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

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. What Did I Learn From the First VC Check I Ever Wrote?

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VC venture capital capital investing 223

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

You’re not lecturing to a college class, you’re not at a cocktail party and you’re not chatting with a small group in a board meeting. You then need sub-themes or “supporting evidence&# to reinforce your key theme. If you wants some words to support the image – fine. You’re on stage!

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

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

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . On Losing in VC. By Monday morning after their board meeting in NorCal I didn’t get a return phone call. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. we would support 6.0 I HATE LOSING.

consulting 328

consulting advice collaboration VC 328

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . On Losing in VC. By Monday morning after their board meeting in NorCal I didn’t get a return phone call. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. we would support 6.0 I HATE LOSING.

consulting 333

consulting advice collaboration VC 333

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.”

venture capital 363

venture capital capital ventures VC 363

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2010

This is a related post that will not only help you get the results you want more effectively but will also help earn the respect of your senior people (whether management or your board). It surprising how few people actually follow through this this advice. Heck, even VC’s have bosses (our investors).

advice 342

advice board consulting development 342

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 MovingForward is an open-source directory that pools diversity, inclusion, and anti-harassment commitments from VCs. Ours is: upfront.com/inclusion.

VC 284

VC leadership mentorship entrepreneurs 284

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

I will even take to emailing people I don’t know offering small bits of advice. I had a 3-hour board meeting with another. I sent an email to another about what I thought we should cover at his next board meeting and what was missing from the deck he sent. [I Can you please intro me to XYZ VC? I try to be helpful.

advice 314

advice culture board VC 314

David Teten VC

JUNE 9, 2021

See How to negotiate a partner role at a VC or private equity firm.) You can work as a consultant, an interim executive, a board member, a deal executive partnering to buy a company, an executive in residence, or as an entrepreneur in residence. . At Versatile VC , we’ve used all these models. Board of Directors.

consulting 128

consulting venture capital board capital 128

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

This applies to both founders and to VC’s that work with them. As a CEO you never stop needing to go on sales calls (or to work the phones in telesales or customer support) and ceasing to do this as your company grows because you’re focusing on investors, recruiting, PR or whatever is a mistake. A quick example.

startup 308

startup board advice VC 308

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

DECEMBER 7, 2014

This was customer interaction at its finest and as a result they invited him to meet with our entire sales staff and offer advice on the sales process from a customer’s perspective. Contrast that with a VC conversation I had. I even once met with one very, very well known VC who told me, “I don’t attend LP meetings.

peer-to-peer 341

peer-to-peer VC entrepreneurs support 341

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

I love the enthusiasm, the boundless energy and the sense of possibility that comes from having an idea that hasn’t yet been beat up in the marketplace of competing ideas, customer contracts, VC skepticism, jaded journalists or fickle consumers who are on the The New, New Thing. And board confidence matters in growing companies.

board 338

board energy finance financing 338

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 11, 2012

16k+ Twitter followers, 5500+ e-mail subs a week, 6th most read VC blog, appearences on Bloomberg and CNBC and I can't use any of it to market any kind of financial product--but if I wanted to sell you a watch or build a video game, I'd be set. Want to know why there aren't more female partners at VC funds? scratches bald head].

ventures 281

ventures incubation VC venture capital 281

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. I have sat on a board with Howard and have known him a few years. It is clear that he is simply passionate about being a VC and participating in this industry.

capital 284

capital board VC pitching 284

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

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 gave him the same advice I give nearly all over-worked, control-freak, do-everything-yourself startup founders: “Your number one priority isn’t any of these things. Me: “Bullshit.

communities 317

communities VC innovation entrepreneurs 317

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

One of the great joys of doing the web series This Week in VC every week is that I get to spend time with great people debating the issues of our day including how our industry is evolving as well as insights into how companies got started, got their initial traction and dealt with adversities. Oh, yeah. “Sequoia has been awesome.

board 286

board culture VC education 286

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

My friend and fellow SoCal venture capitalist Peter Lee wrote a post about the different roles within a VC and spent much time on the role of an associate. These are the permanent members of a VC. The process for raising money from a VC is a sales process and as such much of what is taught in enterprise sales can be applied.

