Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

My favorite two quotes of the weekend were: “Never trade your cat for somebody else’s dog” (referring to selling your company for stock to another privately held company – quote was from Alan. And awesome to get to spend time with Ian Sigalow “comparing notes” (VC speak ). I’m going to save that for a future blog post.

peer-to-peer 279

peer-to-peer advice VC board 279

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Back to Mr. Christensen, “We subsidize their education in fields for which there are no jobs” he said in referring to the fact that many courses at universities are still taught with skills that aren’t relevant to the 21st century needs of the US workforce. We spoke about the disruption of VC through crowd funding.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

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. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence.

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VC communities investing investment 360

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

You make too many reference calls or want to see three more candidates before you decide. You’re a VC. So you make four more reference calls. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. Let me give you some obvious examples. Your’e thinking about investing in a company.

peer-to-peer 299

peer-to-peer advice entrepreneurs leadership 299

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

As many of you know I run a weekly webcast called This Week in VC that’s getting between 25-35,000 weekly views across ThisWeekIn.com, YouTube & mostly iTunes. there was no frame of reference for the value. My key take away – frame of reference in pricing is important. Advice, coaching, intros?

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mix-use VC advice creativity 303

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. But if you identify investors with whom you’d like to work here’s my advice: 1. That’s OK, too.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

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

JULY 9, 2012

I knew him well before he became a VC. I knew his as he considered becoming a VC and we talked a lot about how it was going for me in my early years. These engagements went well and he came highly referred by my friend Gary Swart who runs oDesk. I don’t know an entrepreneur or a VC who wouldn’t cut him in on any deal.”

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VC data analysis incubation health 309

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

And yes, VC’s, too. Often recruiters want to handle the final negotiations on package and/or do the reference calls. I’m also reluctant to hand over reference calling. But I doubt they’ll dig in as deep as you will in the reference checks. Unfortunately that’s how reference checking works.

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real estate VC pitching entrepreneurs 319

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. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. We assumed they would take our advice and upgrade. Tags: Start-up Advice Startup Advice. I HATE LOSING. I hate it.

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consulting advice collaboration VC 328

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing Raising Venture Capital (VC) series. When people refer to a strategic investor they are usually talking about an investor that comes from the industry you serve as opposed to an independent venture capital investor. OK, I know this is true with VC also, but to a lesser extent. Great question.

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advice venture capital frameworks VC 279

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But honestly there are times when being a VC can feel like that, too. And they will offer you some of the best business advice you will ever receive if you’re open to it. It’s precisely because you work so closely with your VCs for so many years that it is unbelievably important that you find the good actors from the bad.

startup 363

startup real estate VC venture capital 363

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

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. And good VC’s feel the same way. Or if you need that next job here is some advice: Try to merge jobs on your resume. Tags: Start-up Advice. I’m sure of that.

advice 392

advice peer-to-peer consulting startup founder 392

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&# Getting a meeting with a prominent angel or VC is difficult enough. Some advice on how to do that was covered in this link – Getting Access to a VC. If you haven’t read how to build VC relationships and demonstrate traction make sure to read it.

VC 277

VC pitching advice strategy 277

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. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC. We assumed they would take our advice and upgrade. Tags: Startup Advice. I HATE LOSING. I hate it. It chaps my hide. Losing sucks.

consulting 333

consulting advice collaboration VC 333

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2015

I would like to just offer some very simple advice: 1. I was forced to explain why I say “I switched to the Dark Side” (referring to VC) on my blog. If you think you may have to terminate employees always have legal advice. If you want to start a company create a legal entity – it’s dirt cheap.

startup 352

startup advice board founder 352

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

.” In the article I discussed the downside of raising capital at a too high of a price and referred people to a previous article I had written encouraging founders to raise “ At the Top end of Normal ” as opposed to stratospheric prices. And most VCs are over-whelmed with deals. Startup Advice'

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advice investing investment VC 302

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

VC’s money comes from mostly institutional investors called LPs (limited partners). They trust the judgment of the VCs to source, finance, help manage and then create some sort of exit for the investments that they make. They also trust VC’s to determine the right price to pay for the company securities that they buy.

