Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. When my friend and the father of LA’s tech startup community Bill Gross first demonstrated his company GoTo.com (renamed Overture) on stage at a TED conference he was actually booed (True story. for $565 million to Excite.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Conferences. Now, I’m pretty on the record that being an entrepreneur is about being great at The Do. How do VCs break out of group think when they are shuttling from one board meeting to the next, from one conference to the other and talking with all the same people? Board Meetings. Startups Are for Doers.

Venture Capital 400

Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

A couple of years ago an entrepreneur had requested a meeting with me to present his business. As the day approached I noticed that there was a conference in LA that I wanted to attend. The day before the conference I thought about rescheduling this meeting but then thought, “oh, well. Let me give you an example.

Conference 369

Conference Startup Century City Email 369

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 13, 2011

With all these companies vying for attention & others just here to soak up the vibe I thought I’d write a much broader piece on how startups can make the most of their attendance at conferences & events. Many startups get caught up in the conference circuit. Write them in advance and request meetings.

Conference 289

Conference Startup Technical Review Writing 289

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 16, 2010

A couple of years ago an entrepreneur had requested a meeting with me to present his business. As the day approached I noticed that there was a conference in LA that I wanted to attend. The day before the conference I thought about rescheduling this meeting but then thought, “oh, well. Let me give you an example.

Startup 346

Startup Conference Century City Email 346

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. I plan to write about it early next year when we’re all through. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? There is a difference between a Conference Ho and a successful entrepreneur.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

I get paid (well) for interesting people to come in and tell me how they want to change the world – Being an entrepreneur is like having blinders on. At least for the best entrepreneurs. Some people do the conference circuit too much, get involved in lots of side projects and attend every entrepreneur dinner.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 11, 2010

And when I have time I try to write back. It’s the entrepreneur who’s buddy is a lawyer who wants an intro to you and who doesn’t think about whether it makes sense to ask you whether you want an intro before sending it. Or I’m at BOD meetings or conferences. I get those more often than you think.

Email 265

Email Startup Writing Blogging 265

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

I had a chance to discuss AngelList Syndicates with Naval at Michael Kim’s Cendana LP/VC conference on a panel with Naval, Roger Ehrenberg (IA Ventures) and Mike Brown, Jr. It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. Bowery Capital).

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2014

This blog started from a series of conversations I found myself having over and over again with founders and eventually decided I should just start writing them.It I see founders who think they can be at every conference, advise multiple companies, do side investments in angel deals, leave the office at 6pm and have a balance life.

Competition 394

Competition Startup Writing Marketing 394

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

And there’s conferences. Oh, the conferences. Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo! If an accelerator is writing you they’re also writing 25 other VCs. Web Summit.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

I actually like finding entrepreneurs who are more circumspect, less braggadocios and generally more planned about their actions. Where Stealth is Bad – I do meet entrepreneurs who clearly fall on the other side of spectrum and are totally closed. That’s fine if entrepreneurs are your target market.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Ryan compares the many emerging startup incubators, accelerators, and mentorship programs to NCAA Football Conferences. So the writers block consensus was to write about LA startup incubators and mentorship organizations (2x as many votes as the other proposed topics). LAunchpaLA (the SEC). READ MORE>>.

Conference 124

Conference Incubator Startup Writing 124

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

For starters some funds are small and thus while they put $750k into your company to own 10% of your company they might not be able to write another $2 million if you then raise a $20 million round (10%). Much of this historically didn’t matter to entrepreneurs. Why prorata rights are becoming a bigger deal to angels.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. ” An angle can be, Starbucks is piloting this product in 500 stores; or.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

What every entrepreneur needs more than anything else, after they have built an innovative new product or service, is visibility, credibility, and trust by customers, potential employees, and future business partners. Yet, most good business people I know agree, but don’t know where to start.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Startup Grind was a truly awesome conference and Derek the consumate host. In many ways I think general purpose writing & thinking skills are as valuable as math skills. We talked about how business school historically hasn’t positioned entrepreneurs well for success. Internationalization of Technology.

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. It took about half of one day for the event, focused on the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur, and showcasing what women are building.

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

One of the most frequent questions entrepreneurs ask about when they raise a little bit of money or are getting close to launching their first product is whether they should hire a PR firm. You need somebody who is thinking laterally about how to creatively get extra attention at conferences or trade-shows. Some final thoughts on PR.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 30, 2017

Wednesday, April 5, 2017 -- FundingPost Los Angeles VC and Angel Investor Conference. Join us for this intimate VC and Angel Investor Conference. At our OC Angel Investor Roundtable, the panel of investors will focus on pitching to early-stage investors, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check!

