INDUSTRY INSIGHTS YOUR PEERS ARE READING
The post What We Wish We Knew Then: 7 EO Members Share Advice for Graduates appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. MORE
The post Angel Investors Spotlight: An Inside Look at Hudson Valley Startup Fund’s Investment Process & Advice for Founders appeared first on The Gust Blog. Investors' Insights advice angel investors entrepreneursHudson Valley Startup Fund brings together a network of the region’s successful business and community leaders to give back, supporting the launch of the next Hudson Valley visionaries. MORE
Over the years in business and as a member of over forty boards, I have received good advice from corporate attorneys and on occasion bad advice as well. Attorneys are paid to protect the corporation, not to give business advice. Some are experienced enough to provide great business advice. MORE
They have advice to share. Ask them for advice. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. MORE
This may be news, but boards of directors can offer bad advice. Realizing that this description is a generalization that fits some, but not all, growing firms, the dynamics of the board are a key component in the effectiveness of advice and leadership given by the board. A typical board is composed of five persons in a company that has received outside funds from professional investors. MORE
the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll get 8. How to go for the close Some Advice Before You Hit the Fund Raising Trail was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. MORE
I usually tell people that everything I learned about being an entrepreneur I learned by F’ing up at my first company. Continue reading on Medium MORE
the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll ever get I’m about to offer you some fund-raising advice that flies directly in the face of what most conventional wisdom will tell you. This is part of a series on fund-raising advice for entrepreneurs and VCs. MORE
You know now why I would take her advice for new employees. ” She gave me a special one-time permission to write about her in a blog post so I could publish the advice she gave our friend. General Advice. What advice do you have for employees? Entrepreneur Advice MORE
Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice MORE
What advice would I share with young entrepreneurs today? So, as you carve out your place in the world, gathering advice on the right path for you, and the right way to get there, pay attention to those strange curiosities that pop up from time to time. MORE
Not all consultants give advice worth taking, of course. At one time or another, most all businesses use consultants to fill the gaps in knowledge or to provide guidance for management. Consultants are good in that you can sample their work with short projects, change to other consultants quickly, and stop using them when a project is completed. I have a partner in a consulting practice that specializes in the travel industry. MORE
It spoke to me because it so resonates with my nearly daily advice to entrepreneurs and VCs alike. I went as far as to call it the best Tweet of 2015 so far because it encapsulated my advice so succinctly. All advice you receive is too generic to help you – you need to decide for yourself in your exact situation. I call this process “triangulation” and my advice is always, “ Seek advice but in the end trust your own judgment.” MORE
Ginger's advice to women business owner? The post Reducing Startup Failure - Mastercard Exec Shares Her Insights and Advice for Female Founders. Startup failure is a serious thing. About one-third of small businesses fail during their first year in business, according to the SBA. MORE
“Advice is one person’s experience generalized”, an entrepreneur told me once. Advice can be a terribly dangerous thing, because it can be used as a shortcut for thinking.” ” When I asked how he responded to requests for advice, because as a successful entrepreneur he was often solicited for it, he replied that he first shared the structure and the framework he used to look at the problem. It might be the best advice you’ve ever given MORE
As lines of code continue to proliferate through the world, as the rate of startup formation increases to seize those opportunities, and as the VC industry expands to support those new teams and opportunities, there is no shortage of people to visit for advice — not to mention all the resources online. In my short time investing to date, I have experienced a phenomenon that, in my own opinion, hurts more than helps — getting advice from too many sources. MORE
