Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? I was meeting regularly with entrepreneurs and offering (for better or for worse) advice on how to run a startup and how to raise venture capital from my experience in doing so at two companies. By definition, you read blogs.

startup 373

startup advice communities VC 373

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. ” Uhhuh. I agree up to a point.

startup 323

startup advice pitching VC 323

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2009

One of the questions I’m most often asked as a VC is what I’m looking for in an investment. I once had a debate with a prominent VC on a panel. The moderator asked the question, “if an entrepreneur writes an email to a VC and doesn’t hear back what should they do?&# This VC responded, “Move on.

entrepreneurs 338

entrepreneurs peer-to-peer advice VC 338

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. For years I saw myself as the new guy in VC but then you wake up one day and realize that 50% of your peers have been doing it for less time than you and time has moved on. Consider what Paul Graham said in this article. VC Industry' Lines, Not Dots.

peer-to-peer 317

peer-to-peer pitching VC accelerator 317

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

In the VC insider baseball world a discussion has gone on about “VC platforms” over the past 5 or so years. While firms define platforms differently, let’s just say they are the services that a VC offers outside of investment capital and partner time on boards or providing intros.

VC 198

VC peer-to-peer mix-use leadership 198

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

This is the third article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). 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.

angel investing 284

angel investing investing investment VC 284

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 21, 2009

I agree with every part of the article, but I was hoping for some discussion about inspiration in the idealism/activism sense, and less the charisma sense. I retweeted this article and get some people in Europe telling me it was unfair. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. It’s not.

entrepreneurs 290

entrepreneurs advice VC startup 290

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

As a VC you want to feel like you have “proprietary sources” of deal flow. There is one source I never liked and no early-stage VC should – investment bankers. Before I tell you my reasons for never doing a deal that a banker intro’d I have to preface by where I think bankers are enormously helpful on VC deals.

advice 361

advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 361

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. I am a VC. But through expressing points-of-view I can raise above the consciousness of my customers (entrepreneurs and limited partners who invest in VC funds) in ways that I couldn’t without breaking through the noise of the hundreds of others of VCs who also have money.

mix-use 389

mix-use advice VC technology 389

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

This article was originally published on TechCrunch. But I guess you could say the same about VC. Stock market declines would bring back dog days of VC. The full articles are linked below. The full articles are linked below. VC Ice Age Part 2 – Why the Market Started Moving Again? Why is that?

VC 305

VC disruption entrepreneurs venture capital 305

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

Otherwise, grab a cup ‘o coffee … Clicking on any graph below will take you to that article. My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. raise money now to weather any storms).

entrepreneurs 298

entrepreneurs real estate VC advice 298

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

Notes Wadhwa, “Jason [Calacanis], Fred [Wilson], and Silicon Valley VC’s, I’ve got news for you: you’ve got it all wrong. Entrepreneurs aren’t born, they’re made.&# The data in this article is at best, a stretch. I’m now a VC that funds entrepreneurs. I suspect he’s not. I’m biased, too.

entrepreneurship 289

entrepreneurship entrepreneurs advice VC 289

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 11, 2011

We also talked about why Jon decided to leave Google to become an EIR at a VC firm (Polaris) – minute 33. There’s tons of more great advice from real-world experience from Jon so please watch when you have time. And I tell people all the time, it’s OK to Tweet more than once (full advice in this link).

advice 354

advice creativity culture VC 354

Entrepreneurs' Organization

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

As female entrepreneurs, we are independent-minded and innovative, and this advice is critical for securing our future and the future of our families. She provided me with so much advice on business strategy, business channels and HR. and more articles from the EO blog.

founder 262

founder advice entrepreneurship entrepreneurs 262

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. Another good article. VC meetings going well. 2 million in VC. I swore never to do that as a VC. Holy sh*t!!!

entrepreneurs 384

entrepreneurs startup VC real estate 384

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

.” In the article I discussed the downside of raising capital at a too high of a price and referred people to a previous article I had written encouraging founders to raise “ At the Top end of Normal ” as opposed to stratospheric prices. And most VCs are over-whelmed with deals. Startup Advice'

advice 302

advice investing investment VC 302

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is the second article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). Tags: Startup Advice Tech Market Analysis VC Industry. Part 1 – Access to Great Deal Flow – is here. I have talked extensively about “social proof&# in fund raising in the past.

angel investing 288

angel investing investing investment advice 288

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

I reinforced this view by referring to a very interesting article I had read by Andy Grove (co-founder & former CEO of Intel) on car batteries, china manufacturing and the problem of US outsourcing. We spoke about the disruption of VC through crowd funding. We had a brief chat on his views of “Freemium.”

education 403

education disruption entrepreneurship venture capital 403

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

This article originally ran on TechCrunch. I was meeting with a first-time CEO of a very promising young startup recently and offering my advice on what his priorities should be. I need to take some VC meetings. Not to mention they have the highest profile VC / blogger Fred Wilson of AVC. I’m in Seattle this week.

