Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 12, 2010

In the technology world there are a few websites that most startups track to keep up with the latest financings, acquisitions, product announcements and gossip: BusinessInsider, TechCrunch, Mashable, GigaOm, etc. In the VC & Private Equity world there’s a small number, too, with one of the most respected being PEHub.

Venture Capital 232

Venture Capital Slides Seed Funding Google 232

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 27, 2012

David encourages entrepreneurs to stay away from the big tech firms (such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple) because they are hard to compete with. I believe entrepreneurs should, in David’s words, “build big businesses on the outskirts” but I don’t believe that Silicon Valley tech giants will outmaneuver startups.

Technical Review 299

Technical Review Venture Capital Yammer Google 299

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2015

Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is a full tutorial on your new disruptive technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Slides 105

Slides Technical Review Startup Research 105

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

The week before your meeting 2 people need to cancel due to travel conflicts. You can go as high as 1% because they’re going to get diluted when you bring in VC. Don’t overplay in your VC pitches – Final bit of advice – don’t overplay the advisers in your VC pitch. Have 8 of them!

Startup 306

Startup Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 306

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Angel 102

Angel Funding Slides Technical Review 102

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is a full tutorial on your new disruptive technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Startup 64

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 64

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

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. There’s a guy in Los Angeles that I met at several tech networking events. I said that was my point.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2012

Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Tips 97

Tips Slides Technical Review Startup 97

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

“Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator. This is all explicit decision making.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2017

Management teams whisk through slides trying to get through a presentation to share how great things are going and they are eager to get through the meeting so they can get back to their real jobs. The board’s job is to review the company’s financial performance and strategy and help provide counsel to the executive team.

Tips 212

Tips Slides Startup Technical Review 212

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2011

Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Slides 95

Slides Technical Review Startup Research 95

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

So things that have to be done early get done early, but only at the last possible moment that the early task is due. The first was to do a 5 minute “ignite&# presentation – 5 minutes, 15 slides. I did the outline of the 15 slides on the flight over (after a few beers). Internally I was a wreck. I couldn’t.

Slides 374

Slides Email Entrepreneur Startup 374

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

In most cases, these applicants for equity funding must be rooted in technology to apply to this limited discussion. You will have to hone your story well, down to fifteen minutes and perhaps fifteen slides in your presentation. Then there is venture capital. Friends and family investors. Accelerators.

Equity 156

Equity Technical Review Class Organization 156

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. These are probably the two sites where I've posted the most reviews. One out of ten of Americans are out of work. By doing the job.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

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. You’ve found a VC partner or principal who has invited you to the Monday partners’ meeting. Congratulations.

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. had two occasions recently to review products which had clear market leadership. gave him my favorite, "keep it to six slides."

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

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. The deck itself was produced by a committee of functional team lead who were asked to do 5–7 slides each for an update. Each section head reads his / her 5–7 slides. There are too many pages.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

When I need to give a speech and I’m writing a slide for my deck, I think up the story in my mind that I’m going to tell for this slide. I want to know how many people, their level of tech sophistication, their age and their interests. How much power does Google have due to search? So I thought I would.

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

Let’s review all of our existing investments. But I guess you could say the same about VC. Stock market declines would bring back dog days of VC. If you want a comprehensive summary of the industry in this era it’s worth a read: VC Ice Age Part 1 – What Happens When a Market Comes to a Standstill?

Marketing 305

Marketing Venture Capital Funding Technical Review 305

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