Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

The first thing to remember is that banks only do loans – they generally don’t do equity investments like angels and venture capitalists (and vice versa). You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition's, and why it will succeed.

Equity 121

Equity Technical Advisors Funding Ideas 121

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. That used to be called A-round investing. The biggest change for us in early-stage investing is that we now need to commit earlier. However, to be a great VC you have to hold two conflicting ideas in your head at the same time. of the fund.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally-generated funds. Strategic partner” investors: If you can find a strategic partner willing to invest in your enterprise, consider it a blessing.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

And, the equity markets are certainly a more challenging environment. Investors are very focused on diligence, on business models that make sense, and those companies that have a definite competitive advantage and defensibility to what they're doing. Mike Napoli: Obviously, it's still tough. The environment has gotten more constrained.

Tech Coast Angels 231

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 231

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. So the people who invest in VC funds have two problems.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2017

Wallach on investments out of a new fund, Inevitable Ventures. How did you end up here in Los Angeles doing investments? Coincidentally, that was the exact same time in 2009 when I moved out, when Ashton Kutcher started first investing. Ron chose me to manage those investments. We brought in a third partner, Guy Oseary.

Invest 157

Invest Startup Hollywood Echo Park 157

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

The traditional way that this type of financing is offered is what is known as “convertible debt.&# This means that the investment does not have a valuation placed on it. a loan) that is later converted to equity at the time of the next financing. It starts as a debt instrument (e.g.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

AngelList 101 : As you know, AngelList is a platform where angels can invest in semi-screened tech deals. As an angel you can look for the social proof in deals “Dave Morin is investing …” to make your decision. AngelList Syndicate leads don’t take any fees on the investment, which should help with returns.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. We also spoke about technology systems in the perspective of global competition. Some money out of every investment. No minority shareholder.

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Either of these qualms can ultimately sidetrack your startup as not worthy of investment, so it pays to do your homework on what you say and how to communicate effectively. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition. Investors invest in people more than the idea.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2013

Some people feel that organic growth is “better” because it requires real innovation and sustained effort to create long-term competitive advantage through differentiation and efficiency. These relationships need not require cash investments; often they are done with exchanges of equity or assets. Economies of scale.

Organization 97

Organization Competition Startup Acquisition 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

You company is the product and you’re selling an equity ownership in your company but much more broadly you’re selling trust & confidence that you’re going to build something enormously valuable and that you’re going to be enjoyable to work hand-in-hand with over the coming decade of each other’s lives.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)? There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. Private endowments.

Equity 94

Equity Startup Technical Review Organization 94

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. This includes presentations, ROI calculators, competitive analyses and so forth.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

With more competition in early-stage many VCs are investing smaller amounts at earlier stages. As an industry we have more startups feeding into the top end of our funnels from which to evaluate and choose the most prudent investments. Hedge funds and growth equity firms returning to their traditional segments of the market.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Capital Cloud Computing Marketing 289

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 20, 2019

The feature illustrates how Postmates, one of the earlier entrants to the billion-dollar food delivery wars , is trying to remain competitive by appealing to price-sensitive customers. Earlier this year, Postmates raised an additional $100 million in equity funding at a $1.85 billion valuation.

Orange County 200

Orange County Long Beach San Diego Los Angeles 200

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

VC firms like NEA, which invests in companies across industries and stages, has made a concerted effort to tap into the Atlanta startup ecosystem, another market that has seen considerable growth thanks to the corporations headquartered there and the network of universities producing top-notch engineers. “We

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding Activity 211

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 10, 2021

We’ve scaled up so massively in investments in our growth and technology, but running on a loss is very odd for us,” he told TechCrunch. “We Now we have more cash and money available to invest further in the long term.”. With this round, the company is again giving 1% of the equity raised back to the planet.

Los Angeles 266

Los Angeles Funding CIO Marketing 266

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2017

If you are lucky enough to create competition among investors for your company, you can select the investor or group with an individual who has experience in your niche and identifies with your vision. Email readers, continue here…] How do you pay a coach? Original 1994 book. were ultimately sold at a tremendous profit.

Coach 243

Coach Organization Resource IBM 243

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2013

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t invest in non-profits. What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)? There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment.

