Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

Upfront Ventures has a deep-seated commitment to equality in funding & building diverse teams across all ethnicities, nationalities and genders. We do this not just because it’s the right thing to do but also we believe it will help drive large and differentiated returns. In 2017 we began inserting an “Inclusion Clause” into our term sheets because we believe that the culture one establishes at the earliest stages of one’s business will set out the course of how it will grow and develop.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 22, 2018

Mentorship is one of the best gifts. Having someone you admire invest time and energy in your goals builds successful companies and careers. Likewise, transmitting your experiences to others feels energizing. It’s what being an entrepreneur is about. Many of us are fond of our mentors, particularly if they took an interest in us while we were pushing our boulders uphill.

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This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 1, 2018

Today, I can finally announce Brooklyn Bridge Ventures' investment in The Financial Gym 's $1.8mm seed round, which I led, alongside Alpine Meridian, Secocha Ventures and several high ranking execs from the finance world. What's the Financial Gym? It's a membership based space and service where you can work with a Certified Financial Trainer 1:1 to get financially healthy.

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Startup Catalyst

MARCH 27, 2018

The second Startup Community Leaders Mission to the USA took place from 11-18 March 2018, with 20 participants taking part, including 14 from 11 different regional towns in Queensland, 3 from Brisbane, one from Sydney, one from Adelaide, and one from New York (assisting the Beach City film crew). All the participants are running some type of program or space to support startup entrepreneurs or build the startup community in their region, from running accelerators and co-working spaces, to startu

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Berkonomics

MARCH 8, 2018

Give one percent equity to each outside board member vesting over four years of service. Many early stage CEOs and board members have asked for some guidance regarding pay and time commitments for board members. Here is my best advice, based upon many boards and many years. Pay early stage board members of companies that are not lifestyle businesses one percent of the fully diluted equity in the form of an option that vests over four years of service.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2018

León Krauze from Univisión gave an impassioned keynote presentation at The Upfront Summit on the topic of “invisibility” of immigrant workers in our society. It moved people to tears, was widely Tweeted and several people asked me to share this video. Invisibility. The millions of immigrant workers who silently wash dishes in restaurants, are prep cooks, pick the agriculture that feeds us, build our houses, clean our houses, watch our kids and do our gardening are vilified as criminals by those

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 20, 2018

In support of its vision to create the world’s most influential community of entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) encourages new ways of inspiring entrepreneurship through education and experience sharing. One motivated EO member and enterprising parent has taken it to a new level with his commitment to raise the next generation of entrepreneurs in his own home!

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This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 19, 2018

Given that he doesn't have much to do these days, Barack Obama goes poking around Crunchbase one day and he stumbles upon your startup. He finds your company, and obviously being super impressed, he reaches out and asks you what he can do to help. What do you ask of him? (Or anyone else on that level.) This isn't an easy answer. The truth is, you're probably not ready to handle whatever the former leader of the free world can do for you, but you're obviously not going to let this opportunity go,

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Tomasz Tunguz

MARCH 1, 2018

Recently, I met an exceptional marketer. She described the purpose, strategy and tactics of a marketing department remarkably succinctly. Marketing’s methods can seem intangible. But she explained them simply and elegantly. I drew the chart above based on her vision of marketing’s roadmap. At the highest level, marketing articulates a compelling narrative.

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Berkonomics

MARCH 29, 2018

Close. Ever get bad advice? Sure. We all have in our past. Ever take that advice without question because the person giving it was an investor, a superior in rank, the chairperson of your board? I’ll bet you have at least one story of bad advice taken and being bitten as a result. As one illustration among many I can recall, let me tell you the story of the first investment made by a newly organized formal group of angel investors.

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Deskmag

MARCH 14, 2018

Coworking spaces have served a plethora of modern workers through physical spaces. There have been office blocks, private member clubs, coffee shops and more. Now, there’s a new trend on the horizon: coworking spaces in shopping centres. Whilst this might be an innovative environment for coworking spaces, the arrangement also forms part of the retail industry’s move towards a new shopping mall model emerging in 2030.

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David Teten VC

MARCH 21, 2018

As a VC, I have a standard due diligence list for companies I’m reviewing. Similarly, our limited partner investors have their own due diligence standards, and we manage our firm to keep in line with their standards and expectations. I’ve listed below some of the tools we use to self-assess, from a limited partner point of view: Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA): Due Diligence Checklist.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 13, 2018

When you think team building, what springs to mind? Embarrassing games? Trust falls? Facilitators who break into songs and cheers? It’s almost embarrassing to think that company leaders believe these activities could promote teamwork. If this is your idea of team building, let me apologize. I’ll be the first to admit that these exercises happen every day at well-intentioned business organizations.

