Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 18, 2010

Find the best and brightest next generation of entrepreneurs and help them to be more successful. Encourage the most successful LA tech entrepreneurs who had previously started companies to get involved as mentors, instructors or just informal advisors. We decided to be less formal about the mentor / mentee relationships.

Technical Review 259

Technical Review Venture Capital Southern California Tech Coast Angels 259

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 29, 2011

The Three Enthralling Factors Of Venture Funding. Naval Ravikant, Co-Founder of AngelList and Venture Hacks, details a variety of factors that influence your chances of raising venture funding in this informative interview. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly Infochachkie articles!

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Capital Funding Technical Review 233

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

A continuing question I hear from young entrepreneurs is whether a university degree is important to startup success, or just a distraction in achieving their purpose in the world. Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors. School mentors, professors, and peers will give you the critical feedback without passing judgment.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

socalTECH

JANUARY 31, 2013

It was standing room only at StartEngine 's Demo Day Wednesday afternoon, held at Santa Monica's Cross Campus , as the startup accelerator launched eight of its latest startups into the world, after a 90 day process of mentoring, honing their business model, and heads down development. Standing room only crowd at StartEngine). It's unclear.

Startup 256

Startup Commerce Santa Monica Mentor 256

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2012

In recent months, a dozen accelerators and incubators have emerged in the Southern California area, looking to help take the new generation of technology startups to funding and beyond. which programs are--and aren't--worth looking at has become very difficult, if not impossible, for startup entrepreneurs. Funding: Yes.

Southern California 246

Southern California Incubator Guide Startup 246

socalTECH

JUNE 20, 2012

There is a large menu of startup accelerators in the Los Angeles, but one of more established efforts in the area is LaunchpadLA ([link] The effort actually started as an informal mentoring program, but has grown and expanded to follow the accelerator model. It was really just something built for the community to help support entrepreneurs.

Class 261

Class Mentor Startup Santa Monica 261

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

In other news we announced the closing of $61 million in funding at Maker Studios , which I’ll talk publicly about soon. On the first meeting we had I told Hamet 2 things: 1: I can’t ever fund this business but 2: I know we’re going to work together one day in some capacity. Mark, why wouldn’t you fund him?

Invest 340

Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

The Founders Institute Los Angeles , the local branch of the Founders Insitute mentoring program, is seeing unusual interest from women for the upcoming semester of the program, according to local organizer Ken Rutkowski. According to Rutkowski, over 40 percent of the entrepreneurs applying this year are women.

Mentor 172

Mentor Startup Los Angeles Entrepreneur 172

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Funding 174

Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

I’ve become fond of saying “if I had a dollar for every person who told me just how much they loooooved Kara Nortman, I’d have a 10x fund.” Our industry needs more female leaders and they shouldn’t have to all quit their respective firms and raise their own funds to get a shot at running things. So What Does All This Mean? I’m only 52!

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

One of the biggest myths I have found in the entrepreneur community is that every startup needs one or more outside investors for credibility and success, and perhaps is even entitled to at least one. Searching LinkedIn, for example, is a must for contemporary entrepreneurs. But don’t wait for them to contact you.

Funding 173

Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

socalTECH

OCTOBER 18, 2011

The accelerator said that it is aiming at helping entrepreneurs--particularly in the social and mobile technology space--in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange County with pre-seed funding and mentoring.

Orange County 208

Orange County Southern California Seed Funding Mentor 208

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2011

Those programs--epitomized by YCombinator in the Bay Area, and TechStars in Boulder, Colorado--attract newly minted entrepreneurs with a mixture of cash and mentoring, and a program which rapidly takes ideas and turns them into viable, executing businesses. Those mentors are not just Bruce and I, although we are full time on this.

Startup 221

Startup Mentor Southern California Incubator 221

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 26, 2020

The Los Angeles startup community is joining the rest of the world in mourning the death of NBA superstar, entrepreneur and investor Kobe Bryant who was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., Bryant launched his venture career with partner and serial entrepreneur Jeff Stibel back in 2013, according to Crunchbase.

Venture Capital 359

Venture Capital Los Angeles Legalzoom Calabasas 359

InfoChachkie

MARCH 5, 2012

If you use the mentor-driven model that we pioneered at TechStars, you get entrepreneurs who are deeply connected with the broader entrepreneurial landscape. ” Brad went on to address the issue of a diluted entrepreneur talent pool and its potential impact on the efficacy of new accelerators.

Startup 270

Startup Incubator Doc Mentor 270

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2021

As an angel investor to startups, I’m still surprised to find entrepreneurs who expect investors to give them money, and assume no strings attached. If the entrepreneur wants total control of their own venture, with no one looking over their shoulder, they should work within the limits of their own resources, a process called bootstrapping.

Funding 173

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Report 173

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

The venture capitalists we look at to fund our deals are certainly tightening down, there's no question about that. What is not happening, is those marginal deals that would have gotten funded a number of years ago, when things were better, are not making it. So you don't see as many people looking for funding now?

