Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!,

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2013

If you are a millenial entering the workforce, what would you be most comfortable with -- a tool designed to work and look like a social network, or a tool built around an old fashioned corporate enterprise software UI? She said that PromoJam is looking to "democratize enterprise social marketing" with the new turnkey system.

Tool 190

Tool Services Social Network Template 190

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

That’s a reason why some are quick to portend “a new bubble” but this post sets out to show that would be a misunderstanding of the market and in fact by historic levels this may be amongst the best times to invest in seed and early-stage funds. More on that later. If you look even more closely you’ll see just how skewed the data really is.

Venture Capital 292

Venture Capital Capital Startup Funding 292

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

His challenge is to focus on one market, with a specific design, cost, and price. Bill was initially the idea person and technologist, while Steve had the business and marketing experience from Proctor & Gamble to close the business equation. For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D. Yes, there are a lot of bridges to cross.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

This is at least double the time required for most equity investments, and may be a delay you can’t afford in keeping up with the market and your competitors. Otherwise find an inexpensive class on grant writing. Enhance your business plan and marketing with these in mind. Experts are available but expensive.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). But markets value high growth over short-term profitability. Where are we today?

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

…” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. Instagram happens to be one of the few social networks I regularly use along with Twitter. “Giving up 1% of your market cap to take out biggest threat is a savvy move.”

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

What is it about the content delivery network market which has enabled Santa Monica-based EdgeCast to go from startup to over $100M in revenues in only a few, short years? We serve up four to five percent of the global Internet on our network. James Segil: EdgeCast is the fastest growing CDN in the world.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. ” Therefore one goal of Y Combinator appears to be “get the highest price and best terms.”

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

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!” If you have a market lead then raising capital and making investments now will help you as others enter the market.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Berkonomics

MARCH 13, 2014

They told me all about why this is such a good idea: hard to manage price discovery in the commercial real estate market; fragmented information about vacancies obtained from landlords and brokers; and the large scale of transactions. They wanted to come to pitch to my angel network. Raising money'

Invest 237

Invest Examples Networking Writing 237

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2018

Depth in a specific business area, such as marketing or accounting, is important in understanding the internal and external processes of a business. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Writing a business plan is the only way to determine if you even understand what your dream is all about.

Startup 97

Startup Writing Coach Incubator 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. ” Therefore one goal of Y Combinator appears to be “get the highest price and best terms.”

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2019

I still see too many aspiring business leaders highlighting their technology, product features, and price, more than customer value and usability. Now customers judge you by your visibility to them at public forums, your writing, videos, and what other public figures say. Highlight your credibility by visibility and relationships.

Customer 93

Customer Custom IBM IBM 93

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2016

Depth in a specific business area, such as marketing or accounting, is important in understanding the internal and external processes of a business. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Writing a business plan is the only way to determine if you even understand what your dream is all about.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Tips Writing Coach 98

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price. The A round was done in February 2000 (end of the bull market) and my B round was done in April 2001 (bear market). So don’t raise money at a cheap price, but don’t get too far ahead of yourself either. Bad behavior but prevalent.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

Company 2 might represent an “ad mediation company” where the company gets paid by ad networks for running ads on publisher websites and the company in turn must pay the publisher 85% of the revenue it collects. They hired a marketing team to promote their products more broadly. The answer may not be known for many years.

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

That is, of course, as long as what you are selling is the absolute best in your market.) Typically entrepreneurs doubt themselves because they undervalue their offerings, but it isn’t about creating a product, setting a price and hoping people will buy. Valu e and Exp erience versus Price and Product. Blogs and Forums.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Depth in a specific business area, such as marketing or accounting, is important in understanding the internal and external processes of a business. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Writing a business plan is the only way to determine if you even understand what your dream is all about.

Writing 111

Writing Coach Incubator Entrepreneur 111

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. ” Climate resiliency . Given the steady drumbeat of climate disasters that hit the U.S.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

socalTECH

MARCH 22, 2012

Michael Dubin: My background is digital marketing, and a little bit of editorial. My first job was as a page at NBC, and after that I went and did a year and a half of writing and production at MSNBC with Keith Olbermann and Chuck Scarborough. You're going up against some giant companies, and marketing budgets.

