This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
I mentioned this in my newsletter yesterday and decided to make a post out of it. People ask me all the time how you find talent, money, etc. My startup Golden Rule is this: Be someone that people want to work with. That's how you get funded. That's how you get hired and how you can hire the best people. It's why you get press and even how to get customers.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 26, 2015
One of the least understood parts of the venture capital industry and venture capital firms is how investment decisions actually get made. The truth is that each firm is different and there isn’t one standard but over the years I’ve talked with enough of my peers to get sense of how many firms work. Often if it’s a bigger firm (say 4 partners or more) and it’s a super small investment for their fund size (let’s say $250-500k when they normally invest $5-7 million) t
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Onevest
SEPTEMBER 25, 2015
By: Erica Duignan Minnihan For the last 9 years, pretty much since I graduated Columbia Business School, I have been working with startups that are trying to raise capital to grow their businesses. And a lot of these have been VERY young startups, and even people who have the proverbial "idea scrawled on a napkin". As the leader of several prominent angel groups, and Managing Director for one of the leading investment platform 1000 Angels , I have had the rare privilege to see behind both sides
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 17, 2015
In my life as an early stage investor, I’ve been closely involved with so many businesses, there were bound to be numerous stories of failures, hopefully from which to learn lessons for all of us as we go forward. Several times in my investing life, as the final board member making the arrangements to dispose of remaining assets, I have literally been the one to turn out the lights, carry out the books and records to my car, and become the only remaining contact between the failed business and t
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Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 13, 2015
Vertical SaaS requires a different go-to-market than horizontal SaaS companies. Vertical software companies, a recent important trend in SaaS startups, pursue customers only in a particular industry. They trade a more narrow customer base and consequent reduction in market size for a competitive advantage in that market segment. The most salient example, Veeva, sells software to the largest life sciences companies, which are subject to a unique regulatory regime in their sales processes.
Startup Catalyst Brief brings together the best content for the entrepreneurial ecosystem from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
I was talking to someone recently about striving and desiring to be great at what you do. That brought up the question of what makes someone truly great at something. We refer to people as "great entrepreneurs" in the startup community all the time--but are they? I've noted for a long time that too many people have untested, hollow reputations based on things like social proof that go untested.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
When most people think of John Shahidi two words come to mind. Bieber & Mayweather. Yes, that Bieber (67 million Twitter followers, 73 million on FB) & that Mayweather (6.4 million Twitter followers, 12 million on FB). The reason being – John Shahidi counts both as investors and friends. So. You’re probably thinking, “slick talking, super confident, tall, extroverted, arrogant, LA kinda dude.” You’d be dead wrong.
Derek Sivers
SEPTEMBER 22, 2015
Steven Pressfield called himself an author for years, but he’d never actually finished a book. Eventually, the psychological pain of not finishing kept building until he couldn’t stand it anymore. He decided to finally beat the devil he calls “The Resistance”. He created a situation with no escape. He rented a cabin, brought his typewriter, and shut off all other options.
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
We are pleased to host Basil Peters, perhaps the best known name in the world of early stage company exits. His groundbreaking book, “Early Exits” has become a textbook for angel groups and entrepreneurs throughout the world. His Strategic Exits Corporation provides M&A advisory services, and he is much in demand as a speaker at angel and entrepreneur events worldwide. – Dave.
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Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
“What is the one equation that describes our business?” asked Scott, our new director at Google, during one of our first meetings. I had been there only for a few quarters, so I was startled when he asked. I had never viewed our business this way, but after he asked the question, I wondered why I hadn’t. It seemed obvious in retrospect.
Gust
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
The median investor looking at your proposal is in her 40s. Her eyes are going, not to mention her brain. I look at a lot of spreadsheets and analytic reports, and way too many are difficult to read and therefore hard to understand. In an effort to make my life easier, I’ve summarized here the steps that will make it much Read more >. The post 18 Ways to Make Your Financial Model Stand Out to Investors appeared first on The Gust Blog.
