Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2014

I have been saying privately for years now that I believe online video will evolve into fragmented distribution (my next online video post) and vertical production. They have production facilities in Mexico where they have been creating lower-cost video for traditional TV for many years and they pivoted this facility to producing for YouTube.

Invest 291

Invest Content Media Networking 291

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. But the “no sales people” mantra isn’t what I’m here to take on.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you hire 6 sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business for 4-6 months. Is it one product line or multiple? ” The Details.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2021

You can listen to the entire conversation above or via this link , but I also wanted to highlight one topic we discussed that I feel strongly about, which is how I think enterprise sales and venture fundraising are basically the same muscle. OK, so you’ve found your target LPs who invest in funds at your stage. Let me explain.

Sales 375

Sales Startup Invest Funding 375

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. That student is Erin McCann who formerly worked in sales at Google, so she has some ground to stand on in her assertions. My guess is that we are likely in total agreement.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2013

This is final part of a series that describes a sales methodology for technology companies or frankly many other types of companies, too. Well think of it this way – you have your sales process. And with scarce resources it’s your job to decide which door this lead must go through – sales or marketing.

Customer 324

Customer Custom Marketing Newsletter 324

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

I am fond of quoting that about 70% of my investment decision of an early-stage company is the team. So I naturally spend much time with the companies in which I invest helping them: recruit. Without strong PMs you build crappy products that nobody needs or that real people can’t use. Final startup grind from msuster.

Startup 388

Startup Slides Outsource Development Sales 388

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

You need to first create a compelling product. Compelling in the sense that you solve a real problem a target group of potential customers has with a product that is significantly better than the alternatives on that market. You need product / market fit. Product / market fit is everything. ” True.

Startup 401

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 401

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

They will often run all of the daily reports into them covering off for finance, sales, marketing, biz dev & HR. Many times they also pick up product and tech, too. Often times you find the CEO who really just likes to do product or tech. Similarly I talk to CEOs who can’t do a sales pipeline review with me.

Startup 325

Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA , which I wrote about previously. Having a good sales methodology can help you ensure your company runs more disciplined campaigns and focuses scarce resources on your best opportunities. It the second rule of sales, “Why Buy Me?”

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

InfoChachkie

JULY 7, 2016

The entrepreneur cannot wait to show me their product via a demo. You’re the first one I’ve met who didn’t want to see our product.” I then explain that I evaluate the veracity of a product by seeking guidance from current, past and prospective users, rather than relying on a product demonstration. Don’t Demo Me Bro.

Venture Capital 176

Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

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. Given customers & sales are the lifeblood of any organization you’d imagine everybody would respect their customers. If they want to invest that’s great. ” I cringed.

Customer 341

Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2020

Selecting the right sales channels is one of the first strategic decisions that every startup faces. This area of demand analysis is also called the “sales funnel” or “sales pipeline,” used for tracking the overall process from initial prospect engagement to close. Return on investment for demand generation.

Marketing 174

Marketing Invest Demand Metrics 174

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Goleta-based AutoVitals , which develops software-as-a-service (SaaS) products for the automotive repair and maintenance software business, has raised a round of private equity, the company recently announced, from private equity investor Tritium Partners. Financial details of the private equity deal were not announced.

Equity 140

Equity Invest Southern California SaaS 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

For the rest of us, we need a business plan, as well as a product plan. Some of you may be convinced that your product specification communicates the product message even better than a business plan, so why be redundant? Professional investors and even customers invest in people, rather than just a product.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

With small amounts of money invested (sub $3 million) the risks are reasonably low for most VCs and the consequences of bad decisions or decisions a VC has limited say in is tolerable. how much energy to put into channel partners vs. direct sales. how to build an initial sales organization. As You Start to Mature.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2015

I write about sales often both because it’s the lifeblood of any organization and because in my experience it is the area in which more startups are least experienced or inclined. I also write and talk about it frequently because raising capital is a part of sales and this is important for entrepreneurs to understand.

