Both Sides of the Table
JULY 9, 2012
My pal Dave has blogger Tourette’s. He has it on stage, too, at conferences. He can’t help himself: He’s Dave. My pal Dave has problems. Not the ones you’d imagine. His biggest problems are with language, colors, fonts and spacing. Not much more. I think he could say “no” a bit more. I’ve told him that if a vet just clipped his wings a little bit I think it would be good for his health.
This is going to be BIG.
JULY 19, 2012
Quick to hire and quick to fire, right? The last thing that you want, conventional wisdom says, is to be carrying around dead weight on a team--or harboring a disruptive employee. Bad hires can cause your best people to want to leave. It can slow down productivity. I agree that one person can do a disproportionate amount of damage within a company, but does that always have to be the case?
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Gust
JULY 8, 2012
If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. Don’t be embarrassed, since even professional investors are often confused these days by the new terms, as well as old terms used with new meanings. In any case, it’s time to look again at the options you really have.
Berkonomics
JULY 12, 2012
When a new CEO or manager is hired into a company, for a while lots of energy flows from the top and new ideas seem to be generated daily. It is one reason not to fear the unknown when upper level management long in place turns over, often leaving most everyone worrying over how they’ll ever do without their lost leader. The problem seems to come after everyone settles back into some sort of normalcy and the new senior manager becomes comfortable in his or her position.
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Tomasz Tunguz
JULY 13, 2012
Did you hear ‘em talkin’ ‘bout it on the radio. Did you try to read the writing on the wall. Did that voice inside you say I’ve heard it all before. It’s like Deja Vu all over again. - John Fogerty. I am emotionally attached to Android’s success. It’s the same loyalty I displayed when I campaigned for Apple in the mid-90s. But with a tinge of betrayal.
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
JULY 24, 2012
I wrote a blog post on how to work with lawyers at a startup nearly two-and-a-half years ago. It was very widely read. If you don’t have much experience in working with law firms at a startup it’s a good primer. In that post I talked about how to select a law-firm for a startup. It should be: Local; Right-sized; and. Startup-focused. I specifically called out some of the best people I had personally worked with.
Gust
JULY 18, 2012
Rhetoric has the power to engage or alienate, to enchant or disaffect. Perhaps no better example exists than the term “ Corporate Governance.” Even the wonkiest law geeks like me find our eyes glazing over as soon as the term is mentioned. Yet I’ve rarely seen entrepreneurs more fired up than when recounting war stories of startups whose founders had control of the company wrested from them, were forced to take financing or compensation deals on outrageously onerous terms ,
Gust
JULY 3, 2012
As I wrote in Part I of this post , many of the most creative and disruptive startup businesses in recent years have involved the use of intellectual property in innovative, non-traditional ways that defy easy categorization and stretch the boundaries of concepts such as the fair use doctrine in copyright. When presented with a product or service in development, we often have to admit that there is no clear precedent and look for the best analogous situation to assess legal risk.
Gust
JULY 19, 2012
This is an interesting question, and one to which no one really has an answer yet. To some extent it will depend on what the SEC decides to do with the regulations surrounding the whole subject, which they have until the end of the year to write. My personal guess is that the early stage funding world will likely trifurcate (or even quadricate, if that’s a word) into several distinct groups.
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Gust
JULY 18, 2012
Following the huge success of the Gust-DEMO scholarship earlier this year, Gust and DEMO have teamed up again to offer Gust start-ups a full scholarship opportunity for DEMO Fall 2012. The recipient of the Gust-DEMO Scholarship will have a chance to launch their product to some of the most innovative people in the world. During the two-day conference, DEMO provides an environment for companies to secure venture funding, establish critical relationships, influence early adopters, and meet with to
Gust
JULY 12, 2012
My wife, Ann, and I took a trip this past spring to visit Estonia, Finland, Ireland and Russia. The goal was to share our experiences in the realm of angel investing with an array of global audiences, by participating in various lectures, discussions and workshops. In all four countries we met passionate entrepreneurs who were eager to discuss their exciting startups, as well as angel investors looking to support them.
Gust
JULY 15, 2012
Every startup faces a myriad of challenges that are well beyond the scope of any founder, so you need a few guiding lights to illuminate the road ahead. These should be carefully selected, with a proven track record, willing and available to help, and be completely trustworthy. Make sure they are willing to check their egos at the door. Let’s talk specifics.
Gust
JULY 10, 2012
It’s one of the most frequent questions: What if I can’t get funded for my deal? What next? Do I keep trying forever, drowning in the myth of persistence? Who can I complain to? Where do I get my appeals hearing? . Here are my seven favorite cures for post-pitch depression. . Scale down and focus: So don’t be the next Facebook, at least not immediately.