Advice Video FeatureY Combinator CEO and Partner Michael Seibel on the biggest mistakes first-time founders make. Topics. 00:10 – Solving a problem you don’t care about. 1:00 – Helping users you don’t care about. 1:40 – Choosing cofounders you don’t know well. 2:20 – Not having transparent conversations with your cofounder. 3:20 – Not launching. 4:45 – Not using analytics. 5:02 – Not knowing where your first users will come from. MORE
Ever get bad advice? Ever take that advice without question because the person giving it was an investor, a superior in rank, the chairperson of your board? I’ll bet you have at least one story of bad advice taken and being bitten as a result. Close. We all have in our past. MORE
I can't think of a single time when a white man came to pitch me and I told him his fundraising plans weren't aggressive enough. Yet this is a message I'm giving to women and people of color all the time. It's not that this latter group isn't aggressive enough--after all, they're ditching everything else they could to to start companies. Something else is at play. MORE
The angel investors could not raise the next, larger round to finance the shortfall and further expansion, putting the fragile young company at risk for following the advice of its board. Bad advice taken by an enthusiastic and compliant young CEO was the root of the cause, compounded by circumstance. By not putting up any argument and being completely compliant, the CEO ceded control of the company to outsiders who gave bad advice. MORE
Not all consultants give advice worth taking, of course. At one time or another, most all businesses use consultants to fill the gaps in knowledge or to provide guidance for management. MORE
This is part of my ongoing series with Startup Advice. Apologies in advance if it sounds arrogant – just trying to impart some realistic advice. The most important advice I can give you is – give me context. MORE
So here’s advice I give people all the time when they’re raising money. Or they’ll remind me of my common advice to take “ 50 coffee meetings.” The post The Most Important Advice I Could Give You About Unicorns appeared first on Bothsides of the Table. *. Unicorns. The most overused word in the technology industry today. And they aren’t even f **g real. That is how absurd thing have gotten. No, I take that back. MORE
Because I am one of the ones “who got out,” I get a ton of requests give career advice to grad students or speak on career panels. Photo by Bruce Gilbert. Not everybody I deal with in the start-up world knows of my secret past-life. MORE
Founders have a right to know where the money they are taking comes from, and they need to know how that source might influence the advice given them by their investors. Founders need this information to decide how to think about the investor and the funding offer or advice that investor may give. Advice Essay FeatureI’ve recently noticed an uptick in the number of “angels” that aren’t actually angels. MORE
I probably get around a dozen e-mails a week asking me how to get into venture capital. On top of that, anytime I talk to anyone who wants to get involved in startups but isn''t sure what they want to do, inevitably, I hear, "And then I was thinking maybe I should look into venture capital, too.". I usually direct people to this post --still hanging atop the search rankings for " How to be a VC analyst" years later. MORE
Everybody has a blog these days and there is much advice to be had. Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. This is generally how I try to organize my own views and how I try to give advice. MORE
Ask An Entrepreneur Resources advice communication email Tips and TricksHow to be a Considerate Communicator. By Ray Newal, Managing Director of Techstars Bangalore Accelerator. The Metaphor of the Traffic Light. MORE
Below, I’ve tried sharing our advice for managing your board – from how often to meet, to the materials you need – in order to ensure a useful and productive group discussion. I’ll share our collective advice on navigating these below. Sometimes the answer is not very clear but a framework is helpful when you decide to go against the board’s advice. Advice Essay YC Continuity FeatureWith special contributions from Nic Dardenne. MORE
Let me tell you a few short hair-raising stories of entrepreneurs who have raised money and regretted it later. Here are some rules that entrepreneurs almost always ignore to their future peril. MORE
There are too many people giving advice who have been through one or two startups, none of which grew into a huge company, got to profitability, or an IPO. I think we all need to be a lot more discerning about where advice is coming from. That doesn''t feel like the perspective you get from a lot of advice givers these days. Your advice matches the experience of your accomplishments. Yet, it all sounds like awesome advice to other startup people--i.e. MORE
