Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2014

'Mark. You disappeared? What the fork happened to you? And what’s up with this crazy new blog design? Well … more on that next week. I will tell more. But for now … Every year we run a big VC, LP & Tech Summit in Los Angeles (this year downtown) to showcase the best of our community and invite others from around the country. Our event this year will feature many portfolio companies and also emerging LA tech companies such as Tinder & Whisper.

energy 290

energy startup creativity VC 290

Gust

FEBRUARY 23, 2014

'Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield via Wikipedia. Most startups dream of attracting a celebrity endorsement, and assume that it will take their startup to the stars. Startups such as Chirpify have managed to flourish and raise millions with endorsements from folks like Lil Wayne and Snoop Lion. Others go the way of 12Society , an LA subscription commerce startup with six celebrity sponsors, but still couldn’t get any traction.

ventures 151

ventures entrepreneurs entrepreneurship education 151

Tomasz Tunguz

FEBRUARY 22, 2014

From zero to $19B of business value in five years; WhatsApp’s sale to Facebook is an important moment in the history of the consumer web. The deal proves distribution, reach and large user bases aren’t the competitive moats they once were. Apple’s App Store and Google Play have leveled the playing field to such an extent that a startup can command 10% of the market cap from a $200B company.

incumbents 40

incumbents disruption innovation accelerator 40

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

'By Frank Peters. I became an entrepreneur because I had to. My life in Corporate America wasn’t going so well. I never got fired, but I did quit one job the day before I was to be let go. I used my employee discount that last day to purchase a Compaq luggable computer and drove with my brother to Las Vegas. Now, this would be questionable therapy for anyone who just became unemployed, except we were heading to Comdex , the annual computer show that would eventually grow huge as would th

entrepreneurs 81

entrepreneurs networking opportunity capital 81

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

Gust

FEBRUARY 26, 2014

'There are surprisingly few such conferences, for the very good reason that there are actually relatively few such people (venture capitalists and ‘professional’ angel investors) to attend them! But that said, here are the biggest (i.e., “only” events of their type): Business Angels. Angel Capital Association (US) Annual Summit.

ventures 125

ventures angel investing education pitching 125

Gust

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

'The Raise: Fundraising Tips from Investors and Entrepreneurs. The 85-Percent. Thursday, February 27, 2014 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (EST). New York, NY. Navigating the fundraising process can often seem daunting, like you’re trying to make your way through a labyrinth of investors, lawyers, and business advisors. Join Women In Music and The 85-Percent on February 27th for an in-depth discussion on how to start the fundraising process and navigate the world of startup investing.

entrepreneurs 148

entrepreneurs pitching investing investment 148

Tomasz Tunguz

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Raising capital from venture capitalists at any stage can seem like a very strange, ambiguous and amorphous process. I’ve written about the way Redpoint diligences/researches a startup and its market and what questions we tend to ask at each stage. In this post, I’ll focus on the process from entrepreneur’s point of view. When raising capital, entrepreneurs will see potential investors move through four phases of investment decision-making process: screening, socialization, dil

startup 49

startup pitching opportunity entrepreneurs 49

Tomasz Tunguz

FEBRUARY 26, 2014

The process of creating the right culture in a startup has always been mysterious to me. Each company’s culture evolves in its own way. I’ve wondered whether the culture is set by the personalities of the founders, or prominently displayed value statements and mission, or biases purposely imposed in the hiring processes like Google’s googliness filter.

culture 40

culture founder startup 40

Tomasz Tunguz

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

A few days ago, Simply Business published an infographic and data on the acquisition patterns of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Yahoo. Looking at that data, I wondered which acquirers pay the most for startups. Ideally, this data provides some negotiating leverage to founders selling their businesses. I’ve prepared three charts and a table to tell the story.

startup 40

startup strategy innovation founder 40

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