Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

When I was new at Venture Capital I was trying to figure out the business. As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. They are venture bankers not investment bankers.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. So why does a VC ask you?

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. I’ve seen too many companies go off track by a VC hell bent on the team pursuing the VCs strategy which at times is about chasing the next shiny object.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

I have never been more optimistic about the impact that the tech startup community is having on cities in America or about the role that cities outside of San Francisco / Silicon Valley can play in our future. Changes in the Software World & in Venture Capital. Changes in the Startup Ecosystem. And on and on.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But honestly there are times when being a VC can feel like that, too. We’ve grown accustomed to a professionalism where we know when a work issue comes up we can count on each other for a quick Sunday call between family time. It’s not exactly like you can disclose complex and confidential situations to outsiders.

Startup 363

Startup Venture Capital Coach Press 363

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. The typical VC process is as follows: They say there are three rules in property: Location, location, location. these are simply guidelines.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I use George Bush vs. Al Gore as allegory and I’ve been using it with entrepreneurs for years to sink in a simple point about how to communicate with the market. Partisan rancor aside, we had just come off a boom decade – especially in tech – and many people at the start of the election thought Al Gore was a shoe in.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened?

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

This is something I think entrepreneurs don’t totally understand and it’s worthwhile they do. No VC will be so naive as not to see straight through it. ” Here’s how all the drama started for me. .” ” Here’s how all the drama started for me. Nobody cares.

Seed Funding 399

Seed Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 399

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

She started with a story — a parable — as Jewish people are wont to do. You should be asking yourself … how could two boys go down the chimney and one ended up dirty and the other ended up clean?!’ Learning comes from starting with a point-of-view that says, “I don’t know.”

Entrepreneur 337

Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Startup Venture Capital 337

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

One of the hardest things for most entrepreneurs to know is how hard to push in situations where people tell you “no.” ” But then again most entrepreneurs fail. I often describe “chutzpah” as being able to skate right up to the line of acceptability without crossing over it.

Venture Capital 389

Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. It came from an amazing small startup in McKinney, Texas (30 miles North of Dallas) called NewToy , which they acquired.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Press San Diego 378

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. If you don’t, somebody else WILL!”

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

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 think many board members (including VCs) were trained 10+ years ago when life was very different and their advice often comes from an outdated lens.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Because I’ve asked more than 100 VCs similar questions I start to notice patterns in thinking.

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2020

We have been advising a lot of entrepreneurs so I thought I’d “open source” some of the advice I have been sharing. But I have been in close contact with the NVCA, many of the major law firms and many of the major VC firms. Am I ineligible since I’m VC-backed? I am not claiming to be the world expert on this. shouldn’t I?

Venture Capital 279

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Doc 279

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued? The most connected and high-potential founders start with wads of cash.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

It’s only 12 minutes long and if you’re a first-time entrepreneur (or second time, frankly) I encourage you to watch it if for nothing else than to get a sense that your struggles are universal. Startups are filled with enormously talented people – often product people & engineers. I prefer realism in startups.

Startup 412

Startup Press Course Entrepreneur 412

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

Let’s start with the fund. If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. Santa Monica is the place where the highest concentration of early-stage startups are created if you consider also the contiguous geography of Venice Beach. What’s up with that?

Funding 343

Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. It goes something like this … VC: “How much money are you raising?” Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” A VC is looking for reasonableness.

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Demand 247

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

She was leaving IAC to start a company. Somehow she was always on a flight up to Seattle or San Francisco. She was everything I was looking for in an entrepreneur to back. Didn’t I make myself clear about celebrities & startups ? Turns out she’s done this startup thing before. ” Kara came.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

You took the risk to start your company. All of a sudden you know you’re going to be judged. ” Your peer group is envious of your finally doing what they’ve always wanted to do but found it too hard to give up the golden paycheck and predictable future. ” Your VC friends have been egging you on.

Startup 417

Startup Course Venture Capital Writing 417

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting. The VC will smile, thank you, and later pass. This is part of a series on how to improve your fund raising game.

Venture Capital 261

Venture Capital Slides Email Startup 261

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

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. But VC is like congress. “I don’t know the exact math, but I hear it again and again: the top 2% of firms generate 98% of the returns in venture capital.”

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

One of my favorite events last year was attending Startup Grind where I got to interview Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma. ” We talked about my influences as a younger person and what got me started in technology and entrepreneurship. And of course we talked about many of my views of building startups.

Startup 337

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Venture Capital 337

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I spend a lot of time with startups and thus hear many companies talk about their approach to sales and their interactions with customers. Starting with a positive. Contrast that with a VC conversation I had. I even once met with one very, very well known VC who told me, “I don’t attend LP meetings.

Custom 341

Custom Customer Venture Capital Software Review 341

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. ” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” LA By The Numbers.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. The Basics The starting point — the 101 — is knowing the difference between gross burn and net burn. You start from the basics, which is if you raise $2.5

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

It was only a year ago that many in the Venture Capital industry were predicting that “winter was coming” and to be fair the author of this post was chief amongst them. Yet as we enter February 2017 the VC funding markets are booming, Snap, Inc has filed for its IPO, AppDynamics was just purchased for $3.7 Baidu alone raised $3.2

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. After a decade on the job I’ve started to speak more openly when newer industry colleagues now ask me what I’ve learned. The role of VC is sparring partner.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2012

I recently wrote about the 12 tips to building successful startup communities. I lived in London from 1997-2005 and for 6 of those years ran my startup based out of London. It was a strange contrast for me having grown up in Northern California where failure seemed to be a badge of honor. I remember this lesson well.

Startup 350

Startup Ideas Education Class 350

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

I am thrilled to announce that we have added Hamet Watt as a Partner at Upfront Ventures. He first came to see me in 2008 when we was raising money for his 1st startup – NextMedium. Startup DNA. At every entrepreneur event I through between 2008-2012 I invite Hamet because he was a great mentor for entrepreneurs.

Invest 340

Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I often talk about what I’m looking for when I meet with an entrepreneur. Above all else I’m looking for a genuine passion for what the entrepreneur is doing. You can sense when it is a “mission” for this entrepreneur to succeed and she will continue the journey even if success isn’t easy or immediate.

Venture Capital 373

Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

.” I applaud all efforts by people to take on this issue and especially be Adeo who – let’s be honest – was really the first champion of trying to make the VC world more transparent by launching TheFunded, which didn’t exactly endear him to VCs initially. They’ll get priced soon enough by a VC.”

Startup 354

Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354