Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

Greg was the first person to share with me the insights of mobile conversion and why with a simpler product selection and conversion funnel they would get higher conversion on mobile than on the web. In 2011 the company was sold to Nordstrom for $270 million in a deal that has been widely seen as a success for both buyer and seller.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

If you invested in the first angel round of a startup company it is usually very hard to sell your stock – usually for many years if ever at all. The earlier you invest the higher the chances the company won’t work out and thus you pay a lower price than later-stage investors. Private markets for stocks are the opposite.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

All the data actually suggests with the growth of mobile, inbound sales calls will double from 30 billion to 60 billion in 3 years (source: Kelsey). It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Much more data in the full post. There are 2.9

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. Rinse & repeat. It takes options off of the table. This is total bullshit. .&#

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

socalTECH

OCTOBER 2, 2012

We thought it might be interesting to talk with one of the fund's managing directors, Jeb Spencer about the fund's success in technology investments, plus how it managed to raise another fund in this kind of environment, plus its unique goal of getting companies to an acquisition--and not an IPO.

Acquisition 168

Acquisition Software Review Technical Review Equity 168

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2011

We have a very sophisticated, analytics and software platform that over half the Fortune 50 are now using, to help guide how they invest in marketing and sales activities and investments. Do your customers understand the need for your product, and has that been an issue? Did the TV stimulate search?

Social Media 235

Social Media Demand Activity Marketing 235

socalTECH

OCTOBER 17, 2017

Nimble's software connects to your email, social accounts, and more, and helps you track your customers, sales prospects, sales pipeline, and much much more. They typically don't invest in companies that are in the startup phase. We built the first, networkable contact management product, Goldmine, to run on top of Novell.

Startup 113

Startup Canoga Park Email Google 113

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2013

Speaking of the new investment, CapLinked CEO Eric M. Jackson said, “We’re using the proceeds from our financing round to invest in our technology, build new features, and increase sales and support.”. Based in LA, and launched in 2011 by Eric M. Jackson funding Google Inflection Ventures Investing Lee Essener'

Draper 68

Draper Google Software Engineering Invest 68

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

But this mania to not miss out on the next big thing is driving some investors to pay growth-equity prices for traditional market risk (as in, they’re paying up before it is clear there is product / market fit). Exactly the opposite of what a rational investment strategy would advise. If you are interested the Vimeo is here.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 8, 2016

Founded in 2011, Z Supply, LLC has created five women’s fashion brands with a sixth brand and extension into Men’s, launching Spring 2017. I ended up really relating to the nuance and intricacies of product supply and customer demand. What factors led you to consider augmenting your retail channel with direct, online sales?

Sites 100

Sites Sales Santa Barbara Design 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 17, 2013

spent 2011 raising our seed round, which we used to build our team.and launched the product into beta about a year ago, at the end of 2011. We then spent the first half of 2012 beta testing the product, getting feedback and input to the point where we could start selling it. Are people using the product now?

Mobile 197

Mobile Startup Platform GRP Partners 197

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2010

VC’s don’t invest 100% of their own money. They raise money from institutions who want to have some allocation of their investment dollars in a category known as “alternatives,&# which is supposed to mean higher risk, higher returns. And funds also have investments from the partners of the firm.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Funding Invest GRP Partners 269

socalTECH

JUNE 30, 2016

We're trying to save companies money, and increase the productivity of employees. That can be a subject matter expert, product head, a sales head, any category in the enterprise, and they can use our lightweight platform for answers. We want to delight the end user, and want to create a really, highly addictive product here.

El Segundo 169

El Segundo Southern California Startup CTO Hire 169

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

What was the biggest value they got from the investment? What value is that investment providing today? Joey Flores, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder at Earbits (a Y Combinator Winter 2011 company). Earbits is a marketing platform for music related products built around interactive radio experiences.

Incubator 64

Incubator Santa Monica Idealab Social Media 64

socalTECH

JUNE 5, 2012

We then take that information and find trends and metadata, and all that content and sharing, and use it to drive e-commerce, and to design and manufacture apparel products. I started with a men's apparel brand doing marketing, creative, and branding, and worked on everything from production to design and manufacturing.

Startup 182

Startup Commerce Design Media 182

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 17, 2011

So with out further ado I present the Spotlight: LA Tech Summer 2011 Judges! Prior to Idealab, Alex led sales and marketing efforts for venture-backed startups focused on enterprise software and services. Entries will be closed for company submissions at midnight of July 4th, 2011. When: Thursday, July 14th, 2011 – 6:00 p.m.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Idealab Angel Design 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 13, 2012

Kevin Hell: Yes, we have a selection committee, comprised of folks who are venture capitalists and also have been in the investment arm of large companies. After the sale, Rory [Editor's note: Rory Moore] asked me if I wanted to take this to the next level. Is there a screening process or criteria for firms to use the facilities?

Incubator 212

Incubator San Diego Technical Review Development Team Review 212

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

But truthfully both Dana and I are more aligned with the lean startup principles and believe you only go FAT when you’ve really proved out your product / market fit. The “private sale” market phenomenon was started in France by Vente-Privee (literally means “private sale”) and was replicated in Germany by BrandsforFriends.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

2011 was an incredibly huge year for us, and 2012 will be the same way. He called me and said--this is a company you might be interested in, maybe taking a board seat, or co-investing in, or helping them get funded. That ended up as a $200 million sale to Microsoft. In 2011, we had two of our patents approved.