Make a decision. This one I learned in reverse from watching my very first boss, who would not/could not make a decision to save his life. The result was an office that descended nearly into paralysis, before everyone else (including me) started making decisions around him. Keep in mind that not making a decision IS making one, because something is ultimately going to happen, but now it won’t be under your control. MORE
So, office hours should be a structured but limited time to get advice, spitball ideas, and share cathartic moments. GAN Partners gan partner mentors office hours partners startup adviceI work for Chargebee, a recurring billing and subscription management product used by thousands of customers in more than 53 countries and a proud GAN Partner. MORE
This may be news, but boards of directors can offer bad advice. Having served on more than forty boards, I’ve seen such a variety of good and bad advice that my stories could fill a book. (oh, MORE
There is a second set of career discussions I have even more frequently than my “angel yourself” advice but this type is almost never discussed publicly in blogs, which tend to emphasize only billion-dollar opportunities, 20-something technical founders and Silicon Valley elitism. But I also have advice for the 15% that really do want to be a startup CEO. A shortened, better edited and with nicer pictures version of this post first appeared on TechCrunch. MORE
I'm often the last one to leave an event, held back by the most persistant of entrepreneurs trying to squeeze as much advice as they can out of me. Often times, the advice is terrible or impractical. They don't look cautiously at the advice given to them by their favorite VC blogger. MORE
Sarah Nahm is the CEO and cofounder of Lever. Lever builds modern recruiting software for teams to source, interview, and hire top talent. They were in the Summer 2012 batch of YC. You can try Lever out at Lever.co. Holly Liu is a Visiting Partner at YC. Before that she cofounded the gaming company Kabam. You can find Sarah on Twitter @srhnhm and Holly is @hollyhliu. Topics. 00:05 – Did Sarah grow up thinking she’d be a founder? MORE
For the most part my advice is simple, “don’t bother.” Entrepreneur AdviceI live in LA. And I’m a VC. So you can imagine I see my fair share of celebrities looking to get into the technology industry. MORE
It is impossible advice to give because there is such a fine line between being persistent and being annoying and it’s something you probably can’t teach. I called it “the worst startup advice I had ever heard somebody give.” One of the hardest things for most entrepreneurs to know is how hard to push in situations where people tell you “no.” ” But then again most entrepreneurs fail. MORE
This is one of the best pieces of advice I’ve collected about writing. Put each sentence on a separate line when you write. When we read, we hear a rhythm. There is a rhythm to the words. And when we read, we look to find that rhythm, which pushes us through the end of a sentence, so if I write a really long sentence, and the reader isn’t expecting it – like this one – the reader will find it really hard to follow and understand where I am going. MORE
Advice Video FeatureYC Partner and Tutorspree cofounder Aaron Harris on when to shut down a startup. Read Aaron’s post On Shutting Down here. MORE
Here’s what I got back: David Hornick, August Capital : "Here's some anti-advice. Jason Pressman, Shasta Ventures : "First board meetings always are a bit scary b/c you actually find out what is going on so my advice to both sides (investors and entrepreneurs) is to have no surprises due to a transparent, thoughtful and engaged due diligence process. MORE
00:20 – Dan’s most unpopular advice. 24:30 – Advice for employees who want to get a growth program going. Dan Hockenmaier is the founder of the growth strategy firm Basis One. Prior to Basis One he was the Director of Growth Marketing at Thumbtack. You can learn more at BasisOne.com. Gustaf Alströmer is a Partner at YC. Prior to YC he was the Product Lead for Growth at Airbnb. You can find Dan on Twitter @danhockenmaier and Gustaf is @gustaf. Topics. MORE
advice Related Topics This is going to be BIG.
APRIL 23, 2012
I'm often the last one to leave an event, held back by the most persistant of entrepreneurs trying to squeeze as much advice as they can out of me. Often times, the advice is terrible or impractical. They don't look cautiously at the advice given to them by their favorite VC blogger.
Entrepreneurs' Organization
MAY 24, 2019
The post What We Wish We Knew Then: 7 EO Members Share Advice for Graduates appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization.
Both Sides of the Table
AUGUST 30, 2014
Everybody has a blog these days and there is much advice to be had. Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. This is generally how I try to organize my own views and how I try to give advice.
