Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2016

In 2008 I started VC blogging. Ironic to be self-centered while you’re trying to offer advice to others. In 2007 I started using Twitter and most of my friends & colleagues wondered why people would care what I ate for lunch. I had blogged when I was an entrepreneur. In 2011 I started using Instagram.

networking 230

networking advice VC financing 230

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

They now have a strong VC lead from Foundry Group and from experience when you get advice from Foundry it comes with authority, experience, empathy and the right amount of straight talk. I know because I have been the beneficiary of their advice for years and have appreciated it. If all else fails, angel-load away!

startup 323

startup advice pitching VC 323

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

We have previously raised funds in 1996 ($200 million), 2000 ($400 million) and 2008/9 ($200 million). If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. Startup Advice' Let’s start with the fund. This month we closed our 4th fund of $200 million.

ventures 343

ventures venture capital advice VC 343

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

The speaks to the continued confidence in the venture capital markets and as I had predicted some time ago the VC markets right now are a great place to invest – especially relative to other places to put one’s money. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

ventures 396

ventures VC venture capital real estate 396

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

This is where VC comes in and why it’s needed in the industry no matter how much populist sentiment exists against the VC industry. got picked up early without raising a lot of VC. That is why I find it curious when angels start shouting that VC’s are dinosaurs, evil, money-grubbing and non-value-add.

angel investing 284

angel investing investing investment VC 284

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

I’ve seen friends (and family members) lose much of their savings that way over the years because “Black Swans” happen and in 1987, 2001, 2003 & 2008 (just to name a few from my memory) huge market gyrations caused much financial distress to people seeking short-term gains. Watch the market closely.

financing 344

financing finance ventures real estate 344

TechCrunch

AUGUST 12, 2022

“It’s comparable to the financial crisis of 2008, when poor financial products were lumped together in order to diversify risk and make them look better than they actually were,” he writes. “We all know how that turned out.” ” Thanks for reading — I hope you have a great weekend.

pitching 79

pitching advice education energy 79

TechCrunch

MARCH 7, 2023

However, it appears that even though VCs are proceeding more cautiously than before and taking their time with due diligence, they are still investing. CB Insights recently found that two of the largest global VC firms, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, actually backed more fintech companies in 2022 than any other category.

advice 110

advice ventures sustainability investing 110

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2010

It’s meant to be a bit provocative but the reality is that I give this advice to entrepreneurs all the the time and I usually leave the “e&# off of the end. I normally offer this advice in the capacity of really wanting to help entrepreneurs so please bear with me. Not so VC. It is 2010. So what happens?

venture capital 289

venture capital capital ventures advice 289

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is where VC comes in and why it’s needed in the industry no matter how much populist sentiment exists agains the industry. got picked up early without raising a lot of VC. My thesis on why this is happening is that large tech companies didn’t invest enough in R&D between 2008-2010 (Google even went through layoffs!!!)

angel investing 152

angel investing investing investment VC 152

TechCrunch

JUNE 9, 2022

Startups and VC. A promise: We won’t run any articles on TechCrunch+ with advice for navigating a downturn unless the author actually knows what they’re talking about. He initially looked at some data and suggested there was a slump, and when some folks suggested it was not the right data, he took another look.

advice 83

advice VC education pitching 83

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2012

I had this ethical dilemma pop up on one of the first deals I even did as a VC. I had been looking around at several deals in late 2008 as the markets were tanking. ” I was learning which VCs I wanted to work with, what stage & check size I wanted to commit do and what teams would be a good fit for me. .”

VC 356

VC financing finance investing 356

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 1, 2011

years ago you’d remember RIP Good Times from Sequoia, which still strikes me as having been prudent advice in late 2008. People who comment to me privately about how surprised they are by how rapidly I’ve “built a name for myself in VC&# remind me of this fallacy. If you were reading the headlines from only 2.5

advice 391

advice VC financing finance 391

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2010

My own firm was involved with the sale of our portfolio company BillMeLater (an online credit company – think PayPal but for credit) to eBay for $1 billion in October 2008. We talked about her desire to sell the company for personal reasons rather than raise a large round of VC. I agreed to help.

angel investing 280

angel investing investing investment VC 280

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I spoke about how Amazon Web Services deserves far more credit for the last 5 years of innovation than it gets credit for and how I believe they spawned the micro-VC category. I said that I felt that Micro-VCs were the most important change in our industry. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. I believe that.

real estate 309

real estate entrepreneurs financing finance 309

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2012

He knows every startup & VC in town.” When I first arrived in LA my good friend Matt Pillar (a long-term veteran of tech, media & VC) who had been in LA for some time told me, “in LA there’s none better than David.” I told David, “Look at the changes we’ve seen in the VC / funding market.

