This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 25, 2013

Back in 2006, when I started working on putting together some community groups for entrepreneurs and tech people, I looked for a better name to reference this collection of people. This outer borough community is fueled by the creativity of an even wider assortment of innovators--and what I find most interesting is where they do what they do.

communities 290

communities innovation creativity real estate 290

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 8, 2015

But Fab fell into the trap that many companies who go down the VC route fall into--too much money, too soon, and growing too fast. The team is hard at work improving upon the concept of a designer focused site that will inspire the creative juices in all of us. That was the core of what Bradford brought to that company.

venture capital 402

venture capital creativity VC financing 402

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

Creative – we’re a place of writers, directors, producers, musicians, costume designers, make-up artists, graphic artists, 3D modelers. ” To me, LA will always be a creative hub for TV, film, music, video games and now technology. IA Ventures – Roger Ehrenberg was doing angel investing before he became a VC.

communities 304

communities startup creativity VC 304

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I’m very excited to be finally be able to announce that this week we’ve added Sam Rosen to our ranks at GRP Partners in the role of entrepreneurs-in-residence – EIR. He found creative ways to politely stay on my radar screen. I thought Sam might know some talented young entrepreneurs to apply. Jordan Hudson.

pitching 372

pitching advice VC entrepreneurs 372

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2015

” And yet we entrepreneurs who will sign up for the journey accept that failure is a possibility and the true entrepreneurs know that they must stick with the ship even if it’s sinking. First time entrepreneurs can fall prey to hubris. But markets don’t generally love failure. Why or why not?”

creativity 378

creativity culture entrepreneurs energy 378

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. I need to take some VC meetings. This article originally ran on TechCrunch. I’m in Seattle this week. Of course I have.

communities 317

communities VC innovation entrepreneurs 317

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

I spent my days meeting companies, figuring out what areas of the market interested me and trying to get a sense for how VCs thought about fair valuations. I thought about things I never had to as an entrepreneur: check size, ownership percentage, deal stage, portfolio construction and risk. But I guess you could say the same about VC.

VC 305

VC disruption entrepreneurs venture capital 305

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

Understand Personality Types – One of the benefits of working for a big company (Accenture) was that we had lots of speakers come in and train us in topics like leadership, creativity, presentations, strategy, etc. And because as a VC or as a CEO or senior exec you get presented to all the time we’re extra sensitive to it.

VC 358

VC entrepreneurs creativity leadership 358

StartupNation

AUGUST 8, 2021

You still have plenty of creative financing options to fund your business. Creative financing options for new businesses. Here’s a great story from an entrepreneur who bootstrapped her business that will help give you an idea of how you can scale your business via bootstrapping. Angel investing and venture capital (VC).

creativity 104

creativity finance financing startup 104

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 14, 2014

That means you actually have a *better* shot, statistically, of getting VC investment at these firms, statistically, once you actually pitch. I really like it when an entrepreneur has a unique perspective on the industry he or she is working on. Ellen Johnston of Makr has a decade of senior creative experience.

founder 378

founder pitching venture capital mix-use 378

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

We are often asked how companies get funded, why VCs make the decisions we make and what we’re looking for in entrepreneurs. I think this is a Seriously great example of how this process works for at least one VC – Upfront Ventures. So I hope that offers you insights into how companies move through the VC system.

media 373

media education VC financing 373

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

We were talking about a company, Factual (disclosure my firm is an investor), which was founded by one of LA’s most talented Internet entrepreneurs, Gil Elbaz , who as co-founder of Applied Semantics (purchased by pre-IPO Google for $102 million and now Google AdSense) is responsible for a large portion of the Internet’s monetization.

VC 313

VC venture capital media culture 313

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 24, 2010

There was one other VC in the room, Charlie O'Donnell, who makes it a practice to be everywhere something is interesting happening. These are the crowds, when brought together in a critical mass, push the envelope of awesomeness, creativity, and style, carrying the reputation of the whole community on their shoulders.

creativity 240

creativity communities venture capital innovation 240

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

She was everything I was looking for in an entrepreneur to back. She talks about creative design of websites and physical products – in our case – stickers. Soleil at Chief Creative Officer. Unsurprisingly for Kara is was the VC connections. So, Mark, enough entrepreneur love. Kara as CEO.

startup 398

startup creativity advice entrepreneurs 398

TechCrunch

APRIL 14, 2023

Creative platform EVEN , which allows artists to sell music directly to fans, said it has closed a $2.2 The company’s CEO and founder, Mag Rodriguez, says he started building the platform last February as a way to help Black and brown artists retain equity in their creative work. Creative platform EVEN raises $2.2M

creativity 98

creativity VC accelerator startup accelerator 98

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

That’s certainly good for our industry in terms of future returns for investors but I would argue also for entrepreneurs. The explosion in number of startups coupled with the decrease in numbers & dollars of VCs portends this. Creative destruction is what drives capitalism and innovation.

venture capital 289

venture capital innovation capital ventures 289

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

He and I once took different sides of an debate about whether “VC signaling&# in early-stage deals is a serious problem or not. He is the CEO of Hunch , company that I believe is solving a very big problem that I have been telling entrepreneurs needs to be solved for the past 2 years.

entrepreneurship 281

entrepreneurship VC angel investing venture capital 281

David Teten VC

MARCH 1, 2022

The easiest way to work with and for VC funds is to become a part-time scout, getting paid for sourcing investments. How to find a job as a VC scout. VC recruiters list and compensation data. How to negotiate a partner role at a VC or private equity firm. Syllabus for how to launch, manage, and invest a VC fund.

