Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

How do you then reference check your VC to be sure that you’ve chosen a good firm and partner? Get a reference list - Most entrepreneurs do almost no reference checks or at least do them very informally. When you finally get back up on your feet again, Everybody wants to be your old long-lost friend.

Venture Capital 298

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Capital Help 298

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2021

John Bradberry, in his classic book “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ,” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making. I challenge any entrepreneur to honestly tell me they have never fallen victim to any of these in making startup decisions: Confirmation bias.

Startup 149

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Press 149

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

Launching and growing a startup is one of the biggest missions an entrepreneur can undertake. But while competition remains fierce, the advancement and accessibility of smart solutions are making it easy than ever for startups to find their feet. VPN Startup tool: VPN Price: Free Hide.me While Hide.me

Tool 131

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. My first startup was no different. They are the lifeblood of many companies yet they are different than the traditional technology startup DNA so the ways that you hire, motivate, compensate and assess performance of these individuals will be different.

Sales 382

Sales Help Startup Pricing 382

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2023

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools). By commission?

Startup 92

Startup Funding Offshore Invest 92

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Let me start out with my premise: “Data rooms are where fund-raising processes go to die.” I have to back up and give you more context. I’m going to start with the reasons and then explain how to use your best data to your advantage. I never thought of this until I became the Founder & CEO of my first startup company.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. The Basics The starting point — the 101 — is knowing the difference between gross burn and net burn. You start from the basics, which is if you raise $2.5

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2022

Most investors and startup professionals expand this concept of focus to apply to key issues of every aspect of strategic and tactical planning in a startup. Startups need to show real traction before attempting to cross the chasm. Start your business with a narrow niche and a focused strategy, but don’t stay there.

Startup 150

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

Thus you should do the same or more due diligence on educational background, previous work, and references. Look impartially from all angles and do the follow-up on all relevant previous roles.

Software Review 154

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 154

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 13, 2010

The reference was in the form of a gold tablet that stated, “By the strength of the eternal Heaven, holy be the Khan’s name. This golden reference effectively communicated the Emperor’s sentiments in absentia. Modern-day references are effective because they rely upon a powerful principle of influence, Social Norming.

Startup 113

Startup .Net Organization Networking 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 7, 2014

Los Angeles has been in the midst of a technology boom over the last few years, with many of high profile startups growing in the area. We spoke with Bryce Maddock , founder of TaskUs, about the company and how it has been providing the manpower behind a lot of LA''s technology startups. So, what is TaskUs?

Startup 231

Startup Technology Outsource Santa Monica 231

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Although noteworthy, working with large corporations differs remarkably from working with startups. Inquisitiveness: Prior to starting the project, you should receive an estimate of the work effort. References: The company should willingly provide references. Are they publicly available?

Software Development 295

Software Development Software Review Develop Development 295

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. Many people start companies arse backwards. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 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. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

[if you're not old enough to get the reference between this image and the title you can click on the image for a prompter]. I recently wrote a blog post about why I believe that startup teams in close proximity perform better. In fact, this is the set up Jeff had as he was between gigs.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Incubator Entrepreneur 285

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

We’ve grown accustomed to a professionalism where we know when a work issue comes up we can count on each other for a quick Sunday call between family time. And that person has almost certainly chosen specifically to be a startup lawyer over serving other types of customers because he or she enjoys working with entrepreneurs.

Startup 363

Startup Venture Capital Coach Press 363

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. Many entrepreneurs who start technology companies are product people, technologists or savvy business people who worked previously for a larger company. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. Tags: Start-up Advice. I know I didn’t.

Sales 319

Sales Startup Platform Tips 319

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 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. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2023

In the world of entrepreneurs and startups, high level relationships are everything. You can’t start a business alone. This is where most business relationships start and remain. They’re far too dynamic, and may even move up and down floors like an elevator. Of course, relationships seldom fit neatly into a given level.

Startup 127

Startup Guide Networking Help 127

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2021

Three Rules of Fundraising “Sales” One of the common mistakes I see startups as well as VCs make is spending too much time on top of funnel prospecting. than it is to start narrowing down and doing the work to close the deal, or risking hearing a no. it’s not just startups who do it. But here’s the thing?—?it’s Why Buy Me?

Sales 375

Sales Startup Invest Funding 375

TechEmpower

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

As part of the onboarding process, the app asks both job seekers and employers what they’re looking for - in a text box - while providing a few suggestions in a pop-up. This isn’t just our opinion - our startup metrics prove it! Even with the pop-up suggestions, we saw significant drop-off during user onboarding.

Generative AI 295

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence TechEmpower Tips 295

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2020

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools). By commission?

Tips 141

Tips Invest Offshore Startup 141

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2023

Every existing business, as well as every startup, needs to reassess their product or service in the context of these five forces: Intensity of competitive rivalry. Startups that target profitable and growing markets with high returns should realize that these will draw many new entrants. Way back in 1979, Michael E.

Competition 88

Competition Startup Framework Pricing 88

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

TechEmpower

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Structured Data refers to information organized in a defined manner, making it easier to search and analyze. Initial Query Refinement: Initial query is the starting point in any search process where a user provides an initial query to the system. Broadly speaking, data can be categorized as either structured or unstructured.

Generative AI 346

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence Tool Knowledge Base 346

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

For our Insights and Opinions section this morning, we have a contribution from Ron McElroy , the CEO and founder of Real Office Centers , which has rapidly become of the gathering places for the growing Silicon Beach startup community. Silicon Beach, as the white-hot start up market in Santa Monica is referred to, is exploding with activity.

Startup 168

Startup Santa Monica High Tech Education 168

SoCal CTO

APRIL 27, 2011

Several people have recently come to me to help them source and/or hire full-time CTOs for their startup having found me through my post that looks at: Startup CTO Salary and Equity Data. The first thing I do is suggest they explore if they really need to hire a full-time CTO for their startup and if so, what kind of CTO they need.

CTO Hire 282

CTO Hire CTO Coach Technical Review Startup 282

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. But I used to jokingly refer to bridge loans as “pier&# loans. From pragmatic risk taking to risk aversion.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2020

Every existing business, as well as every startup, needs to reassess their product or service in the context of these five forces: Intensity of competitive rivalry. Startups that target profitable and growing markets with high returns should realize that these will draw many new entrants. Way back in 1979, Michael E.

Competition 151

Competition Startup Framework Pricing 151

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

InfoChachkie

JULY 22, 2013

In their new book Startup Life , serial entrepreneur and venture investor Brad Feld, along with his wife Amy Batchelor, describe what has, and has not, worked for them during their 22-year relationship. Brad is in the midst of writing a series of startup-oriented books. I caught up with Brad between promotional events for Startup Life.

Startup 210

Startup Writing Santa Barbara Entrepreneur 210

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Large companies can be strange sometimes. Sometimes it actually does.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298