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This Week in VC with @VCMike Hirshland of Polaris Ventures

Both Sides of the Table

One of things I’ve loved the most about doing now 11 weeks of This Week in VC is a chance to have an hour-long recorded conversation with investors. One of the most difficult things to do as a first time entrepreneur is to get to know the investors you might be working with if you accept money. So how did Mike get into VC?

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VCs at Freestyle, Plexo Capital and Sequoia join Startup Battlefield judges

TechCrunch

We have an outstanding cohort of VCs ready to hear their pitches and follow up with tough Q&As — and we’re thrilled to add three more to the slate. Did you miss the other Startup Battlefield VC judges? In 2004, Samuel co-founded Crackle, an internet video platform acquired by Sony for $65 million in 2006.

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This Week in VC – Scott Painter, CEO of Zag & TrueCar

Both Sides of the Table

He didn’t tell it in the video but, ever the entrepreneur, Scott started a business to take couples up on a “mile high club&# flight on airplanes as a way of getting all of his miles logged to get his next class of airplane license that required a certain number of hours logged. It’s part of what makes him so likable.

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Vinod Khosla’s advice for top VCs? Don’t sit on your founders’ boards

TechCrunch

Serial entrepreneur and seasoned investor Vinod Khosla has some strong, contrarian advice for the venture capital industry: don’t sit on your founders’ boards. Of course, giving up a board seat as a VC can mean giving up some oversight, along with the checks and balances that can help a founding team stay on track.

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This Week in VC: Michael Montgomery (President, Montgomery & Co.)

Both Sides of the Table

For entrepreneurs who want to learn about how to work with investment banks, how to position yourself to be acquired and what the IPO markets look like this is the episode to watch. They have relationships that are hard for entrepreneurs to build. Founded by Matt Rutledge in 2004 and based in Dallas. Revenue of ~$160mm in 2008.

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Don’t get hung up on early stage valuation.

Berkonomics

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up pre-money valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Here’s the “what.”. And here’s the “why.”.

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Congrats to Backupify! A Great Exit Story for the First Company I Ever Backed

This is going to be BIG.

I''m super proud of Rob, Ben and the whole Backupify team--and this is particularly special for me because Backupify was the first investment I ever made as a VC, and the first board I ever sat on. I started reading a great blog called Business Pundit in 2004. It was written by a guy about my age down in Louisville, Kentucky.

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