TechCrunch and other tech publications compete for a spot on the cap table of the hottest Bay Area, New York or Los Angeles companies of the moment. Since Revolution launched in 2005, venture capital activity in underrepresented markets has grown significantly.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding Activity 211

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. Why Shouldn’t Most Services Businesses Raise VC? It may be the right answer for you.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. VC meetings going well. 2 million in VC. I swore never to do that as a VC. What do VC’s Experience?

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 384

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

I was 23 and had been programming computers, designing computer networks and selling software for 10 years. I decided I wanted to transfer into the super technical group at Accenture that focused on computer networking. ” It literally took more than a year and a completely ballsy move to get Network Solutions to accept me.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

I am thrilled to announce that we have added Hamet Watt as a Partner at Upfront Ventures. He reached out to younger founders and offered to help via his network at AT&T, Google, media agencies … you name it. Hamet started his career in Venture Capital working for the first post-apartheid VC fund in South Africa.

Invest 340

Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 13, 2011

I know with a title like that I’m going to subject myself to people thinking I’m just being a grumpy, exclusive VC. It can be great for second VC meetings. If you’re both VC Associates – no biggie. If you’re both partners in a VC firm – no biggie. That’s not the point.

Venture Capital 397

Venture Capital Startup Email Networking 397

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2011

But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “ Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts? She has a quote from literally every major VC from whom you’d want to hear. ” [it's short, you should read it]. Please watch this. Every single one.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Blogging 341

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Do you imagine eventually raising VC and trying to build a faster growing company?” ” Because of the circles I run in I tend to meet many people who eventually do want to build large companies and therefore do want to eventually raise VC and “go big.” They raised $5 million in venture capital to fund growth.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She hasn’t raised any venture capital. It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. I blog on entrepreneurship & VC precisely because entrepreneurs and other VCs are my customers. That may soon change.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Last year I was on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley meeting with one of the most prominent venture capital firms in the country. The VC partner, somebody I greatly respect said, “Yeah, we like Gil and what they’re doing. That’s convenience when your VC is hoping to write the next $20 million check.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

socalTECH

JULY 30, 2014

ZipZap operates an online, global transaction network focused on letting consumers buy, sell, and use digital currency like Bitcoin. The funding included Pierce''s AngelList syndicate, 500 Startups, and Blumberg Capital. zipzap venture capital digital currency wallet bitcoin brock pierce angellist blumberg' READ MORE>>.

Southern California 259

Southern California Invest SoCal Angel 259

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

To interconnect these computers we needed IP-based telecommunications equipment build by the likes of Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks. Changes in the Software World & in Venture Capital. Venture Capital. Not all of these products & companies came from Silicon Valley but the overwhelming majority did.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

But I guess you could say the same about VC. Stock market declines would bring back dog days of VC. If you want a comprehensive summary of the industry in this era it’s worth a read: VC Ice Age Part 1 – What Happens When a Market Comes to a Standstill? VC Ice Age Part 2 – Why the Market Started Moving Again?

Marketing 305

Marketing Venture Capital Funding Technical Review 305

Berkonomics

MAY 15, 2014

Angel investing today is similar to where venture capital investing was in the mid-1980s. As an example, twenty five years ago, most VCs used common share deal structures. During those times, VCs had lots of conferences where thought leaders gathered to discuss term sheets, deal structures and fund strategies.

Venture Capital 228

Venture Capital Examples Invest Conference 228

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

Do you imagine eventually raising VC and trying to build a faster growing company?” Venture capital isn’t right for many business but if you do want to raise from a VC at some point you need to understand that often investors care more about growth than profits. They raised $5 million in venture capital to fund growth.

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I need to take some VC meetings. But it did take Brad as a public spokesman, consummate networker and successful VC to help create legitimacy to let David’s ideas flourish. When you think about the success that is Silicon Valley, the unfair advantage is not just the huge amounts of available venture capital.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. They are venture bankers not investment bankers. What stage?

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 23, 2012

This is one of the best episodes of This Week in VC for a long time. That they own a large piece of The Discovery Network? And they invest n select VC funds. I had the chance to speak with Andrew Siegel who runs corp dev & strategy for Condé Nast (aka Advance Publications). That they own Reddit?

Media 285

Media Company Companies Venture Capital 285

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 24, 2014

For 2 years I interviewed VCs & founders for a show called This Week in VC. Luckily the supremely talented Kyle Taylor joined Upfront Ventures and has helped kick me in the arse to get the show going again. If you want to see any back interviews you can click on that link. Here is episode 1 with Amit Kapur, CEO of Gravity.

Los Angeles 288

Los Angeles Venture Capital Email Content 288

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. For years I saw myself as the new guy in VC but then you wake up one day and realize that 50% of your peers have been doing it for less time than you and time has moved on. You want to build your network with other VCs so you go to demo days, SxSW and so forth.

Startup 317

Startup Technical Review Venture Capital Email 317

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

…” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. Instagram happens to be one of the few social networks I regularly use along with Twitter. Maybe you should just close your VC round? Closing a VC round might just be the right move for you.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

I got three calls from another big name, big check VC. VCs will spend over a year networking just to position around one founder or one deal, and if they lose it, it’s gone.” I got an email recently from a VC who had invested in a company a small amount in a seed round. Why am I so lucky? I’m not sucker. .”

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

So it was my great pleasure to host Chamillionaire on This Week in VC this week talking marketing, entrepreneurship, old media and, of course, music. Raising Capital – The VC equivalent for musicians is getting signed by a major label. People want what they can’t have and VCs are no different.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2012

Intros.They’re the lifeblood of networking – the currency of mavens. But the reality is that unfiltered intros just create work for the VC. But if you start the send multiple deals and if the quality of those deals is not super hight then you begin to erode the trust that the VC has in your judgment.

Email 359

Email Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 359