Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

'I just returned from 3 days in Cincinnati including attending the annual meeting of one of Upfront’s LPs – Cintrifuse. I have never been more optimistic about the impact that the tech startup community is having on cities in America or about the role that cities outside of San Francisco / Silicon Valley can play in our future. Cincinnati, like many startup communities in the US over the past 5 years, has revitalized important regions in its urban core, created accelerators, built co

startup 390

startup communities venture capital angel capital 390

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 19, 2014

'The 1970''s was a boom for minicomputers. Minicomputers were "midrange" machines that were used in all sorts of industrial applications--manufacturing process control, telephone switching and to control laboratory equipment. " In the 1970s, they were the hardware that was used to launch the computer-aided design (CAD) industry ," according to Wikipedia.

creativity 396

creativity frameworks venture capital technology 396

Gust

JUNE 8, 2014

'Virtual Team meeting image via Wikimedia blog. Almost every startup is a virtual team these days, since most don’t start out with dedicated office space, and some or all members of the team work part-time or out of their own home. It’s a small world, so these team members may not even be in the same town, or the same country. Outsourcing is just another extension of the virtual team concept to people you don’t even know.

enablement 187

enablement energy entrepreneurs culture 187

Berkonomics

JUNE 26, 2014

'Angel investors, particularly those in organized angel groups, are typically former entrepreneurs who have had successful liquidity events in their pasts, or executives of companies who’ve retired with the funds from their stock options. Occasionally, an angel is a member of a wealthy family, having little experience managing a business. But most often these angels are skilled at growing companies, calling on their past experience to evaluate and then help entrepreneurs in their early s

real estate 76

real estate pitching education entrepreneurs 76

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strategy

abovethecrowd.com

JUNE 17, 2014

'Many entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley believe that the financial services industry in the United States is “ripe for disruption. ” The basis of this argument is really two fold. First, they believe that the current offerings from the financial incumbents are lacking. They would argue that credit card fees are too high, that there is a lack of true competition amongst American financial institutions, and that the ACH process is borderline asinine.

disruption 83

disruption finance financing incumbents 83

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2014

'Yesterday MiTú Networks announced that Upfront Ventures led a $10 million financing in what is now the largest producer of Latino online videos – primarily driven through YouTube. As you may know we co-lead the first round of financing of Maker Studios, the largest overall producer for online video content, along with Greycroft Partners. I was an early and tireless advocate for the growth of the Internet video ecosystem and as virtually every article I wrote made clear I believe the 800-

investing 291

investing investment media networking 291

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 23, 2014

'When I turn down the opportunity to invest in a startup, I really turn it down. I try and say exactly what I don''t believe will happen, or why I don''t believe in what you''re doing. In essence, I''m setting myself up to either be spectacularly wrong or to be right. The last thing I want is to not have a view on the space. My job is to have views--because not making a bet is making a bet.

pitching 385

pitching VC venture capital opportunity 385

Gust

JUNE 15, 2014

'Image via Wikipedia. Everyone seems to like the aspect of being an entrepreneur that goes with “being your own boss” and “able to do things my way.” But sometimes they forget that this kind of freedom comes with a price of personal accountability. Accountability means “the buck stops here,” and “all the failures are mine.”. Too many people seem to do whatever it takes to avoid accountability, both before and after the fact.

entrepreneurs 174

entrepreneurs entrepreneurship support investment 174

Berkonomics

JUNE 5, 2014

'Dave’s note: Popular Bill Payne returns this week with a thoughtful take on valuations. By Bill Payne. One entrepreneur has a company which appears to be scalable to a $30 million exit value in five to eight years, and a second entrepreneur’s venture seems to be scalable to $200 million in exit value in the same time frame. Yet, at the pre-revenue stage of development, angel investors price both companies at a pre-money valuation of $1.5 million.

opportunity 92

opportunity angel investing energy finance 92

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abovethecrowd.com

JUNE 24, 2014

'Today Benchmark is excited to announce that we will be partners with Jason Kilar and Richard Tom on their next exciting project — Vessel. Working with amazing entrepreneurs is the number one reason we enjoy venture capital, and rarely do you have the opportunity to work with a team that has a track record like these two. While they are not planning to disclose any specifics today about the company, you can rest assured that they plan to bring their amazing product instincts and cultural leaders

venture capital 47

venture capital leadership culture capital 47

Tomasz Tunguz

JUNE 12, 2014

Several weeks ago, I wrote a post about the Optimal Contract Value for a SaaS company. I wondered whether startups serving enterprises might be more or less valuable than those serving small-to-medium businesses (SMBs). Interestingly, the data showed there was no optimal customer value to build a publicly traded SaaS company. Having written that post, I began to wonder about other differences between different types of SaaS companies.

SaaS 40

SaaS startup sustainability accelerator 40

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

'It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venture capital is not an asset class” or “venture capital has performed terribly.” The most recent was 18 months ago or so called The Kauffman Report. It had an influence on the people who fund our industry in a negative way as many asset managers who fund our industry read this flawed report.

venture capital 362

venture capital capital ventures VC 362

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 16, 2014

'How long does it take from first meeting a VC to getting cash in the bank? That''s an interesting question. Theoretically, someone could meet you, sign your document, and write you a check for deposit that day, but that''s not how it usually works. It''s also not the best way to create a helpful syndicate of investors that share the founder''s vision for the company.

