This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 28, 2013

Tweet. As I finished up my weekly newsletter of NYC's tech events and classes , I thought a lot about some recent conversations I've had with some new entrants into the startup ecosystem--enthusiastic young professionals whose stated goals centered around learning. I sometimes find myself wondering in this world of classes, accelerators, and religious zealotry around methodologies if anyone is, in fact, learning anything.

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frameworks startup ecosystem VC accelerator 299

Gust

JANUARY 31, 2013

Last month, the SEC announced it was taking action regarding Netflix’ (NFLX) securities compliance based on a Facebook status update posted by CEO Reed Hastings. The move came as a shock to many in the tech business community, in which we’ve become accustomed to real-time disclosure by company executives through social media. What could be wrong with more transparency?

media 158

media mix-use advice financing 158

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 29, 2013

Jody. You’re gone too early. We still had so many more times to spend together. I loved this image I saw posted by Andy Rankin. Because this is the one word that was not in your vocabulary. And it was the first word I muttered when I heard the news tonight. I remember when we met years ago. I think Michael Kantor introduced us. You were pitching me an online business selling other people’s baby food.

pitching 406

pitching advice VC entrepreneurs 406

Tomasz Tunguz

JANUARY 27, 2013

The valley and startup-land does not fetishize failure despite the increasing reports to the contrary. FailCon is not the Darwin Awards for startups. Founders do not start businesses with the express interest to fail. Instead, the valley is infatuated with the post-mortem of failures and successes alike because within every venture are pearls of wisdom - a subtle but important difference.

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technology

Berkonomics

JANUARY 31, 2013

Ever had a manager who hung those motivational posters around the office, spoke of “pushing together,” or “you’re empowered to give great service” – and then acted at least once in complete disregard of those statements? It takes only one time caught by subordinates to lose the faith of an entire group of faithful followers. And that certainly counts for customers too, although the customer jungle drums don’t communicate quite as fast as the virtual water cooler system, even with today’s many w

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 30, 2013

Somebody commented that in 2013 I have done a lot more personal posts than usual. I didn’t set out that way. It just happened. Lots of tragedies in the past couple of months. Aaron Schwartz. Sandy Hook. Now Jody Sherman. And my friend Brad Feld & his wife had written a book on the importance of personal relationships which made me want to weigh in on that.

health 400

health board VC communities 400

Tomasz Tunguz

JANUARY 31, 2013

The most important principle of start up fund raising is: Raise enough money to achieve a set of milestones that will attract a subsequent round of investment from new investors. Last week, a founder of a seed stage company came to pitch. When I told him the opportunity wasn’t a fit for us, he asked me what milestones he would need to achieve to raise a Series A - as he was raising a seed round!

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financing finance pitching enablement 40

Gust

JANUARY 27, 2013

Howard Gardner photo via TheDish.org. Being a good entrepreneur means being able to effectively convince an investor that you have a great idea, persuade partners that your approach is right, and convince potential customers that the solution is right for them. If all your ideas are intuitively obvious to everyone, you probably aren’t thinking outside the box, or don’t really have the next big thing.

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consulting creativity support entrepreneurs 166

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. I think many board members (including VCs) were trained 10+ years ago when life was very different and their advice often comes from an outdated lens. One of the advantages of blogging, using social media, public speaking, etc as a VC is that you get a more nuanced view of these shifts by watching your own successes a

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startup advice VC media 355

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development

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 27, 2013

I’ve started a recent series on PR at startups since I get asked for advice on this topic so often. I will put the full list of posts here. The start of this series was, Should Your Startup Announce Funding ? 6 or 7 years ago when TechCrunch was at its peak market share (they are still strong but many more tech blogs have also popped up) there was a term for getting covered there called “the TechCrunch bounce.” If your company was featured there (in the early days of what peop

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advice VC pitching entrepreneurs 309

Tomasz Tunguz

JANUARY 29, 2013

Once each month I met Peter at Café Habana in Nolita for huevos rancheros drenched in tomato sauce and a glass of fresh orange juice. Mopping up yolks with tortillas, Peter and I chatted about his business: the techniques of scalable customer acquisition, the priorities of the product and engineering team, the structure of sales quotas and the ebbing and flowing dynamics of the market place he and his team were building.

board 40

board opportunity investing investment 40

Tomasz Tunguz

JANUARY 30, 2013

Brokers serve two key roles within ecosystems. First, they introduce buyers and sellers. Second, they lend their expertise to help buyers and sellers make the right decisions in the market. The internet neutralizes the first value proposition of brokers by leveling the information asymmetry between buyers and sellers at a far greater scale with much better data than any broker ever could.

real estate 40

real estate disruption construction advice 40

Tomasz Tunguz

JANUARY 28, 2013

Each time I open Salesforce in my browser, I think of Stephen Hawking. It’s because of an aphorism an entrepreneur shared with me a few weeks ago. He said: The cost to fix a data error at the time of entry is $1. The cost to fix it an hour after it’s been entered is $10. And the cost to fix it several months later is $100+. Take for example a venture capitalist’s CRM tool.

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opportunity entrepreneurs ventures startup 40

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opportunity

Gust

JANUARY 30, 2013

Actual, fundable, serious startups in a single weekend? No. Real? Great learning experience? And worth doing? Yes. . Last Sunday night I judged nine pitches from nine groups that started from scratch just two days before, late Friday afternoon. They had some good ideas, good pictures, a prototype or two, some good video … and an entertaining event. .

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