Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Here is my list of top ten action items to best prepare you for success in achieving a funding event with Angels: Incorporate the business now. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.”

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2010

One of the hot new approaches I have seen around the country for assisting startups looking for funding has been “crowd-sourcing” tools ( ProFounder ) or “crowd-pitching” events ( Funding Universe ). These are variations on a “crowd-funding” theme to raise money for a startup through social networks and voting at public events.

Funding 59

Funding Startup Social Media Sample 59

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Things that make it investment-grade for outside investors will also benefit you, since you are the ultimate investor. No investor wants to wait that long for his payback, or fund the years of waiting. You can bolster this position by including a Letter of Intent (LOI), contract summaries, or even testimonials. Executive team.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

You can watch this week’s TWiVC episode by clicking on the link and my summary notes are below. {if Especially when he’s surrounded by Danny Rimer (who funded Skype, MySQL, Last.FM I think the best solution for the social networking era is “in-stream&# advertising. PLUS RELATED FUNDING ….

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Capital Google Platform 271

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Sure, there will always some seed funding (10% of overall deal flow), but you can bet that this money goes to entrepreneurs who have been there before and won. So what can entrepreneurs do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue and position their startup for a winning IPO? Line up a winning team.

Venture Capital 101

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Things that make it investment-grade for outside investors will also benefit you, since you are the ultimate investor. No investor wants to wait that long for his payback, or fund the years of waiting. You can bolster this position by including a Letter of Intent (LOI), contract summaries, or even testimonials. Executive team.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

billion jump in funding over the same quarter of 2010 with a similar number of deals, so it clearly shows a trend to larger deal sizes for fewer startups. Sure, there is always some seed funding (10% of overall deal flow), but you can bet that this money goes to entrepreneurs who have been there before and won. That represents a $1.5

Venture Capital 93

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 93

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

If you want to watch the show click the image above or this link , but if you want a quick read – here’s a summary: 1. tevye2009 , Q: “can you briefly explain why it’s best to get a small valuation when getting investment.&# A: It’s not best. The best thing to get is a “right sized&# valuation.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2014

The implications of the decision you make are huge, defining your brand image, your funding requirements, and your long-term business viability. Here is a summary, with some of the pros and cons or special considerations for each: Product or service is free, revenue from ads. Cost-based model. Subscription model.

Startup 114

Startup Pricing Customer Custom 114

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Things that make it investment-grade for outside investors will also benefit you, since you are the ultimate investor. No investor wants to wait that long for his payback, or fund the years of waiting. You can bolster this position by including a Letter of Intent (LOI), contract summaries, or even testimonials. Executive team.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2013

The implications of the decision you make are huge, defining your brand image, your funding requirements, and your long-term business viability. Here is a summary, with some of the pros and cons or special considerations for each: Product or service is free, revenue from ads. Cost-based model. Subscription model.

Pricing 116

Pricing Product Customer Custom 116

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2017

The implications of the decision you make are huge, including brand image, funding requirements, and long-term business viability. As an experienced business advisor, here is my current summary, with some of the pros and cons or special considerations for each: Product is free, revenue is from advertisers.

Pricing 66

Pricing Customer Custom Advertising 66

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I now observes the fund raising process as a profession. This is the fund raising perspective from both sides of the table. Executive Summary. Fund raising (as is much of life) is a sale – pure and simple. Partners make investment decisions. Fund raising is bloody hard. Do they have money to invest?

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

Funding is different – In Silicon Valley you have mega venture capital funds and many of them. They not only have gotten bigger but they have an amazing track record of funding the biggest names in the sector: Cisco, Apple, Google, Facebook. As a result many funds are OK with big bets.

Company 290

Company Companies Technology Startup 290

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

We had an excellent opening panel on early-stage investing with Dave McClure (Founders Fund – NorCal), Brad Feld (Foundry Group, Boulder) and Andy Sack (Founders Co-Op, Seattle). Anyway, to close my Twiistup 6 Summary post I will borrow from the wisdom of my forefathers, “next year in … Santa Monica.”

