Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

I’m not saying I’m not investing – just that I’m generally aware that the market does drive venture capital fundings and I’m very interested to see how September plays out. The impact hits VCs in an immediate way that most entrepreneurs don’t realize. At least later stage investors.

financing 344

financing finance ventures real estate 344

Entrepreneur's Handbook

APRIL 24, 2021

Founders from outside a tech-ecosystem are surrounded by bad advice, since building a startup is different from other kinds of businesses. 1) Don’t hoard your idea, share it freely The 2010 drama, the Social Network , depicted every entrepreneur’s worst fears. I found that the opposite is true. Let’s dive in. (1)

startup 106

startup entrepreneurship advice pitching 106

Founders Coop

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Just two years later, in 2009, we worked out a deal to create the Techstars Seattle program, with our first program running in 2010. What did we owe our sponsors, and did that put us in conflict with our commitments to give founders the best possible advice, and to never waste their time?

startup ecosystem 195

startup ecosystem accelerator communities support 195

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

I recently read a blog post by Beezer Clarkson, Managing Director of Sapphire Ventures about why entrepreneurs should care about from whom their VC funds raise their capital. I spent a bunch of time thinking about this position — especially since Beezer is an investor in Upfront Ventures. I could go on for a long time.

entrepreneurs 237

entrepreneurs VC mentorship strategy 237

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Recently I’ve been debating with a number of young startup companies that are raising money in the next few months, “what is the right about of capital to raise at a startup?&#. I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs try to do things on the cheap.

startup 319

startup advice venture capital VC 319

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. We were based in London.

entrepreneurs 308

entrepreneurs advice real estate venture capital 308

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. They wanted advice. I gave them advice I don’t think they were expecting from a VC, “Don’t raise venture capital for this business.

VC 332

VC advice financing finance 332

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.&#. A friend of mine is a serial entrepreneur and is running a high-profile, early stage company in NorCal. This made me think hard about the relationship between VCs and entrepreneurs.

founder 329

founder VC advice pitching 329

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 11, 2016

Over the weekend, Rent the Runway held an event for its Project Entrepreneur initiative, which brought together over 100 female entrepreneurs looking to get education and advice on how to take their businesses to the next step. I know that white males get a majority of the venture capital funding.

pitching 285

pitching financing finance entrepreneurship 285

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. We’re staring to get the hang of how to divide the show up into talking about deals but also talking about issues for entrepreneurs during funding.

VC 285

VC financing finance advice 285

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2020

“We did hear that and I think it’s very poor advice,” he says. “The invoicing company” “When they started, they didn’t position themselves so much as a startup or as a tech company,” recalls Skype founder Niklas Zennström, whose venture capital firm Atomico would eventually become a Klarna investor in 2012.

investing 143

investing investment mix-use media 143

TechCrunch

DECEMBER 8, 2020

“We did hear that and I think it’s very poor advice,” he says. “The invoicing company” “When they started, they didn’t position themselves so much as a startup or as a tech company,” recalls Skype founder Niklas Zennström, whose venture capital firm Atomico would eventually become a Klarna investor in 2012.

investing 82

investing investment mix-use media 82

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

One year ago I predicted that in 2010/11 the economy, far from being on the path of permanent recovery was on a temporary resurgence and there was a strong possibility of a “double dip” recession. My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g.

entrepreneurs 298

entrepreneurs real estate VC advice 298

Unvalidated Learnings

OCTOBER 5, 2016

and yet so familiar to every contemporary entrepreneur. Johnson, the company’s first employee, built an epistolary community of fellow runners (a forum of sorts), who, in exchange for his expert advice, would provide him with invaluable product feedback: “ Unlike me, however, most customers came to depend on Johnson’s letters.

startup 40

startup entrepreneurship culture communities 40

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

I thought about things I never had to as an entrepreneur: check size, ownership percentage, deal stage, portfolio construction and risk. So I encouraged entrepreneurs to think about raising their funds as quickly as they could because. Fast forward a year to September 2010 and I wrote my treatise on the 2010 economy.

VC 305

VC disruption entrepreneurs venture capital 305

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2012

It all started in 2010 with Klout. I had been trading emails & Tweets with venture capitalist John Frankel and we were to meet in person in March 2011 at SxSW to talk about Klout and other investments he had made. Including ff Venture Capital’s unique approach to finding deals and the services they provide to their startups.

venture capital 303

venture capital VC ventures capital 303

TechCrunch

MARCH 9, 2021

The Nordic countries make up just 4% of Europe’s total population, but they account for a significant amount of venture capital investment. Not a bad thing, but as a result, there are few “hungry” tech entrepreneurs. What is your advice to startups in your portfolio right now?

opportunity 115

opportunity mix-use advice investing 115

Angel Capital Association

OCTOBER 17, 2023

Through ACA’s strong and experienced public policy leadership team, ACA has been able to gain more diverse voices as both investors and entrepreneurs. ACA and its members recognized the need for a strong advocacy arm and public policy agenda to educate Members of Congress on issues that affect angel investors and early-stage entrepreneurs.

entrepreneurial ecosystem 52

entrepreneurial ecosystem leadership entrepreneurship angel capital 52

David Teten VC

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Blue Future Partners, a venture capital fund of funds, recently interviewed me on ESG in venture capital. When we launched in 2010, I saw a white space: a burgeoning NY tech ecosystem, but only one angel group regularly writing checks. I quickly recruited a board of experienced hands.

venture capital 52

venture capital VC capital ventures 52

David Teten VC

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Blue Future Partners, a venture capital fund of funds, recently interviewed me on ESG in venture capital. When we launched in 2010, I saw a white space: a burgeoning NY tech ecosystem, but only one angel group regularly writing checks. I quickly recruited a board of experienced hands.

venture capital 40

venture capital VC capital ventures 40