Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 25, 2013
'Note: if you’re a parent please check out their website. Kara called me on a Tuesday. She was leaving IAC to start a company. “Tasha, clear some space on my calendar tomorrow. OK?” “I want you in my offices tomorrow, Kara. Does that work for you?” Kara came. She didn’t tell me she was bringing anybody. I didn’t ask her for a deck.
This is going to be BIG.
APRIL 17, 2013
'So Shopkick is apparently profitable , driving hundreds of millions of new sales to merchants--remember them? The in-store retail check-in app? And Belly? T hey just had their millionth Point of Sale loyalty check-in. What do they have in common? They''re making real business progress towards bringing retailers together with customers. In the face of " software eating the mall " they''re helping make the retail shopping experience better for the hundreds of millions of humans who still walk aro
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Berkonomics
APRIL 11, 2013
'It is an unfortunate truism that most of us become a bit stale in our jobs after some time, even if we are most successful at it and appreciated by all who work for or with us. It is human nature to start in a new position with enthusiasm, lofty goals, new ideas, and a heightened awareness of those around us and their ideas for the business. And it is equally human for anyone to become complacent to some degree after an initial flurry of effort, ideas, reorganizations, brilliant decisions, and
Tomasz Tunguz
APRIL 1, 2013
Below is my general outline for a typical diligence process. First meeting. When I’m meeting a startup for the first time, my goal is to understand as much about the business and team as I can. Founders/Team: How do the founders know each other? How do they interact with each other? Are they passionate? How qualified are they? What would it be like to work with them?
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Don Dodge
APRIL 5, 2013
Who are the big players innovating in Indoor Location and Positioning? What technologies are attracting the most attention? How will Indoor Location evolve? In my previous post I covered the different technical approaches to Indoor Location, how they work, and some of the market uses for it. In this post I will cover some of the leading large players and their technical approaches.
Startup Catalyst Brief brings together the best content for the entrepreneurial ecosystem from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 27, 2013
'I travel the country a lot. And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. They often ask whether they have to move to SF, NY or LA to get financed. I have the same response always, “Where do you want to live? Where do you want to build your community, your relationships, your family?” I’m trying to get a feel for their commitment to local community versus being in a place where financing is easiest.
This is going to be BIG.
APRIL 21, 2013
'Ten years ago, I was an analyst for the General Motors pension fund, working on fund investments into leveraged buyout funds and venture capital deals. I literally wrote the investment memo for GMs investment into Accel IX, otherwise known as the "Facebook Fund." (I wasn''t a lead on the deal team or anything--just a gruntworking analyst.) Still, I came into contact with some of the largest names in the private equity world--partners from top PE firms like Blackstone, Carlyle, and TH Lee, top v
Berkonomics
APRIL 25, 2013
'Reduce the emotion; reduce the threat of lawsuit. You’ve certainly experienced the angry outburst from an associate or employee who has just learned of an event that the person took as “unfair,” no matter how rational the explanation by the decision maker. Most emotional responses to decisions in business are generated not because the person making the response feels the decision was unwise, but rather unfair.
Tomasz Tunguz
APRIL 15, 2013
We’ve all had a great idea for a product that would solve a pain we feel directly. It used to be impossible to convey that insight to anyone who might be in a position to act upon it. But that’s all changing because of the Internet. Of late, it’s becoming increasingly easier for consumers to share their ideas for great products and bring them to market.
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Venture Hacks
APRIL 23, 2013
How much traction do you need to raise $1M? AngelList’s Ash Fontana has the answer on TechCrunch : Read the post for details and also see these comments by me , Michael Wolfe , and Shallaba.
abovethecrowd.com
APRIL 17, 2013
'In a casino, the term “rake” refers to the commission that the house earns for operating a poker game. With each hand, a small percentage of the pot is scraped off by the dealer, which in essence becomes the “revenue” for the casino. While casinos use the term “rake,” a plethora of interesting word choices exist which all describe the same thing – keeping a little bit of the revenue for the company that is running the service.
Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 13, 2013
'Just back from 2 solid weeks on the road in Boston, New York & Philly. I spent countless hours with VC firms, startups & LPs (the people who invest in VC firms). I find these trips invaluable both from a relationship-building perspective as well as stretching my mind about our industry. I ask questions, test theories, debate topics of the day and then reflect upon what I’ve learned.
This is going to be BIG.
APRIL 1, 2013
VCs, I believe that the purpose of venture investment is to serve entrepreneurs. Many of us, however, seem to regard investing as some kind of dodge or hustle. We have theories that are the worst kind of popular tripe, our methods are sloppy and our returns are highly questionable. Many of us, fellow VCs, are a poor investors. That is why some entrepreneurs have turned towards an alternative to getting investment from us.
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Berkonomics
APRIL 4, 2013
'It is hard to separate this kind of advice from economic lessons in running a business, when office politics can threaten a business in ways that are subtle, but sometimes just as devastating as economic shocks or continuing poor management. Most any office with more than one level of management (more than ten employees) can become a Petri dish for office politics.