Berkonomics
MARCH 29, 2018
Ever get bad advice? Ever take that advice without question because the person giving it was an investor, a superior in rank, the chairperson of your board? I’ll bet you have at least one story of bad advice taken and being bitten as a result. Close. We all have in our past.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 6, 2018
the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll get 8. How to go for the close Some Advice Before You Hit the Fund Raising Trail was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Haystack
SEPTEMBER 16, 2018
As lines of code continue to proliferate through the world, as the rate of startup formation increases to seize those opportunities, and as the VC industry expands to support those new teams and opportunities, there is no shortage of people to visit for advice — not to mention all the resources online. In my short time investing to date, I have experienced a phenomenon that, in my own opinion, hurts more than helps — getting advice from too many sources.
This is going to be BIG.
NOVEMBER 1, 2016
I can't think of a single time when a white man came to pitch me and I told him his fundraising plans weren't aggressive enough. Yet this is a message I'm giving to women and people of color all the time. It's not that this latter group isn't aggressive enough--after all, they're ditching everything else they could to to start companies. Something else is at play.
Both Sides of the Table
AUGUST 14, 2009
They have advice to share. Ask them for advice. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 23, 2012
For the most part my advice is simple, “don’t bother.” Entrepreneur AdviceI live in LA. And I’m a VC. So you can imagine I see my fair share of celebrities looking to get into the technology industry.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 14, 2015
So here’s advice I give people all the time when they’re raising money. Or they’ll remind me of my common advice to take “ 50 coffee meetings.” The post The Most Important Advice I Could Give You About Unicorns appeared first on Bothsides of the Table. *. Unicorns. The most overused word in the technology industry today. And they aren’t even f **g real. That is how absurd thing have gotten. No, I take that back.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 3, 2015
It spoke to me because it so resonates with my nearly daily advice to entrepreneurs and VCs alike. I went as far as to call it the best Tweet of 2015 so far because it encapsulated my advice so succinctly. All advice you receive is too generic to help you – you need to decide for yourself in your exact situation. I call this process “triangulation” and my advice is always, “ Seek advice but in the end trust your own judgment.”
Berkonomics
OCTOBER 15, 2015
Let me tell you a few short hair-raising stories of entrepreneurs who have raised money and regretted it later. Here are some rules that entrepreneurs almost always ignore to their future peril.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 19, 2018
the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll ever get I’m about to offer you some fund-raising advice that flies directly in the face of what most conventional wisdom will tell you. This is part of a series on fund-raising advice for entrepreneurs and VCs.
Smart Hustle Magazine
MAY 31, 2019
Ginger's advice to women business owner? The post Reducing Startup Failure - Mastercard Exec Shares Her Insights and Advice for Female Founders. Startup failure is a serious thing. About one-third of small businesses fail during their first year in business, according to the SBA.
Gust
FEBRUARY 8, 2016
The post Angel Investors Spotlight: An Inside Look at Hudson Valley Startup Fund’s Investment Process & Advice for Founders appeared first on The Gust Blog. Investors' Insights advice angel investors entrepreneursHudson Valley Startup Fund brings together a network of the region’s successful business and community leaders to give back, supporting the launch of the next Hudson Valley visionaries.
Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 21, 2016
I usually tell people that everything I learned about being an entrepreneur I learned by F’ing up at my first company. Continue reading on Medium
Scratch Paper
OCTOBER 17, 2014
Because I am one of the ones “who got out,” I get a ton of requests give career advice to grad students or speak on career panels. Photo by Bruce Gilbert. Not everybody I deal with in the start-up world knows of my secret past-life.
This is going to be BIG.
JULY 8, 2013
I probably get around a dozen e-mails a week asking me how to get into venture capital. On top of that, anytime I talk to anyone who wants to get involved in startups but isn''t sure what they want to do, inevitably, I hear, "And then I was thinking maybe I should look into venture capital, too.". I usually direct people to this post --still hanging atop the search rankings for " How to be a VC analyst" years later.