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This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 12, 2018

A few years ago, a friend of mine got hired by a company as a software developer. She was an early riser and liked to get into the office around 8AM. A diligent worker, she was super focused from the moment she sat down at her desk--and so by the time 6PM came around, she had gotten a lot of work done and ready to call it a day. Her young male colleagues had a different approach.

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Tomasz Tunguz

MARCH 31, 2018

A dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. This statement underpins all of finance. The idea has a fancy name: the Time Value of Money. It applies to all types of investments, including startups. Time Value of Money is the economic argument for startups to raise money when it’s available. If I give you a million dollars today, you can invest it.

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Berkonomics

MARCH 17, 2018

Close. I’ve been sued as a board member too many times over the past twenty-five years of board service. Five times. Does that shock you? It does me. Entrepreneurs blaming their board for failures of a fragile, early stage company. Shareholders unhappy over the same loss, reaching out to sue every name available. Employees reaching out to anyone above to redress grievances.

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Gust

MARCH 9, 2018

Editor’s note: A Quora user recently asked, “What is the most common legal mistake that attorneys see laypeople make?” This great answer was written by Adam Nyhan, business attorney for Opticliff Law in Portland, ME, and is reposted here with his permission. I’m a business lawyer, so my answer will reflect the types of mistakes that clients of mine make.

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Lack of digitalization decreases business competitiveness. To thrive, embracing modern solutions becomes essential. The approach to digitalization often aligns with a company's business model. This shift not only boosts productivity but also automates processes and improves security. The tech market offers a wealth of technologies tailored for management, planning, and forecasting, replacing outdated pen-and-paper methods.

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David Teten VC

MARCH 21, 2018

As a VC, I have a standard due diligence list for companies I’m reviewing. Similarly, our limited partner investors have their own due diligence standards, and we manage our firm to keep in line with their standards and expectations. The biggest risk for many VC and private equity funds is team risk. I wrote a little while ago about how to assess this: – For assessing any organization: Ready to Join a New Management Team?

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 20, 2018

Search engine optimization (SEO) occupies an interesting space in the entrepreneurial landscape. Old misconceptions are long dead and buried, and CEOs know that many customers will first encounter them at the top of a search engine results page. But too many business leaders see it as a functional rather than transformative factor. This is a mistake.

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strategy media networking entrepreneurs 130

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 26, 2018

Recently, Brooklyn City Councilman Rafael Espinal proposed a bill last Thursday that aims to make it illegal for private employees in New York City to be required to check and respond to their work emails or take part in work-related electronic communications during non-work hours. The idea is great--I'm sure everyone would love to live in a world where the moment we walk out of the office, the world just stops, and waits for us to return the next day.

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Tomasz Tunguz

MARCH 17, 2018

Recently, people have been asking just where are we in the SaaS valuation cycle. I last updated the chart above more than six months ago. The answer is close to ten year highs. The chart above shows the median enterprise value to forward revenue multiple to multiple. Enterprise value is the market of a publicly traded company minus the available cash the company holds.

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Berkonomics

MARCH 1, 2018

Many of us have someone who reports directly to us and who supervises others in return. If that fits, well then, this one is for you. And it is one of the most important lessons you can learn as a manager or board member of a company or a non-profit enterprise. I first heard this expression in a governance seminar for a non-profit higher educational board upon which I sit, years ago.

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Derek Sivers

MARCH 6, 2018

This is what I do for everything I post : Write all of my thoughts on a subject. Argue against those ideas. Explore different angles until I’m sick of it. Leave it for a few days or years, then repeat those steps. Hate how messy these thoughts have become. Reduce them to a tiny outline of the key points. Post the outline. Trash the rest.

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David Teten VC

MARCH 14, 2018

Managers of VC funds typically want to grow their business aggressively, just like the founders we back. But, we normally have a clear ceiling on how high we can grow AUM, before hitting practical limits to deploying capital within the traditional VC model. . My Partners at HOF Capital are younger than I am, which means that we have a half-century horizon for the franchise we are building.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 7, 2018

There’s a reason the term “growing pains” is one that entrepreneurs know well. Business growth isn’t easy, change is uncomfortable, and the future is hard to predict. . All new business owners dream of wild growth: overnight fame, fortune and popularity dropped on their proverbial doorstep. And it’s only natural that they do. After all, these things are indicators of success and potential longevity.

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