Marina Del Rey 238

Marina Del Rey Startup IP Examples 238

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

What was the biggest value they got from the investment? What value is that investment providing today? Joey Flores, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder at Earbits (a Y Combinator Winter 2011 company). Earbits is a marketing platform for music related products built around interactive radio experiences.

Incubator 40

Incubator Santa Monica Idealab Social Media 40

Tech.Co

MARCH 8, 2018

Also at Startup Night will be 25 diverse and innovative startups showcasing their latest products, competing for prizes including: $1K from LaunchKC , Business Extra Points from American Airlines , and a fast tracked spot to the Startup of the Year semifinals competition at Innovate Celebrate 2018. Siggi Hindrichs, Principal at Samsung NEXT.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Startup Software Review Entrepreneur 70

socalTECH

OCTOBER 30, 2013

The florist business center we launched recently empowers florists, with tools to run email marketing campaigns, reach out through social media, and even gives them a point of sale system and website builder. Farbod Shoraka: We started out in the summer of 2011. How long has the service been available?

Beverly Hills 157

Beverly Hills Technical Review Design Startup 157

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

So with out further ado I present the Spotlight: LA Tech Fall 2011 Judges! Prior to Idealab, Alex led sales and marketing efforts for venture-backed startups focused on enterprise software and services. Entries will be closed for company submissions at midnight of October 16th, 2011. He is a recognized leader in the Voice 2.0

Tech Coast Angels 96

Tech Coast Angels Idealab Angel Startup 96

Xconomy

JULY 21, 2016

It’s currently Biogen’s top-selling product, generating close to $2 billion in sales during the first half of 2016. He re-organized operations and he oversaw the enrichment of our product pipeline and the launch of several products,” said Biogen chairman Stelios Papadopoulos, in a statement. Reprints | Share:

San Diego 40

San Diego Conference Pricing Acquisition 40

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

Founded in the summer of 2011 and their first product out a few weeks ago amSTATS wants to help users to follow fitness events and programs near them and find a great fitness trainer to help them stay fit. Bobby’s strong sales acumen, genuine charisma and leadership abilities make him an invaluable asset to the founding team.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 11, 2012

As we know, developers always give their product a code name. We built a Proof of Concept in 2010, went into closed beta in 2011 and opened up to the public in Dec 2012. Omidyar Networks – head of investment. We are in the process of integrating into various point of sales and providing prefunded vouchers for the unbanked.

Software Review 92

Software Review Social Network Platform Technical Review 92

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2016

The challenge with those types of fleets, is because they are cities, they are bureaucratic, complicated, and have a very slow sales cycle. Although we had developed a really good system to manage those fleets, we were not getting the velocity we wanted to get more of our product on the road. driving for on-demand services.

Demand 100

Demand Los Angeles Inglewood Pricing 100

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 25, 2008

Explain what your products do? Who are the typical customers for your products? It's a month-to-month rental, although many of our customers buy the product--but they can do it on an operations budget. I think we've got a great team, with the right product, at the right time in the market. Congrats on funding.

Startup 113

Startup CTO Hire Resource Venture Capital 113

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. Try charging customers for your product when you have 12 competitors giving the product away free finances by $20 million of VC.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2012

Tech Companies & Calls: I once read a quote on Twitter that said, If you use a tech service for free then product is you. Only 2 problems: - 94% of people hate paying for products even more (avg pay rate for ‘ad free’ tech products is < 6%). - It’s why people buy branded products. In fact, it is.

Mobile 311

Mobile Technical Review Google Screening 311

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2013

The timing of the announcement of this investment couldn’t have been timed more perfectly if we tried. I started announcing my Twitter thesis back in 2011 (still serves as a useful read today). And before that you might enjoy this longer analysis on why I invested in DataSift in the first place , which was written 2.5

Social Media 358

Social Media Yammer Invest Organization 358

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2012

That couldn’t happen without the advent of lower cost production & distribution. And as we know the book industry is moving fully electronic with the advent of the Kindle making the costs of production & distribution nearly zero. ” That is why Hulu has invested so much in building its Hulu Plus subscription service.

Media 302

Media Netflix Content Hulu 302

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

When you’re one fund and have $600 million to invest it’s easier to take that kind of risk. LA generally doesn’t have an appetite for this kind of ‘swing-for-the-fences’ investment at early stages – and neither does your town. There are no $600 million funds in Los Angeles.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

I am a raving fan of AppSumo because the creator of the brand, Noah Kagan , leads his company focusing on community first and sales second. He disclosed the struggles he went through in building a solid productive team. And he showed us examples how implementing his team’s innovations directly sky rocketed company sales.

Metrics 87

Metrics Email Startup Technical Review 87

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 8, 2011

It gives music companies a direct pipeline to market their products and services to music fans. Their all new all electric car is set to be released for sale in limited quantities at the end of 2011. When: Thursday, July 14th, 2011 – 6:00 p.m. Xavor invest through our dependable consulting services. to 9:30 p.m.

CalTech 100

CalTech Technical Review Company Companies 100

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

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