Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

Yves Sisteron , Stuart Lander & I (depicted in the photo below) have worked together for more than 22 years now and that has taken us through many cycles of market enthusiasm & panic. Photo by Scott Clark for Upfront Ventures A question I often hear is “how is Upfront changing given the current market?” The answer is: not much.

Startup 408

Startup Venture Capital Writing Invest 408

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2024

Apex builds satellite buses quicker and more affordably than ever before, allowing companies to rapidly expand critical satellite deployment. And all of those things contributed to Ian Cinnamon founding Apex right here in California. Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with Ian on This Week in Startups.

CalTech 237

CalTech USC UCLA Los Angeles 237

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

Shots on Goal Being great as a startup technology investor of course requires a lot of things to come together: You need to have strong insights into where technology markets are heading and where value in the future will be created and sustained You need be perfect with your market timing. I’ve definitely been wrong on market value.

Funding 294

Funding Startup Writing Invest 294

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

With the enormous changes to our economies and financial markets?—?how how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued?

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). The truth is – there isn’t a “right&# answer so for your company.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2012

I recently spoke at the Blue Glass conference on the topic of marketing. I’ll write up some thoughts in a blog post format soon. I’ve been spending time looking at marketing conversion metrics at portfolio companies lately.

Conference 297

Conference Marketing Metrics Writing 297

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

As an investor, I sometimes see CEOs who negotiate to send their VP of Marketing to talk. The implications to you and your company are also large, so be prepared. As your company grows, you have to host customer seminars. Need to represent your company at industry association events.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Customer Custom 113

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

Serial entrepreneur, venture investor and startup accelerator pioneer Brad Feld has notoriously mocked traditional marketing throughout his career. companies should… focus on building amazing products. “…companies should… focus on building amazing products. If you have $hitty products, the marketing is impossible.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

Los Angeles-based digital marketing agency Wpromote said on Monday that it has launched a new set of scholsrships, which will go to students interested in digital marketing. According to Wpromote, the new scholarships--which will be awarded bi-annually--will total $3,000, with the first award in December of this year. READ MORE>>.

Marketing 100

Marketing Blogging Writing Los Angeles 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics. What happened?

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. Online marketing uses techniques for driving promotion and place. But it wasn’t to be.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

socalTECH

APRIL 23, 2021

Hawke Ventures, a new, venture capital fund that is part of marketing company Hawke Media, said Friday that it has raised $5.6M The company said it plans to write checks of between $100,000 and $250,000 in digital marketing startups. for its first, venture capital fund.

Funding 113

Funding Invest Venture Capital Writing 113

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

The momentum from an old decision that took lots of effort to implement is worth something to a marketing professional. Email readers, continue here.] Recently, I received a hand-written letter from two co-CEOs of a company I had helped out with a few hours of time. And that’s a lesson for all of us in marketing.

Marketing 199

Marketing Email Customer Custom 199

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

If you don’t have the time to write things down, or your writing skills leave something to be desired, don’t be afraid to get some help. No executive I know writes all his own contracts, but every smart one owns every one that is written for him, and understands every element.

Startup 102

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 102

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

In my last post I pointed out that many of the media commentators who have criticized the YouTube video network companies as not having strong businesses were mistaken. So why is online video such an attractive market to build a startup? The next part of the margin mix online video companies must get control of is talent margins.

Company 339

Company Companies Technical Review Content 339

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. Yet as obvious as it is to create messaging for your company, many people don’t consider their personal brands.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. I suspect those days will end soon, and 61% of LPs polled said they felt VCs were coming back to market too quickly.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

Berkonomics

MARCH 28, 2024

They write in 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. Even venture capitalists who sit on boards where they have significant investments often forget this point.

Class 282

Class Coach Invest Sales 282

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

TechEmpower

JULY 31, 2023

These two questions/answers can help define the early proof points for your company. Another thing that Dave has done well is to look at the value of different marketing channels: There’s a lot of value in this presentation. Please write us at blog@techempower.com ! Be sure to check out the entire presentation.

