Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

When you set up a board it is often initially a combination of the founders and the early investors. This post sets out how I believe founders (and investors) should think about independent board members having worked with many of them for the past 20 years. The board is where large equity investors get their representation.

board 187

board peer-to-peer VC funders 187

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But honestly there are times when being a VC can feel like that, too. Successful entrepreneurs achieve much through their personal leadership traits that inspire others to do great things with them – sure. And they will offer you some of the best business advice you will ever receive if you’re open to it.

startup 363

startup real estate VC venture capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

A good early-stage CEO needs to be accessible, to be accountable for producing results and should be establishing the cultural norms of the company through direct leadership at all levels. This applies to both founders and to VC’s that work with them. I’m not a big believer in too much hierarchy. A quick example.

startup 308

startup board advice VC 308

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. My first female mentor was the incredible Janine Allis , founder of Boost Juice.

founder 262

founder advice entrepreneurship entrepreneurs 262

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. thought leadership.

startup 373

startup advice communities VC 373

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

. “Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator. So what are you waiting for?

strategy 293

strategy venture capital SaaS investing 293

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As an early-stage VC I love this phase. Many companies don’t reach the next phase either because their leadership doesn’t adapt as an organization or because they don’t design processes that lead to scaled outcomes. We recently added Richard Mumby to our leadership team.

innovation 286

innovation startup board leadership 286

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

I know because I marked the occasion with a blog post on how to have a great VC meeting. The decisions were endless, the choices not obvious and the VC involved a pain in the ass. The board was unanimous in our opinion of this including outside director Ian Rogers who has served as Jonathan’s mentor and friend.

peer-to-peer 303

peer-to-peer energy founder advice 303

Y Combinator

JULY 15, 2019

One of the most common questions we hear from founders is “How do I manage my board?” It’s something that provokes anxiety, because this is the first time the founder/CEO is subject to external supervision, and the board has powers that include the firing of the CEO and the senior management. But first, what’s the purpose of a board?

board 100

board frameworks advice peer-to-peer 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

I apply visual thinking for nearly everything I do: preparing for important phone calls (I imagine my opening lines, I imagine the responses), writing keynote presentations, deciding whether or not to invest in a company, preparing for board meetings – you name it. These are all creative processes. That’s a shame.

creativity 356

creativity frameworks media innovation 356

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

These range from companies pitching me to portfolio companies presenting at board meetings. So part of seeing you with a team is to get a read on team dynamics and believe me all VCs discuss the team dynamics after you leave as in. Here are some guidelines for you – particularly for VC pitch meetings.

pitching 377

pitching VC leadership advice 377

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 4, 2022

Startups/VC. Drama at BharatPe : The Tiger-backed Indian fintech company is seeing turmoil in its leadership, with co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover asking its board “for the removal of chief executive Suhail Sameer” from the leadership group at the company.

leadership 83

leadership venture capital strategy ventures 83

Hunter Walk

AUGUST 26, 2022

And then take your experience and turn it into a piece of thought leadership career advice to share with people reading this. My advice to people early in their career is pretty simple: your mission isn’t to pursue a career, it’s to discover it. Put yourself in interesting situations.

VC 102

VC advice energy capital 102

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2010

Such is leadership. And that’s how I view VC today. If you’re not engaging your VC this way you’re losing out. I have often found entrepreneurs want to present the positive progress of the company to impress the board rather than engage in debate about how to make things better.

peer-to-peer 288

peer-to-peer consulting startup board 288

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2015

Today I’d like to give that advice in more tangible terms and with a framework to think about your tasks – the funnel. Meeting with 12 biz dev targets makes for great conversations with your board and takes the heat off of you for a while but doesn’t matter for s**t if none of them close in the end.

frameworks 419

frameworks board leadership advice 419

David Teten VC

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. Which VCs are comfortable using this approach? This structure offers some of the benefits of traditional equity VC, without some of the negatives of equity VC. No board seats or personal guarantees. For RBI, return caps of 1.2x-1.8x

investing 68

investing investment SaaS finance 68

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

Yet when the senior leadership came into our room to discuss technical problems on the project they always discounted her and even worse always made her take notes and type up the results of our discussions. I immediately got to work at board level in companies. I talked with a few VCs and batted around the idea of becoming a VC.