VC 308

VC pitching entrepreneurs advice 308

Berkonomics

AUGUST 22, 2024

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. But they are not the ones whose support you would later want. Some board members may show dismay.

board 116

board VC advice support 116

Revolution

MARCH 1, 2023

VC dollars are at risk, we conducted a historical analysis of top quartile fund managers over the past quarter century (as far back as we could access reliable Cambridge Associates data). For a VC, if a fund has valued its portfolio appropriately, there is not much to worry about. But what could that look like?

advice 147

advice founder financing finance 147

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

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. He worked his ass off and delivered an amazing technical infrastructure to support a “big data meets social analytics” platform that could be used by any developer. Startup Advice' I first met Jonathan nearly 4 years ago.

peer-to-peer 303

peer-to-peer energy founder advice 303

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Founded it as a California LLC but your potential VC wants a Delaware C-Corp? I recently wrote a post on how to get access to VCs and angels where I outlined why lawyers are such an important tool for VC introductions. When we invest they are often the company counsel so we see them at board meetings. Be detail oriented.

startup 318

startup advice entrepreneurs VC 318

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

” Your VC friends have been egging you on. The don’t understand VC liquidation preferences or multiple return expectations. They weren’t with you when you did the VC pitch where you looked them in the eyes 9 months ago and said, “I see only one outcome, we want to build something really big. .”

startup 417

startup peer-to-peer VC culture 417

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2014

After my first Tweet with the Notorious mothafucka quote , I thought about my role as a VC and I Tweeted the following. And I spoke with the CTO of another great company I used to be on the board of and enlisted his support in potentially being an advisor to one company. It came from my weekend activities. Ask Specifically.

networking 366

networking peer-to-peer advice mentorship 366

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

On my trip I also gave my usual advice to entrepreneurs who don’t live in a major tech funding hub: Find VCs who are from your area originally. Fly out to CA, NY, BOS and tell investors that you’ll willing to do the majority of board meetings there. They often fly back at least once if not twice a year to see family.

startup 390

startup communities venture capital angel capital 390

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

If I were writing about the most important attributes of a VC (hmmm) one of the things that would make my list is “ability to spot patterns.&# I see the same things over-and-over again and being able to spot things and compartmentalize them is important – it helps with short-handing analysis and learning. We were SMOKING cash.

entrepreneurs 306

entrepreneurs board advice consulting 306

TechCrunch

AUGUST 31, 2022

Two weeks ago, longtime venture capitalist Chris Olsen, a general partner and cofounder of Drive Capital in Columbus, Ohio, settled into his seat for a portfolio company’s board meeting. ” He also says that it isn’t the first time a board meeting hasn’t happened as planned lately. They stopped having them.”

board 83

board ventures hospitality VC 83

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As an early-stage VC I love this phase. After numerous discussions we held the line and all agreed as a board that profitability was much more important than chasing new markets and that perfecting our systems and methods was critical before we expanded and just increase the scope of our problems to solve. Startups are like families.

innovation 286

innovation startup board leadership 286

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

Our existing investors supported us and a new lead came in. 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. I started my second company while retaining a board seat at my first company. You can do it.

entrepreneurs 308

entrepreneurs advice real estate venture capital 308

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2015

And remind people how ridiculous it is that congress can’t pass gun control even though the overwhelming majority of US citizens support some form of gun control. As I’ve said before, “ You’d Have to be a Really Big Baby to Complain About Being a VC.” Back to family. How do I balance this?

VC 347

VC entrepreneurs creativity advice 347

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.

VC 69

VC investing investment venture capital 69

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

It’s when the people who are part of the decision making process who don’t support the decision seek ways to undermine you. We had made the decision that we would no longer be supporting IE v 5.5 (we we would support 6.0 We assumed they would take our advice and upgrade. Tags: Start-up Advice.

consulting 151

consulting advice collaboration support 151

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. I had my model in hand.

creativity 356

creativity frameworks media innovation 356

NZ Entrepreneur

MARCH 16, 2025

James covers the genesis of Ministry of Awesome following the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011, and provides updates on Ministry of Awesome approaches to startup founder support and programming. We’ve got some really incredible people that have joined our team to provide that one-to-one mentorship and advice.

startup ecosystem 52

startup ecosystem mix-use advice incubation 52