Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

I recently wrote a piece about how Entrepreneurs Should be Respected, Not Loved. The corollary to this rule is “decision by indecision.&# This is one of my favorite lines to remind entrepreneurs because it is the sort of garden variety mistake that is so common in everyday life. So you make four more reference calls.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

[if you're not old enough to get the reference between this image and the title you can click on the image for a prompter]. This past December I spent a week in Boston to try to get to know some of the local VC’s and entrepreneurs a bit better. Entrepreneurs need to share more information with each other.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

My favorite two quotes of the weekend were: “Never trade your cat for somebody else’s dog” (referring to selling your company for stock to another privately held company – quote was from Alan. Entrepreneurs always walk away with new relationships, knowledge, deal discussions and enthusiasm. View more presentations from steve blank.

peer-to-peer 279

peer-to-peer advice VC board 279

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

A reminder that it is important for all entrepreneurs is to remember to be careful about “deal drift.” Conversely I offered the same deal to another entrepreneur who decided to shop around longer. Don’t be complacent – What really winds me up is when entrepreneurs are complacent. If they want reference calls be ballsy.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

I had an enjoyable conversation this morning with a young team straight out of college this morning and they were calling to ask advice on how to approach fund raising (angels vs. VCs, how to select a VC, etc.) If I were looking at which VCs to choose I would reference strongly for which ones are supportive in good times and bad.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Back to Mr. Christensen, “We subsidize their education in fields for which there are no jobs” he said in referring to the fact that many courses at universities are still taught with skills that aren’t relevant to the 21st century needs of the US workforce. The numerator (return) encourages more sales, which is fine.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

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. He was also an undergraduate of the one place that I think is cranking out some of the best young entrepreneurs and investors these days – Wharton.

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investment investing VC board 365

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Knowing how important technology is to every young entrepreneur, along with their leadership skills, Janeel’s passion for both came through in his interview with the YLAI Network, shared below. I continually reference these tools, techniques and logistics of a project starting from the beginning to the end. government.

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leadership education advice communities 246

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2010

doing a reference call on a prospective employee. THE REFERENCE CALL: Reference calls are hard. We’ve obviously had a great experience interviewing him or we wouldn’t be doing reference calls. One thing we picked up from another reference call was that Bob has at times fought with co-workers.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

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!, And why my advice to newer VCs would be not to feel bad if you’re missing out on what is perceived as a few hot deals. And there’s conferences.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

Yesterday I had lunch with a really interesting and capable serial entrepreneur who is raising his A round. When people refer to a strategic investor they are usually talking about an investor that comes from the industry you serve as opposed to an independent venture capital investor. The topic of &# strategic&# investors came up.

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advice venture capital frameworks entrepreneurs 279

Entrepreneurs' Organization

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

Almost 10 years ago, I had my first experience with a professional Forum when I joined Entrepreneurs’ Organization. A Forum, which is also often referred to as a Mastermind, is a group of peers who meet regularly, with the goal of helping each member improve personally and professionally. In my experience.

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peer-to-peer advice frameworks accelerator 278

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JANUARY 14, 2022

Kym is fascinated by entrepreneurs and their journeys, so he asked EO members from various chapters to share their experiences. Read his earlier posts on what EO members wish non-entrepreneurs knew about entrepreneurs and how they define success. At the time, I considered them “not profound” due to their simplicity.

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leadership entrepreneurs frameworks creativity 281

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

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. Or “I’m a new entrepreneur, why would I offer advice on how to run a startup?&#. It really started simply enough.

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startup advice communities VC 373

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2014

So perhaps his king reference was fitting. In tech circles one refers to the firm as either Kleiner Perkins, KP or Kleiner. Read about the Schmatta business to learn one instance where Jews became great entrepreneurs out of need. And then I settled on a thought I couldn’t get out of my head.

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education real estate economic growth VC 417

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). Because many great entrepreneurs work with lawyers in registering their companies they have their ear to the pavement on the earliest of company formations.

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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. This post was prompted by an email exchange I had with a young entrepreneur. I was interested in learning more.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But a couple of people replied with responses of such lack of comprehension that I thought it was worth expanding on for first-time entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs achieve much through their personal leadership traits that inspire others to do great things with them – sure. Not possible. ” Or there was this one.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

If you have or are thinking about a business in the video space you’ll enjoy hearing from Gregg but even more broadly this is a great conversation for entrepreneurs, investors or industry analysts. there was no frame of reference for the value. My key take away – frame of reference in pricing is important.

