Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Today I’m handing her the largest A-round check I’ve ever written as a VC as we lead her $10 million A-Round at uBeam. As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. The practical uses for uBeam technology is limitless.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

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. You don’t want to run the risk that having a PS business that takes your eye of off the ball of growing a large software business. That is the software business. rollout support.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software Services Company 321

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. ” Climate resiliency . Given the steady drumbeat of climate disasters that hit the U.S.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

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. That died with waterfall software development. I’m not even talking about your 12-page Powerpoint presentation that you need to raise venture capital or to talk with potential biz dev partners.

Web 2.0 334

Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

This is why investors really like SaaS software companies where you have recurring revenue and your largest customer accounts for < 5% of your revenue and your renewals rates are > 90%. Many software companies have > 80% gross margins which is why they are more valuable than say traditional retailers or consumer product companies.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off. Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. ” Harsh, but reality.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I can’t help feel a bit of rear-view mirror analysis in all of “VC model is broken” bears in our industry. They are, in fact, great news for traditional venture capitalists. This article originally ran on PEHub.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

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. As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. As an early-stage VC I love this phase.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money. Now the price is closer to $100, if you are willing to do the work yourself.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I spoke about how Amazon Web Services deserves far more credit for the last 5 years of innovation than it gets credit for and how I believe they spawned the micro-VC category. I said that I felt that Micro-VCs were the most important change in our industry. All of that might be true, but the 2006 price might still be over-valued.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. 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. They might be as hard as raising VC. But for most businesses it is.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

The company provides SAT, ACT, and other similar test preparation courses and related software. I had worked as a tutor for Princeton Review, and Jake for Kaplan. We thought, we could put out a better product than Kaplan or Princeton Review, which would be more compelling, and also would tie in a strong social mission.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

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? How are you able to do all this?

Artificial Inteligence 140

Artificial Inteligence Startup Commerce Sales 140

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

On Losing in VC. VCs have a seat at the table in deciding future investors. China is indelibly an important part of the future of the global technology system. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. They hired a consultant to help them with the review. I’m talking about the hard fought battle.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

On Losing in VC. VCs have a seat at the table in deciding future investors. China is indelibly an important part of the future of the global technology system. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. They hired a consultant to help them with the review. I’m talking about the hard fought battle.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 9, 2014

Perhaps it’s time to raise a round of Venture Capital funding and want a pitch presentation a bit more composed than the dusty Keynote you put together last year for your friends and family round. Due Diligence. Raj was the business guy, but my background was in tech and startups. Marketing & Branding.

Outsource Development 105

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review Outsource 105

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money. Now the price is closer to $100, if you are willing to do the work yourself.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

According to a classic Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with a majority of new ventures that don't attract investors failing within the first three years. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

According to a Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with 90% of new ventures that don't attract investors failing within the first three years. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies.

Startup 123

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 123

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. Most of them are completely mundane such as choosing which: bank, office space, 1-year lease vs. 2-year lease, logo, URL, pricing structure or which VC. The technology team disagrees on direction and wants resolutions.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

According to a Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with a majority of new ventures that don''t attract investors failing within the first three years. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Startup 53

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 53

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

If you acquire 10 customers a month at $100 per customer and this scales to 100 customers at the same price you may make assumptions about 1,000 customers that don’t hold. Enterprise software companies also should measure CAC even though it, too, is an imprecise science. This is how much you spend to get a new customer.

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Bartering technically means exchanging goods or services as a substitute for money. Now the price is closer to $100, if you are willing to do the work yourself.

Develop 70

Develop Development Product Startup 70

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

Two weeks after winning the deal and well into implementation planning we released a new version of our software. How could a company like ours be so callous as not to support their software (even one more than 4 years out of date)? They hired a consultant to help them with the review. we would support 6.0 which was in beta).

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

We have been using LinkedIn for both sourcing recruits and reviewing backgrounds for recruits. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. Technology Jobs in Southern California – a Rebound. Technology Jobs in Southern California – a Rebound.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

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. Where is it?

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Mixergy and AsAble are also joining us to bring you an amazing VC/Angel Panel. Allen Morgan , Mayfield Ventures. Stewart Roberts , President of Orange County of Tech Coast Angels. InVenture has created a market for "micro venture capital," whereby everyday investors can provide expansion capital to developing businesses.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

He spent a few months building out the software because just taking stuff from people isn’t that difficult. After 9 months it was time to raise seed capital and go test drive our new software and processes. Sam moved back to NY and we announced our seed round of capital, which we led. I’m long NY.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire Startup 380

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. I need to take some VC meetings. You need to have passionate tech entrepreneurs who want to build businesses locally. Me: “Bullshit.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Frank Addante

MAY 12, 2007

► August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? the Rubicon Project (Internet Advertising Technology) Status: Pre-Launch Visit the Rubicon Project Website Startup 5.0: the Rubicon Project (Internet Advertising Technology) Status: Pre-Launch Visit the Rubicon Project Website Startup 5.0: Zondigo, Inc. Be scrappy.

Outsource Development 40

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Startup 40

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

How Most Board Meeting Prep Works I’ve been sitting on tech boards for two decades so I have some experience with what goes wrong. Create a Short Strategy / Discussion Deck Create a 5–10 page presentation in your favorite presentation software on any key issues you are grappling with. This is part of a broader series on Board Meetings.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Frank Addante

JUNE 10, 2007

► August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? the Rubicon Project (Internet Advertising Technology) Status: Pre-Launch Visit the Rubicon Project Website Startup 5.0: the Rubicon Project (Internet Advertising Technology) Status: Pre-Launch Visit the Rubicon Project Website Startup 5.0: Zondigo, Inc. Be scrappy.

Startup 40

Startup Technical Review Software Review Advertising 40

Frank Addante

MAY 15, 2006

► August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? the Rubicon Project (Internet Advertising Technology) Status: Pre-Launch Visit the Rubicon Project Website Startup 5.0: StrongMail Systems (Digital Messsaging Infrastructure Software) Status: VC-backed (Sequoia Capital, Globespan and Evercore) Lesson: Trust your gut.

Advertising 40

Advertising Startup Chief Technology Officer Technical Review 40