Equity 83

Equity Technical Review Organization Startup 83

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

3. We then addressed competition in the context of SiteAdvisor and how it is important for journalists, customers, and the companies themselves. The firm focuses on early stage companies in the Northeast but occasionally invests in California startups. This method was in deference to a riskier, more crowd-sourced way (i.e.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

socalTECH

DECEMBER 12, 2013

I really was part of the plan to take a year to two years of very intensely focused effort and investment, to improve our infrastructure from the ground up. The investment was made to give some liquidity to one of the four founders. Simon Anderson: There''s a lot of competition in the market, undoubtedly.

Software Review 238

Software Review Cloud Computing Technical Review Platform 238

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

Spark Capital is relatively new to VC (founded in 2005) yet has become one of the hottest new VCs having invested in Twitter, Tumblr, AdMeld, Boxee, KickApps and many more companies. Competition: Gilt Groupe , Ideeli , RueLaLa (sub of GSI Commerce) , OneKingsLane , department stores like Saks and Neiman Marcus.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2020

The first thing to remember is that banks only do loans – they don’t do equity investments like angels and venture capitalists (and vice versa). You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition's, and why it will succeed. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Advisors 162

Technical Advisors Tips Startup Equity 162

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

Convertible debt is a loan to the company that doesn’t typically get paid back but rather “converts&# into equity when you raise a larger round at a later date. Google’s investment in Zynga. . - Can you please explain convertible debt and specifically how it pertains to angel deals? Beyond The Rack.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

socalTECH

OCTOBER 20, 2010

in an equity funding, and added two directors to its board from MK Capital. Poptent features competitions from such brands as US Bank, E-Trade, Intel, and Salesforce.com on its site, where those firms award a prize to the best, user-generated commercials and videos that fit the brand's parameters.

Hollywood 124

Hollywood Equity Venture Capital Content 124

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. He listed all of the product releases that were up coming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving. Imagine Apple without Steve Jobs. Or less obvious, imagine Facebook without Sheryl Sandberg.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2014

Competitive Rivalry - Constructive internal competition that does not derail a startup from achieving its strategic goals will enhance your teams overall performance. Founders should encourage a healthy rivalry among each other, while modulating such competition so that it does not escalate into destructive behaviors.

Startup 257

Startup Santa Barbara Competition Journal 257

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

But I would posit that in order to sustainably build great products in an intensely competitive industry with skills shortages – people management is one of the most critical soft skills organizations need. Equity for the future? Of course it makes no sense to have great people management and a crappy product.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

If you don’t know Montgomery & Co it is one of the premier technology & media focused investment banks in the country (and as Michael corrected me they also have a strong Healthcare / Med tech practice). Should you use investment banks to raise venture capital? We discussed: 1. This is often in the 5-7% range.

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Matt’s commitment to re-investing in tech startups is reminiscent to this great Fred Wilson post of “recycling capital. &#. People want to invest in people they trust – once you’ve made money for someone you can always go back, and even get better pricing. o Put a timeframe/money – competition in the picture.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. What options do they have available to them, since they can’t sell a share of the company (no equity investment)? There is no discussion of equity, or return on investment. Private endowments.

Funding 130

Funding Equity Technical Review Organization 130

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2010

Email readers continue here.]. Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally-generated funds. Better yet, the valuation of your enterprise is often higher than if the same investment were taken from a professional investor.

Venture Capital 174

Venture Capital Invest Class .Net 174

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

The corporate entity lends itself best to the concept of “sharing” equity required by investors, and unincorporated entities don’t get funding. Having a defensible competitive advantage or “barrier to entry” is another critical step to funding, and another common stumbling block during all phases of the funding process.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

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. And well they should be.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Since I am a proponent of using equity as a tool and he is so much opposed, this week it is his turn to make the case. So here goes: How would I find companies willing to license my intellectual property or to invest in a royalty stream from licenses? Investment banker? I have the weeks to follow to make mine. Do it myself?

IP 136

IP Product Equity Tool 136

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

When I described to people why I initially invested my calls went something like this, “He’s taken kicks to the face for nearly 2 years and is still standing. EcoMom’s metrics improved throughout this process and that’s when I decided to invest. It soon became difficult to manage the many new investment leads.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292