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Gust
JULY 22, 2012
As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to start selling yourself and your idea. I hear lots of excuses from startup founders, like “I’m too busy,” concern over IP security, can’t afford an agency, and it’s too early. The result is they get no feedback, no credibility, no visibility, and no investors until months later than they expect. I’m definitely not lobbying here for promising things you can’t deliver, or hiring a publicist before your first programmer.
Gust
JULY 17, 2012
Take a step back and be objective, and U.S. angel investors are hardly a diverse group. Not demographically diverse (sadly, we’re mostly older white men) but in opinions, preferences, and what we want in a deal, for sure. I strongly recommend a quick tour of the ‘ what investors want ‘ collection of videos on this site. You’ll find 22 very short videos taken from interviews of some very thoughtful, successful, and influential investors.
Gust
JULY 29, 2012
One of the biggest myths I still see in the community of new entrepreneurs is the assumption that “All I need is a good idea, and some investor will give me the big money I need to build the business.” In reality, investors fund good business plans, not big dreams. It’s all in the execution. A related myth is that it takes a lot of money to start a business.
Gust
JULY 31, 2012
Editor’s Note: For a great tip on unloading private stock, read this post about how you can donate it.d. One-half of angel-funded companies fail, which is why a winning Investment Strategy for Angels includes diversification. That is, to invest in several companies (rather than a few) each with the potential for home-run returns. Amidst all the talk of failures and exits, we forget there are actually three possible outcomes for angel-backed startups. 1) Many flop (companies that do no
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Gust
JULY 5, 2012
If the investor thinks it is, then it is. If not, no. While that may sound simplistic, it’s actually accurate. It is important to look at questions like this holistically. Investors are putting their money behind an entrepreneur and his/her particular vision, team, and operating skills. If the entrepreneur believes that having office jellyfish is a Good Thing for company morale and a work environment that is conducive to a more productive startup team, then either the investor believes in,
Gust
JULY 16, 2012
The lack of rational analysis about equity crowdfunding is remarkable to me. Sure, it sounds like an easy source of startup capital that should lead to happy entrepreneurs, delighted investors and job creation galore. However, this will likely not be the case. Few pundits seem to have the depth of knowledge and foresight to look far enough down the equity crowdfunding road and offer convincing predictions of the issues and problems that may arise.
Gust
JULY 23, 2012
Typically, Americans give cash when it comes to charitable contributions. However, for investors and founders, it may be helpful to think outside the box when it comes to giving. Donations of private stock enable investors, founders and employees to support charitable causes and contribute to the community while receiving simultaneous benefits in the form of substantial cash savings from reduced taxes as well as bypassing capital gains taxes.
Gust
JULY 12, 2012
A board seat in and of itself has no particular value, and is often something to be *avoided*, rather than sought out. It doesn’t give you more cash compensation, more equity ownership or more direct control over the operating business. The legal role of the board is to make strategic and corporate-level decisions, hire/fire the CEO, and represent all of the stockholders of the company.
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
Gust
JULY 25, 2012
Fred Wilson of Union Ventures writes Entrepreneurs Have Control When Things Work, VCs Have Control When They Don’t on his AVC blog. This is one of those ideas that seem completely obvious but only after I’ve heard them. Whether we’re founders or investors, we focus on terms and percentages as determining control. But in the real world, as Fred points out, strength and power are about who holds what cards, and who needs whom.
This is going to be BIG.
JULY 12, 2012
Over the past week, I've met some teams at various pitch and networking events where my first reaction was, "Whoa, back the truck up. Why are you doing that in the first place? Why that problem? Isn't that too small/saturated/done already/a total death march/etc.?". It's as if I told you that, because of RA Dickey, I've decided to quit my job as a VC and that I'm just going to practice throwing a knuckleball everyday for the next year in an effort to make the major leagues.
This is going to be BIG.
JULY 10, 2012
Build an awesome product and figure out the business later. Keep design in mind from the beginning. I'm starting to realize that these statements are mutually exclusive--that if you don't understand your potential market and how you might make money one day, you're going to have an awful time trying to bolt on a business to a consistent design. This doesn't mean you have to implement your business model day one, but your design is betting on a monetization strategy and a market whether you're co
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 10, 2012
Like many I read the headlines about Pinterest moving from Palo Alto to San Francisco and thought about the trend it portends. For those not familiar with the local geography, Palo Alto is the north end of what most consider “Silicon Valley” although nobody local calls it that. Palo Also is about 35 miles south of San Francisco. Palo Alto is home to Stanford.
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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