Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. If you’re an early-stage enterprise startup services revenue is exactly what you need. We like software.

startup 403

startup financing finance strategy 403

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

Most technology startups seem to be founded by three types of people: product managers, engineers or biz dev types (MBAs and the like). Almost by definition. Mavericks are by definition bad at following rules and bad at process. I generally think that superstars are not the first people to hire in a startup.

startup 350

startup frameworks advice entrepreneurs 350

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Didn’t I make myself clear about celebrities & startups ? Turns out she’s done this startup thing before. In the most perfect sense of the definition. And they’re both full time committed to their startup – Moonfrye. Startup Advice' What was she doing with Soleil Moon Frye?

startup 398

startup creativity advice entrepreneurs 398

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Like it or not – finance is a major job function in any company – startup or public company. Note that “performance&# on my chart is a loose term for my definition of perceived progress that can take the form of product, customer adoption, employees, investors, press or whatever.

investing 411

investing investment VC advice 411

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

It definitely has a “d” in it, as in it’s really not fun, raising. the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll get 8. Fund raising. But it’s critical for your business, for you as a leader and people who excel at fund raising have an extreme advantage over those who do not. Just send me your dog damn deck 7.

advice 236

advice VC entrepreneurs SaaS 236

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. A few people have asked me to try and define the perfect startup organization chart. But I do have more insight into understanding your startup team. Often I’m asked by startup CEO’s about how to best build an engineering team.

consulting 400

consulting technology incubation advice 400

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Marc Andreessen kicked off another great debate on Twitter last night, one that I’ve been talking about incessantly in private circles for the past 2-3 years – what actually IS the definition of a seed vs. A-round. My view: “Spending any time or energy trying to game the ‘definition’ of your round of fund raising is a total waste.

VC 136

VC advice financing finance 136

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Most of what I think about startup communities came from mentorship by Brad Feld through hours of private discussion and debate.

communities 378

communities startup venture capital capital 378

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. Prices have definitely gone up in 2011 as depicted in the anecdotal chart below.

startup 336

startup advice pitching investing 336

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But if you identify investors with whom you’d like to work here’s my advice: 1. Everyone has their own definition of momentum (user numbers, revenue, channel partners, biz dev deals, whatever). Tags: Raising Venture Capital Startup Advice. Maybe this CEO doesn’t see me as a great fit.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

If you’ve taken the roller coaster ride that is a startup – you know what I’m talking about. I’m sure everybody has their own definition of the attributes of an entrepreneur. Even many successful entrepreneurs tell me that they’d prefer to do a buy-out the next time rather than go back to square one in a startup.

entrepreneurs 384

entrepreneurs startup VC real estate 384

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

This is part of my startup advice series. It’s still important advice for startup founders and something that I’m passionate about. What is the definition of a job hopper? Yes, if you were a startup CEO I would probably cut you some slack. You’re a startup founder. By definition!

advice 392

advice peer-to-peer consulting startup founder 392

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Every town has firms that focus on startups – find them.

startup 318

startup advice entrepreneurs VC 318

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 28, 2010

That’s the classic definition of Grin Fucking. All startups are hard. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. Unsurprisingly, this one way best. The title IS the post. Don’t be a grin fucker. You know our employees are our most important asset.&#. Me: “LOL.

frameworks 378

frameworks consulting advice strategy 378

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

For me, I'd rather have a very simple, straightforward business model--one where no one has to think to figure out if I'm giving advice on your next round based on some special vehicle or deal I have on the side. It's definitely not the kind of relationship I want to have as an investor. I'm the King of Leaving Money on the Table."

advice 358

advice VC opportunity entrepreneurs 358

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series of posts. I definitely don’t rule out first timers – I just invested in one to be announced soon who I am really excited about – but I greatly prefer experience. Tags: Raising Venture Capital Start-up Advice Startup Advice.

advice 333

advice VC entrepreneurs venture capital 333

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2010

It surprising how few people actually follow through this this advice. One of the most practical pieces of early career advice I got was “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.&# The message was clear. with the pickup in tech hiring we’re seeing a lot of our developers getting calls from other startups.&#.

advice 342

advice board consulting development 342

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Her post is short & well written so definitely worth a read if you’re a startup person and want to hear some sensible views on sales. Erin’s main points: “As a former tech sales executive, I agree with many of [Mark's] lessons — when applied to later-stage, post-traction point startups.

startup 319

startup consulting pitching support 319

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

innovation 286

innovation startup board leadership 286

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

It definitely is an IQ test thing for me. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. I can then change my focus based on the results. But ONLY do this if you plan to adjust your approach. If you practiced you sure would realize that nobody could read it. People say this all the time.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2010

Start by defining the problem you’re solving – I see way too many early-stage entrepreneurs who start their companies with a product definition rather than a market problem. I covered this a bit in my post about the market definition slide in fund raising. Here’s my take on the topic: 1. Kind of the obvious next step.