consulting 385

consulting VC networking strategy 385

TechCrunch

AUGUST 6, 2021

ThoughtSpot CEO Sudheesh Nair shared some of his thoughts about building a sturdy leadership team and drafted a thorough checklist for entrepreneurs who are putting a crew together. His initial advice? 5 factors founders must consider before choosing their VC. 5 factors founders must consider before choosing their VC.

board 144

board VC frameworks mix-use 144

TechCrunch

MARCH 4, 2023

Set in Boston this year, Early Stage will host sessions with advice and takeaways from top experts and provide opportunities to meet entrepreneurs taking incredible journeys. But Natasha and Rebecca write about how balancing those two, for female VCs, has often manifested in different, often frustrating ways.

startup 102

startup disruption startup ecosystem consulting 102

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2014

As an alternative I’ve also found board meetings to be a good rallying call. It gives a tangible goal and also the reward of the team that completes the project the opportunity to interact with the board. This is exactly where leadership comes in. Leadership Startup Lessons' This happens on 100% of projects.

creativity 344

creativity leadership board energy 344

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

If you want to be the marketing person or you want to be perceived as a businessperson or a VC or technical person or whatever you want to be perceived, people will always define you. I came from a board meeting to here. I want to build a great company, and I want to get you on my board for my new ridesharing service.

startup 337

startup entrepreneurs consulting board 337

AsiaTechDaily

JANUARY 30, 2023

In addition to his rich experiences working in the venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) sectors, Joseph has also sharpened his investment acumen through his multiple years in the audit and stock-broking industry before deciding to finally launch his cross-border investment firm, Kairous Capital , in 2015.

capital 96

capital investment investing venture capital 96

Andreessen Horowitz

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

We spend time looking at their org savvy, their leadership skills. And one of my biggest advice to those folks is, look, presumably, we all have the technical and functional skill set for this job. He’s had incredible stability amongst his leadership team, but that’s not always the case. Nolan Church: I love that.

energy 89

energy entrepreneurs leadership advice 89

TechCrunch

JANUARY 16, 2021

Same as VC funds are deeply acquainted with Silicon Valley, tech investors cannot ignore this hub of innovation that has produced global market leading companies and serial entrepreneurs. What is your advice to startups in your portfolio right now? The cliche VC answer: strong team, big market.

startup 141

startup SaaS mix-use opportunity 141

AsiaTechDaily

MAY 17, 2023

In a recent interaction, Koh talked to AsiaTechDaily about her background and expertise in the VC funding space, the companies that Play Ventures focuses on, and other stuff that startup founders need to ponder on. We see ourselves as a mix of cheerleaders, enablers (when it makes sense), sanity checks, and sounding boards.

ventures 98

ventures founder VC energy 98

Andreessen Horowitz

APRIL 9, 2024

But the wins that actually happen, they happen due to the work of sales leadership and sales people. That starts with sales leadership and sales management. 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.

SaaS 118

SaaS strategy disruption energy 118

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

Last week, right after I finished up this newsletter, I turned to Twitter and saw controversy over whether venture capitalists should charge founders for advice on their pitch decks. The anger came from the potential that founders could get confused on whether that advice could lean to a future investment from the same VC.

pitching 94

pitching health advice leadership 94

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

In some ways, it’s a bit like VC funds that are setup to empower certain groups through investing that don’t actually acknowledge the structures and impact of venture capital itself on different populations. I don’t think Audrey was particularly well supported by her high-profile board members. Should we be surprised?

hospitality 328

hospitality real estate culture board 328

Entrepreneur's Handbook

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

Perhaps unsurprisingly, for every £1 of VC investment in the UK, 89p goes to all-male founding teams. Similarly, only around 13% of ethnic minority-led businesses are able to secure VC or Angel funding. but that won’t stop the almost daily influx of unsolicited advice and second-guessing you’ll receive. Oh, most definitely.

entrepreneurs 114

entrepreneurs advice VC venture capital 114