Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

You may feel as I did in 1999 that the more smart people around the table the more intros you’ll have, the more sage advice you’ll receive and the more impressive you’ll seem to outsiders. So why else would they invest if not as an option to re-up in the next round? You simply can’t drive good returns that way.

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Hunter Walk

FEBRUARY 22, 2025

Most strategies are some combination of innovation and best practices along the classic five steps of venture investing: See, Pick, Win, Service, Exit. What’s my needle magnet definition? So my general advice is as you’re building a firm, think about which magnets feel right to you and start investing in them early.

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startup VC strategy leadership 94

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series of posts. When you see the successes of Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry & Sergey, Marc Andreessen and Marc Benioff it is easy to see the allure (either that or invest in people named Mark. Tags: Raising Venture Capital Start-up Advice Startup Advice.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 28, 2010

That’s the classic definition of Grin Fucking. Privately you all acknowledge that nobody believes in it yet we’re letting our leadership continue to invest our money and reputation on something we know is going to fail because it has no real basis. Unsurprisingly, this one way best. The title IS the post.

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frameworks consulting advice strategy 378

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

I guess this is the ultimate definition of implementing a business model when you’re not clear on strategy! Put simply – you need enough users in a segment who care about what you’re doing to dictate investing further in the product or in sales & marketing resources. Startup Advice'

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strategy startup peer-to-peer advice 401

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

The problem of amplification: The problem got worse as the data flowed out to the “bulge bracket&# investment banks. They got the data feed either from the research company or from the investment bank. Every investment banker I know is “number 1″ in something. Nobody was surprised. I wish it ended there.

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consulting data analysis advice construction 415

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

He hasn't founded or built either a successful, let alone innovative company, and he hasn't raised $ to invest in those entrepreneurs. You would see mostly unrealized investments, some of which had raised successful follow on rounds, but mostly too early to tell. These are things I systematically break down when I look at investments.

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VC peer-to-peer board advice 275

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

It definitely is an IQ test thing for me. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. My constituencies were broad and I felt like going deep into one single area would have bored large groups of the people on any topic I picked. If you practiced you sure would realize that nobody could read it.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2010

Quite honestly I see way too many company pitches that are designed for Techies but I only want to invest in products designed for Normals. Start by defining the problem you’re solving – I see way too many early-stage entrepreneurs who start their companies with a product definition rather than a market problem.

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advice entrepreneurs sustainability pitching 348

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I’m no great scholar on bubbles – I have more interesting things to spend my time worrying about than the exact definition , but having been around a few I have at least given them intellectual consideration. Exactly the opposite of what a rational investment strategy would advise. Why I believe we’re in a bubble.

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real estate entrepreneurs financing finance 309

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

about their marathon 4-hour sessions to get to zero inbox or somebody else claiming email bankruptcy ( definition if you don’t know it already ). I will even take to emailing people I don’t know offering small bits of advice. I didn’t expect an investment out of this breakfast – I was going to give back.

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advice culture board VC 314

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. But if you identify investors with whom you’d like to work here’s my advice: 1.

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startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

Onevest

APRIL 21, 2015

By Michael Whitehouse If you are considering investing in a startup company offline or online with platforms like 1000 Angels , a private investor network that connects startups with investors, the sheer number of what’s available can be both daunting and comforting. If they are not then your investment could prove worthless.

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investing investment startup sustainability 121

Smart Hustle Magazine

JULY 8, 2020

Investing in real estate can be an exciting premise — it’s been well-known that with the right decisions, real estate can provide a very good ROI (return on investment). Divya Tandon is an expert in real estate management and investing, and she gave Ramon the rundown on how to get into this field of work and be successful.

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real estate advice investing investment 106

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

LA generally doesn’t have an appetite for this kind of investment at early stages. In content creation we definitely have assets other markets don’t have. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Launchpad LA SoCal Stuff Start-up Advice Startup Advice. LA investors are more pragmatic. And still much work to be done.

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technology advice entrepreneurs innovation 290

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

It’s the one bit of advice I find myself giving most frequently these days, “raise money at the top end of normal.&#. If you invested in the first angel round of a startup company it is usually very hard to sell your stock – usually for many years if ever at all. Here’s what I mean. They are pretty illiquid.

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startup advice pitching investing 336

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

When I work with community leaders I often encourage them to “pool capital” together from many angels into a fund structure run by a small investment committee that can make more rapid funding decisions, take more risks (it is pooled capital so goes across more investments), and standardize investment terms.

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startup communities venture capital angel capital 390

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

It's big, well known & we've invested in all of these really cool companies]. There is no chance they’re going to invest and it’s not even a close match. The actual investment professionals (partners) are too busy to call companies that they’re interested in so they basically outsource it.

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VC entrepreneurs advice investing 294

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

I think his advice is this op-ed is bananas. I have even had to get physical security advice from some of the crazy. It’s not under the definition of crazy per Adam’s op-ed. Are you interested in looking at this investment where I’m on the board?” No, it’s not fun. Why does this happen? You two should meet.”

