Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

In a VC business when you raise additional capital you need to “level up” and act the round you are. I’d say 20% of startups I see level-up early after their A round. These are important leveling-up activities but the CEO is often still up at 10pm f **g around with QuickBooks entries.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Berkonomics

AUGUST 8, 2024

How to define “success” for a startup? Everyone has a vision when starting a business. If not, there are alternatives, such as raising initial capital from friends and family, before leaving the lifeboat of a present job. Then again, with the fifty percent rule, aren’t all entrepreneurs a bit insane to start?

Startup 317

Startup Entrepreneur Course Capital 317

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2012

I recently wrote about the 12 tips to building successful startup communities. I lived in London from 1997-2005 and for 6 of those years ran my startup based out of London. It was a strange contrast for me having grown up in Northern California where failure seemed to be a badge of honor. I remember this lesson well.

Startup 350

Startup Ideas Education Class 350

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 11, 2018

If a picture is worth a thousand words then you already know that Chamillionaire is having a great time with his new startup Convoz. We’ve known each other for nearly a decade and he’s been a friend, a co-investor in startups and a mentor to many startups with whom I’ve worked. Next up for Cham? eat your heart out.

Startup 206

Startup Mentor Course Screening 206

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

Later today I’m presenting at the annual Rincon Ventures Summit in Santa Barbara. Startup Exits: A Primer from msuster. I speak privately a lot about getting an exit at a startup. We also are going to talk a lot about startups getting exits and ultimately: Companies are bought, not sold. They say the same about VC.

Startup 323

Startup Technology Venture Capital Santa Barbara 323

TechEmpower

JULY 31, 2023

When talking to startup founders or other innovators, we always ask questions to better understand their business as a core. Start by building just enough of your product to get early CAC and CLV signals (they won’t be perfect). Be sure to check out the entire presentation. Focus on building an MVP to gather startup metrics.

Metrics 260

Metrics Startup Slides Technical Review 260

TechEmpower

AUGUST 7, 2023

What does it mean to be a CTO for a startup? Should a startup CTO spend their time programming? Here’s a graphic from Socal CTO that illustrates the roles as they change over time: In its earliest days, a startup’s top need is often to produce a product. What does the role demand? Exploring new technologies? It might be.

CTO Hire 260

CTO Hire Develop Development Fractional VPE 260

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 10, 2012

I did a presentation recently for a graduate class from The Founder Institute around getting online/mobile products out the door. I LOVED it because, the presenting part was over quickly and we got into specific issues that the founders had in terms of getting things built. I was very worried for several startup in the room.

Technical Advisors 332

Technical Advisors CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 332

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2013

I’m sure you’ve all heard saying derived from Voltaire, “don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good” which in a way is encapsulated in the lean startup movement and the ideology of shipping a “minimum viable product” (MVP) and then learning from your customer base. Startup Advice'

Startup 371

Startup Press Product Blogging 371

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 7, 2021

An edtech startup called Entity Academy — which provides women with training, in areas like data science and software development; mentoring; and ultimately job coaching — has raised $100 million on the heels of strong growth of its business, and an ambition to improve that ratio. That, too, is evolving with online engagement.

Mentor 297

Mentor Training Startup Course 297

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

Partisan rancor aside, we had just come off a boom decade – especially in tech – and many people at the start of the election thought Al Gore was a shoe in. He simply asserted, “the end of software” by putting up a logo with the word software and a red line through it. Before that he was a US senator.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

2023 hasn't been an easy year to be a startup. In fact, according to Crunchbase more than 212 startups closed their shutters in the third fiscal quarter alone – the highest number recorded in the firm's history. Yet, while many early-stage startups crumbled under the pressure, diamonds also emerged.

Startup 194

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 194

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 22, 2019

A Startup I’ve Been Excited to Tell You About for Years A few years ago I spent time in prison with Trevor O’Brien , the founder of Projector. When we got out of prison Trevor began describing the startup he and his co-founder, Jeremy Gordon , wanted to build. you can sign up if you want to try the service.

Startup 191

Startup Social Media Slides Design 191

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

I presented the deck below – which was prepared with the great help of Upfront Venture’s Principal Jordan Hudson – at Dave McClure’s must attend event called PreMoney with much more data and narrative than I had in my blog post. Startup Lessons' But I’ll save this data and analysis for the next post.

Venture Capital 362

Venture Capital Capital Startup Writing 362

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

I often describe “chutzpah” as being able to skate right up to the line of acceptability without crossing over it. Years ago I started using the term “politely persistent” to remind people that you still need to be likable even if you have gumption. It’s your job to persist. Nothing beats a warm intro.

Venture Capital 389

Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

This is part of a series on a Board of Directors at a Startup. High Functioning Startup Boards High-functioning boards have a tight-knit relationship between all members based on mutual trust and admiration. They are able to divide responsibilities and work to gain consensus on tough decisions that every startup inevitably faces.

Startup 269

Startup Venture Capital Layoffs Resource 269

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

I recently returned from a 5-day visit to Ireland, my first time back in 10 years and the start of what I hope will be a more regular travel schedule there. Suddenly it was a hot ticket and many people started lobbying to get on the next year’s agenda. I thought by now he would have given up on me as a flake.