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mix-use VC advice creativity 303

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. Many entrepreneurs who start technology companies are product people, technologists or savvy business people who worked previously for a larger company. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. This is the easiest one for most entrepreneurs.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

.” In the article I discussed the downside of raising capital at a too high of a price and referred people to a previous article I had written encouraging founders to raise “ At the Top end of Normal ” as opposed to stratospheric prices. I always tell entrepreneurs, “ Clean Your Own S**t Up First.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

We both wanted to build a practice that would make Los Angeles proud but where we would travel tirelessly to other locations to make investments in the best entrepreneurs wherever they were. I made some reference calls. And there was instant chemistry and where we both saw our respective futures. So we talked about his joining.

VC 360

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. I HATE LOSING. I hate it. I lose sleep.

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consulting advice collaboration VC 328

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

But I used to jokingly refer to bridge loans as “pier&# loans. So my view is that VCs and entrepreneurs need to make tougher choices. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Raising Venture Capital Start-up Advice Startup Advice. But no doubt their bodies feel the stress. And it adds up.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Large companies can be strange sometimes. You want them to earn.

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startup advice entrepreneurs venture capital 298

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

These engagements went well and he came highly referred by my friend Gary Swart who runs oDesk. Many through history became entrepreneurs precisely because they were unemployable. I don’t know an entrepreneur or a VC who wouldn’t cut him in on any deal.” But they didn’t go as well as Dave might have liked. I think I am, too.

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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. And I always encourage entrepreneurs to do reference checking. Here’s my guide to how to do that.

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Innovation 2 Enterprise

MARCH 26, 2024

I’ve unapologetically hyper-focused this shopping solution for women, as informed and directed by my personal experience and the experiences of my users as women, moms, and what I refer to as “household procurement specialists.” I still regularly meet with i2E for advice as I’m building my company. Don’t ever put limits on yourself.

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entrepreneurs innovation advice construction 106

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

This was customer interaction at its finest and as a result they invited him to meet with our entire sales staff and offer advice on the sales process from a customer’s perspective. Who else is going to tell a VC if he got a bad reference from an entrepreneur or fellow VC? Contrast that with a VC conversation I had.

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peer-to-peer VC entrepreneurs support 341

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JANUARY 3, 2024

While there’s a lot of advice available in those areas, we’ll concentrate on a few inbound strategies that remain consistently reliable (and promising) for 2024 and beyond. For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.

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strategy media creativity education 242

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. Tags: Startup Advice. I HATE LOSING.

consulting 333

consulting advice collaboration VC 333

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

I told entrepreneurs that it was a bit of a Faustian bargain. But I’m no longer an entrepreneur – I’m a VC at a $200 million fund called GRP Ventures , the largest active fund in Southern California. I have spoken at length to one such entrepreneur who tells me that he hardly hears from his VC.

VC 283

VC real estate advice venture capital 283

StartupNation

JUNE 1, 2021

Oftentimes, I read articles offering tips for entrepreneurs that revolve around generic advice on getting started. Roosevelt’s advice resonates here: “Be sincere, be brief, be seated.”. Being rejected is the norm for most entrepreneurs. Franklin D. Warm introductions. Key takeaways on how to raise smart money.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Yet a critical mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is that they hand over too much control to their third-parties. Often recruiters want to handle the final negotiations on package and/or do the reference calls. I’m also reluctant to hand over reference calling. Unfortunately that’s how reference checking works.

real estate 319

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

Many VCs do reference calls before they invest and then stop customer contact altogether after they’ve made the investment. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. This is invaluable in helping the management team. Again, I can’t imagine being a VC and NOT doing this. Don’t skip.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

It’s the story of persistence in entrepreneurs. As a VC I’m acutely that a “yes&# decision to support an entrepreneur can do just that, yet I only write 2-4 of them per year and maybe another 3-4 as an angel. I try not to go out to entrepreneur events in LA every night – I have work to get done and a family.

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consulting peer-to-peer advice entrepreneurs 352

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

I guess let’s file this under sales & marketing advice. Much of my traffic is through referring websites and/or social media. I was an entrepreneur. My strategy was to keep it advice based for the first 6 months so I never really employed this as a strategy to drive traffic. Some search. Now I’m a VC.

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