Both Sides of the Table

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.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

Show some energy! I spotted my fellow VC Leo Spiegel (from Mission Ventures) who had spoken previously to the same group and asked about his experiences. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. So I thought I’d write a piece on how to not suck when you give a presentation.

advice 362

advice VC entrepreneurs education 362

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. My main advice to you if you’re considering it is don’t waste much equity on it. Frankly, they don’t have enough skin in the game to warrant the time & energy. You can go as high as 1% because they’re going to get diluted when you bring in VC.

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board startup advice VC 306

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

A chip on one’s shoulder as in, “F**k the system, it’s broken and I want to fix it” is exactly the energy I look for in entrepreneurs. But even if a VC is nasty a rant email back isn’t the right way to channel your frustration. Last year I wrote a blog post on entrepreneurs with a chip on their shoulders.

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energy entrepreneurs advice startup 371

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

So it was my great pleasure to host Chamillionaire on This Week in VC this week talking marketing, entrepreneurship, old media and, of course, music. Raising Capital – The VC equivalent for musicians is getting signed by a major label. People want what they can’t have and VCs are no different. .’

entrepreneurs 356

entrepreneurs media VC creativity 356

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

Because my role as a VC requires me to take and endless stream of meetings I long ago decided I need to learn as much as I can from the meetings I attend so I often just ask tons of questions and assimilate knowledge. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence.

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VC communities investing investment 360

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I was meeting with a first-time CEO of a very promising young startup recently and offering my advice on what his priorities should be. I gave him the same advice I give nearly all over-worked, control-freak, do-everything-yourself startup founders: “Your number one priority isn’t any of these things. Me: “Bullshit.

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communities VC innovation entrepreneurs 317

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. You’ve found a VC partner or principal who has invited you to the Monday partners’ meeting. You need to let the energy of the room guide you.

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advice VC pitching venture capital 318

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. But there does seem to be huge startup energy around the Flatiron District / Union Square.

technology 313

technology incubation VC ventures 313

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

VC’s money comes from mostly institutional investors called LPs (limited partners). They trust the judgment of the VCs to source, finance, help manage and then create some sort of exit for the investments that they make. They also trust VC’s to determine the right price to pay for the company securities that they buy.

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startup advice finance financing 290

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 27, 2012

I believe there needs to be more focus on reinventing eduction, healthcare, energy and even less noble industries such as television, telephony and financial services. I remember a discussion with an older VC who told me that in the early 90′s they wondered whether the VC industry had a future. “ And my fear?

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VC media entrepreneurs energy 299

Both Sides of the Table

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.

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startup advice energy strategy 293

TechCrunch

MARCH 15, 2022

Not-for-profit search engine Ecosia has started funnelling a portion of the profits it generates from serving ads against users’ searches into startups in the renewable energy space. “At the moment, we’re supporting renewable energy projects across Germany.

energy 86

energy incubation pitching communities 86

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

Every time I’m there I’m blown away by the renewed energy and the thriving communities that have formed around the Flatiron District, Brooklyn and elsewhere. IA Ventures – Roger Ehrenberg was doing angel investing before he became a VC. Not versus every other VC but versus many. I was a former entrepreneur.

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communities startup creativity VC 304

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2010

Many of us in the technology, media and VC world sit on panels at lot. Show energy and enthusiasm. And, yes, I probably take a little bit too much license with this particular advice. Keep it short, sharp, punchy and high energy. Obviously you don’t have to pass an IQ test to become a VC.&#.

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advice media education VC 284

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2011

Will you get the TechCrunch bump, the tier-1 VC anointment, followed by great PR firm support and then the NY Times or WSJ story that follows? Not every problem has to be a huge VC-fundable business. Others like Words with Friends solve deeper problems than games, like meeting new people or curing loneliness. I have no problem with it.

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transportation VC networking energy 309

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

The confidence, energy, passion and humor that are hallmarks of Jonathan became muted in the pressures of needing to show financial successes to match one’s enormous product vision and ambitions. I know because I marked the occasion with a blog post on how to have a great VC meeting. Startup Advice' I saw this first hand.

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peer-to-peer energy founder advice 303

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2014

For engineering it focuses one’s energy on a critical date and there is the satisfaction of being able to see the immediate results of your hard work in front of a large audience. There is nothing that will focus the mind more than not wanting to be on stage with a demo that bombs.

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creativity leadership board energy 344

Jason Malki

MARCH 9, 2023

Then, I stumbled upon PE/VC after chatting with a good college buddy of mine. What is your advice for someone trying to break into tech investing? VC is a patient capital asset class — you won’t know how good of an investor you are until several years down the road. I would break it down into 3 steps. This was very insightful.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

The hardest relationships to establish have been with the biggest product companies (auto makers, consumer product companies), retailers (Walmart, Kroger) and big transportation (UPS, FedEx), logistics, energy, healthcare, shipping & telecommunications companies. They often fly back at least once if not twice a year to see family.