VC 299

VC communities investing investment 299

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

This is part of my startup advice series. It’s still important advice for startup founders and something that I’m passionate about. And good VC’s feel the same way. Or if you need that next job here is some advice: Try to merge jobs on your resume. Tags: Start-up Advice. I’m sure of that.

advice 392

advice peer-to-peer consulting startup founder 392

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. It is clear that he is simply passionate about being a VC and participating in this industry. In 2008 they raised a much larger fund $132.5

capital 284

capital board VC pitching 284

Onevest

MARCH 19, 2015

Even the more realistic projection, $300 billion , is 10 times the current VC investment market. Equity crowdsourcing advocates are quick to mention that small business loans are at 75 percent of their 2008 peak. Onevest does not give investment, legal or tax advice. 50 trillion is an astounding number, as is the 233.7

advice 189

advice investing investment startup 189

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

It’s the one bit of advice I find myself giving most frequently these days, “raise money at the top end of normal.&#. 2007, 2011) and for the hottest of companies and in bad markets for fund raising (2003, 2008) prices test the bottom end of the range. I’m a VC so I have an obvious bias. It was early 2000.

startup 336

startup advice pitching VC 336

Entrepreneur's Handbook

APRIL 25, 2022

Here’s the advice I wish someone told me when I started. Kevin Rose ( @kevinrose ): partner at VC firm True Ventures , host of the Modern Finance and Proof podcasts. Tax obligations are like hidden leverage: I know someone who sold his business for $10 million in 2008. But it wasn’t always this way. and it is much higher.

networking 52

networking advice investing investment 52

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

It also takes options off the table if you eventually find out that this isn’t a VC backable business. I’ve spoken about this in a post entitled, “ Do you even need VC ?&# Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Raising Venture Capital Start-up Advice Startup Advice. Don’t let that be you.

startup 319

startup advice venture capital VC 319

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

It’s always fun chatting with Jason because he’s knowledgeable about the market, quick on topics and pushes me to talk more about VC / entrepreneur issues. The following was available: “I kept hearing about startups that raised VC funding, but which hadn’t filed Form Ds (nor issued a press release).

VC 285

VC financing finance advice 285

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

Having street smarts with no inspirational ability to build teams can yield a great small business but will be difficult to scale into a large VC-backed business. So we as VCs search for entrepreneurs/founders who have the whole package or as much of it as possible. In the book they profile how VC worked in the early days (60s / 70s).

entrepreneurs 293

entrepreneurs VC advice consulting 293

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 16, 2010

The meeting was set for Wednesday, May 8th 2008 at 11am. I want to be on Paul Graham’s “ Maker’s Schedule &# but as a VC this is quite hard.) I’m not talking about two people from the same company (like co-founders) or two partners at a VC firm. We usually try to re-slot them in quickly.

advice 346

advice board entrepreneurs VC 346

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Start Up Advice &# but I’d really like to call this post, “VC Advice.&#. On a panel that I sat on with Ron in LA in 2008 he stated that there were no circumstances in which the founder should take money off of the table. That’s when the VC has lost.

founder 329

founder VC advice pitching 329

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. I’ve tried to make this advice as well-rounded and biased free as I can. This is not just the perspective of a VC although I can’t say I have zero VC bias.

strategy 366

strategy development VC advice 366

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

Again, this is highly individualized so no generic advice can be offered. It’s hard for many VCs to get excited about funding a company who is going to compete with somebody who just raised $10 million from an A-list VC (although this can go the other way, also). they make it incrementally harder to fund raise.

advice 303

advice frameworks capital mentorship 303

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

Many deals – VC or otherwise – didn’t close. History repeated itself in September 2008 with that market crash. VC, sales, biz dev, M&A or otherwise. Especially in VC. This is part of my ongoing series with Startup Advice (although this also applies tightly with Raising Venture Capital ). Any deal. Any deal.

venture capital 301

venture capital advice real estate VC 301

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

Because my wife is a superstar she published them all on a blog here along with much other wonderful type-A mom advice. I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. It is additive.

VC 292

VC peer-to-peer investing investment 292

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 VC entrepreneurs financing 354

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

I had finally appeared on the front cover of a magazine (TornadoInsider – then the top European VC magazine) but I felt so fat in the picture I never sent it to anybody. My wife said to me, “I thought you weren’t supposed to work entrepreneur hours when you’re a VC?&#. But now I’m nearly 42.

entrepreneurs 308

entrepreneurs advice real estate venture capital 308

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

You’ve got to be able to come out of unsuccessful VC meetings, pull your socks up, and go into the next pitch. As a VC if I can tell that you’ve survived tough times and you don’t appear beaten down that’s a huge plus. Ask any entrepreneur who has been through the recent washout that began in September 2008.

entrepreneurs 298

entrepreneurs advice VC SaaS 298

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2020

“We did hear that and I think it’s very poor advice,” he says. Between 2006 and 2008, Klarna continued to grow as more people started shopping online. companies should relocate to Silicon Valley if they really want to grow.

investing 143

investing investment mix-use media 143

Andreessen Horowitz

APRIL 9, 2024

So we’d love your thoughts on maybe just advice for companies rebuilding their partnership orgs or they’re developing their sophistication on the ELG front. In 2008, I started a business called RJMetrics, which was basically the first SaaS analytics platform. What did you see being on the front lines of this?

SaaS 119

SaaS strategy disruption energy 119

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2020

“We did hear that and I think it’s very poor advice,” he says. Between 2006 and 2008, Klarna continued to grow as more people started shopping online. companies should relocate to Silicon Valley if they really want to grow.

investing 82

investing investment mix-use media 82

TechCrunch

JUNE 10, 2022

That’s painful, but for perspective: TechCrunch tracked more than 100,000 tech layoffs between August and December 2008. Building a company is a high-stakes effort, so here’s a promise: I won’t approve articles with advice for navigating this downturn unless the author has direct experience with the matter. Walter Thompson.

VC 81

VC real estate advice pitching 81