This is going to be BIG.
JANUARY 6, 2014
There are too many people giving advice who have been through one or two startups, none of which grew into a huge company, got to profitability, or an IPO. I think we all need to be a lot more discerning about where advice is coming from. That doesn''t feel like the perspective you get from a lot of advice givers these days. Your advice matches the experience of your accomplishments. Yet, it all sounds like awesome advice to other startup people--i.e.
Berkonomics
AUGUST 8, 2019
This may be news, but boards of directors can offer bad advice. Having served on more than forty boards, I’ve seen such a variety of good and bad advice that my stories could fill a book. (oh,
Y Combinator
JUNE 26, 2019
00:20 – Dan’s most unpopular advice. 24:30 – Advice for employees who want to get a growth program going. Dan Hockenmaier is the founder of the growth strategy firm Basis One. Prior to Basis One he was the Director of Growth Marketing at Thumbtack. You can learn more at BasisOne.com. Gustaf Alströmer is a Partner at YC. Prior to YC he was the Product Lead for Growth at Airbnb. You can find Dan on Twitter @danhockenmaier and Gustaf is @gustaf. Topics.
Y Combinator
JULY 10, 2019
Sarah Nahm is the CEO and cofounder of Lever. Lever builds modern recruiting software for teams to source, interview, and hire top talent. They were in the Summer 2012 batch of YC. You can try Lever out at Lever.co. Holly Liu is a Visiting Partner at YC. Before that she cofounded the gaming company Kabam. You can find Sarah on Twitter @srhnhm and Holly is @hollyhliu. Topics. 00:05 – Did Sarah grow up thinking she’d be a founder?
Berkonomics
FEBRUARY 22, 2018
Not all consultants give advice worth taking, of course. At one time or another, most all businesses use consultants to fill the gaps in knowledge or to provide guidance for management.
This is going to be BIG.
MARCH 3, 2010
Here’s what I got back: David Hornick, August Capital : "Here's some anti-advice. Jason Pressman, Shasta Ventures : "First board meetings always are a bit scary b/c you actually find out what is going on so my advice to both sides (investors and entrepreneurs) is to have no surprises due to a transparent, thoughtful and engaged due diligence process.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
The angel investors could not raise the next, larger round to finance the shortfall and further expansion, putting the fragile young company at risk for following the advice of its board. Bad advice taken by an enthusiastic and compliant young CEO was the root of the cause, compounded by circumstance. By not putting up any argument and being completely compliant, the CEO ceded control of the company to outsiders who gave bad advice.
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 10, 2012
You know now why I would take her advice for new employees. ” She gave me a special one-time permission to write about her in a blog post so I could publish the advice she gave our friend. General Advice. What advice do you have for employees? Entrepreneur Advice
Entrepreneurs' Organization
JULY 5, 2019
What advice would I share with young entrepreneurs today? So, as you carve out your place in the world, gathering advice on the right path for you, and the right way to get there, pay attention to those strange curiosities that pop up from time to time.
Berkonomics
DECEMBER 21, 2012
There are three types of advice,” the wise White House Senior Counsel to the President told the young White House attorney. He referred to the three as legal advice, moral advice and political advice.
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 7, 2009
This is part of my ongoing series with Startup Advice. Apologies in advance if it sounds arrogant – just trying to impart some realistic advice. The most important advice I can give you is – give me context.
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 29, 2014
It is impossible advice to give because there is such a fine line between being persistent and being annoying and it’s something you probably can’t teach. I called it “the worst startup advice I had ever heard somebody give.” One of the hardest things for most entrepreneurs to know is how hard to push in situations where people tell you “no.” ” But then again most entrepreneurs fail.