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles Venture Capital Conference Angel 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 29, 2017

Tuesday, April 4, 2017 -- FundingPost Orange County VC and Angel Investor Conference. Join us for this intimate VC and Angel Investor Conference. At our OC Angel Investor Roundtable, the panel of investors will focus on pitching to early-stage investors, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check!

Orange County 100

Orange County Venture Capital Conference Angel 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

He has it on stage, too, at conferences. I told him only 2 weeks ago when we were in London together that I wanted to write a blog post that has been in my head for 2 years. Many through history became entrepreneurs precisely because they were unemployable. My pal Dave has blogger Tourette’s. He can’t help himself: He’s Dave.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 18, 2010

As a startup entrepreneur you’ll have many demands for your time. Everyone will want you to speak at conferences. The problem is that the scarcest resource in any entrepreneur’s life is your time. “Thank you for writing to me – it’s nice to hear from you (or meet you) via email.

Startup 305

Startup Venture Capital Writing Conference 305

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2021

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. I hope all this seems obvious to you, but I still get a good number of notes from “entrepreneurs” who have been busy inventing things all their life, but can’t find a partner to start their first business, and others trying to find an executive, an investor, or a lawyer.

Entrepreneur 140

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network Mentor 140

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2009

I wrote recently about etiquette when you meet people at conferences or events so now that I have this done I feel I need to say some words about connecting on social networks. If you take the time to write me a small, private note on LinkedIn then I’ll add you 95% of the time. But then people’s actions tell me otherwise.

Social Network 282

Social Network Networking Startup Writing 282

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. Real life entrepreneurs are messier.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 25, 2013

Many first-time entrepreneurs have grown up digital natives so have a really good intuitive feel for technology & design but don’t yet have the business basics down. . Angels, entrepreneurs, VCs, bloggers and the like all get a ton of requests for “just 15 minutes” phone calls. Phone calls. How Can I Help?

Startup 364

Startup Writing Help Email 364

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to influence journalists, business partners, potential employees, customers and VCs. So I thought I’d write a piece on how to not suck when you give a presentation. One strategy I often employ.

Startup 362

Startup Twiistup Slides Screening 362

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2010

In fact, I said as much in September 09 at a Twitter conference in LA on a panel that Guy Kawasaki was moderating. It also means that the publisher (person writing the status update) can share in the monetization. So how does this all relate to the upcoming Twitter Chirp conference next week?

Acquisition 287

Acquisition Develop Development Conference 287

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 4, 2016

Modern-society is also littered with over-networkers and over-introducers and professional conference attendees. I try to steer entrepreneurs away from over-introducers and I often find myself wanting to be careful about them becoming an investor in companies I back. Focus is almost always the right answer.

Innocal 255

Innocal Conference Help Study 255

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 20, 2019

Tuesday, March 26, 2019 -- San Diego Fundingpost VC and Angel Investor Conference. At our next event, the panel of Investors will focus on Early-Stage Venture Investing: How to meet investors, pitch them, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check! Register for the FundingPost event on Tuesday, March 26th, 2019.

San Diego 100

San Diego Venture Capital Conference Angel 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 21, 2019

Wednesday, March 27, 2019 -- Orange County Fundingpost VC and Angel Investor Conference. At our next event, the panel of Investors will focus on Early-Stage Venture Investing: How to meet investors, pitch them, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check! Register for the FundingPost event on Wednesday, March 27th, 2019.

Orange County 100

Orange County Venture Capital Conference Tech Coast Angels 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. Real life entrepreneurs are messier.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

You’re writing a freaking blog post! I do what I wish all entrepreneurs would do. It’s an entrepreneur with whom I’ve been wanting to work for 6 years. It was a young, first-time entrepreneur who wanted to meet. I run a conference – could you speak? I never get grumpy that people write.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

.” Here’s what I mean … Let’s start with what it takes for a journalist to want to write a story. Do I have an “angle” from which to write the story (first company to do X, company does biggest X, consumer behavior is doing X)? I am a VC. I hand out money. How differentiated is that?

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

I recently attended and presented at Dave McClure’s PreMoney conference in San Francisco. I wrote my version here and Scott wrote an excellent write-up of his views here. While this is temporarily a good thing for entrepreneurs it will turn sour when we go through the next inevitable downturn. tl;dr version.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital SaaS Writing Funding 309

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

I know you’re thinking that you have your head on straight but I promise you the experience of finding yourself in this maelstrom will leave any first time entrepreneur spinning. They got us invited to the Fortune CEO conference in Paris held at Versailles. Just don’t believe what they write about you. Not so much.).

Startup 310

Startup Press Venture Capital Journal 310