TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 22, 2018

In an attempt to boost diversity and inclusion efforts and civic engagement between the growing technology industry in Los Angeles and the community that surrounds it, over 80 venture capitalists and entrepreneurs joined the city’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, and the non-profit Annenberg Foundation to announce PledgeLA.

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Berkonomics

APRIL 12, 2018

Small companies most often scrape by with borrowed or invested funds, doing everything possible to grow and prosper with limited resources. To most entrepreneurs, this often leads to an event whose resolution by a governmental agency or even a court seems unfair and illogical.

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Entrepreneur Class Resource Email 226

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. 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. of the fund.

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Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

The speaks to the continued confidence in the venture capital markets and as I had predicted some time ago the VC markets right now are a great place to invest – especially relative to other places to put one’s money. Our last fund we raised was in 2012 and we began investing it in April of 2012. But that’s it.

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Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2021

As an angel investor in early-stage startups, I’ve long noticed my peers apparent bias toward the strength and character of the founding entrepreneurs, often overriding a strong solution to a painful problem with a big opportunity. The return on character in business is well worth the investment. Marty Zwilling.

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Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2022

Dave’s note: This is a reprint of a 2015 insight that seems to have struck a chord with investors and entrepreneurs. None of this advice has changed… Let me tell you a few short hair–raising stories of entrepreneurs who have raised money and regretted it later. The problem, of course, comes if the business fails.

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Startup Entrepreneur Invest Course 317

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2020

Every entrepreneur knows that good demand generation marketing is the key to growth these days, but very few have the discipline or know-how to measure return in a world of a thousand tools and techniques. Return on investment for demand generation.

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Marketing Invest Demand Metrics 174

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.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I had dinner this week with a top new customer at one of our enterprise software investments. I wish I did more enterprise software investing because when I attend meetings like this I realize that this is my core DNA – rolling out business software solutions to customers. If they want to invest that’s great.

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Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds. And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

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Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2021

Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on making change happen for customers that they forget that continually changing themselves and their company is equally important. Negative advice on an unknown is easy and safe to give, so every entrepreneur hears it over and over. Expand your investment alternatives.

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Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Custom 167

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2021

An entrepreneur lifestyle that continues to gain in popularity these days is being a “social entrepreneur.” Think Bill Gates, with his current investments in energy management, or Blake Mycoskie with TOMs Shoes, as opposed to the leaders of the American Cancer Society or Goodwill Industries.

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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. Many entrepreneurs love investing in other startups.

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Entrepreneur Startup Resource Course 145

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

At an accelerator … Me: Raising convertible notes as a seed round is one of the biggest disservices our industry has done to entrepreneurs since 2001-2003 when there were “full ratchets” and “multiple liquidation preferences” – the most hostile terms anybody found in term sheets 10 years ago. Your A round?

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Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

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. And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Strategic planning is a required ongoing investment. Even the best college degree is not a substitute.

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Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2021

Therefore, the least you can do is take advantage of some of the self-assessment tools and guides around, like the classic book “ The Entrepreneur Equation ,” by Carol Roth, which highlights personal characteristics and skills required. That should indicate that a lot of entrepreneurs get more than they bargained for.

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Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Guide 169

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2021

There are other social networks in the list of 300 “major sites” recognized by Wikipedia that entrepreneurs use for networking, depending on where you are in the world, like Viadeo, Ryze, and Sina Weibo, but talking to friends on Facebook probably won’t help you. Volunteer to help out with entrepreneur activities at your local university.

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Entrepreneur Social Network Activity Networking 143

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2021

Yet every business and every entrepreneur I know struggles with this challenge, focused on hiring the right people and implementing the right process. I was happy to see my own view reinforced in the classic book, “ Innovation Thinking Methods for the Modern Entrepreneur ,” by long-time entrepreneur and innovation expert Osama A.

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Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Design 158

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

Here’s the problem: Investors sometimes join into investment rounds that have been pre–negotiated by others, receiving the paperwork already created by attorneys from that negotiation. What if it is the company attorney or entrepreneur that finds the stinky clause so very late in the game?

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 18, 2014

In my Twitter bio is says that I’m “ looking to invest in passionate entrepreneurs ,” which almost sounds like I was just looking for a cliché soundbite to describe myself. Passion is also the featured heavily in nearly every presentation I give to entrepreneurs or on college campuses or in talks with MBA students.