Twiistup 228

Twiistup SoCal Southern California Yammer 228

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2012

The implications of the decision you make are huge, defining your brand image, your funding requirements, and your long-term business viability. Here is a summary, with some of the pros and cons or special considerations for each: Product or service is free, revenue from ads and critical mass. Cost-based model. Portfolio pricing.

Pricing 112

Pricing Competition Customer Custom 112

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Summary Version. TV will enter the era of “participation” which is a much more important trend than “social video” even if it seems less sexy or less fundable. I first wanted to invest in this trend by backing a company called Filmaka. I didn’t end up investing but I always loved the concept.

Startup 380

Startup Media Content Platform 380

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2010

The implications of the decision you make are huge, defining your brand image, your funding requirements, and your long-term business viability. Here is a summary, with some of the pros and cons or special considerations for each: Product or service is free, revenue from ads and critical mass. Cost-based model. Portfolio pricing.

Pricing 98

Pricing Product Startup Competition 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. First of all, it’s more of an investment in people than in a business, since the startup is usually an idea barely half-baked when they need your money. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Invest 89

Invest Entrepreneur Startup Equity 89

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2017

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. First of all, it’s more of an investment in people than in a business, since the startup is usually an idea barely half-baked when they need your money. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Invest 73

Invest Startup Equity Incubator 73

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. First of all, it’s more of an investment in people than in a business, since the startup is usually an idea barely half-baked when they need your money. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Startup 87

Startup Invest Incubator Ideas 87

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

We write about $40 million of first-checks into new deals / year and about $40 million of follow-on investments. I’ll spare you the math and point out that this means we funded 0.104% of the market. If I’m right my only hope is that more companies actually get funded and more companies reduce burn and survive.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2015

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. First of all, it’s more of an investment in people than in a business, since the startup is usually an idea barely half-baked when they need your money. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Invest Incubator 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2013

Yet every investor has his own “rules of thumb” on what makes a specific startup too high a risk for his investment taste. You need to know these guidelines to set your expectations on funding. Of course, if you intend to fund the business yourself, or have a rich uncle, external investment funding concerns are not a problem.

Startup 109

Startup Summary Software Review Sites 109

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2011

Yet every investor has his own “rules of thumb” on what makes a specific startup too high a risk for his investment taste. You need to know these guidelines to set your expectations on funding. Of course, if you intend to fund the business yourself, or have a rich uncle, external investment funding concerns are not a problem.

Startup 97

Startup Summary Software Review Sites 97

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

Yet every investor has his own “rules of thumb” on what makes a specific startup too high a risk for his investment taste. You need to know these guidelines to set your expectations on funding. Of course, if you intend to fund the business yourself, or have a rich uncle, external investment funding concerns are not a problem.

Startup 89

Startup Summary Sites Invest 89

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Reuters TV Interview by Rhonda Schaffler Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. First of all, it’s more of an investment in people than in a business, since the startup is usually an idea barely half-baked when they need your money.

Startup 91

Startup Invest Incubator Ideas 91

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

By 2008 I had gotten more serious about championing companies through our investment process. And just when I thought I had the deal that was worthy of bringing to investment committee the world changed. Let’s review all of our existing investments. tl;dr summary. And VCs scrambled to raise their own funds.

Marketing 305

Marketing Venture Capital Funding Technical Review 305

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 19, 2012

I’ve wanted to come back but had a busy year on the road meeting with investors and making a few investments of my own. Is App.net right the rail against ad-supported social networks or ad-supported products more broadly? What was the most practical advice Jonathan learned during his fund raising?

Yahoo 268

Yahoo Social Media Startup Media 268

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 18, 2015

On the one hand innovation is clearly at an all time high unleashed by smart phones, fast telecom networks, social networks that spread commerce and the fact that we are all one click away from buying things on Amazon, Apple, Google or PayPal. ” ring hollow. ” How elegantly stated.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Platform Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 22, 2011

I’m often asked by people what investment areas interest me. I try to invest in things that I know and that I believe I might have better knowledge and relationships than the masses of VCs. But one theme in pervasive in all my thinking about investing in Internet-based companies: Deflationary economics. Here’s what I mean.

Startup 386

Startup Pricing Marketing Product 386