This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
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. There are several key problems to this knowledge sharing little community we've built: People make themselves look better in hindsight.
The startup ecosystem is a terrific manufacturer of bad fundraising advice. Any VC will tell you that the ones they said yes to, they mostly got there right away—and that there are very few “maybe” deals that get tipped over the fence. Was she just an anomaly or is there something else going on here? First is network bias.
We threw a Launchpad LA dinner to bring the community together as we tend to do 6-10 times a year. Brad wrote up his answer here – you should read it because it’s very instructive for how I believe communities ought to think about naming conventions. ” That always stuck with me. That seems very Brad to me.
Today I’d like to talk about what startup communities outside of Silicon Valley look like, how they emerge and what makes them take hold. Most of what I think about startup communities came from mentorship by Brad Feld through hours of private discussion and debate. Think Fred Wilson, Tony Hsieh or Brad Feld.
A number of VC firms have hired specialists in the area of recruiting. Drop by AngelList, where startups have been vetted by a community of advisors and other investors. One of my potential investors called me the "lean VC". Others have partners with expertise in PR. Need an even more Seamless-like experience?
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.&# And the VC job has plenty of admin and minutiae.
And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VCcommunity. Where do you want to build your community, your relationships, your family?” If their commitment to staying local is weak I normally say, “Well, it certainly would be easier on you to be in a larger community.
So if you're a super early stage with just a prototype, you might not think that a VC fund is the right fit for you--so you wind up at an angel group. So, while BBV is a *VC fund*, there's very little question that I'm backing founders earlier than an angel group like Golden Seeds, regardless of who the founder is.
How about as a VC? Fred has basically always been a VC, Mike was a reporter, and Jim worked in product marketing and management consulting. Surely--but then I realize how difficult it is to be an early stage VC in NYC. At least then you'd imagine that your advice isn't *that* bad because at least you've got some experience.
Greycroft is an early-stage VC. Closing a VC fund in 2009/10 is a major achievement in and of itself. In the intro section of the show we talked a lot about why VC funds are becoming smaller again and where Greycroft fits. Grockit – Provides online adaptive test prep services and community. File sharing?
And no wonder, lately he and his partners are on a tear, investing out of their $200+ million VC fund. He penned a great piece on the LA tech community here in Forbes. 10:15 Do you the LPs are more open-minded to single VC funds today? 12:00 It seems like there’s a shift in the VC world to more ex-entrepreneurs.
It’s always fun chatting with Jason because he’s knowledgeable about the market, quick on topics and pushes me to talk more about VC / entrepreneur issues. Nevertheless, if you share too much in your funding process or meet too many VCs expect a certain amount of your ideas to spread around the startup community.
If you’re in the market or thinking about VC in the future the following video may be of interest to you – click here to view. If you want to learn more about “Pitching a VC&# make sure to check out the entire series here. The main summary of my interview is that VC may only right for you IF: 1. Don’t.
Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. 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. My recipe for Seattle or your community: 1. Me: “Bullshit.
If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. It is 12,000 sq ft of indoor /outdoor space and we’re building into a community work environment. Like many modern VCs, we’re committed to investing in the community and in our portfolio companies.
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. Of course, you don't always need that experience from a VC. So the next time you read something that you have a viceral reaction to, re-read it.
What is a principal at a VC firm and how does it work at Upfront Ventures? ” Associates have different functions at different VCs. Portfolio community building. VC firm admin. VC firm policy or fund analysis. Helping be the VC “presence” at key events. Industry reviews. Alumni activities.
I reiterated the notion of risk taking when giving career advice the other day and how when I joined Union Square Ventures, it wasn''t the USV it was now. You could literally get to know everyone in the local tech community at the time. Who''s the VC that everyone *isn''t* trying to network with.
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. Blog to your community.
I spotted my fellow VC Leo Spiegel (from Mission Ventures) who had spoken previously to the same group and asked about his experiences. We’re offering an online community that connects personal trainers and people who want to get fit.&# Then you go deeper into the problem and the solution. You need to make it easy.
I have never been more optimistic about the impact that the tech startup community is having on cities in America or about the role that cities outside of San Francisco / Silicon Valley can play in our future. It really only needs a few community leaders to kick things off and land a community on a map. Co-Working Space.