VC 128

VC venture capital accelerator ventures 128

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

I always tell people that if you’re not creative in how you tell stories the simplest way to do so is by telling “a day in the life&# of your potential user. I spotted my fellow VC Leo Spiegel (from Mission Ventures) who had spoken previously to the same group and asked about his experiences. The bring your product to life.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 4, 2011

It inspires me to think creatively about sectors and the behavior of both consumers and businesses. They could turn out to be people I reach out to in order to ask questions, potential hires for other companies we invest in, or maybe, just maybe, three years from now someone will introduce me to an entrepreneur that we wind up investing in.

creativity 247

creativity pitching VC opportunity 247

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

She worked for 5 years as a VC at Battery Ventures and co-headed M&A at IAC working with Barry Diller. As an industry we’re not always as good as we could be about our own “creative destruction” to create the tomorrow of venture capital. He said to me (only 9 years ago), “I hope you’re not just hiring her because she’s a woman.” (I

ventures 361

ventures leadership mentorship venture capital 361

AsiaTechDaily

OCTOBER 25, 2023

In the epicenter of tech, where innovation thrives, Alex Luce bridges materials science and venture capital, carving a niche as a Partner at Creative Ventures. “Finally, I wound up here at Creative Ventures, where we have a small but incredibly nimble team.

creativity 97

creativity venture capital energy ventures 97

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

In the last thirteen years, Kickstarter has helped direct $6.2bn towards creative work that would not have been funded by the legacy institutions that support creative work. Our interest in web3 which started back in 2011 was also grounded in the idea that new forms of funding are necessary to finance innovation and creative work.

finance 226

finance financing creativity innovation 226

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

We rise to the occasion as it stirs our creative juices. There is something about the adrenaline rush of being under time pressure that excites us and teases out our creativity. I was on vacation in Santa Barbara two years ago with my wife and I was reflecting on what I had learned in my first year in LA and in VC.

mentorship 374

mentorship creativity energy entrepreneurs 374

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 11, 2010

I’ve written about the topic before when I wrote the post “ I emailed a VC but never heard back.&# As in, what do you do now that you’ve written them. Are all VC’s just a-hole’s? Not all VC’s feel this way in my experience. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice.

advice 265

advice VC entrepreneurs creativity 265

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. Why did you raise VC from Polaris & how have they been to work with? Yesterday’s show floored me. I consider Gregg Spiridellis a good friend.

mix-use 303

mix-use VC advice creativity 303

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

Revolution

MAY 11, 2023

Our findings confirmed a significant shift away from the traditional tech hubs of the Bay Area, New York City, and Boston, with the proportion of seed- and early-stage VC dollars funneling into the Bay Area falling below 30% for the first time in more than a decade.

real estate 296

real estate energy innovation VC 296

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

We held a 90-minute demo session where 150 of LA’s VC’s and senior technology executives watched the LPLA V2 group present in small groups of 12-15 each. The VC’s & executives were then asked to make “commitments&# (in writing) to 3-5 of the companies that they felt they could make some sort of contribution to.

startup 276

startup VC media networking 276

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

Two weeks after Brad’s post I was at the 140 Conference in LA and I held open office hours for any entrepreneur who wanted to spend 15 minutes talking with a VC about their business. But it turns out I met a bunch of really interesting entrepreneurs. But TWTFelipe is an entrepreneur. They come from start-ups.

education 282

education creativity innovation entrepreneurs 282

TechCrunch

APRIL 14, 2023

Creative platform EVEN , which allows artists to sell music directly to fans, said it has closed a $2.2 The company’s CEO and founder, Mag Rodriguez, says he started building the platform last February as a way to help Black and brown artists retain equity in their creative work. Creative platform EVEN raises $2.2M

creativity 74

creativity VC accelerator startup accelerator 74

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 11, 2014

I''m super proud of Rob, Ben and the whole Backupify team--and this is particularly special for me because Backupify was the first investment I ever made as a VC, and the first board I ever sat on. We stayed in touch and I got to know a bunch of the Louisville startup and creative crew, like Todd Earwood, Matt Winn, and Ashley Cecil.

board 259

board venture capital creativity entrepreneurship 259

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 17, 2011

Yet being in a fraternity was one of the most transformative experiences I had in college and prepared me better for becoming an entrepreneur than any class that I took. I talked specifically about it in the context of raising VC / establishing credibility over on the Sales School blog where there’s a video & a transcript.

peer-to-peer 365

peer-to-peer leadership support construction 365

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 1, 2009

I was reading one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs, VentureHacks, this weekend and noticed that they are running a long piece on how to pick a co-founder. But I would hate to not tell future entrepreneurs the truth at the risk of slightly upsetting some of my friends. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Startup Advice.

startup 289

startup advice entrepreneurs creativity 289

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

As you have more exits in your startup community and more second-time entrepreneurs the growth of a local startup community becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Here Cincinnati was really creative to its approach to attracting more venture capital to the region – including this author. Venture Capital. I was instantly intrigued.

startup 390

startup communities venture capital angel capital 390

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

On the other hand were everybody else including those that tried to make a full time of it like Robert Scoble as well as those that did it as a side job like VCs, CEO’s and start-up entrepreneurs. Bill Gurley , a well known VC from Benchmark Capital, seemed to have a 2-year hiatus from blogging and has now picked up the pace.

VC 219

VC creativity networking media 219

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2015

How do you have time for all your entrepreneurs? It’s a creative expression. As I’ve said before, “ You’d Have to be a Really Big Baby to Complain About Being a VC.” I called in the Y0 Yo Life of an Entrepreneur but it really applies to me as a VC as well. How do you stay balanced?

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VC entrepreneurs creativity advice 347