Metrics 260

Metrics Startup Slides Technical Review 260

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

socalTECH

OCTOBER 19, 2009

He recently landed a round of funding, and shares his experience here: Before you start bitching about investors not writing checks in this economy let me just say this  bullshit. I just finished our capital raise for our new company, Affordit.com and can tell you first hand that I've never seen more people eager to write checks.

Writing 100

Writing Santa Monica Venture Capital Entrepreneur 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venture capital is not an asset class” or “venture capital has performed terribly.” I hope to publish that deck and a full write up in the next 10 days in partnership with Dan Primack at Fortune (if my write up doesn’t suck, I guess ;-)).

Venture Capital 362

Venture Capital Capital Startup Writing 362

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

Thursday night was the unveiling of the newest batch of Launchpad LA companies. The VC’s & executives were then asked to make “commitments&# (in writing) to 3-5 of the companies that they felt they could make some sort of contribution to. Have a look at the companies below.

Company 276

Company Companies Startup Southern California 276

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. Source: runwayml.com In June, Runway raised $141 million in funding, nudging its market valuation to an envy-inducing $1.5

Startup 196

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 196

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

Fountain Valley-based HyperX , which makes products for the videogaming market, said today that it has rolled out two new solid state disks (SSDs) specifically aimed at videogamers. The new drives not only feature very fast data transfer speeds (550MB/s read and 480MB/s write), but include RGB lighting effects. READ MORE>>.

Writing 113

Writing Marketing Technology Product 113

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 9, 2021

The company has been building a title called Blankos Block Party that seems to be Fall Guys meets Roblox meets Funko Pop. Users don’t need to walk through the mechanics of setting up a wallet or writing down a seed phrase either. The round was led by WestCap. The startup has raised a whopping $120 million to date.

Platform 308

Platform Framework Los Angeles Design 308

TechEmpower

AUGUST 7, 2023

The role of a CTO varies as the company matures. Getting something to market and getting funding override any other concerns. And you certainly don’t want to be the company that spends time and money building something you could have picked up off the shelf. Please write us at blog@techempower.com !

CTO Hire 260

CTO Hire Develop Development Fractional VPE 260

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2017

As an investor, I sometimes see CEOs who negotiate to send their VP of Marketing to talk. The implications to you and your company are also large, so be prepared. As your company grows, you have to host customer seminars. Need to represent your company at industry association events.

Company 97

Company Companies Entrepreneur Customer 97

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

Josh Kaplan and Dee Murthy, both founder and co-CEO of the Los Angeles–based company, started Ghost in 2021 after previously working together at Four Five Group, a men’s apparel business. million in new funding for its predictive inventory recommendation platform, joining other similar companies, including Zippedi and Inventa.

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

socalTECH

OCTOBER 2, 2018

Santa Monica-based PadX , a new startup in the real estate market, said today that it has launched a new home buying and selling marketplace in Los Angeles. The company, which acts as a licensed real estate brokerage, says it has created a service which streamlines home buying and selling. READ MORE>>.

Santa Monica 113

Santa Monica Writing Tool Los Angeles 113

socalTECH

MAY 6, 2019

San Diego-based Pharmapace , a provider of clinical research services, focused on biometrics services for the clinical trial process, has been acquired by Shanghai-based WuXi AppTec , the two companies said on Sunday. The company was founded in 2013 in San Diego. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. READ MORE>>.

San Diego 113

San Diego Statistics Writing Acquisition 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

It has historically been the case that VCs would rather fund the promise of 100x in a company with almost no revenue than the reality of a company growing at 50% but doing $20+ million in sales. The Valley has obsessed with a quick up-and-to-right momentum story because we were thought to live in “winner take most” markets.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 363

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 14, 2009

Cliff Allen is someone I've known for quite a few years and he's a go to person for me when I'm thinking about issues around marketing, sales, technology, startups and networking. I moved into writing software to analyze audience data, and wrote a lot of computer graphics software. Maybe that would make sense as a marketing channel.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Networking Marketing Startup 150

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Value Prop Twitter Style : “Ringrevenue’s call performance marketing platform enables ad networks, agencies, advertisers & publishers to generate more inbound sales calls.”. In today’s market, so much focus is placed on transacting business online. “In 10) Rob, why does the world need RingRevenue? . “In

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

In the creation of a young company, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. Second: Market risk. .

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156