Y Combinator
AUGUST 12, 2019
Founders have a right to know where the money they are taking comes from, and they need to know how that source might influence the advice given them by their investors. Founders need this information to decide how to think about the investor and the funding offer or advice that investor may give. Advice Essay FeatureI’ve recently noticed an uptick in the number of “angels” that aren’t actually angels.
GAN
JULY 15, 2019
So, office hours should be a structured but limited time to get advice, spitball ideas, and share cathartic moments. GAN Partners gan partner mentors office hours partners startup adviceI work for Chargebee, a recurring billing and subscription management product used by thousands of customers in more than 53 countries and a proud GAN Partner.
Y Combinator
JULY 15, 2019
Below, I’ve tried sharing our advice for managing your board – from how often to meet, to the materials you need – in order to ensure a useful and productive group discussion. I’ll share our collective advice on navigating these below. Sometimes the answer is not very clear but a framework is helpful when you decide to go against the board’s advice. Advice Essay YC Continuity FeatureWith special contributions from Nic Dardenne.
Gust
JULY 2, 2014
Make a decision. This one I learned in reverse from watching my very first boss, who would not/could not make a decision to save his life. The result was an office that descended nearly into paralysis, before everyone else (including me) started making decisions around him. Keep in mind that not making a decision IS making one, because something is ultimately going to happen, but now it won’t be under your control.
Berkonomics
AUGUST 9, 2010
Over the years in business and as a member of over forty boards, I have received good advice from corporate attorneys and on occasion bad advice as well. Attorneys are paid to protect the corporation, not to give business advice. Some are experienced enough to provide great business advice.
Tomasz Tunguz
FEBRUARY 1, 2018
This is one of the best pieces of advice I’ve collected about writing. Put each sentence on a separate line when you write. When we read, we hear a rhythm. There is a rhythm to the words. And when we read, we look to find that rhythm, which pushes us through the end of a sentence, so if I write a really long sentence, and the reader isn’t expecting it – like this one – the reader will find it really hard to follow and understand where I am going.
Y Combinator
JULY 29, 2019
Advice Video FeatureYC Partner and Tutorspree cofounder Aaron Harris on when to shut down a startup. Read Aaron’s post On Shutting Down here.
Tomasz Tunguz
JULY 24, 2014
“Advice is one person’s experience generalized”, an entrepreneur told me once. Advice can be a terribly dangerous thing, because it can be used as a shortcut for thinking.” ” When I asked how he responded to requests for advice, because as a successful entrepreneur he was often solicited for it, he replied that he first shared the structure and the framework he used to look at the problem. It might be the best advice you’ve ever given
TechStars
JANUARY 29, 2019
Ask An Entrepreneur Resources advice communication email Tips and TricksHow to be a Considerate Communicator. By Ray Newal, Managing Director of Techstars Bangalore Accelerator. The Metaphor of the Traffic Light.
Y Combinator
AUGUST 16, 2019
Advice Video FeatureY Combinator CEO and Partner Michael Seibel on the biggest mistakes first-time founders make. Topics. 00:10 – Solving a problem you don’t care about. 1:00 – Helping users you don’t care about. 1:40 – Choosing cofounders you don’t know well. 2:20 – Not having transparent conversations with your cofounder. 3:20 – Not launching. 4:45 – Not using analytics. 5:02 – Not knowing where your first users will come from.
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 13, 2012
This may be news, but boards of directors can offer bad advice. Realizing that this description is a generalization that fits some, but not all, growing firms, the dynamics of the board are a key component in the effectiveness of advice and leadership given by the board. A typical board is composed of five persons in a company that has received outside funds from professional investors.
Berkonomics
AUGUST 30, 2010
Not all consultants give advice worth taking, of course. At one time or another, most all businesses use consultants to fill the gaps in knowledge or to provide guidance for management. Consultants are good in that you can sample their work with short projects, change to other consultants quickly, and stop using them when a project is completed. I have a partner in a consulting practice that specializes in the travel industry.
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