Conference 392

Conference Startup Web Truecar 392

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Startups that are backed by professional financial investors almost always have a Board of Directors that consists of some set of founders, investors and sometimes independent directors. It is worth pointing out that there are actually three levels of governance in venture-backed startups. This is often called “corporate governance”?—?in

Startup 204

Startup Writing Framework Summary 204

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2019

Should You Allow Board Observers on Your Startup Board? Note: This is part of a series on Startup Boards. Often partners like to bring along an analyst or associate both as a way to help train younger staff (it’s an apprentice business) and also to have somebody to follow up on action items. Types of Board Observers 1.

Startup 255

Startup Venture Capital Writing Training 255

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

Wednesday, December 1, 2021 -- USC Viterbi Startup Garage Presents: AWS Workshop. Abstract: This session will discuss base-level best practices for getting started on AWS and address some of the most common questions founders have when launching on AWS.

USC 100

USC Startup Web Services 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2021

The E-Myth (“Entrepreneurial Myth”) is the mistaken belief that most businesses are started by people with tangible business skills, when in fact most are started by “technicians” who know nothing about running a business. Perhaps an innate business savvy is no longer a requirement for starting a successful business.

Technical Review 136

Technical Review Startup Social Media Satisfaction 136

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2016

Many first-time founders seek advice when thinking about what ideas would be great for a startup company and receive the wrong advice that you need to focus on a billion-dollar idea. There are very few ideas that are obviously a billion-dollar idea from the start. So what should you do? But you need to understand venture economics.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Capital Ideas 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Startups are hard. You join teams that got good write-ups on TechCrunch, have great VCs, have star CEO’s, whatever. We tell startup stories. Our founder, Yves Sisteron, was my mentor and board member at my first startup. Stuart was a co-founder at my first startup company and ended up running global operations.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2019

Announce at the start of the meeting that you’d like the board meeting to be “electronics free” including mobile phones, laptops or tablets. I know many executives want to “stay productive” while they’re in the meeting and not being called on but if they’re not present and participating then you might as well leave them out of the room.

Slides 275

Slides Email News Startup 275

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). I was telling him that it was much easier when I started because there were fewer deals, life was less public and somehow the world seemed to be spinning more slowly. I don’t.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

I’m not talking here about trying to be a stand-up comic, or weaving theatrical tales. Relate when and where your passion started. In most cases, a new startup idea and plan was driven by a specific personal incident that left you with the conviction that you still have for this opportunity.

Startup 145

Startup Competition Customer Custom 145

TechCrunch LA

MAY 12, 2020

This morning, Snap joined a host of startup accelerators shifting its demo day online amid the COVID-19 quarantine. With its third class of startups, Yellow, Snap’s in-house startup accelerator that launched in 2018, brought investors and founders together in private slack channels after a live-streamed presentation.

Invest 237

Invest Startup Artificial Inteligence Class 237

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

A couple of years ago an entrepreneur had requested a meeting with me to present his business. And that’s why he stood me up! “As an entrepreneur myself I COMPLETELY understand that you wouldn’t pass up on the impromptu and opportunistic chance to meet somebody so important to your business. .

Conference 369

Conference Startup Century City Email 369

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

When you begin to peel back the onion some surprising data presents itself. Let me start with the obvious baseline that most people probably know instinctively: Los Angeles is the 3rd largest technology startup ecosystem in the US. billion in venture capital to LA’s technology startups and 2014 will shatter that figure.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

Businesses want experienced people who get their hands dirty, rather than experts who give presentations, make recommendations, and disappear. If you need to know how to do something, just look it up online. My message today is to avoid the consultant stigma by signing up to do the job, not just talk about it. Produce results.

Startup 150

Startup Slides Email Customer 150

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

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Startup Boost Los Angeles has opened up applications for its Fall 2019 class, according to the group. The programs--which does not charge fees or take equity from companies in its program--says it is seeking nine early stage startups to take part in its eight-week program, designed to help early stage startups.

Los Angeles 154

Los Angeles Class Angel Startup 154

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

Every startup and every new business needs a unique selling proposition (USP) to get people’s attention these days, and make it stand out in the information overload we all see. I’m looking for the “hook” right up front, or I lose interest quickly, just like every customer and investor these days. Do include some quantification.

Startup 166

Startup Education Ideas Customer 166

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 7, 2019

While current technologies are not quite advanced enough to make Westworld a reality, startups are attempting to replicate the sort of human-robot interaction it presents in virtual space. I think in this age and time, that’s not what we want to get into,” Xinjie Ma, who heads up marketing for rct, told TechCrunch.

Startup 235

Startup Artificial Inteligence Los Angeles Software 235

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

There was a lot of passion in the room last week when I presented Working with Developers at the Stubbs Precellerator. So I promised that I would provide a follow-up after the session. This is that follow-up and hopefully it’s useful to people outside of the session as well. Have they considered everything?

Develop 280

Develop Development CTO Coach CTO Hire 280

socalTECH

OCTOBER 10, 2014

Chick Launcher , the local effort to help bolster women led startups, has named the five finalists for its Fast Pitch Competition, the group said this week. The group said it also has awarded $5,000 for the Best Fast Pitch presentation to I Heart Savvy. Chick Launcher is aimed at raising awareness and visibility of women-led startups.

Competition 261

Competition Southern California Startup Activity 261