Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
'This week. On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? Him: Yeah. We raised a seed round. About $1 million. Me: At what price? Him: It wasn’t priced. We raised a convertible note. Me: With a cap? Him: Yes, $8 million. Me: Ah. I see. So you did raise with a price. It’s just a maximum price. You’ll find out the minimum when the next round is raised.
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2014
'The nature of work is changing--we all know that. You''re required to be a lot more entrepreneurial, which requires you to build your own networks in order to get customers and collaborators, since these functions won''t be under the roof of a big company anymore. You''ll need to be more mobile, nimble, and able to go where the work is. You''ll need to think globally.
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Gust
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
'To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it. As such, the competition from an entrepreneur’s standpoint is very, very tough.
Venture Hacks
SEPTEMBER 11, 2014
This guest post is by Tyler Willis , an entrepreneur and angel investor. You can learn more about him on AngelList. For several interesting macro-economic reasons [1], more and more people are becoming angel investors. This is a good thing – it allows more investors to participate in a high-growth (but high-risk) area of our economy. That said, investing in private companies is very different from investing in public companies.
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Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
'It doesn’t happen by accident. Not every new game site is a Club Penguin or Minecraft. Not every social network is a Facebook or Instagram. Not every texting application is a Twitter. What are the elements needed to focus upon in making the attempt to take a product viral? Intrigued by the thought, I recently made a list. It was as much in reaction to my getting blank stares from entrepreneurs when I asked that question as it was for me to better understand the problem itself.
Startup Catalyst Brief brings together the best content for the entrepreneurial ecosystem from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 15, 2014
'Venture Capital is a tricky industry. If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Far from it. Many questioned whether it could survive under the fail whale, inevitable competition from Facebook, founder fighting, fights with 3rd-party developers let alone be
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
'A few weeks ago, I was talking with a founder that I backed and he was telling me how excited he was about his company. He said the path was so clear that he could literally see it--and that''s the way he''s always been since I met him. He has a quiet confidence and he''s excited to talk about his company--and he could go on and on if you let him. It''s a stark contrast to people who beg for "just five minutes" of my time.
Gust
SEPTEMBER 17, 2014
'This week. On the phone …. Me: So, you raised venture capital? Him: Yeah. We raised a seed round. About $1 million. Me: At what price? Him: It wasn’t priced. We raised a convertible note. Me: With a cap? Him: Yes, $8 million. Me: Ah. I see. So you did raise with a price. It’s just a maximum price. You’ll find out the minimum when the next round is raised.
Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 25, 2014
The startups that build and retain the best teams develop a huge competitive advantage. It’s no surprise that managers are the most important influencers of team development and retention. The most frequent and consequently most powerful tool for managers to coach, develop and lead their teams are one-on-ones, weekly meetings between a manager and his or her individual reports.
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Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
'Plans don’t often work as devised. We are not always smart about the market or the product. Great teams are not bound by their original product or marketing plan. Greatness finds one definition in management’s ability to “pivot,” or change the plan in reaction to its early response from the marketplace. Investors celebrate teams that quickly find the flaws in the original plan and reallocate resources in another direction before more wasted effort.
Derek Sivers
SEPTEMBER 20, 2014
One of the most important concepts I’ve learned is the difference between the “fixed” mindset and the “growth” mindset. It’s a little bit like “nature vs nurture”: People in a fixed mindset believe you either are or aren’t good at something, based on your inherent nature, because it’s just who you are. People in a growth mindset believe anyone can be good at anything, because your abilities are entirely due to your actions.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
'I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. ” I highly recommend reading it. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Danielle goes through some commentary from Bill Gurley, Fred Wilson and Marc Andreessen about burn rate and then goes on to discuss her own burn rate and others publicly weigh in.