VC 418

VC pitching networking venture capital 418

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financing

Gust

JUNE 1, 2014

'Image via Wikipedia. Entrepreneurship is not a job for the Lone Ranger. Every startup requires building and maintaining effective relationships with people, including partners, team members, customers, and investors. That means giving and asking for feedback, and learning from it, especially negative feedback. “Friction” is feedback mixed with emotion or drama, making it all the more difficult to sort out the value.

peer-to-peer 162

peer-to-peer startup entrepreneurs entrepreneurship 162

Berkonomics

JUNE 12, 2014

'It is rare when one person starts a company, supplies all the funding, and shares no management tasks or equity with others, and still grows the company to any significant size, worthy of a multi-million dollar opportunity to cash out at exit. We should think of the creation and growth of a high valued company as the sum of three parts, with three distinct classes of participants helping to make real value out of a raw start-up.

entrepreneurs 85

entrepreneurs opportunity investing investment 85

Derek Sivers

JUNE 30, 2014

I was honestly surprised that CD Baby was such a runaway success. But I was even more surprised to find out why. Whenever I was out at events, I’d listen as musicians would tell other musicians why they chose CD Baby. Was it the pricing? The features? Nope. The top reason, by far, was this: “They pick up the phone! They reply to my emails! You can talk to a real person!”.

investing 40

investing investment 40

Tomasz Tunguz

JUNE 30, 2014

A terrific SaaS VP of Marketing once told me, “If the sales team is focused on hitting this quarter’s revenue target, then the marketing team ought to be focused on next quarter and the following quarter.” In SaaS companies, one of the marketing department’s primary responsibilities is generating sufficient customer interest to enable the company to achieve their revenue targets.

SaaS 56

SaaS pitching enablement investment 56

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technology

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

'Startups are hard. You’ve heard that a million times. Those that we survive with become family. It’s something you can’t know unless you’ve ever been in the trenches. Working hard together at a big company just isn’t the same. The truth is you really don’t know how your teammates or your bosses will perform in good times and bad.

board 320

board VC construction opportunity 320

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 10, 2014

'A year ago, I wrote a post about how I was trying to keep my phone away during meals-- No Phone with Food. These days, we''ve got so much that can distract us, being present has become a rare feat. I''ve tried to stick to it, but it''s hard. I run my own business and I try and make myself available whenever my entrepreneurs need me. I also have a lot of family responsibility--with parents getting older and my grandmother making her way ever closer to 100, there are a few important folks I alway

ventures 415

ventures investing investment venture capital 415

Gust

JUNE 28, 2014

'The main one is simultaneously obvious and under-estimated in both directions: you are likely getting a bunch of small-ish investors at once. This might typically be anywhere from five to twenty-five investors each putting in somewhere between $10,00 and $100,000 (depending on the group.). The good side is that you now have 5-25 smart, connected people rooting for you.

investing 148

investing investment advice collaboration 148

Berkonomics

JUNE 19, 2014

'If you seek funds from an organized investment group such as an angel fund, venture capital entity, or even an investment club, the first thing you want to do is to find one person to buy into your vision, become excited by your enthusiasm and be willing to become the internal champion for your fund-raising effort. In some groups, if you cannot find such a person, you cannot even find the way to apply for funding, as some groups make it imperative that any introductions come from the inside, fr

venture capital 83

venture capital networking investing investment 83

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For Entrepreneurs

JUNE 27, 2014

'As most of my readers know, I am a big fan of Inbound Marketing. However there are times when inbound leads aren’t either enough, or the right kinds of leads needed to reach your best potential customers. In those situations, one tool worth considering is the use of a dedicated sales team to do outbound […].

startup 166

startup 166

Tomasz Tunguz

JUNE 30, 2014

I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand. Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man. I’d sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town. He’d tousle my hair and say son take a good look around. This is your hometown. My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen. Hometown investors, the local group of angels and VCs within a startup community, are an essential part of startup ecosystems.

startup 40

startup startup ecosystem advice venture capital 40

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

'By now almost everybody knows that Marc Andreessen has taken Twitter by storm. By Tweetstorm, that is. Marc seems to single handedly have changed all conventions in Tweeting by dropping 7-10 rapid Tweets in a related stream-of-consciousness labeling each Tweet with a number and a slash before it. Fred Wilson wrote a Tweetstorm and then did a blog post on the topic.

media 307

media leadership advice venture capital 307

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 8, 2014

'There''s a 60+ year old sign in Brooklyn leftover from a company that went bankrupt years ago. The current owner of the property wants to take it down and has every right to do so. So what''s the big deal? The Kentile Floors sign has become a mainstay of the Gowanus area. F train riders pass by it everyday on the way to and from work. It has its own Twitter personality.

mix-use 343

mix-use communities venture capital creativity 343

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