Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities. Here are my thoughts on the right focus at a college or university: Take entrepreneurship courses, but major in a more specific discipline.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

One of the questions we discussed is, “How much capital should a startup raise?” ” Fred & I are both in agreement that there is a tension between capital constraints and creativity. So part of playing an effective coach is helping the team to see the answer for themselves. But it’s not who I am.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

I plan to write about it early next year when we’re all through. Throughout the course of last year I never had more than $8,000 in my account. . Think about it – most entrepreneurs who manage to raise seed money or venture capital usually raise enough money for 12-18 months maximum. Of course I do!

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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. But at what cost?

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

But of course all of these things are intertwined. We’re a national venture capital investment firm but with our roots firmly in Los Angeles. Obviously you need to be mentally flexible enough to spot if your instincts were wrong and a change of course is necessary. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). Team Building.

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Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

They write into their investment documents that they will occupy a seat on the board for as long as they are invested in the company, thinking of this as a protection for their investment and tool for them to influence growth. Of course they should not. All other board functions are secondary.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

In the original version of his post, Andy writes. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.” According to FLAG Capital there are 100 active VCs (as defined by making at least $1 million in VC per quarter for 4 consecutive quarters).

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. Of course I went through normal other channels of deal flow. It makes it extraordinarily hard to raise the next round of capital. We are judging how well you are coached on stage. The process of raising capital IS part of running a business.

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Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

Of course that’s true. I’ve tried over the years to write many times about the realism of the downsides of being an entrepreneur because there is a complete cognitive dissidence between what you read about yourself in the press and what you feel internally about where you’re at in the journey.

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Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. Of course I went through normal other channels of deal flow. We are judging how well you are coached on stage. They do this because they have amazing skills at writing business plans. What kind of deals should I be doing? What stage? What price?

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Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

Yesterday I wrote Part 1 of the series on the changes to the software industry over the past decade that has led to changes in the venture capital industry itself. And of course hedge funds and growth-equity funds can’t resist trying to get earlier-stage exposure again. This led to an explosion in startups. That’s wise.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does. Once you’ve been around for a few years, attracted some great people, landed real, paying customers and raised venture capital you’ve likely got a talented team around you. Both are basically people businesses.

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Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2013

Every time I think to write a post about this I figure the most recent board meeting I’ve attended will think it’s about them so I don’t bother. So I’m going to write a series of board meetings posts unrelated to anybody or maybe an amalgamation of them all. This should take the least amount of time possible.

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Writing Venture Capital Help SaaS 337

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

Sure, of course I am. But it’s PacMan.&# I forgot to get him on record on the show, but Gregg writes all the lyrics for the big presidential videos they’ve done – you can see where the humor of JibJab comes from. Any takers in a trade for helping do some write-ups against whatever you want? Gregg says at $9.99

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