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. Be the center of your knowledge space or geographic community. VC Industry'
As female entrepreneurs, we are independent-minded and innovative, and this advice is critical for securing our future and the future of our families. When women have more money, not only is there gender equality and economic growth, but there’s also stronger and healthier communities for our children and generations to come.
He had joined a young startup in LA called HauteLook and was interested in getting to know the local tech community. Because my role as a VC requires me to take and endless stream of meetings I long ago decided I need to learn as much as I can from the meetings I attend so I often just ask tons of questions and assimilate knowledge.
He pinged me that he was thinking about joining a startup based in LA with the CEO in NYC and would I be willing to meet him and give him advice on this process. But … we had committed to setting up an EIR program where we would fund people to work on their ideas in our offices and also get the dual experience of working inside a VC.
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 Thank you to Kara Nortman for your leadership on the gender equality topic and your activism with your fellow VCs at Female Office Hours.
Being a good angel or VC has a lot to do with pattern matching. You essentially productize your advice, honing in on more standardized sets of actions you can suggest that entrepreneurs take. Otherwise, all of your advice sounds like your best advice, until you tell someone else. 5) Focus. Bonus: Never stop learning.
You can watch the video above for a very brief overview of why we rebranded and where we see our place in the VC ecosystem along with what has changed in our industry. We are trying hard to live up to the guidelines we laid out for our investors, our portfolio companies and our community. Startup Advice' But I miss blogging.
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. If all else fails, angel-load away!
Unpacking Proptech: A data-driven series on advancing built world innovation As mentioned in Part 1 , an outsized portion of the proptech investor base comes from the real estate community — a reality I would argue is complicating the industry’s growth. VC firms are not blameless — over 1.8K
Back when I was pitching my previous startup to investors, it had never really dawned on me that they had experienced what I was going through--and that a VC firm was essentially a startup. VCs pitch for money, too. No one ever thinks about VCs having to pitch, who they pitch to, or how it works.
We made connections, hopefully made a good impression, and potentially helped founders along their journeys with some advice or connections. It’s an approach to the community that I’ve tried to emulate—to make myself available to founders wherever I can, but it’s not easy to scale.
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. Raising Capital – The VC equivalent for musicians is getting signed by a major label. People want what they can’t have and VCs are no different. .’
My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. So I agreed to offer my current thinking on the economy and what it portends for the VC industry & fund raising for entrepreneurs. raise money now to weather any storms).
There was some Twitter chat before the event about whether this “replaces&# local angel funding communities like the Tech Coast Angels. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Pitching VCs Start-up Advice Startup AdviceVC Industry. It does not and that’s a good thing. They deserve more credit.
But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “ Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts? She has a quote from literally every major VC from whom you’d want to hear. She was the dominant figure in my family and was both an entrepreneur and a community leader.
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].
It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. She became part of the fabric of her community. I blog on entrepreneurship & VC precisely because entrepreneurs and other VCs are my customers. That may soon change.
I will even take to emailing people I don’t know offering small bits of advice. I like to meet people like this because in an hour I get catch up on everything going on in the startup community. Can you please intro me to XYZ VC? If you do randomly write me I have advice. I try to be helpful. And I theirs.
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.
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. Good comment community = viral blog. But of course we also focused on making content go viral.
VC Blogger Fanboy This geek reads all the blogs religiously and is a lean startup ninja. Most successful businesses have a plan for real revenue right off the bat and a clearer value proposition than "let the community figure it out". Don't let the fanboys distract you from business 101. Nice work, aplusk. The Reluctant Partner.
And it is one of the reasons that NYC is developing a vibrant technology community. I’ve been meeting with LPs (those who invest in VC funds) over the past year and discussing trends I see in the market and where I think we need to be as a firm to be near to and meet the needs of our customers. I’m sure there’s a lot of truth to that.
This is part of my ongoing Raising Venture Capital (VC) series. Most VCs aren’t either? It’s true that many VCs over promise how helpful they’ll be with introductions / strategic advice / recruiting, etc. OK, I know this is true with VC also, but to a lesser extent. What’s the difference?
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 24,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content