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Startup Entrepreneur Design Funding 419

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

Being called a lifestyle entrepreneur should be a point of pride, not an insult. This usually means not taking money from equity investors, since investors want fast growth, high profits, and an exit event, to allow investments to be recouped. I’m told that Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook started out as a lifestyle entrepreneur.

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Entrepreneur Startup Equity Course 148

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

The core of the investing job of course is investing dollars into startup companies and helping as a mentor, advisor and board member on the companies in which you’ve invested. Instead he championed our investment themes into sustainability and food technologies having invested in companies like Apeel Sciences and Ynsect.

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Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2017

Upfront VI is our latest core fund and is $400 million to invest in early stage entrepreneurs. LPs (the people who invest in VC firms) have clearly voted in favor of LA with the creation of 15+ new early-stage venture firms and the continued growth is size and team of the great larger firms that are well established.

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Funding Venture Capital Santa Monica Invest 287

Berkonomics

MARCH 9, 2017

We have years of real data to call upon: data that impacts both investors and entrepreneurs. Tech Coast Angels, one of the largest angel groups in the United States, published its data in 2016, showing sixty-eight percent plunging to less than the amount invested. And that is after investment, not after a company’s starting up.

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Startup Statistics Tech Coast Angels Study 266

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

With the appearance of do-it-yourself services on the Internet, entrepreneur curriculums at every university, and a wealth of new books on the subject, the need for expensive consultants and business advisors has also been mitigated. Minimize investment in prototypes and tooling. Savings here can easily reach another $10K per month.

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Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 7, 2018

Investors are pouring millions into the creation of a network of shared kitchens, storage facilities, and pickup counters that established chains and new food entrepreneurs can access to cut down on overhead and quickly spin up new concepts in fast food and casual dining. The Battle Is For The Customer Interface.

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Startup Los Angeles Demand Pasadena 279

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

At the time I pointed out: “If I had realized exits almost certainly it would be because I invested in a company that failed. “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs. I have done 6 VC investments – all within the past 20 months. Lemons ripen early, great companies take time.”

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Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam , led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry , announced a $10 million round of financing. Here I make the case that entrepreneurs must stay focused on the prize, not the doubters. Entrepreneurs. ” **. It can be one of the strongest motivators.

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Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2022

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

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Entrepreneur Marketing News Slides 124

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

Think of startups and early stage businesses whose entrepreneurs you know. One: The entrepreneur. First, there is the entrepreneur , the visionary, and force behind the venture from start to finish. It starts with sharing the opportunity and upside. Two: Co-management. Reward for early risk.

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Startup Equity Statistics Entrepreneur 240

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 10, 2024

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen executive summaries of business plans in which the entrepreneur seeks $5,000,000 to build the business. The investors want a motivated entrepreneur, and it is certainly more difficult to motivate a twenty percent owner than a sixty percent owner. Four reasons you should reconsider.

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Startup Summary Resource Entrepreneur 317

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2022

By most definitions of the term, an entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business, incorporating innovative changes to existing products, services, business models, and creating new markets. One way of identifying the right characteristics and approaches is to take a hard look at entrepreneurs who have done it.

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Examples Entrepreneur Technology Resource 131

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

When I work with community leaders I often encourage them to “pool capital” together from many angels into a fund structure run by a small investment committee that can make more rapid funding decisions, take more risks (it is pooled capital so goes across more investments), and standardize investment terms.

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Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

We led an investment round in a company a while ago in which we wrote a seven-figure check and have taken a board seat. They asked LPs to rush to get into their next side-car fund to have access to this great deal plus the LPs also get the “benefit” of investing in their next fund. Is this investor on AngelList? You betcha.

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Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018

High-profile entrepreneurs and investors, Peter Thiel, for example , have left. “It’s hard to make a difference in San Francisco as a single entrepreneur,” said J.D. “It’s not as a hard to make a difference as a successful entrepreneur in Columbus, Ohio.” ” J.D. Here's why.

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Venture Capital Startup Capital Entrepreneur 279

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Investors don’t invest in services startups. Here are some pragmatic tips on how to make your startup more scalable and investable: If you need investors, start with a scalable idea. These are more likely scalable and investable. Just because all your buddies think an idea is cool, that doesn’t mean it is scalable.

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