communities 317

communities VC innovation entrepreneurs 317

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

In that article I talked about how PR drives: recruiting, employee retention, biz dev deals, funding and even M&A and that often “attribution” to your PR activities is unknown. And the most important advice I could give you is that Point-of-View Marketing is much better than Narcissistic Marketing.

pitching 319

pitching media advice venture capital 319

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

Journalists have just written an article that wasn’t favorable. 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.

entrepreneurs 298

entrepreneurs advice VC SaaS 298

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. I acknowledged this in the article. I said both in the article but felt compelled to provide a statement up front for the skimmers. It’s the one bit of advice I find myself giving most frequently these days, “raise money at the top end of normal.&#.

startup 336

startup advice pitching investing 336

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

The single best (and most important) article I’ve read on the topic was published today by Joseph Floyd asking whether Black Friday was a DiSaaSter or a Reversion to the Mean. You should read the article but I’ll provide the money shot. I am a VC so this will be seen as self serving.

startup 269

startup VC financing finance 269

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 12, 2010

I recently wrote an article on how to respond to board members between meetings. If I were to re-write the original post I would have taken out the section on “how to get better intro’s from VC’s&# and made it it’s own post. I love that Sean Rad calls me all the time to ask for quick advice or update me.

board 267

board advice VC development 267

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

TechCrunch

JANUARY 7, 2022

Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members. ” My prediction: We’ll be running many articles in 2022 with tactics for zero-party data collection. . ” My prediction: We’ll be running many articles in 2022 with tactics for zero-party data collection. Live shopping goes mainstream.

advice 84

advice VC data collection media 84

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

All it says is that the VC has the right (but not obligation) to invest his/her proportional ownership in the next round of financing. So at the time that the initial VC funds you they’ll be thinking about protecting this right as depicted in the graphic below. A primer on “pro-rata” rights. Why would this happen?

entrepreneurs 310

entrepreneurs VC financing finance 310

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2011

This article first appeared on TechCrunch. Will you get the TechCrunch bump, the tier-1 VC anointment, followed by great PR firm support and then the NY Times or WSJ story that follows? Not every problem has to be a huge VC-fundable business. It seems almost incomprehensible that only 2.5 But what does this all mean?

transportation 309

transportation VC networking energy 309

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2010

article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). After that it’s domain experience, access to VCs and deep pockets. 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

MARCH 8, 2010

I guess let’s file this under sales & marketing advice. I have a very detailed article that covers stuff I won’t cover in detail in this post. But if you like this topic please consider reading the Mashable article. Now I’m a VC. I put much time into it. The new stuff: How do I get started?

advice 286

advice mix-use entrepreneurs strategy 286

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Think about this – what is more powerful – a VC who tells you how great he/she is or when you read your peers reviews on The Funded ? We already know from Cialdini that this is even more important than your putting a link to a press articles yet how much time do you spend trying to market these to everybody?

peer-to-peer 294

peer-to-peer advice innovation support 294

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. In a VC pitch this type of messaging will do just fine. Even the VC who invested in your deal struggles to properly position why you’re going to be huge when they’re calling big tech companies or other VCs on your behalf. It is election season.

entrepreneurs 370

entrepreneurs pitching startup education 370

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch ran my article yesterday as a guest post but I wanted to have a copy here for anybody who missed it and for future readers of this blog. 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.

entrepreneurs 308

entrepreneurs advice real estate venture capital 308

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 26, 2021

Full TechCrunch+ articles are only available to members. Simon Wu, an investment director with Cathay Innovation, says he’s paying particularly close attention to these areas of convergence : Data and the transition to value-based care. Gamifying consumer wellness to stave off chronic illnesses. Since the U.S. Congress passed a $1.9

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advice VC health venture capital 80

TechCrunch

OCTOBER 13, 2022

So he searched Google and “read a lot of NerdWallet articles” but still “made a ton of mistakes.”. Financial advice is something that fundamentally everybody needs. If you get a paycheck, if you get benefits, then you deserve financial advice.”. It’s not just those who have equity compensation, for example,” he added. “If

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advice VC financing finance 88

Entrepreneur's Handbook

JUNE 21, 2022

You’ll receive the best practical startup advice straight to your inbox every week. In this week’s edition, we discuss: Approaching the funding raising process from a VCs point of view The future of cryptocurrency in 2022 Is your side hustle profitable or a waste of time? That way, you can anticipate questions that a VC might ask.

VC 86

VC startup advice media 86

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Mentors are immensely helpful, but they’re not a requirement: We run articles regularly that explain how to create pitch decks and reach out to investors. I surveyed six seed- and early-stage investors to get their tactical advice for laid-off tech workers who are thinking about starting up.

advice 91

advice pitching startup ventures 91