Tomasz Tunguz
APRIL 10, 2013
Every SaaS business must decide how to charge for the service. Pricing plans are some of the most difficult decisions to make. Equally important to the price is determining the point at which the customer pays - the conversion point. There are four different models that I’ve experienced: up front payment, freemium, limited free trials, money back guarantee.
Don Dodge
APRIL 2, 2013
Indoor Location and Positioning will be huge! Apple recently acquired WifiSlam for its indoor mapping and positioning technology. Why? Because we spend most of our time indoors, working, shopping, eating, at the mall, at the office, on campus, etc. Google already has Indoor Maps for many airports and shopping malls. The race is on. The explosion of Smartphones with built in sensors, accelerometer, gyro, wifi radios, and camera make indoor positioning possible. .
Derek Sivers
APRIL 5, 2013
A friend I hadn’t heard from in years called me out of the blue yesterday, and just said, “Dude. did you hear?”. I went home and my girlfriend immediately said, “Babe. I heard the news. Are you OK?”. They all know I’m a fan of Roger Ebert. He died yesterday. I was also a massive James Brown fan, but I wasn’t as affected when he died, because it’s not like I was tuning in weekly to hear what new music he was making.
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Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 15, 2013
'This is my third post in a series on Enterprise Software. In part one I covered the need for early-stage enterprise software companies to build up professional services staff to ensure successful implementation projects. This goes against the conventional wisdom of VCs. In part two I talked about how to ensure that your professional services practice doesn’t take over your software company although I’m on record that there is nothing wrong with a services company as long as youR
This is going to be BIG.
APRIL 2, 2013
Today, ElectNext announced that they had raised $1.3mm to launch a data, analytics and marketing service to bridge the data gap between politicians, lobby groups, and their constituents. The company provides contextual political data to media properties (Crunchbase for politics) and in turn uses that reach to provide actionable insights for campaign managers.
Berkonomics
APRIL 18, 2013
'How many of us have “hired” independent contractors over the years, a bit worried over the gray area between employee and contractor as defined by the IRS? I’ve experienced the results of a wrong decision, and the IRS and state agencies are not forgiving in their pursuit of penalties, interest and most damaging, assessing a company with the on both employer and employee taxes when reclassifying the person as an employee.
Tomasz Tunguz
APRIL 30, 2013
There’s something beautiful about handwriting that we’ve never been able to capture on the Web. Handwriting has style, a uniqueness to each writer and also an ability to capture the evolution of thought with crossed out words, carats and interjected clauses and margins full of edits. The image above is my favorite from Emily Temple’s curation effort of a series of famous authors' manuscripts on a Tumblog.
Speaker: Wayne Spivak - President and Chief Financial Officer of SBA * Consulting LTD, Industry Writer, and Public Speaker
The old adages that "cash is king" and "you can’t spend profits" still hold true today. But however well-known these sayings might be, it requires a change in mindset to properly implement a cash flow management system that predicts your business's runaway as accurately as possible. Key to this new mindset is understanding the difference between the Statement of Cash Flows, a historical look at the source and uses of cash, and the Cash Flow Statement, which uses transaction history and forward-l
This is going to be BIG.
APRIL 25, 2013
'I reserve the right to be 100% wrong on any of my investment decisions--but at least I make them, and I try to make them fast. Too often, I hear of VCs taking four, five, six, even seven meetings with an entrepreneur only to get to a no. Honestly, if you''re thinking about an early stage company, there really isn''t enough data to process across seven hours of meetings.
Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 21, 2013
'This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. If you don’t like it hot, use less,” he said. “We don’t make mayonnaise here.” . This morning I was reading my social media and came across an article that Christine Tsai had posted on Facebook. It was about the founder of Sriracha sauce, David Tran, displaced from Vietnam when the North’s communists took power.
This is going to be BIG.
APRIL 29, 2013
'Seemingly overnight, a bunch of parking spaces disappeared in New York City--replaced by bike share racks. Lots of car owners aren''t happy about it. For that matter, lots of people in the city have argued against bikes for years. Residents of Vinegar Hill signed a petition to prevent a greenway from going through their neighborhood--citing that "The Greenway would bring thousands of bikers from all over that would add noise, traffic hazards, and garbage to a neighborhood that currently has non
Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 17, 2013
'I’m sure you’ve all heard saying derived from Voltaire, “don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good” which in a way is encapsulated in the lean startup movement and the ideology of shipping a “minimum viable product” (MVP) and then learning from your customer base. Or to borrow a simple life lesson from Gretchen Rubin , “The 20-minute walk I take is better than the 3-mile run I never start.
Speaker: P. Andrew Sjogren, Sr. Product Marketing Manager at Very Good Security, Matt Doka, Co-Founder and CTO of Fivestars, and Steve Andrews, President & CEO of the Western Bankers Association
PCI compliance can feel challenging and sometimes the result feels like you are optimizing more for security and compliance than you are for business outcomes. The key is to take the right strategy to PCI compliance that gets you both. In this webinar, we have a great set of panelists who will take you through how Zero Data strategies can be used as part of a well-rounded compliance and security approach, and get you to market much sooner by also allowing for payment optimization.
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