Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

'An abbreviated version of this post appeared yesterday on TechCrunch. If you want the full SlideShare deck with many slides not in either post it’s in this link –> The LA Tech Market. “There’s something going on in LA.” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. I hear it right after people have decided to come by for a few days to “check out what all the fuss is about.” I hear it when I visit LPs (th

entrepreneurs 376

entrepreneurs creativity technology capital 376

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 10, 2014

'What should you price your seed round at? Well, it depends. I could probably write a book on venture round pricing dynamics. It would have lots of philosophy, religion, theory, fiction, and pontification. However, since I only have time for a blog post, I''ll settle for actual data. Since January of 2010, when I led my first seed investment in Backupify , I have led or committed to 27 investments.

venture capital 365

venture capital ventures board accelerator 365

Gust

OCTOBER 5, 2014

'Corporate boardroom image via Wikipedia. Mid-level or even top executives who “grew up” in large companies often look with envy at startups, and dream of how easy it must be running a small organization, where you can see the whole picture and it appears you have total control. In reality, very few executives or professional stars from large corporations survive in the early-stage startup environment.

startup 165

startup culture education entrepreneurs 165

For Entrepreneurs

OCTOBER 9, 2014

'For the third year in a row, we worked together with Pacific Crest Securities, an investment banking firm with a specific focus on SaaS, to survey 306 SaaS companies. This represents nearly double the # of respondents from last year, giving us deeper benchmarking data and insights to share on the growth and operations of […].

SaaS 167

SaaS investing investment startup 167

Advertisement

Lack of digitalization decreases business competitiveness. To thrive, embracing modern solutions becomes essential. The approach to digitalization often aligns with a company's business model. This shift not only boosts productivity but also automates processes and improves security. The tech market offers a wealth of technologies tailored for management, planning, and forecasting, replacing outdated pen-and-paper methods.

technology

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

'Note: this is a non-religious post. This weekend was Yom Kippur, holiest of the Jewish holidays and the day of atonement. It’s also the day when most Jewish minds are least focused since one needs to fast for 24 hours. I sat in schul listening to the rabbi’s sermon and given my mind is prone to ADD anyways I must admit that my consciousness often floats around the room but even more so on Yom Kippur.

peer-to-peer 337

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs consulting VC 337

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

'Marc Andreessen kicked off another great debate on Twitter last night, one that I’ve been talking about incessantly in private circles for the past 2-3 years – what actually IS the definition of a seed vs. A-round. Cautionary note: No competent VC is actually fooled when you show up after raising $6M in seed financing and say you’re now raising an A!

VC 136

VC advice financing finance 136

Derek Sivers

OCTOBER 5, 2014

I get emails from many people wanting to change or build their career. I always recommend the best book on the subject: “ So Good They Can’t Ignore You ” by Cal Newport. Here are a few of its best points: Forget passion and purpose. Forget “follow your passion” or “find your true calling”. Stop thinking like that. Here’s why: Words like “passion” and “purpose” are dangerous because they sound huge and romantic.

capital 40

capital investing investment startup 40

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

'Marc Andreessen kicked off another great debate on Twitter last night , one that I’ve been talking about incessantly in private circles for the past 2-3 years – what actually IS the definition of a seed vs. A-round. This is something I think entrepreneurs don’t totally understand and it’s worthwhile they do. My view: “Spending any time or energy trying to game the ‘definition’ of your round of fund raising is a total waste.

VC 399

VC advice financing finance 399

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 9, 2014

'The best managers we all know are the ones who take the time to praise good work in public, before an employee’s peers. Most of us have a monthly award for the top person in a group of employees. And if we are big enough to formalize the process in a regular meeting, we make it a regular part of that meeting. If you haven’t already discovered this fact, such a process quickly becomes routine and predicable.

peer-to-peer 66

peer-to-peer culture 66

Advertisement

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.

development

Gust

OCTOBER 4, 2014

'There are many wonderful ideas, and they are not necessarily easy to come up with. So congratulations on having thought of one! However… “Having value” and “Being fundable” are two completely different things. What the more experienced responders here are saying is completely accurate: while a good idea is usually a necessary ingredient for the formation of a good company, it is not sufficient by itself for any serious investor to fund.

investing 152

investing investment development 152

Tomasz Tunguz

OCTOBER 9, 2014

The WSJ published a recent chart of the 49 startups with billion dollar valuations. According to their research, there have never been as many privately held companies with such high valuations ever. The absolute number of these massively valuable companies alone is amazing. Ten years ago, most of them would have gone public by now. But what other insights can we tease from the data about these very special businesses?

financing 43

financing finance startup SaaS 43

Tomasz Tunguz

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Yesterday, I attended an event held by the IT team of a major bank. When the data analytics team took the stage, I listened with great interest as the chief of the group described their internal struggles with data and the areas where startups might help them achieve their goals. He articulated his team’s needs and goals in a very concise way by bucketing his users into three personas.

development 40

development data analysis startup frameworks 40

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

'A woman you don’t know tells you that she’s going to run a marathon of 7-minute miles. She’s never run a long distance race before. Would you bet on her completing it in record time? Probably not, right? “Watch me,” she tells you. And so you do. You’re impressed when she clocks her first mile at 7 minutes. A single mile does not a marathon make, but still, it’s a major milestone.

venture capital 163

venture capital capital ventures financing 163

Advertisement

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.

opportunity

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

'Part of the challenge is the enormous amount of ignorance surrounding this suddenly hot topic. There are thousands of companies that “the crowd” can fund without restriction, including Apple, Google and Facebook. These are “publicly tradable companies”, and what makes them so are the extensive rules surrounding disclosure, transparency, trading and other aspects of their corporate existence.

investing 128

investing investment support 128

Tomasz Tunguz

OCTOBER 5, 2014

The market for startups raising capital has changed dramatically over the past few years. Round sizes have ballooned: startups raise 50%+ larger rounds than a few years ago. The looming Series A crunch never occurred. Instead, we’ve seen the bifurcation of the Series B market. Series Bs are the spring of hope for some startups who raise megarounds and the winter of despair for others who must compete for increasingly scarce Series B dollars.

startup 40

startup financing finance strategy 40