advice 348

advice entrepreneurs sustainability pitching 348

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

about their marathon 4-hour sessions to get to zero inbox or somebody else claiming email bankruptcy ( definition if you don’t know it already ). I will even take to emailing people I don’t know offering small bits of advice. The same kind of tasks that a startup team has. He has a startup. Operations.

advice 314

advice culture board VC 314

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

In content creation we definitely have assets other markets don’t have. Scott Painter , founder of CarsDirect has created two new generation LA startups (Zag and TrueCar, both backed by GRP Partners). Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Launchpad LA SoCal Stuff Start-up Advice Startup Advice.

technology 290

technology advice entrepreneurs innovation 290

Founders Coop

APRIL 29, 2024

This post is an effort to unpack what’s required of a startup accelerator to truly serve the needs of high-performing founders. Teaching entrepreneurial skills is a worthy endeavor and likely offers career benefits to ambitious employees and their employers, but it is not the purpose of a startup accelerator.

startup accelerator 149

startup accelerator accelerator peer-to-peer startup 149

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

Being the number one investment bank in a greatly reduced data set shouldn’t stop you from wanting to broaden the definition of “number 1″ next year. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. And be careful not to believe your own hype. It can happen.

consulting 415

consulting data analysis advice construction 415

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

You may feel as I did in 1999 that the more smart people around the table the more intros you’ll have, the more sage advice you’ll receive and the more impressive you’ll seem to outsiders. By definition you can’t have 3 investors each wanting to increase from 5% to 20% ownership or you’re fawked anyways.

VC 314

VC advice pitching investing 314

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

We are money, advice, coaching, cheerleading, interventionist but not “the decider.” In preparation for her reentry into VC she spoke with many mentors of hers for advice on venture capital. One such advice came from Sharon Weinbar (who I, too, am a fan of) who said, “View every situation with a beginner’s mind.”

VC 353

VC advice consulting frameworks 353

TechCrunch

JANUARY 8, 2022

Even to outsiders, the inner workings of startup accelerators has become familiar: pumped up on camaraderie and energy drinks, scrappy founders do product demos onstage before a room full of buzzy journalists and investors. We always tell startups to stay small and manage their budgets carefully.

startup accelerator 92

startup accelerator accelerator startup energy 92

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 9, 2013

I’ve often said that to run a startup you almost have to abstract yourself from the daily stresses and grind just to exist. I suspect that’s just because you’ve never had to be a startup CEO and deal with the incredible insecurities, uncertainties and stresses. Surreal, it definitely is. Startup Advice'

advice 405

advice VC creativity opportunity 405

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

For every 5 haters on Business Insider, there's one startup out there that doesn't spend all their time reading the same stuff we do, and just happens to notice that video. They feel like I might be a reasonable guy to talk to about startups and decide to get an intro to someone at First Round because of it.

VC 275

VC peer-to-peer board advice 275

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

And we all know that Ron Conway is considered the savviest of angel investors and yet by definition not all of his investments succeed. Tags: Startup Advice Tech Market Analysis VC Industry. Just ask the people who poured money into once “hot&# companies like RazorGator or Friendster. Part three will be published shortly.

angel investing 288

angel investing investing investment advice 288

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

These kind of companies were seldom startups. I’ve spoken to many of these “outbound dialers&# and in almost all cases they said it was “a necessary evil&# to get into the trade rather than a “worthwhile experience&# in which they learned a great deal about entrepreneurship, startups or any given industry.

VC 294

VC entrepreneurs advice investing 294

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

I think his advice is this op-ed is bananas. I have even had to get physical security advice from some of the crazy. I try to speak at universities, high schools, startup accelerators?—?as He has a startup you’re going to love. It’s not under the definition of crazy per Adam’s op-ed. No, it’s not fun.

advice 250

advice board pitching startup accelerator 250

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2010

This is a problem for a strategy consultant because you are, by definition, a generalist that is thrown into new problems again and again. Tags: Startup Advice. Often I had a very limited time. Clients wanted to see “preliminary findings&# in 4-5 weeks and final results in 8-10. I struggled on my first few assignments.

entrepreneurs 372

entrepreneurs consulting frameworks advice 372

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 22, 2017

There are a lot of ways the startup world describes venture capitalists that portrays a certain power dynamic, real or perceived, that I believe is at the heart of so many of the industry's problems. We can debate whether they're sociopaths, but we definitely shouldn't assume that every "great investor" is "great" at being human.

VC 332

VC advice pitching opportunity 332

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2012

I think that’s one of the reasons that many of the most interesting bay area startups are choosing to locate themselves in the city. In driving down the costs of building businesses it’s driving down the age of startup founders and thus they’re starting companies where young people want to live – in urban environments.

technology 313

technology incubation VC ventures 313

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Sometimes these markets never appeal to “normals&# (Chris Dixon’s definition) and other times it needs to be more effectively marketed to normals. Tags: Sales & Marketing Advice Startup Advice. This applies to business users as much as to consumers.

peer-to-peer 294

peer-to-peer advice innovation support 294