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startup communities venture capital angel capital 390

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

I love the enthusiasm, the boundless energy and the sense of possibility that comes from having an idea that hasn’t yet been beat up in the marketplace of competing ideas, customer contracts, VC skepticism, jaded journalists or fickle consumers who are on the The New, New Thing.

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board energy finance financing 338

Both Sides of the Table

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.

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founder board culture advice 340

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

I focus my energy on “ critical path analysis &# so I mentally sketch out what parts of task I actually need to do early and I don’t let those slip. I was on vacation in Santa Barbara two years ago with my wife and I was reflecting on what I had learned in my first year in LA and in VC. Tags: Startup Advice.

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mentorship creativity energy entrepreneurs 374

TechCrunch

AUGUST 27, 2021

Partners in well-known VC firms spoke, they were accessible, and they shared smart, insightful nuggets. With the emergence of concepts such as NFT and GameFi, socialization prosperities are bringing new energy to the crypto world. . — Karin Maake, senior director of communications at FlashParking. Michael McCarthy, CEO of Repositax.

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disruption advice leadership energy 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Elect 1-2 representatives and even invite a local VC to invest personally and sit on the investment committee or be an advisor. ” And if aspiring investment teams are looking to get together the SBIC has come back with a new VC focused program to help non-Silicon Valley communities fund companies beyond their initial angel money.

communities 378

communities startup venture capital capital 378

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

Salesforce’s success as a company early on was due to the fact that their earliest customers DID have success and Salesforce put a lot of energy into making that happen. Salesforce did have their own professional services / implementation team.

startup 403

startup financing finance strategy 403

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

In a VC pitch this type of messaging will do just fine. But they’re under the gun to crank out story after story so they don’t have the time or energy to understand why your behavioral targeting technology is mathematically better than your 5 competitors. Simplify Your Message. You need to communicate with journalists.

entrepreneurs 370

entrepreneurs pitching startup education 370

Gust

OCTOBER 8, 2014

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! My view: “Spending any time or energy trying to game the ‘definition’ of your round of fund raising is a total waste. No VC will be so naive as not to see straight through it. Nobody cares.

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VC advice finance financing 136

Both Sides of the Table

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

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. With small amounts of money invested (sub $3 million) the risks are reasonably low for most VCs and the consequences of bad decisions or decisions a VC has limited say in is tolerable. Startup Advice'

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board media mentorship advice 325

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

In the next post I’m going to talk about “funnel management” and how to handle all of your VC pipeline discussions and how to keep your process alive but the first step is to keep your confidence alive. When a VC submits a term sheet all of those angels & seed funds who wanted to fund you “once you got a lead” are your new best friends.

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pitching VC consulting creativity 232

David Teten VC

JULY 27, 2021

We have collected a wide range of freebies, contests, accelerators, online communities, and VCs designed for student tech founders. I have been researching this both to support Versatile VC ’s portfolio companies and also as part of research for my new book, To University and Beyond: Launch Your Career in High Gear. 1) Your school.

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founder mentorship peer-to-peer pitching 144

TechCrunch

MARCH 31, 2022

A great VC will do so much more for you than just write a check. VCs should never give armchair product advice nor cross the line into micromanagement. The best founder and VC relationships are based on trust and partnership; it should be a relationship that’s nonjudgmental, supportive, and constructive.

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founder venture capital advice construction 87

Hunter Walk

AUGUST 23, 2023

Specifically I’ve had the chance to spend meaningful time over the years with Michael Mignano as he went from startup CEO to Executive/Angel Investor and now VC Partner at Lightspeed. I can vouch for his genuine optimism Hunter Walk: You got to work with a number of different VCs on your cap table for Anchor. Was I right?

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VC founder ventures culture 96

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2009

Business Etiquette Tips for dealing with VCs and Corporates at Conferences. This is part of my ongoing series with Startup Advice. He gives the example of Roelof Boetha, a very well known VC from Sequoia, who always (re) introduces himself to Michael and reminds him who he is even though Michael has met him several times.

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advice pitching entrepreneurs VC 322

Entrepreneur's Handbook

MAY 23, 2022

You’ll receive the best practical startup advice straight to your inbox every week. He is the founder of Octopus Energy which has $6 billion in revenue after just 6 years. Welcome to another edition of our new newsletter! S ometimes that’s true. Often, it’s not. Sign up here. Interested in becoming a writer for Crypto Handbook?

VC 52

VC pitching advice media 52

TechCrunch

JANUARY 8, 2022

Even to outsiders, the inner workings of startup accelerators has become familiar: pumped up on camaraderie and energy drinks, scrappy founders do product demos onstage before a room full of buzzy journalists and investors. Signaling risk happens when a VC chooses to not do pro rata, or follow-on investing, in an existing portfolio company.

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startup accelerator accelerator startup energy 92