Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. People often ask me why I started blogging. It really started simply enough. Do you have sales productivity software?

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

I made every textbook mistake at my first startup, which is why I believe I was much more effective at my second one. The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. I worked with an entrepreneur who was to appear at a startup networking event where he was to talk about his company’s plans.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 23, 2013

Every sales organization with more than a handful of reps or that is across multiple offices or time zones would benefit from having a sales methodology. I’ve been writing a series on a simple methodology that we used at my first enterprise software company. There are many out there and many books have been written on the topic.

Sales 328

Sales Customer Custom Examples 328

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. What makes up revenue? One of them is profitability. Operating Costs.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

It’s very common for startup companies to have COO’s. So I know I’m getting myself into a bit of trouble by writing this. But … Startups don’t need – shouldn’t have – COOs. I have this conversation with every startup that comes to see me and has a CEO & a COO.

Startup 325

Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325

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

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc. 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication? 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication?

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic&# organizations and to some extent that should be true. I see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact). You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2010

We started with our financial statements. We then walked through our sales pipeline and discussed major campaigns. So I changed things up and became much happier with my results. But they were in a slide and people asked you questions so it ended up chewing up 30 minutes. I’m sure many of you feel that way.

Startup 331

Startup Slides Guide Writing 331

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 16, 2011

After college Joanne worked for 4 years in retail apparel at Macy’s where she initially managed sales reps on the floor and then worked as a buyer of clothing. This is where she first developed sales skills. She doubled her salary by going into sales. to $12m in sales. She came in and took over the business.

Startup 311

Startup Sales Venture Capital Entrepreneur 311

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. In a VC business when you raise additional capital you need to “level up” and act the round you are. Act your stage.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2011

For starting relationships today that won’t pay off for a year. It is a piece of actionable advice that if you put into practice starting next week will start paying dividends in the near future. Talented brand sales people? If you want to read more about hiring at a startup check out: 1. Wake up early.

Startup 410

Startup Writing Press Venture Capital 410

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

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 likely are extending payments to debtors way beyond that expected payment terms and start damaging supplier relations.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. However, a number of them wanted to vicariously experience the startup world through John and Kyle''s venture. It''s gonna highlight our emotions, our ups and our downs.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

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. I said both in the article but felt compelled to provide a statement up front for the skimmers.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

I guess let’s file this under sales & marketing advice. Don’t blog about what you think would be “cool.&# I don’t think that most startup blogs should be about how to build a startup. The new stuff: How do I get started? Don’t just write a carbon copy of what somebody else is doing.

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. This is true whether your at a sales meeting or at a VC firm. Either way, don’t assume that the entire room is up to speed on your company.

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

This is a theme that comes up in one the most influential business books for me of the past decade, The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb where he talks about the role that luck plays in business success. If you’re a tech startup person I know you know what I mean. I started blogging 2 years ago. And so it goes with startups.

Startup 391

Startup Blogging Venture Capital Writing 391

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

I recently sat down with Matt Coffin , the founder of LowerMyBills, which sold for $400 million but was very nearly a bankruptcy only a few years early, and talked “startups.&#. Matt is one of the most transparent, focused & honest startup guys you’ll meet. Or read the quick, informative summary below the image!

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 23, 2010

Where to Start? It’s pretty tough to review somebody and judge the quality of their work if you haven’t given them any guidelines for what you expect up front. So start there. I find this to be too much overhead for most startups. I next write a paragraph to describe what I mean by each comment.

Startup 297

Startup Writing Examples News 297

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

When convertible debt first started being introduced as a “faster, cheaper way to get startups funded” they didn’t have pricing built into them. In fact, most early investor work hard to help their startups get to the next level so it makes no sense for the angel investor and founders to be at odds.

Startup 354

Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Start-up Lessons.&#. My starting line with every entrepreneur is that everything I learned about being an entrepreneur I learned from F’ing it up on my first business. I even put that in the the preamble to my Start-up Lessons outline.

Startup 247

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Writing 247

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

So I thought I’d write a post about how I drive my personal creativity. (A This applies equally to VCs, startups & big company executives. The key is channeling what you learn when you drive onto paper for retention purposes so you have to write it down soon afterward. So no whinging about what a long post this is!

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 25, 2013

Many first-time entrepreneurs have grown up digital natives so have a really good intuitive feel for technology & design but don’t yet have the business basics down. . I’m not talking only about a sales call, getting past the assistant or anything like that. Write your set of bullet points on paper before the call.

Startup 364

Startup Writing Help Email 364

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2010

I know that this will sound like a random post topic for startup advice but I promise it’s relevant. When I started blogging I had an idea. I would take all of the one-on-one conversations that I have with entrepreneurs from the things I’ve learned and just write them up for anybody to read.

Startup 294

Startup Press Course Writing 294

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

I was initially skeptical, but it was a pure delight for me from start to finish. For the same reason I loved the much more flawed story of Anvil , who interestingly came from Toronto, about 100 miles away from where Justin Bieber grew up. It all has to start from talent. Usher worked hard to set up meetings (including L.A.

Entrepreneur 398

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Blogging 398

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

This does not mean you shouldn’t solve big, complex problems or write complex code. 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. Or what about your sales team? Before that he was a US senator.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

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. That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management.

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2014

Very few investors understand this and even fewer startups. When you’re an early-stage business every dollar matters and because many startup teams these days are very product & technology centric they often miscalculate the importance of PR. PR is an insanely valuable activity in early-stage companies. They are silent.

Press 415

Press Google Course Writing 415

Berkonomics

AUGUST 17, 2023

Preparing for the game… If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

Invest 296

Invest Capital Startup Entrepreneur 296

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA , which I wrote about previously. Having a good sales methodology can help you ensure your company runs more disciplined campaigns and focuses scarce resources on your best opportunities. It the second rule of sales, “Why Buy Me?”

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. The monkey on my back. ” Yup.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2020

Even in this age of videos and text messages, the quickest way to kill your startup dream with investors, business partners, or even customers, is embarrassingly poor writing. You have to be able to communicate effectively in all the common forms, including business writing, as well as talking, presenting, and producing videos.

Writing 125

Writing Entrepreneur Summary Email 125

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. I started feeling panic attacks.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

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

DECEMBER 16, 2009

I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute: Tenacity. Street Smarts - OK, so you’re a tenacious person – you never give up. Well obviously that’s meaningless if your startup idea sucks. He was at a startup that was in a super hot sector. We were SMOKING cash.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Customer 306