Sat.Sep 22, 2012 - Fri.Sep 28, 2012

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Is Going for Rapid Growth Always Good? Aren’t Startups So Much More?

Both Sides of the Table

I think I’ve read Paul Graham’s post on “ Startup = Growth ” three or four times now. And of course on Twitter I’ve seen the Tweets, ReTweets and superlatives on what a great post it is. Viewing the article through the lens of a venture capitalist there’s much to agree with under the mantra of “growth!” And when you read the article carefully it allows for a period of discovery in your business.

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The Most Critical Startup Talent Crunch: Great Leaders at Growing Companies

This is going to be BIG.

A lot of people have talked about the need for NYC to have a PayPal--a multi-billion dollar exit that scattered on the rest of the community a bunch of experienced startup talent that scaled a company over time, as well as a host of new angel investors. The key to this, of course, is that PayPal had over 200 employees when it was acquired. As Shai points out , if you sell for a billion dollars and have 13 employees like Instagram, you're really not going to do much for the ecosystem.

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Gust Startup Trend Map

Gust

Gust Startup Map & Trends Analysis – August 2012. Attention startup enthusiasts! Gust is thrilled to have nearly 7,000 new entrepreneurs creating startup profiles each month. To help us visualize the scale and global reach of these entrepreneurs we have put together a monthly startup map, which captures all new startup profiles on Gust. The map showcases new entrepreneur sign ups that chose to publish their startup profiles between August 1 st and August 31 st.

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Should founders join incubators?

Tomasz Tunguz

Yesterday, I spoke at Columbia Business School. We had a conversation about the role of incubators and accelerators (or the moniker of your choice) within the startup ecosystem. Given the volume of first time entrepreneurs and the broad growth of interest in entrepreneurship, I think these programs are invaluable. To entrepreneurs, these programs offer up to seven value propositions, listed in order of importance, as I see it.

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The Big Payoff of Application Analytics

Outdated or absent analytics won’t cut it in today’s data-driven applications – not for your end users, your development team, or your business. That’s what drove the five companies in this e-book to change their approach to analytics. Download this e-book to learn about the unique problems each company faced and how they achieved huge returns beyond expectation by embedding analytics into applications.

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What Makes a Successful Startup Community? Is it Possible to Build One Where You Live?

Both Sides of the Table

This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. 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. Today I’d like to talk about what startup communities outside of Silicon Valley look like, how they emerge and what makes them take hold.

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How do you cross the chasm between commitment to invest in your start-up, to closing a funding round?

Gust

By far the hardest step in all this is getting a term sheet. Once you have a term sheet in hand, and assuming good faith, everything else will follow. The best way to get a term sheet is to concentrate your efforts on an investor who has the ability, history and interest in leading rounds. So one of the very early questions you should be asking a potential investor is “do you typically lead an investment round, or co-invest with other investors on their term sheets?

investing 101
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The startup love affair

Tomasz Tunguz

Every investment requires a leap of faith, an emotional act that’s not pure reason, and that’s got to carry you through in the inevitable many months, sometimes years, of horrific bad stuff that comes with the company. And you’ve got to have that energy, that sustaining belief to carry you through, because if you don’t, then you regret having done it.

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What to do with a dysfunctional board

Berkonomics

It happens. Boards are elected by the shareholders, sometimes with preferred shareholders holding seats by right of their investment. In that instance, often the investor selects the board member and the CEO goes along with the choice, mostly out of having no alternative at the time. Then there comes the first – or better yet the fourth – meeting of the board following the appointment of a new member.

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The Perception of Exclusivity

This is going to be BIG.

If you like this post, please consider donating a few bucks to my Camp Interactive Fundraiser. I'm running the NYC Marathon for the first time and raising money to do it. Donate here. Tweet. Last week, I threw an event for the NYC tech community at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. It was sponsored by 20 participating VC firms. Three hundred people in attendence--which was awesome.

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PE Mastery: CAPTARGET's Playbook for Quality Lead Flow

CAPTARGET presents a masterclass in M&A deal sourcing. Learn to cast a wide net, embracing seller self-identification. Consistency is the linchpin: keep the origination process steady for a reliable flow of opportunities. Diversify your tactics, employing various tools and vendors. Tech matters! Understand DNS settings, domain authority, and brand presence for optimal outreach.

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Entrepreneurship Is All About Taking Smart Risks

Gust

Most entrepreneurs think that risk is just an “occupational hazard” that can be minimized or eliminated by a smart businessman. That way of thinking is simplistic and wrong. In reality, some risks are good and should be embraced for growth and a competitive edge, while others are bad and should be avoided completely. Traditional risk management focuses only on bad risks, and seeks to contain losses.