Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

But Jason is one of the smartest thinkers in our industry so while style points in his eye-poking post might be low, he’s definitely scratching at something important. It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. Both are right.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

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!, I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal. And there’s conferences. Web Summit.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

She was everything I was looking for in an entrepreneur to back. She helps write press releases. In the most perfect sense of the definition. And for Soleil it was her entrepreneur friends: Dan Rosensweig, Tim Ferriss, Kevin Rose, Shervin Pishevar, Randi Zuckerberg, Gina Bianchini, Erik Lammerding and Rick Marini.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Shame about not getting it in legal writing that you owned the original IP.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2019

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, the most common question I get is, “I want to be an entrepreneur -- how do I start?” Many people with great ideas never make it as entrepreneurs, and true entrepreneurs can make a business out of anything. Few entrepreneurs can assimilate and hone a complete plan in their head.

Entrepreneur 135

Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Writing 135

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2011

Esther was talking about problems and entrepreneurs as far away as Russia. Even from a young age, my experiences as president of my college fraternity were more formative in my experiences as an entrepreneur than my economics classes were. It was an “enterprise 2.0” panel at the dawn of what people began calling “web 2.0.”.

Class 334

Class Writing Web 2.0 Offshore 334

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

Sometimes those motives are positive (they really want the chance to work with you, they think you have unique skills) and sometimes they are less positive (their first-tier of “go to” referrals passed on the deal, they don’t want to write another check themselves, etc.). I seek out great entrepreneurs. End of story.

Venture Capital 337

Venture Capital Invest Ideas Entrepreneur 337

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. I have conversations with entrepreneurs and other VCs on a daily basis about fund raising, the prices of deals, how much companies should raise, etc. Prices have definitely gone up in 2011 as depicted in the anecdotal chart below.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

As the authors make clear in the book’s preface, their goal is to create a “definitive guide to venture capital deals” and “demystify the venture capital financing process.” Their primary intended reader is a “first-time entrepreneur”, but clearly other stakeholders within the startup universe can also benefit from the book’s hands-on advice.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205

TechCrunch LA

JULY 21, 2020

” The financial terms of the deal to bring the franchise to Los Angeles, aren’t being disclosed, but they definitely run in the tens of millions of dollars. Equally as important, Uhrman was part of a casual pick-up basketball game among women investors, entrepreneurs and their friends in Los Angeles that Nortman had helped set up.

Writing 171

Writing Los Angeles Equity Startup 171

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

You don’t need to invent an innovative product to be a real entrepreneur. Many of these new entrepreneurs were regular employees a few years ago, focused on a skill specialty. Writing specialists. We are becoming a society of entrepreneurs. specialist entrepreneur startup freelance business' Software specialists.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Services Search Engine Optimization Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2021

Dal LaMagna, in his humorous classic “ Raising Eyebrows: A Failed Entrepreneur Finally Gets It Right ,” leads with the foundational principle of micro-businesses, which is to start small. Write down agreements. Get in the habit of thinking like a company founder and get promises in writing. Record every expense.

Entrepreneur 121

Entrepreneur Writing .Net Commerce 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2013

If you can’t solve problems and enjoy it, you won’t make it as an entrepreneur. By definition, an entrepreneur is the first to undertake a given business, and firsts never happen without problems and people frustrations. You can definitely train yourself to be a problem solver, if you haven’t already. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Training Customer 107

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

Steve is also a Stanford Professor and noted marketing entrepreneur. Large companies write business plans, why of course, that’s the organizing document for a startup. Yet we took this document, the business plan, because we knew nothing else and said, ‘Go write one of these.’. That was the implicit statement.

Startup 229

Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

about their marathon 4-hour sessions to get to zero inbox or somebody else claiming email bankruptcy ( definition if you don’t know it already ). 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.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 8, 2012

Nearly every entrepreneur has heard the refrain, "Get back to me when you have some traction,” while seeking funding. In some industries, lengthy pilot tests are required before an enterprise customer will sign a definitive purchase order. From an unsophisticated investor, this response might be a non-confrontational way of saying "No."

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital RSS Custom Customer 265

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

So I thought I’d write a piece on how to not suck when you give a presentation. Don’t write sentences on the – only key words to help you remember what you’re going to say. It is not sufficient to write yourself notes and read them before hand. I spoke about this yesterday on Fox Business News.

Startup 362

Startup Twiistup Slides Screening 362

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Just 3 years ago there was talk of institutional investors “not being able to write small enough checks.” Many pension funds are simply too large to write small checks and favor the ability to write $50-100 million checks to funds. ” Stated simply – if you seed funded Uber at $4.5m Why is this?

