Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. It starts as a debt instrument (e.g. They also trust VC’s to determine the right price to pay for the company securities that they buy.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

socalTECH

MARCH 4, 2009

Los Angeles-based LeadPoint said today that the firm has launched a product which will help its customers filter out leads by a "quality score," which will help its lead buyers find the types of leads and quality that they are looking for. The firm said the filters will be initially available for credit card debt and tax debt relief leads.

Tool 100

Tool Redpoint Education Los Angeles 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. You can be pissed off, but I don’t set prices. That’s stupid.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

socalTECH

AUGUST 16, 2013

Scott Morrow is an Internet and startup veteran, having run such companies as Oversee.net and ThisNext, and headed up product marketing for IAC/Citysearch. We''re privately owned, and we don''t disclose our financials, but we''re profitable, debt free, and growing. I would use this product even if I wasn''t working here.

Pricing 256

Pricing Sites Marketing SEM 256

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value. Rational people can disagree and some may argue that today’s prices are rational and under-pinned by economic drivers. All of that might be true, but the 2006 price might still be over-valued. That’s fine.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2010

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Venture Capital 212

Venture Capital Product Resource Marketing 212

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

I can’t tell you how many people have thanked me for this advice and say their productivity increased exponentially. It freed up Ophir to grow out our sales organization, to work more closely with agencies, to innovate on product and to raise capital. They can help you with pricing. Timing of cash payments.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

As a starting point the board is intended to have legal and financial responsibilities to a few key constituencies: shareholders, debt holders, creditors, employees, government and major parties with whom the business operates. The administrative work we actually do at board meetings? ICOs certainly have a place in startup financing.

Startup 217

Startup Technical Review Equity Report 217

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder is able to self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Venture Capital 174

Venture Capital Invest Class Entrepreneur 174

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Although the offer was gratifying, it was clear to the Founders that this windfall would ultimately fall far short of the value that could be created by productizing the technology and generating substantial user adoption. Long Term Value – Look at your adVenture objectively, in the same manner as a Venture Capitalist (VC).

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Acquisition Pricing 124

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Although the offer was gratifying, it was clear to the Founders that this windfall would ultimately fall far short of the value that could be created by productizing the technology and generating substantial user adoption. Long Term Value – Look at your adVenture objectively, in the same manner as a Venture Capitalist (VC).

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Acquisition Pricing .Net 124

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Government customers abundantly waste both of these assets by negatively impacting a startup’s cash flows while causing it to spend unnecessary time participating in laborious approval processes and elongated sales cycles. This is nearly impossible to quickly determine when the sales process is rigidly defined by arbitrary rules.”

Startup 207

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Sales 207

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. Product : You should build a product or a prototype. Great companies are built by having great products.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

InfoChachkie

MAY 22, 2012

However, the greater degree you can sequentially follow these steps and maintain your discussions with each venture capitalist (VC) at relatively the same stage, the sooner you can spend less time in the company of investors and get back to running your business. Unfortunately, your fundraising efforts will be less linear. Prep Steps.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Capital Research Customer 236

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I took an advanced computer course in high school where I learned to build databases in Ashton Tate’s dBase III+ and to compile my designs using a product called Clipper.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

And when it comes to timing, wait until you’ve come up with a working prototype and developed your product before you seek external funding. This can be a great way to test your product and get customer feedback. If your product is capital-intensive this can be a good financing option. Convertible debt. Venture debt.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

One thing that comes with being a venture capitalist is you see hundreds and hundreds of businesses. More people aren't the answer if your core business isn't already productive. But if you raise at too high a price you make it harder to raise next round. Usually a terrible idea as runway extension.

Software Review 242

Software Review Technical Review Pricing Metrics 242

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

This article will cover two things; First, the top mistakes small business owners make that end with inquiries leading you to the exit door before making a sale. Typically entrepreneurs doubt themselves because they undervalue their offerings, but it isn’t about creating a product, setting a price and hoping people will buy.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 13, 2010

Publicity and positive word-of-mouth can help grow your start-up into a successful venture. Bootstrapping process, product development, Prototyping. . Have you ever had an idea for a great product, but thought any of the following: "I don't have en. Bootstrapping enterprise, marketing, Sales. . Jon Loyens, Bazaarvoice.

Guide 69

Guide Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur 69

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

Fund raising (as is much of life) is a sale – pure and simple. As with any sales campaign you need to: Qualify your buyers early so you focus your scarce resources on people likely to buy your product. Three rules in sales: Why buy anything? Remember again that the three major steps to a sale are: Why buy anything?

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. Product Friday: Monetizing Content is a Product Problem - This is going to be BIG. m the f%*kin’ boss.”. How it happens.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

Goodreads raised a Series A round of funding from True Ventures in the summer of 2009. Rebecca Pontius is co-founder of the Do Good Bus — a transportable community service venture based in Los Angeles, CA. The site has since grown to nearly 7.5 million members who have added over 270 million books, completely by word of mouth.

Los Angeles 78

Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Mike is a no BS guy, has all the attributes I look for in a founder and says things like, openly shares knowledge and opines without a filter including this one, “whoever invented uncapped convertible debt should be spanked!&# We will white label the system, and not only that, we’ll allow you to set your own pricing.”

Google 302

Google Startup Advertising Acquisition 302

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My original thinking from Oct ’09 was, while I didn’t (and still don’t) have a crystal ball I worried that: consumers were over-stretched with debt (and make up 77% of the economy), unemployment would continue to rise, which in turn would drive the stock market south and cut the rate of M&A activity and VC investment even further.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2010

I’m not talk about the age old debate amongst investors whether you back entrepreneurs, markets or products (or as people like to hedge – product / market fit). In 2006, Steven Dietz, a partner at my firm, GRP Partners, had given me $500,000 in a seed in convertible debt when I started my second company, Koral. A thesis.

Entrepreneur 321

Entrepreneur GRP Partners Venture Capital Invest 321