Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2011

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Fundraising is indeed brutally tough at all stages, and the seed funding is the hardest to find.

Software Review 98

Software Review Funding Seed Funding Startup 98

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

And, many of the presenting companies received sizable funding commitments and offers of ongoing help. Are there any technology innovations, gadgets, devices, software, that you found most interesting in 2018? It is a complex area delivered as a simple, elegant, and highly accurate solution.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2010

Yesterday I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Fundraising is indeed brutally tough at all stages, and the seed funding is the hardest to find.

Software Review 95

Software Review Startup Seed Funding Funding 95

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Looking ahead at the next decade I am excited by what I believe will be viewed as one of the best and most rational investment periods for venture capital due to seven discrete factors: 1. If you want to understand the details of why this is, I covered it in detail in this post, Understanding Changes in the Software Industry.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

But in these years I learned how to sell software – necessity is the mother of all invention. But in our first year of sales (and those were really shitty years to be selling software) we sold $2.1 I learned how to do a pipeline review with sales people without getting bullshitted to. I never built Google.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2019

Are there any technology innovations, gadgets, devices, software, that you found most interesting in 2018? The macro climate will be volatile due to uncertainly from an unstable president, a slowing overall economy and the China America trade negotiationsas well as the inevitable slowing of a 10 year run.

Capital 113

Capital Southern California Technical Review SaaS 113

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Some of the big milestones we did, include a seed round of financing in the fall of 2015, which was led by Upfront Ventures. Today, we help enable returns in-person, but we also provide software for retailers that want to outsource their return portal. An example is Outerknown, which is Kelly Slater's apparel brand.

Training 100

Training Customer Custom Software Review 100

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 14, 2015

Good news, Fixed , the San Francisco app that helps drivers fight tickets has just launched in Los Angeles after raising an additional $650,000 in seed funding last February. Apps & Software contest Fixed parking ticket' Yeah, purposefully vague. Fixed claims that 50% of tickets are dismissed when challenged.

Los Angeles 40

Los Angeles Angel Software Review Seed Funding 40

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

A few years ago it became fashionable for large VC’s to do seed funding. With open source software (LAMP stack) and cloud computing infrastructure it just wasn’t that expensive to get your company going and founders just wanted to raise less money. I think they definitely qualify as a VC and not a seed fund.

Seed Funding 283

Seed Funding Venture Capital Funding Software Review 283

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

OCTOBER 19, 2009

Well … I have had many late nights and I really didn’t contemplate writing many blog postings this month because I spent November in this interesting venture capital / fund raising dance involving lots of late night sessions reviewing legal documents, rewriting business plans and preparing for pitches. Folksonomy. Free product.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I’m a software guy so I’m sure there are cases where building isn’t feasible. Professional angels / former entrepreneurs / seed funds – In Silicon Valley there are people like Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Mike Maples and many more. Product : You should build a product or a prototype.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

When you raise larger rounds there is more “due diligence,” which includes: calling customers, looking at financial metrics, doing cohort analysis (looking for trends like changes in churn rates), evaluating competitor positioning and understanding more of the competency of your executive team. What is Your Risk Appetite?

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

socalTECH

JUNE 23, 2021

Alex Nocifera: We're lucky in that we have LA's best seed funds. Where are you now as a company, understanding that lots of things have changed due to this pandemic? The uniqueness is we're a database, a marketplace, and predictive analytics under the hood threading together every signal into a predictive state for marketers.

Marketing 113

Marketing Los Angeles Zag Startup 113

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. Between this blog and reviewing applications to Capital Factory I see hundreds of pitches a year. Most were on paper and video; 20 were invited to pitch in person.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217