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. I will write more about this in the next 2 weeks. So here is what I have been telling entrepreneurs privately for the past 6 months. What a bubble means for each entrepreneur. I believe that. But it will end.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2015

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, the most common question I get is, “I want to be an entrepreneur -- how do I start?” Many people with great ideas never make it as entrepreneurs, and true entrepreneurs can make a business out of anything. Few entrepreneurs can assimilate and hone a complete plan in their head.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Startup 104

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Any SoCal entrepreneur raising early-stage money should put Rincon on their short list. I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while and was going to use AngelList by Nivi & Naval as the basis for my example and the perfect prompt came yesterday when I read Fred Wilson’s blog post on AngelList.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2013

If you are an entrepreneur today, and not using social media to promote your business, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 101

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. There is no room in this realm for negativism, excuses, or lack of confidence.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

I spoke a lot about the need for “personal branding” which I plan to write about soon. My mom was an entrepreneur – she was kind of my inspiration for entrepreneurship. And no one could see me as anything but a startup guy, so I started a second company and called myself a serial entrepreneur.

Startup 337

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Venture Capital 337

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 31, 2024

In the creation of a young company, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. So, it is important for the entrepreneur to identify, address and mitigate each of these in order to increase valuation and decrease the risk of ultimate loss of the business.

Outsource Development 294

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 294

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

Here’s how I break down the four quadrants (and I’ve put my definitions in here – not Covey’s). I’m a pretty natural public speaker so I can write my presentation the day before and do just fine. Get some seasoned entrepreneurs to come. We rise to the occasion as it stirs our creative juices.

Slides 374

Slides Email Entrepreneur Startup 374

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2013

Everyone recognizes a great entrepreneur when they work with one, but most entrepreneurs don’t know what to look for in themselves that will drive that perception by others. The points are great, but can be made even simpler and more actionable by adapting then to the world of the entrepreneur: Demonstrate character.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Examples Ideas 104

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

These days that’s not the case and it’s a great outcome for entrepreneurs and for innovation. A new group of investors have clustered around writing earlier-stage, smaller checks. So I wish this separate definition would go away. A: Only because it’s a nicer branding for entrepreneurs. That’s all.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. If you are thinking non-profit (social entrepreneur), can you rally the world around your cause?

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Training 106

socalTECH

APRIL 14, 2011

I don't know if it's because of luck or independence, or just the vertical we were in or the combination of all three, we realized early on that Wall Street's definition of real time was different from Twitter's definition. It's fun, I guess. Only a dummy would do it again. Generally, I make those when I sleep.

Ideas 248

Ideas Web Startup Content 248

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

You don’t need to invent an innovative product to be a real entrepreneur. Self-employed services specialists are just as important, and are a growing part of this new “ age of the entrepreneur ” that I discussed last week. Many of these new entrepreneurs were regular employees a few years ago, focused on a skill specialty.

Entrepreneur 89

Entrepreneur Services Product Search Engine Optimization 89

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 4, 2016

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. Mostly I just wanted to write this as a reminder to founders to be suspicious of people who constantly introduce you around. That’s why focus is critical.

Innocal 255

Innocal Conference Help Study 255

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 4, 2009

This hot list is based on various social signals of what people are writing about, reading, bookmarking, searching, etc. But, in running it now for the second half of January, the keyword that popped to the top was: Layoffs And this is definitely a sign of the times. You can go to the Hot List post to see what was hot then.

Layoffs 159

Layoffs Woodland Hills Southern California Orange County 159

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

If you can’t solve problems and enjoy it, you won’t make it as an entrepreneur. By definition, an entrepreneur is the first to undertake a given business, and firsts never happen without problems and people frustrations. You can definitely train yourself to be a problem solver, if you haven’t already. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Training Customer 92

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is the second article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). And we all know that Ron Conway is considered the savviest of angel investors and yet by definition not all of his investments succeed. Part 1 – Access to Great Deal Flow – is here.

Invest 288

Invest Angel Web 2.0 SEO 288

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 28, 2014

Perhaps sparked by the recent recession, I’m seeing a new era of the entrepreneur, with startups springing up all around. Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. Real entrepreneurs always look ahead and learn from problems resolved.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Mentor Technical Review Satisfaction 102

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 14, 2010

One of my favorite ones is “what you’re a hammer everything looks like a nail.&# The definition is kind of obvious. I believe that this creates more opportunities for both entrepreneurs (who have more exit options) and for investors. That guy is never going to stop spinning.

Startup 343

Startup Examples Summary Venture Capital 343