Dollar Shave Club 210

Dollar Shave Club Startup Pricing Sample 210

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

I must admit I discuss this very frequently with portfolio companies but hadn’t thought to write about it. As the desk-based Internet emerged it was initially sold through telecom carriers (after players like AOL and EarthLink innovated the market). I need to give credit for the topic to PR Malloy who Tweeted me this question.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Startup Customer Custom 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

Image via Flickr by Phil Gyford Starting a new venture still costs real money, even though the entry price has come down dramatically in last few decades. Most entrepreneurs realize and budget for the additional costs of incorporating a business, marketing, equipment costs, and manufacturing.

Startup 105

Startup Software Review Technical Review Social Media 105

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

But my specific point is that while everybody is busy telling you that “kids don’t use email” or “email is dead” I have actual data from portfolio company CEO’s showing the efficacy of email as a communication and marketing channel. The key is understanding the nuance. PHONE CALLS. Enter phone calls.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. You cannot be just a biz dev type, salesperson, marketing genius or whatever and divorce yourself from product.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

If you want the full SlideShare deck with many slides not in either post it’s in this link –> The LA Tech Market. Has it begun to mature or is it just better marketed than in was say 5 years ago? Given how efficient markets are when a large market like LA starts to blossom it attracts capital pretty quickly.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Writing down key parameters will force you solidify the specifics, and mentally commit to them. Prepare your marketing story for customers and investors. Present at trade shows and network with your ten-slide pitch to build your following. Most investors will not even look at you until you have a defensible solution to offer.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

Investor and customer attention spans are short, and both will write you off quickly. Investors realize that the resources and risk required to hit both markets concurrently are great, so they will likely look for focus, or a staged approach. A new easier to use social network may not get anyone excited.

.Net 73

.Net Examples Customer Custom 73

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

If you know, VCs end up writing sizable checks into their own funds, which is important in better aligning interests. They will have to negotiate price and terms. Therefore of course they need to be more selection when writing checks and can’t spread their bets across 75 deals. million round I might write $1.8 – 2.2

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 5, 2013

The issue in these cases was usually not the technology per se, but the bigger business picture of marketable prices, ease of use, and support infrastructures. You don’t really understand a new idea, until you try to write it down and succinctly communicate it to peers and critics. Network in the industry as well as outside.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Startup 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

And still able to make it out to LA networking events. Kara on one side of the table showing me market sizes, competitive dynamics, product roadmaps, pricing plans for physical products with COGS and gross margins. She helps write press releases. Somehow she was always on a flight up to Seattle or San Francisco.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2015

Meeting a lot of candidates to find your head of marketing is all well and good but if 2 months later you still have no one in the role you’re still down a person. I worked with a successful portfolio company recently that had to make some big moves in the market. Opening is easier than closing.

Startup 150

Startup Framework Sales Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Emily Nagle Green, in her book from a while back “ ANYWHERE ,” argues effectively that the future of the world and business is ubiquitous connectivity, the total interconnection of people, ideas, and products through a global digital network. Key vehicles already include wireless for communication, and RFID for product location.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Training 95

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

There’s one attribute (coming soon) that I need to have in order to write a check but I don’t believe is vital for success. I’ll publish the final post in this series this week and then move on to my next series – sales & marketing. It will be controversial – I know.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

socalTECH

MAY 25, 2016

We caught up with Jim Armstrong to learn more about the new fund, areas of interest, his insights into what makes startups successful, and where he thinks the venture market is today. There's also a great network effect happening in the area of industry clouds, and network capitalism, which is not just marketing poof.

Southern California 113

Southern California Capital Funding Invest 113

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 1, 2013

CreatorUp is the online web series school teaching the next generation of web series creators how to make and market their own new video projects on the web. Following graduate school, he worked in Film Finance and Sales at CAA, Creative Development at Vuguru (Michael Eisner’s multi-platform studio), and Content Partnerships at Blip Networks.

Web 93

Web USC Course Guide 93

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 25, 2016

If such write-downs only impacted the faux unicorns and their avaricious investors, there would be little need for alarm. Unfortunately, the coming market correction will reverberate to all stages of venture investing. Ultimately, a startup’s value is based on what the market will pay. If you fail, their downside is minimal.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Venture Capital 100