This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 8, 2011

How about as a VC? Fred has basically always been a VC, Mike was a reporter, and Jim worked in product marketing and management consulting. Surely--but then I realize how difficult it is to be an early stage VC in NYC. At least then you'd imagine that your advice isn't *that* bad because at least you've got some experience.

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NOVEMBER 15, 2010

I spoke about this more in depth in these two posts: 4 things I look for in an investment & how to manage VC relationships. Note that “performance&# on my chart is a loose term for my definition of perceived progress that can take the form of product, customer adoption, employees, investors, press or whatever.

investing 411

investing investment VC advice 411

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JANUARY 11, 2011

If you want a very quick primer on all the stuff nobody ever tells you about raising venture capital check out this video where Mark Jeffrey & I break it down on This Week in VC. All of this is covered in more detail on the TWiVC video above (and much of it is covered in text on this blog on the “ Raising VC &# tab).

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MAY 6, 2018

It definitely has a “d” in it, as in it’s really not fun, raising. As a VC I also have to fund raise every three years and these posts 100% apply to VCs raising money, too. the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll get 8. Fund raising. Just send me your dog damn deck 7. Why you should never have a data room?—?the

advice 236

advice VC entrepreneurs SaaS 236

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. My view: “Spending any time or energy trying to game the ‘definition’ of your round of fund raising is a total waste.

VC 136

VC advice finance financing 136

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FEBRUARY 22, 2011

When this first ran on TechCrunch I got the greatest comment in the world that I had to repeat here, “VC’s are like martinis: the first is good, the second one great, and the third is a headache.&# I understand the appeal of having many VC firms on your cap table. In my second company I had only 1 investor. I love that.

VC 314

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This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 3, 2012

Age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc are all topics that are deeply emotional for people--and, by definition, personal. I think Fred was trying to offer some friendly advice to young investors that you're going to "take lumps" and that it's worth learning from those who are more experienced.

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This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

I was having a conversation last night with another VC who was suggesting I monetize the pro-ratas that I don't take by creating SPVs. It's definitely not the kind of relationship I want to have as an investor. But you could charge fees or at least carry for that. You're leaving money on the table!"

advice 389

advice VC opportunity entrepreneurs 389

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OCTOBER 17, 2019

I became a VC 12 years ago in 2007 when the pace of deals was much slower. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. almost be definition you should be scratching your head.

VC 223

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SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

” This is a frequent theme of mine when asked to speak to audience about the VC industry. And this is fueled by the VC culture in Silicon Valley. I was recently talking to a VC about a business I was looking at and I was asking whether he found the business interesting, too. It is VC math, like it or not.

startup 390

startup VC venture capital entrepreneurs 390

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NOVEMBER 5, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series of posts. I definitely don’t rule out first timers – I just invested in one to be announced soon who I am really excited about – but I greatly prefer experience. They do what VC’s like to call “pivot.&# Boy did I pivot. I’ve been a VC for 2.5

advice 333

advice VC entrepreneurs venture capital 333

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JANUARY 31, 2010

I spotted my fellow VC Leo Spiegel (from Mission Ventures) who had spoken previously to the same group and asked about his experiences. It definitely is an IQ test thing for me. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. I walked around to a few tables and I asked students what would interest them.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 22, 2017

There was a time not too long ago when VC bios read "Fab investor", "Quirky investor", and "Gilt investor". VCs can provide a useful piece of advice at a key moment--or help make a key hire, but the day in and day out grind is done by the work of the founder and the team, and they deserve 99.999999% of the credit.

VC 333

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APRIL 22, 2010

This is part of my startup advice series. It’s still important advice for startup founders and something that I’m passionate about. What is the definition of a job hopper? And good VC’s feel the same way. By definition! Or take this advice from Todd Defren at SHIFT communications.

advice 392

advice peer-to-peer consulting startup founder 392

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MARCH 28, 2010

That’s the classic definition of Grin Fucking. I found that most VC’s never gave me any feedback when I was pitching. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. Unsurprisingly, this one way best. The title IS the post. Don’t be a grin fucker. I’m OK with that.

frameworks 378

frameworks consulting advice strategy 378

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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. That’s OK, too.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

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AUGUST 14, 2010

It surprising how few people actually follow through this this advice. One of the most practical pieces of early career advice I got was “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.&# The message was clear. having quantification in the problem definition always helps. Tags: Startup Advice.

advice 342

advice board consulting development 342

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OCTOBER 3, 2011

But last week I noticed a blog post by a woman, Tara Tiger Brown, that asked the question, “ Why Aren’t More Women Commenting on VC Blog Posts? She has a quote from literally every major VC from whom you’d want to hear. ” [it's short, you should read it]. Please watch this. Every single one.

entrepreneurs 341

entrepreneurs entrepreneurship VC pitching 341

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MARCH 27, 2011

By definition, you read blogs. But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? 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.