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advice board pitching startup accelerator 250

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

By definition, you read blogs. I was meeting regularly with entrepreneurs and offering (for better or for worse) advice on how to run a startup and how to raise venture capital from my experience in doing so at two companies. I know that I have not yet earned these kudos based on investment returns (although my partners have.

startup 373

startup advice communities VC 373

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 22, 2017

Remember that we're lucky to be investing in your company, because ideas as good as yours don't come around too often, and that will change your approach as you try to gather your first check. We can debate whether they're sociopaths, but we definitely shouldn't assume that every "great investor" is "great" at being human.

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VC advice pitching opportunity 333

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. This class of investors is more diversified across categories plus is investing personal money and therefore feels the hit in assets declines first. Either won’t bode well for angels if they’re also hurting on non tech investments.

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entrepreneurs real estate VC advice 298

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

When I described to people why I initially invested my calls went something like this, “He’s taken kicks to the face for nearly 2 years and is still standing. Because my wife is a superstar she published them all on a blog here along with much other wonderful type-A mom advice. Through this process he raised $2 million.

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VC peer-to-peer investing investment 292

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Rincon is part of the new breed of Seed Stage VCs and with the leadership of Jim Andelman has charted out the most authentic early-stage investment strategy in Southern California. If you haven’t read it you should definitely buy it – other people just like you did. From there Rob decided to make a small investment.

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strategy venture capital SaaS investing 293

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MAY 28, 2021

Here’s the difference: A hobby or side hustle involves a discretionary investment of time and money. Being a solopreneur, by definition, means going it alone. You can join business groups and share advice with other solopreneurs. With a business, the owner is all-in and committed to making it a success. You don’t hire employees.

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entrepreneurs strategy sustainability finance 306

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2010

There are definitely times where a more narrowly defined question makes sense and where you want to guide the person you’re talking with to a narrow boundary to illicit a certain type of response. I wanted to understand how he had arrived at his previous investment decisions. I wanted to know what made him tick.

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advice investment investing strategy 311

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

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. Think USV is only invested around Union Square in NYC? This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. Think again. Angry Birds?

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communities startup venture capital capital 378

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MAY 1, 2024

shared his experience around starting a business, the effects it had on his mental health and his advice on taking care of yourself and your business. was born out of my desire for autonomy and to create an investment group founded on family values,” Andile says. Loneliness is definitely a reality in entrepreneurship.

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health entrepreneurship entrepreneurial ecosystem entrepreneurs 194

TechCrunch

JANUARY 8, 2022

Signaling risk happens when a VC chooses to not do pro rata, or follow-on investing, in an existing portfolio company. The idea is that investors who know you best — the ones who bet on you earlier than others — are choosing not to invest in you in your next phase of growth, which must mean that the deal isn’t that great.

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startup accelerator accelerator startup energy 92

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. This article initially appeared on TechCrunch. “We want low-touch or zero-touch businesses” was the mantra.

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startup financing finance strategy 403

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

JUNE 7, 2019

As an independent woman with a go-getter attitude, she shared insights with us into her life as an entrepreneur and what it was like getting YHS off the ground, as well as her advice for other young entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was definitely a challenge, but one she has overcome to help her organization grow.

entrepreneurs 214

entrepreneurs advice peer-to-peer sustainability 214

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

The main thrust of the post is that with YouTube taking a 45% of revenue and talent taking 70% of the remaining revenue, YouTube Networks didn’t have sustainable businesses unless they invested heavily in technology as a tool to increase margin and provide defensibility. That is the definition of Disruptive Technology.

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networking sustainability mix-use media 339

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 13, 2023

To me, it’s exactly the kind of thing that the feedback and perspective of a coach is great for—but I don’t see a lot of investors making the investment in getting a coach. To navigate this tightrope, I sought out the advice of a coach—Jerry Colonna. Also, maybe you don’t have the same definition of VC success.

education 195

education advice VC startup ecosystem 195

TechCrunch

JULY 22, 2022

Drawing from my legal expertise as head of Wayra X, Telefónica’s investment vehicle and conversations with founders at the negotiation table, this is my advice for dealing with CVCs. So, if they present terms that would seem out of place in a traditional investor contract, founders can definitely call them out.

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investing investment venture capital creativity 87

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

And it is all the harder because if you’ve invested 3-5 years in a business already and can’t agree how to separate you could literally throw out years of hard work on venture where the future is insolvable. Startup Advice' I see it all the time. Meaning – politics starts with your co-founder. Nurture it.

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founder board culture advice 340

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2012

I’ve been meeting with LPs (those who invest in VC funds) over the past year and discussing trends I see in the market and where I think we need to be as a firm to be near to and meet the needs of our customers. I think NY has always – by definition – been urban. These days it’s Santa Monica and Venice.

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technology incubation VC ventures 313

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When we invest they are often the company counsel so we see them at board meetings. WTF is the definition of “may?&# In human speak that sounds like they also have the other option, “may not.&# What a waste to sign an agreement that someone “may&# offer your service. Our lives are intertwined.

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startup advice entrepreneurs VC 318