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2015
I was having a conversation last night with another VC who was suggesting I monetize the pro-ratas that I don't take by creating SPVs. As a small fund, I've been writing one check only to a company to help get them off the ground that that has served me really well so far. "But you could charge fees or at least carry for that. You're leaving money on the table!
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
My partner Greg Bettinelli is an avid sports fan who throughout his career has developed an expert understanding in online ticketing (at eBay has was a champion of the StubHub acquisition) and online marketing. Greg knows consumer businesses and customers, which has added tremendously to our team where I admittedly have more of a background in enterprise software, data and online video.
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A Smart Bear: Longform
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
Independent or acquired, companies always evolve, and not always for the better. Smart exits can create opportunities for everyone involved.
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 24, 2015
Dave’s note: Our guest author this week is John Huston, founder of the 300+ member Ohio TechAngel Funds and a past Chairman of both the Angel Capital Association and the Angel Resource Institute. . By John Huston. There are only two types of companies -those which have achieved positive cash flow and those which have not. (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization, or EBITDA is the most commonly used definition of cash flow.).
Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 26, 2015
Today, 70% of startups in the US that raise a Series A have raised a seed round. That’s up from 50% ten years ago. In the same period, the amount of seed capital invested in the US has increased about 10x from $200M per year to $2B. What does this imply for early stage founders? First, it implies greater competition at the Series A. Larger seed rounds enable a seed stage company to achieve more - more growth, more revenue, more hiring.
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
I've wanted to write this post for a while, but now that my friend Beth has joined WME, feels like the perfect time to do it. I don't really know many celebrities. If I threw a dinner party in NYC, I think I could get Morgan Spurlock, Gabrielle Corcos & Debi Mazar, Carmelo Anthony, and maybe former Met pitcher Glendon Rusch if he happened to be in NYC as we're randomly Twitter friends.
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Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
What Can You Do if a VC Pulls Their Term Sheet? I was asked to answer this exact question on Quora and I did so some time ago. The beauty of evergreen content is that it resurfaces all the time and it is as relevant today as it was years ago when I answered it. One of my favorite ways to resurface content is when I see people on Twitter put out a Tweet linking to an old post.
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
Dave’s note: For the second time, we invite Basil Peters, author of “Early Exits,” back as our guest – to provide more of his insight into the “when” to exit by selling your business. In future weeks, we’ll add the voices of other well-known professionals in the field of exits to my own, and try to give you a compendium of useful advice in the process. .
Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 20, 2015
One of the most powerful levers for SaaS companies to master is payback period. Payback period is the number of months a company requires to payback its cost of customer acquisition. The median SaaS startup has a payback period of 15 months on a gross margin basis. A short payback period confers two massive advantage to a startups: smaller working capital requirements and a consequent ability to grow much faster.
Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 23, 2015
SaaS Enabled Marketplaces benefit from a unique advantage in their go-to-market. They have a panoptic view of their market place, which over time provides them an unassailable competitive advantage. SEMs provide software to suppliers and consumers, and then make a market between them. The first SEMs flourished in advertising. Google manages one of the world’s largest advertising market places.
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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.
Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
In 1977, a British polymath named Christopher Alexander , who studied Math and Architecture at Cambridge and was awarded Harvard’s first PhD in architecture, published a book titled A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. This book would transform the architecture world, and more surprisingly, forever influence the way computer scientists write software.
Tomasz Tunguz
SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
When writing the post Vertical SaaS Startups Require Different Go To Market Than Horizontal SaaS Companies , I realized that there is a perception on my part and perhaps more broadly that vertical SaaS companies enjoy greater sales efficiencies than horizontal SaaS companies. After all, vertical SaaS companies target a smaller number of potential buyers.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
Something is rotten in tech startup land. Don’t call me a hater for saying so. It’s not that I’m anti innovation or a disbeliever in disruption or calling it a full-scale bubble or saying every darling startup is going to fail. None of those. Still. Somebody posted too many party fliers. The uninvited crowds have all turned up. The people here don’t respect your parents’ furniture, are throwing beer cans in your back yard and there’s a dude passed out face dow
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