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2014
'This list needs no explanation: 1) You need a technical co-founder. 2) We''re really interested in what you''re up to, but would love to see just a little more traction before we fund it. 3) No one else can do this. 4) We decided not to charge our initial customers. 5) It''s easier to get funded on the west coast. 6) This is projected to be a $54 billion dollar industry by 2019. 7) Google can''t do this. 8) We''re oversubscribed in this round. 9) We wouldn''t take $30 million if someone offered
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Gust
SEPTEMBER 1, 2014
'To Do List Chalkboard by Mufidah Kassalias, on Flickr. The universal challenge of every startup founder is to get everything done that needs to get done, and still have a life. Even outside of business, everyone wants to accomplish more, while working less. I’ve been a student of these techniques for some time, but some time ago I saw a great summary that seems to pull all the key principles together.
Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 21, 2014
This post is part of a continuing series evaluating the S-1s of publicly traded SaaS companies in order to better understand the core business and build a library of benchmarks that might be useful to founders. All of the businesses we’ve looked at in the past have been purely SaaS businesses. Today, we’ll examine Tableau, the market leader for data visualization software.
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 11, 2014
'Know the cost to move from your existing platform, and estimate the switching costs for moving from a competitor’s product or service to yours. Offer incentives to existing customers to stay, and for competitor’s customers to switch. Protect your base with incentives to stay that are intangible – such as membership in an insider’s club, access to special deals not available to others, and attention from the executives at the top.
Derek Sivers
SEPTEMBER 8, 2014
Most of the time, I feel smart, successful, and driven — like I’ve got it all figured out. But last month a bunch of stuff knocked me on my ass. I’ve never felt so wrong. I vulnerably called on friends for help. They gave me a bunch of good advice, and helped me see things from a new point of view. Each different perspective made me feel good for a while.
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Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
'Somehow the world seems to be spinning faster these days than just a few years ago. The frantic pace of technology cycles, the amount of tech news, the blogs, the conferences, the demo days, the announcements, the fundings, the IPOs. It’s exhausting. Perhaps unsustainable. It got me thinking about the advice that I often give to new VCs. For years I saw myself as the new guy in VC but then you wake up one day and realize that 50% of your peers have been doing it for less time than you and
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
'Sometimes, an investor gets lucky. They invest in a company with an idea that doesn''t go anywhere, the company pivots, and you wind up in the next big thing. In hindsight, an investor will tell you that they knew they had backed a great team and that was the key to the investment. It''s never luck. I have a lot of trouble with the "great team" scenario, because it just doesn''t seem to play out in real life.
Gust
SEPTEMBER 14, 2014
'MIT Chapel, Cambridge Mass via Wikipedia. Some entrepreneurs forget that they can’t use people the same way they use technology to build a startup. Inventors, for example, are skilled in manipulating technology, but may have little interest or experience engaging people to make an effective team. Unfortunately, startups are not one-man shows, so entrepreneurs need to study leadership as much as they study technology.
Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
This post is part of a continuing series evaluating the S-1s of publicly traded SaaS companies in order to better understand the core business and build a library of benchmarks that might be useful to founders. Zendesk is a 700 person company that builds customer support software. Zendesk went public earlier this year. It’s a remarkable business primarily because the founders and the team have built an incredibly efficient customer acquisition funnel.
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Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 4, 2014
'By Dave Berkus. Entrepreneurism is all about risk. Sometimes, you can reduce your personal risk by taking in other people’s money, starting with a contract from a customer, purchasing a going business, or spinning off an existing revenue-generating portion of an existing business. Even then, the risks of having enough cash to fund daily operations or growth can be daunting.
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
'The Cost of a College Education. I just looked up how much my alma mater costs in tuition. Fordham University, the 56th best college in the country, is now $44,000 a year. That''s a 6% annual increase since 1997 when I started and it was $16,000 a year. Take that forward to when my future kid might be going to school and you''re talking $141,000 a year tuition.
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2014
'Because, you know, who doesn''t love a good startup list. 1) Figure out who has written about companies like yours and reach out--when you don''t need something. Think about who else is in your space--other wearables companies, companies also focused on the smart home, you name it. Those are going to be the reporters who are most likely willing to write about you.
Gust
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
'Crossroads: Success or Failure by StockMonkeys.com, on Flickr. Your startup is gone, it’s never coming back, and you are in mourning. An entrepreneur whose business fails grieves similarly to anyone who has lost a loved one. The pain of losing a business is not only about a significant loss of income, but can send your entire identity into turmoil.
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