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startup advice financing finance 290

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you don’t follow the image reference above or the tag line, “ You don’t need double talk; you need Bob Loblaw “ (try saying it out loud) , and if you care! Founded it as a California LLC but your potential VC wants a Delaware C-Corp? the link is here. Shame about that pesky FAS 157 ruling.

startup 318

startup advice entrepreneurs VC 318

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

This applies to both founders and to VC’s that work with them. And Finally, a word about VC … We VCs need to be as conscious of dipping & skipping as management teams are. Again, I can’t imagine being a VC and NOT doing this. I see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact).

startup 308

startup board advice VC 308

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. Incidentally, VC’s hate when they hear companies pitching who say, “ I don’t have real competitors &# as I outlined point three in the linked post). Tags: Start-up Advice. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. I know I didn’t.

startup 319

startup advice entrepreneurs networking 319

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Taking reference calls from prospects considering using our products. Think about this – what is more powerful – a VC who tells you how great he/she is or when you read your peers reviews on The Funded ? Tags: Sales & Marketing Advice Startup Advice. Heroes told our success stories, not us.

peer-to-peer 294

peer-to-peer advice innovation support 294

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. With small amounts of money invested (sub $3 million) the risks are reasonably low for most VCs and the consequences of bad decisions or decisions a VC has limited say in is tolerable. Startup Advice'

board 325

board media mentorship advice 325

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

I guess let’s file this under sales & marketing advice. Much of my traffic is through referring websites and/or social media. Now I’m a VC. My strategy was to keep it advice based for the first 6 months so I never really employed this as a strategy to drive traffic. Some search. Both Sides of the Table.

advice 286

advice mix-use entrepreneurs strategy 286

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

As a VC I’m acutely that a “yes&# decision to support an entrepreneur can do just that, yet I only write 2-4 of them per year and maybe another 3-4 as an angel. Your advice made a difference.&#. I know his life touched many of us that worked with him – in ways he never knew.

consulting 352

consulting peer-to-peer advice entrepreneurs 352

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

We had every reference client we worked with call their senior team members (we had already won a major project at Scottish Water, Anglian Water and another at a large water company in Paris, France). We assumed they would take our advice and upgrade. I know I won’t win every deal I want to in VC.

consulting 151

consulting advice collaboration support 151

AsiaTechDaily

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

As the team is not from a VC background, the typical investment strategy for seed or early-stage fund on diversifying into a portfolio of companies and then follow-on investments into potential winners is simply not in our DNA who came from corporate finance and business advisory background. Build trust. front seat now to drive the valuation.

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ventures startup VC strategy 97

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

To begin, share your Gust site with me directly (my first name at Gust dot com), so that I have access to it (and mention that you’re following this advice here on Quora). With all this referring and applying, it’s still conceivable that you might not hear back from me.

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pitching angel investing investing investment 153

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

I’m talking about what someone I know recently referred to as “dentists”. They might have a more flexible time horizon than a VC because the money doesn’t come from a fund with a limited lifespan. That’s why when you come upon someone outside the traditional ecosystem, there might be a lot of compelling reasons to take their money.

investing 221

investing investment startup real estate 221

StartupNation

JUNE 1, 2021

Oftentimes, I read articles offering tips for entrepreneurs that revolve around generic advice on getting started. Underrepresented folks in entrepreneurship and venture capital, including women, people of color and LGBTQ individuals, are often led to believe we must be overqualified to start a business, join a VC firm or become an investor.

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entrepreneurs pitching construction accelerator 111

Y Combinator

AUGUST 12, 2019

Some investors announce “Hey – I run a syndicate” while others leave this information hidden until the docs are being signed, at which point attentive founders notice that the signature block refers to some mysterious entity. This is a founder to whom a sleeve of funds is given by a larger VC fund. The problem is disclosure.

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advice VC investing investment 105

Hunter Walk

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024

AI Generated Image The beautiful truth about the game of VC is that it consistently rewards difference. Because, in turn, these GPs will back more founders who are different, which will lead to more outlier returns, which ultimately leads to more products and services that change the world. [ Andre Charoo , Maple VC ] [hunter: 100% agree.

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venture capital capital ventures peer-to-peer 85

TechCrunch

MARCH 7, 2023

However, it appears that even though VCs are proceeding more cautiously than before and taking their time with due diligence, they are still investing. CB Insights recently found that two of the largest global VC firms, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, actually backed more fintech companies in 2022 than any other category.

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advice ventures sustainability investing 110

David Teten VC

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

One of the first decisions we had to make in setting up our new VC fund, Versatile Venture Capital , was our CRM and marketing technology infrastructure. . I’m very interested in the tech stack of private equity/VC firms , both to improve the efficiency of Versatile VC and also as a focus area for our investing.

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venture capital capital ventures VC 123

TechCrunch

APRIL 25, 2023

Similarly, one VC may encourage newly minted CEOs to eat ramen and ride the bus, while another might suggest a salary in the low six-figures, depending on geography. Please share one piece of advice that can help a first-time founder stand out from the rest. Do not be afraid to say “I do not know” when asked a question by an investor.

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pitching incubation board opportunity 98

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 22, 2014

You''ll get an entrepreneur who has raised one and only one round of financing in his or her entire life--all from relatively unsophisticated individuals, giving fundraising advice. However, I''m not about to dish out advice on how to grow into a billion dollar company, because I haven''t taken a company there yet. You''re smart.

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ventures startup venture capital pitching 394