startup 373

startup advice communities VC 373

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SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

And we all know that Ron Conway is considered the savviest of angel investors and yet by definition not all of his investments succeed. Tags: Startup Advice Tech Market Analysis VC Industry. Just ask the people who poured money into once “hot&# companies like RazorGator or Friendster. Part three will be published shortly.

angel investing 288

angel investing investing investment advice 288

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JUNE 4, 2013

I guess this is the ultimate definition of implementing a business model when you’re not clear on strategy! If it’s the former your company will definitely start to top out at some point. I sometimes see VCs debate ad finitum about a company’s strategy. Startup Advice' My take on his argument is this: 1.

strategy 401

strategy startup peer-to-peer advice 401

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MARCH 6, 2011

Because my wife is a superstar she published them all on a blog here along with much other wonderful type-A mom advice. I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. It is additive.

VC 292

VC peer-to-peer investing investment 292

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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. Can you please intro me to XYZ VC? If you do randomly write me I have advice.

advice 314

advice culture board VC 314

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OCTOBER 9, 2013

Raise a big VC round – yeah! I had foregone my VC term sheets to accept an offer yet I knew it wasn’t 100% probability to close – it never is. Surreal, it definitely is. Startup Advice' I know it’s not what it used to be, but news flash – it’s still a million dollars! Five million?

advice 405

advice VC creativity opportunity 405

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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.

technology 313

technology incubation VC ventures 313

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JANUARY 31, 2011

I’m enjoying being a VC. I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. I’m sure everybody has their own definition of the attributes of an entrepreneur. VC meetings going well. 2 million in VC.

entrepreneurs 384

entrepreneurs startup VC real estate 384

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MAY 28, 2010

Otherwise you’re not serious and you’ll never get the right job so don’t bother.&# Definitely gets shock value. Why do I give this blunt advice? Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. At least I have their attention. Lots of reasons. Let’s start with the obvious.

advice 326

advice entrepreneurs networking sustainability 326

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APRIL 25, 2013

In the most perfect sense of the definition. Unsurprisingly for Kara is was the VC connections. Startup Advice' And they’re both full time committed to their startup – Moonfrye. Kara as CEO. Soleil at Chief Creative Officer. And watch the magic of what they produce working together. Now ladies, get back to work.

startup 398

startup creativity advice entrepreneurs 398

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JUNE 22, 2011

I spoke about how Amazon Web Services deserves far more credit for the last 5 years of innovation than it gets credit for and how I believe they spawned the micro-VC category. I said that I felt that Micro-VCs were the most important change in our industry. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. I believe that.

real estate 309

real estate entrepreneurs financing finance 309

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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.&#. Prices have definitely gone up in 2011 as depicted in the anecdotal chart below. I’m a VC so I have an obvious bias. I saw this kind of pricing when I first entered the VC market in 2007.

startup 336

startup advice pitching investing 336

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FEBRUARY 23, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on startup advice but also filed under my sales & marketing posts. No advice I give will ever apply to 100% of companies, 100% of startups or even 100% of tech startups. By all means light up my comments sections with any cases you believe where this advice doesn’t apply.

startup 293

startup advice energy strategy 293

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JULY 26, 2010

Sometimes these markets never appeal to “normals&# (Chris Dixon’s definition) and other times it needs to be more effectively marketed to normals. Think about this – what is more powerful – a VC who tells you how great he/she is or when you read your peers reviews on The Funded ?

peer-to-peer 294

peer-to-peer advice innovation support 294

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 13, 2023

Being a VC means not only honing your skills as a judge of character, assessor of business models, and calculator of risk, but it’s also a lot of difficult interpersonal communications, narrative creation, and long-term goal setting and positioning. To navigate this tightrope, I sought out the advice of a coach—Jerry Colonna.

education 195

education advice VC startup ecosystem 195

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JANUARY 21, 2010

Founded it as a California LLC but your potential VC wants a Delaware C-Corp? I recently wrote a post on how to get access to VCs and angels where I outlined why lawyers are such an important tool for VC introductions. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. Our lives are intertwined.

startup 318

startup advice entrepreneurs VC 318

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 5, 2011

If you want to be in venture capital, ask a bunch of junior VC types what they actually do all day, and ask a bunch of partners what they expect the junior VC types to do all day (I wonder if this would come anywhere close to matching up.) Write down all the tasks done, skills used, etc. and see which ones overlap the most.

venture capital 365

venture capital VC construction consulting 365

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JANUARY 4, 2014

I have seen it first-hand in my VC career many, many times. In many cases it’s easier if this person isn’t a board member or VC unless you have an extremely close or trusting relationship with them. Startup Advice' And, yes, it is politics at its purest. Meaning – politics starts with your co-founder.

founder 340

founder board culture advice 340

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JULY 25, 2010

“Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator. So what are you waiting for?

strategy 293

strategy venture capital SaaS investing 293