Both Sides of the Table

MAY 3, 2015

It spoke to me because it so resonates with my nearly daily advice to entrepreneurs and VCs alike. I went as far as to call it the best Tweet of 2015 so far because it encapsulated my advice so succinctly. I am often asked how we make decisions on investments at Upfront Ventures. He took two words where I take 1,000!

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advice peer-to-peer startup frameworks 332

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!,

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This is going to be BIG.

JULY 8, 2013

I know what it''s like being an entrepreneur trying to get people to care about what I cared about--you feel so desperate and as if you were just one big break or random intro away from success. That''s kind of like what it''s like being on board with these companies after you make an early stage investment. Few firms persist.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Most associates need some entrepreneurial experience before actually making investments. Great networking skills, which are critical when you want to be about to reference entrepreneurs & concepts and bounce your ideas off of other people in the industry. I think there are two reasons for this: 1.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2015

So here’s advice I give people all the time when they’re raising money. Many entrepreneurs pitching err on the side of too much information. Or they’ll remind me of my common advice to take “ 50 coffee meetings.” Show me your unicorn. Honestly, just searching the term yield many results.

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advice pitching disruption VC 360

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

So why are so many diverse entrepreneurs shortchanging themselves? Right this very minute, I'm also working hard to secure my spot in an oversubscribed round for a pre-product company led by a female entrepreneur, while simultaneously wrapping up a seed round in a founder of color who didn't have a problem raising at all.

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advice founder pitching VC 419

Entrepreneurs' Organization

OCTOBER 27, 2023

We both went on to have successful careers as consultants and entrepreneurs, and had a passion for working with and investing in younger entrepreneurs. We reconnected in 2016 and began angel investing in startups in New York City.  We could complement our own experiences with the experience of other HBS entrepreneurs.

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entrepreneurs startup advice angel investing 251

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” But I also have advice for the 15% that really do want to be a startup CEO. At Upfront we invested in such a company.

advice 334

advice peer-to-peer VC board 334

Paul G. Silva

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Practice Your Pitch and Save Your Social Capital Entrepreneurs benefit tremendously from practicing their pitch and Q&A. Instead, it asked: Your revenue-sharing model is somewhat unconventional in the startup investment space. and “What are your management team’s qualifications?”

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pitching advice sustainability entrepreneurs 246

American Entrepreneurship

JANUARY 5, 2025

Having the right business advisor can be a game-changer for an entrepreneur Starting and growing a business is a challenging and often lonely endeavor. Entrepreneurs are presented with both business and personal challenges as they travel their entrepreneurial journey.

entrepreneurs 98

entrepreneurs mentorship entrepreneurship advice 98

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JANUARY 15, 2020

Before diving into entrepreneurship, wouldn’t it be ideal to tap into the knowledge of experienced, thriving business owners for advice on failure-proofing a new business? Do whatever legwork is possible to validate your product-market fit before investing everything in your concept. marketplace. Validate product-market fit. “Do

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strategy entrepreneurs peer-to-peer mix-use 255

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2015

I’m so tired of seeing young entrepreneurs get screwed by their angel investors on convertible notes and I know I can’t convince you not to do it so I’d like to offer one simple bit of advice to help you avoid getting screwed (at least on one part of your note). It’s the silent screwing that stings.

entrepreneurs 381

entrepreneurs VC advice financing 381

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 15, 2023

In March, EO recognizes and celebrates women entrepreneurs with its second annual EmpowHER virtual conference , which focuses on the specific challenges women in business experience. Women entrepreneurs will learn from experts how to navigate the three pillars of every woman entrepreneurs’ life: business, family and self.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll ever get I’m about to offer you some fund-raising advice that flies directly in the face of what most conventional wisdom will tell you. These collective sets of documents form the basis of what somebody looking at investing would call “financial due diligence.” It doesn’t.

advice 336

advice VC entrepreneurs investing 336

Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Heidi Zak , Elon Musk, Oprah, Warren Buffet, Kendra Scott , Sara Blakely and Bill Gates—entrepreneurs may appear quite diverse, but they typically share a few key qualities. What makes an entrepreneur? The adage couldn’t be more true than in the context of successful entrepreneurs. A passion for connection.

entrepreneurs 236

entrepreneurs peer-to-peer creativity networking 236

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MAY 28, 2021

Here’s the difference: A hobby or side hustle involves a discretionary investment of time and money. After 25 years of self-employment, I felt ready to make the shift from freelancer to entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs, however, usually call themselves founders or CEOs. But I could change my perspective and my goals.

entrepreneurs 306

entrepreneurs strategy sustainability financing 306

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. Obstacles and Lessons Learned as an Entrepreneur .

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entrepreneurs advice peer-to-peer sustainability 214

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

MARCH 2, 2021

It is vital for entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders to understand unconscious biases that may be present in their journey to growing their business or organization. The post What entrepreneurs need to know about unconscious bias appeared first on Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

The best entrepreneurs in our industry focus on it year-round as opposed to just once every 18 months. the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll get 8. But it’s critical for your business, for you as a leader and people who excel at fund raising have an extreme advantage over those who do not. Let me give you an example.

