Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” But I also have advice for the 15% that really do want to be a startup CEO. I often tell people in this scenario to focus on a VC “fixer upper.”

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.

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VC advice board leadership 364

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

If you’re an entrepreneur who would like to see this clause in more startups please ask your VC to include it in future term sheets and link to it from their home page. “We Many of us had experiences of asking entrepreneurs, “Why are none of our candidates women?” Ours is: upfront.com/inclusion. Well, did you ask them to???”

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Beware of VC Seagulls, who shit on you and then fly away (or worse yet leave you with Red Herrings). This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. I like to say to first-time entrepreneurs, picking a VC is more permanent than marriage.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

I’ve written a few posts about boards recently as part of a series on the subject. I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic.

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board mentorship media advice 325

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.

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VC peer-to-peer mix-use leadership 198

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Between 2006–2008 I sold both companies that I had started and became a VC. SEEING THINGS FROM THE VC SIDE OF THE TABLE While I was a VC in 2007 & 2008 those were dead years because the market again evaporated due the the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). THE VC VALUATION GOD Valuation obsession wasn’t restricted to startups.

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VC culture sustainability capital 466

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

Any success as an entrepreneur? How about as a VC? He hasn't founded or built either a successful, let alone innovative company, and he hasn't raised $ to invest in those entrepreneurs. Fred has basically always been a VC, Mike was a reporter, and Jim worked in product marketing and management consulting. What did I do?

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Good entrepreneurs can admit when their course of action was wrong and learn from it.

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entrepreneurs board advice consulting 414

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. If you don’t live in a major VC zone, I have some tips for how to make it easier to raise Venture Capital. It’s a goal to help you understand the life of a VC. I travel the country a lot. Ask SuperCell.

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VC board communities pitching 365

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

APRIL 21, 2021

A well-known entrepreneur turned VC, who will go unnamed because I am not sure he would want me to share this conversation publicly, once told me “if you remove a founder, you must sell the company within a couple of years or it will start to decline in value.” Most are not.

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leadership VC advice sustainability 279

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. It seems to me this is the main problem with boards. It’s true.

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board advice VC development 267

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal. And there’s conferences. Web Summit.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. Many startup companies hire advisory boards. It’s mostly done by first-time entrepreneurs who want to persuade (bribe?) So do advisory boards really add value? In my experience most advisory boards under deliver relative to expectations. Not enough time.

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board startup advice VC 306

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “what’s it like being a VC?&# I’ve been a VC for nearly 3 years now. I always start my answer to this question with, “you’d have to be a pretty big baby to complain about being a VC.&# At least for the best entrepreneurs. That’s true.

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VC consulting entrepreneurs creativity 312

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

We also spoke about what it takes to be an effective board member. On the one hand I often find that some board members are seemingly reading the board materials on the fly and don’t have a firm grasp of the business fundamentals while on the other hand some board members like to tinker in the running of the business.

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advice board VC investing 327

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2012

It has always surprised me that founders were so quick to fight over how many board members there were and so quick to agree to have as many board observers as people wanted. I have always been vehemently against board observers and wrote some of the reasons in this previous post. The Case for a Silent Observer.

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board VC entrepreneurs investing 289

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2010

They had received a term sheet from a VC and were wondering whether to work with this firm. You’re tied at the hip to your VC. So my first advice is not to rush in the fund raising process. Get to know VCs over a long period of time so that when you’re ready to get engaged you feel you know their character.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 14, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. I wrote recently about the role of Advisory Boards in startups , which I expected to be a bit controversial. It’s just that many companies waste equity on advisory boards, pick the wrong advisers or set up advisory boards with the wrong expectations.

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board VC advice entrepreneurs 215

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 3, 2016

At least, that's how a lot of entrepreneurs feel. Why do VC's get such a bad rap? That's literally your baby--and 98% of the time, a VC will tell you that your baby is ugly. That's probably why the vast majority of applications for VC positions tend to be from males. So what gives? 3) Access to money. 3) Access to money.

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VC venture capital entrepreneurship advice 405

TechCrunch

NOVEMBER 17, 2021

Lak Ananth is founding CEO and managing partner of the global venture capital firm Next47 and serves on the board of several companies that he has helped to grow beyond $1 billion valuations. So, where does this put you — the startup founder, entrepreneur or company executive? Lak Ananth. Contributor. Share on Twitter.

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David Teten VC

AUGUST 21, 2019

Most founders who are raising capital look first to traditional equity VCs. Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use. Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs? Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing? Optionality.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. VC firm admin. VC firm policy or fund analysis. Helping be the VC “presence” at key events. inside insight into VC decision-making. Industry reviews.

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investing investment VC board 365

Gust

JULY 15, 2012

I recommend that every early-stage startup find three Advisory Board members. For this, you should expect participation in monthly strategy and review meetings, and unlimited access via phone or email for questions, mentoring, and advice. Sharing of their experience with next generation of entrepreneurs. Let’s talk specifics.

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board startup mentorship strategy 178

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

On why you should be an entrepreneur, “A lot of people do what they have to do. So it was my great pleasure to host Chamillionaire on This Week in VC this week talking marketing, entrepreneurship, old media and, of course, music. You want to get yourself to a position where you can do what you want to do&# (Chamillionaire).

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entrepreneurs media entrepreneurship creativity 356

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? 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.&#.

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entrepreneurs startup VC real estate 384

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. But Tracy did what entrepreneurs do. Sam is the managing director of Launchpad LA and we were about to pick our 2012 class of entrepreneurs.

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peer-to-peer entrepreneurs startup entrepreneurship 363

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 3, 2012

I think Fred was trying to offer some friendly advice to young investors that you're going to "take lumps" and that it's worth learning from those who are more experienced. What I would offer to entrepreneurs is that you should know what you're getting from each investor you let into the round.

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 21, 2022

“If you believe VR and immersive computing is the future — whether for consumer or business use cases — Activision helps Microsoft build a flywheel of content and technology that gets more users on board to this future.”. 500 Global’s Christine Tsai shares her 2022 VC predictions. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. But take prompts from the VC.

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Berkonomics

JANUARY 10, 2019

And because you need their money, the temptation is to listen a bit too well, and take all of the advice thrown at you during your presentations and during due diligence and finally from the vantage point of a board seat. Some board members may show dismay. After several months on the board, he spoke up. “I He did not.

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board strategy VC advice 54

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. The number one advice I give is “stop trying to be too smart”. That’s why I often say The role of VC is “chief psychologist.”

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Berkonomics

JANUARY 10, 2019

And because you need their money, the temptation is to listen a bit too well, and take all of the advice thrown at you during your presentations and during due diligence and finally from the vantage point of a board seat. Some board members may show dismay. After several months on the board, he spoke up. “I He did not.

board 48

board strategy VC advice 48

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

I would argue that the shut-down of September 2009 was equally severe yet there are signs that this “VC Ice Age” has begun to thaw. But any entrepreneurs raising capital should keep in mind that this opening of the markets could possibly be temporary. Why did the VC markets freeze so quickly? Short answer – yes.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC.&#. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. A large part of my series has been outlining what the typical VC PowerPoint presentation should look like. You want to build a dialogue where you get to know the VC with whom you’re meeting. It happens.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. Wouldn’t we be a bit hypocritical if we talked with entrepreneurs about innovation and change but we weren’t willing to take it on ourselves? We also saw that the same types of entrepreneurs were repeatedly getting funded.

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