Sales 150

Sales Startup Venture Capital Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. Our fund (Upfront Ventures) recently returned >1x an entire $200 million fund just selling small minatory in secondary sales while still holding most of our stock for an ultimate public market exits. That used to be called A-round investing.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Existing investors DST Global, 01 Advisors, Dragoneer Investment Group, Franklin Templeton and Mubadala Investment Company too doubled down on their investments in SpotOn, joining new backers Wellington Management and Coatue Management. We are deeply invested in growing the business together. Image Credits: SpotOn.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

TechCrunch LA

JULY 29, 2020

” The new financing from Humana will go to support Heal’s geographic expansion, product development, and sales and marketing, Desai said. Already, the company has expanded into new treatment areas, including teletherapy for mental health.

Services 244

Services Invest Demand Los Angeles 244

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. an investment in your company.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

It also handles the back end as well by automating the posting, sale and shipment of unsold inventory while offering immediate payment to creditworthy sellers. More people are focused on the beginning of the product lifecycle; very few are focused at the end.”. That’s our vision.”. Last week, Syrup Tech raised $6.3

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

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 have done 6 VC investments – all within the past 20 months. ” So it’s now March 2014 – 5 years since I started investing. Lemons ripen early, great companies take time.”

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

There is a mythology amongst some LPs (funds that invest in VCs) and some VCs that “entry price doesn’t matter – only investing in the absolute best entrepreneurs.” You need to understand motives of buyer (talent, product, revenue, strategic purchase) and where you fit in. ” That’s b t.

Startup 323

Startup Technology Venture Capital Santa Barbara 323

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Yet in this age when customers have a thousand alternatives, and are overwhelmed by a multitude of messages, sales efforts can make or break a business. In fact, I believe modern entrepreneurs need to be super sales people, in the most positive sense, to their team as well as customers. No pain usually means no sales.

Sales 139

Sales Training Startup Customer 139

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

VC’s keep different titles but the most common that I’ve come across that are investment professionals are (in ascending order of seniority): analyst, associate, principal and partner. The process for raising money from a VC is a sales process and as such much of what is taught in enterprise sales can be applied.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Sales Entrepreneur Startup 308

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 11, 2020

Hyundai Motor Group said it will jointly develop an electric vehicle platform with Los Angeles-based startup Canoo, the latest startup tapped by the automaker as part of an $87 billion push to invest in electrification and other future technologies. Hyundai Motor Group has committed to invest $87 billion over the next five years.

Startup 310

Startup Develop Development Platform 310

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Product Marketing Resource 296

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2013

The timing of the announcement of this investment couldn’t have been timed more perfectly if we tried. And before that you might enjoy this longer analysis on why I invested in DataSift in the first place , which was written 2.5 ” How can businesses not incorporate information into their marketing and sales funnels?

Social Media 358

Social Media Yammer Invest Organization 358

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2012

“Yeah, but I’m just going to execute this [channel sales deal, international license of my product, new industry, new operating system, biz dev deal] and then it will pretty much run itself.” It’s why I don’t invest in Conference Ho’s. ok, I know our product isn't yet verticalized.

Resource 415

Resource Startup Product Ideas 415

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 25, 2011

A year ago I invested, along with Dana Settle at Greycroft Partners , in a startup company called Maker Studios. They know this model of YouTube production & distribution better than anybody else that I’ve met in my 5 years in Los Angeles. It was founded by Danny Zappin, Lisa Donovan & Ben Donovan. Sound familiar?

Carson 291

Carson Content Los Angeles Press 291

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

When I meet other VCs I’m constantly asking how they decide which investments to make, when to pass, when to do follow-on rounds, when to sell a company vs. when to go long, etc. On sales I often talk about “ Why Buy Anything, Why Buy Now, Why Buy Me ” as a tool to think about a sales process.

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you hire 6 senior sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business 6 months. Is it one product line or multiple?

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Strategic partner” investors: If you can find a strategic partner willing to invest in your enterprise, consider it a blessing.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Your head of sales thinks she should fire somebody. You’re sales person is getting blocked by the CTO who says she shouldn’t go above him but the CTO isn’t approving the deal. He went out and found a developer and built a product. The technology team disagrees on direction and wants resolutions.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

We’re going to start aggressively spend money on marketing our product. otherwise I prefer to invest less and risk less). Gross margin (GM) is the amount of profit you make per sale of your product or service taking into account your total costs of selling that product or service.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383