Tech Coast Angels 231

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 231

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

Every entrepreneur I know is dismayed by the number of friends who approach them with a line such as “I have an even better idea that will change the world, and one of these days I’m going to get around to starting my own business.” Focus” is the key to success as an entrepreneur. There must be something deeper that slows people down.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Knowledge Base 153

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. Most top tier VCs return about 3x invested capital and outlier funds (the best of a vintage) might return 6-8x. Yet their next fund had Facebook in it.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2021

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs probably have long searched for that special idea that will catapult you and your startup to success. For example, most people thought Twitter was a total snoozer, when Jack Dorsey was looking for funding, especially with MySpace already owning that territory. True entrepreneurs are born, not made.

Entrepreneur 171

Entrepreneur Ideas Examples Satisfaction 171

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2021

Many years ago, John Hamm published some definitive work on this subject in " Why Entrepreneurs Don't Scale " in the Harvard Business Review. This is generally a required quality for a successful entrepreneur, but it can turn into an unhealthy stubbornness during the scaling stage. Investors don’t want to fund your stumbles.

Entrepreneur 169

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Mentor 169

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

Last year I wrote a blog post on entrepreneurs with a chip on their shoulders. A chip on one’s shoulder as in, “F**k the system, it’s broken and I want to fix it” is exactly the energy I look for in entrepreneurs. You raised your seed funds. I think it’s an important read. ” Chips.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

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. What is your funding situation and alternatives?

Entrepreneur 135

Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Writing 135

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

I was in it for the love of working with entrepreneurs on business problems and marveling at technology they had built. I had realized that I didn’t have it within me to be as good of a player as many of them did but I had the skills to help as mentor, coach, friend, sparing partner and patient capital provider. billion fund.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Are you an entrepreneur hoping to startup a company in the Los Angeles area? Southern California apparently has no shortage of investors, entrepreneurs, and others eager to help budding entrepreneurs. Howard Marks: We're a startup accelerator, which will help entrepreneurs become successful in 90 days. Howard Marks: Yes.

CTO Coach 194

CTO Coach Startup Mentor Activision 194

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2020

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. are not for crowdfunding, but actually are matchmaking sites between entrepreneurs and professional investors or banks, or incubators.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Satisfaction Equity 129

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2021

These resources are definitely not limited to students, since every university seeks out and needs the real world exposure and experience of entrepreneurs who already are active in the real world marketplace. Early-stage funding. Connections to a mentor. Product research and prototype development. Business plan assistance.

Incubator 172

Incubator Mentor Class Resource 172

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2023

Over my many years of mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals, I often hear a desire to start a new business, with a big hesitation while waiting for that perfect idea and perfect alignment of the stars. Most aspiring entrepreneurs don’t have the resources alone to “bootstrap” or fund their new business alone.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur Software Review 149

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs, one of the most common requests I get is for an evaluation of a next startup idea. The most successful entrepreneurs focus on solving a problem that they personally have experienced, and are convinced they fully understand. If you are not motivated, you won’t succeed. He succeeded well in both.

Ideas 151

Ideas Entrepreneur Resource Knowledge Base 151

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up. Don’t hide in your office.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Are you an entrepreneur looking for a sympathetic ear from a local venture capitalist on your idea? Karlin's TX Zhuo said that the long term vision is for other LA investors and successful entrepreneurs to participate. READ MORE>>.

Orange County 180

Orange County Tech Coast Angels Santa Monica Southern California 180

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

That company was Invoca, which just announced a $20 million fund raise led by Accel. Working with early-stage teams : coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, rolling up sleeves: 9/10. So I think it’s now fair to rate me at 9/10 on follow-on fundings. I am closing 3 new fundings in April (2 new, 1 follow-on).

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. m are not for crowdfunding, but actually are matchmaking sites between entrepreneurs and professional investors or banks, or incubators.

Funding 141

Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Anyone who works with entrepreneurs will tell you that all are different. I’ve always wondered if there was some way that I could quickly deduce a new entrepreneur’s “sweet spot,” and optimize my mentoring to those strengths and weaknesses, maybe similar to the Myers-Briggs type indicator for business professionals. Specialist.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

The tech market is filled with many stories of early-stage funding. My partner & mentor Yves Sisteron ( You can get to know Yves in this YouTube video ) has been active at HDI for years (as has our CFO, Dana Kibler ). Whatever the outcome, our fund will be ranked in the top 5 funds or top 1% no matter how it’s sliced).

GRP Partners 285

GRP Partners Technical Review Truecar Invest 285

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2022

With the cost of entry at an all-time low, and the odds of success equally low, more and more entrepreneurs are starting multiple companies concurrently. Other prolific entrepreneurs, like Richard Branson and Elon Musk , simply have several startups on the table at any given moment. Advisors and mentors are busy people.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Course 145