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advice VC entrepreneurs SaaS 236

Venture Hacks

APRIL 17, 2019

Spearhead asked me to write a post on angel investing when they first launched. Charlie Munger says investing requires a latticework of mental models. Here are 11 lessons for your angel investing lattice: If you can’t decide, the answer is no. Investing takes years to learn, but improves for a lifetime.

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angel investing investment investing incubation 181

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

What Cham rarely tells people – he’s both private and humble – is that he started making some small co-investments with me in tech firms starting with Maker Studios where he was one of the earliest investors. This past year he even decided to attend burning man (photo below) to get a sense of what that was all about.

ventures 420

ventures pitching entrepreneurship advice 420

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 6, 2020

Like the downturns in 2008 and 2001, this has been a very trying time for entrepreneurs running startups. Many entrepreneurs are reliant on outside funding, whether angel investors, venture capitalists or strategic investors , to keep the venture going. I interviewed a number of prominent VC’s and entrepreneurs for my recent book.

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peer-to-peer startup advice entrepreneurs 321

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I’m very excited to be finally be able to announce that this week we’ve added Sam Rosen to our ranks at GRP Partners in the role of entrepreneurs-in-residence – EIR. It’s the first EIR that we’ve had in the years that I’ve been with the firm and I hope will be the start of our investment in this program.

pitching 372

pitching advice VC entrepreneurs 372

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 3, 2016

At least, that's how a lot of entrepreneurs feel. We're "kingmakers" whose investment has the "Midas Touch." Perhaps if we spend more time talking about board participation, counseling entrepreneurs on decisions, helping them solve problems and working hard to recruit people, the type of people who apply to the job might change.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I often talk about what I’m looking for when I meet with an entrepreneur. Above all else I’m looking for a genuine passion for what the entrepreneur is doing. You can sense when it is a “mission” for this entrepreneur to succeed and she will continue the journey even if success isn’t easy or immediate.

peer-to-peer 373

peer-to-peer VC pitching entrepreneurs 373

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

Wouldn’t we be a bit hypocritical if we talked with entrepreneurs about innovation and change but we weren’t willing to take it on ourselves? Why should investors know all the tricks of the trade while first-time entrepreneurs operated at a disadvantage? Startup Advice' What’s up with that? See what we did there?

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ventures venture capital advice VC 343

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

” I found myself nodding through all of it with quotes like, “Seed investing is the status symbol of Silicon Valley,” said Sam Altman. One of my favorite entrepreneur-Twitterer weighed in, “You want to keep tapping into their collective intelligence so you keep saying ‘Thank you for the feedback’ and they keep sending it,” Ms.

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Dream It

DECEMBER 10, 2020

In this guest Dreamit Dose, Jason Calacanis (@jason), a technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and the host of the popular podcasts This Week in Startups and Angel, answers the top 5 questions he gets about angel investing. Traction and determined entrepreneurs who are constantly working to make their company better.

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angel investing investment investing networking 221

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

I recently read a blog post by Beezer Clarkson, Managing Director of Sapphire Ventures about why entrepreneurs should care about from whom their VC funds raise their capital. There are a lot of things I think entrepreneurs should care about when raising from a VC: How big or small their fund is? I could go on for a long time.

entrepreneurs 237

entrepreneurs VC mentorship strategy 237

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

My goal in the interview overall was to capture more of the personal side of Fred since so much of his investment thesis and portfolio work already comes out in his blog. Not to mention USV’s investments in MongoDB (10Gen), Lending Club and a host of others. You need to invest in good markets and bad.

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advice board VC investing 327

Entrepreneurs' Organization

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Many people think multitasking is a skill that women are naturally good at, but eventually working as an entrepreneur at a million miles an hour will take its toll. As female entrepreneurs, we are independent-minded and innovative, and this advice is critical for securing our future and the future of our families.

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founder advice entrepreneurship entrepreneurs 262

Startup Blogpost

OCTOBER 14, 2024

Over time, I realized that my true passion lies in empowering entrepreneurs and helping them create sustainable, scalable businesses. I became passionate about helping entrepreneurs in this space develop authentic brands that connect with their audiences. to support female entrepreneurs.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

JUNE 19, 2024

Yet, as most seasoned entrepreneurs will attest, the reality is far more complex and challenging, particularly when you decide to bootstrap your business. Instead, it began with 15 years of hands-on learning in capital markets, working closely with entrepreneurs, investors, and bankers. The early years were grueling.

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financing finance entrepreneurship mentorship 255

StartupNation

DECEMBER 29, 2020

Many people dream of being an entrepreneur. If only this were the reality, everyone would be an entrepreneur! Being an entrepreneur can be tremendously rewarding, but it is hard work. Being an entrepreneur can be tremendously rewarding, but it is hard work. A successful entrepreneur is passionate about their business.

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entrepreneurs advice leadership entrepreneurship 138

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

And so do entrepreneurs who are quick to pivot to new businesses or to sell in an acquihire. LPs (the people who invest in VC funds) want to know what “hot” deals you’re in. It’s been high tide since 2009 so an entire batch of entrepreneurs don’t know what low tide even looks like.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. My general advice is to do less. We are experiencing a frenetic time.

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Paul G. Silva

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Usually entrepreneurs try cold-calling investors or asking investors they know to make referrals. It is 100% a waste of an entrepreneur’s time to cold-call investors. If they have, their investors are the people you want to meet – people who have a track record of investing in companies like yours. Meet and learn.

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