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How to Make Better Reference Calls

Both Sides of the Table

Reference calls. Ask for at least 5 references. As your candidate for at least 5 references. Ask for at least 5 references. As your candidate for at least 5 references. Don’t worry about the fact that these are the references that the candidate has hand-picked – that’s part of the process.

Startup 302
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Why it’s Critical That you Reference Check Your VC

Both Sides of the Table

I personally had three separate data points from entrepreneurs who took money from the firm that said “never again.&# I really try to stay out of the middle of these things so I softly said to the team, “maybe you should contact these companies and see how their experience went? But what about once you have a term sheet?

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How Do You Reference Check a VC?

Both Sides of the Table

How do you then reference check your VC to be sure that you’ve chosen a good firm and partner? First, I would say that most entrepreneurs do almost no reference checks or at least do them very informally. For some reason most entrepreneurs do. Happy reference checking. Don’t let that be you. Except GRP.

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7 Personal Strategies That Define Great Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

As an angel investor in startups, I’m a believer that smart investors invest more in you as the entrepreneur than the next billion dollar solution you are pitching. Even if you are still in school, and never started a company before, strong entrepreneur candidates can point to projects they initiated, led, that produced significant results.

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7 Barriers To Communication In Business Relationships

Startup Professionals Musings

Some entrepreneurs forget that talking is not communicating. From an entrepreneur perspective, here are the key barrier-to-understanding elements: Unclear frame of reference. The responsibility is on you the entrepreneur to decipher the receiver reference, and do the “translation” of your message to them.

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Entrepreneurs: Feel Young, No Matter Your Age

InfoChachkie

In my case, the youngest member of my biking group is nearly 15-years older than me, which causes them to refer to me as a "kid" and a "youngster." As a Professor at UC Santa Barbara , I am blessed to work with enterprising and talented entrepreneurs in their early 20''s. Where You''ve Been. Share and Enjoy.

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Honesty Is An Entrepreneur’s Secret Weapon

InfoChachkie

Multiple surveys confirm that honesty is one of the most common traits of serial entrepreneurs. In his book, The Entrepreneur’s Manual , Richard White cites a survey of venture capitalists which ranks honesty as the single most important characteristic for serial success. Image : Wikipedia. Share and Enjoy.