Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Each co-founder should get equity for value, based on these key variables: Lived a key role in a previous startup.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

I’m very pleased today to announce that I invested, on behalf of GRP Partners, in Burstly alongside Rincon Venture Partners , an early stage VC in Southern California whith whom we love to work (and were our co-investors on RingRevenue ). He knows the ad management and ad network businesses.

Mobile 282

Mobile Management Southern California Application Development 282

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

So most early-stage VCs have started to evaluate investment opportunities with an imaginary benchmark in mind: can this company become a $100 million opportunity? Many businesses built in the early days of the Facebook platform (like Zynga ) benefitted from a huge viral co-efficient and scaled very rapidly. (As

Churn Rate 168

Churn Rate Viral Acquisition Cofounder 168

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

We then help surround founders with other talent who want to join important causes but don’t have the startup idea themselves. In the end I know the only true differentiator in venture capital is the company you keep. It’s the founders who are willing to let you join their boards. It’s the people who want to work with you.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

Hunter Walker

MAY 17, 2024

“Admirer from outside of the cap table” is how I approached Kieran Snyder , Cofounder of Textio. It’s also not an accident that, upon stepping back from being Textio’s CEO, I’ve built a sizable exec coaching practice working largely with early stage founders. KS: Isn’t this the trillion-dollar question?

Cofounder 132

Cofounder Founder Technical Review Seattle 132

www.women2.org

MARCH 8, 2012

female founders. founder friday. Lessons learned from female founders and women entrepreneurs. Startup Quote: Wendy Tan White on Building a Successful Startup » FounderDating: How I Found My Co-Founder. Tweet By Elizabeth Knopf (Co-Founder & CEO, Sorced). Conference 2012.

Cofounder 47

Cofounder Technical Review San Francisco Founder 47

VC Cafe

MARCH 20, 2011

The company was one of the five winners at Seedcamp Tel Aviv 2011 , an early-stage micro seed investment and mentoring programme. Startup Intelligence caught up with co-founders Zohar Dayan (CEO) and Yotam Cohen (VP Business Development) to find out more. SundaySky ) and will help it to scale.

Web 87

Web Video Cofounder Early Stage 87

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 14, 2022

While certain aspects of setting up a startup can be exhilarating, especially in the early stages of the business, there are also plenty of bumps along the road, big and small. Startups that are named after their founders sometimes do not succeed. The life of an entrepreneur can be exciting and filled with ups and downs.

Startup 173

Startup Early Stage Naming Public Relations 173

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 19, 2024

Despite not going to university, Ash became a serial tech founder and the first marketing director of a unicorn startup – Just Eat). Biggest Takeaway: While significant progress has been made in AI, we are still in the early stages of its development. He’s the Founder of theCLIKK, an email newsletter about digital marketing.

Fractional CTO 92

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review Marketing 92

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Seed investors are aplenty and of course they need downstream money to fuel their early-stage bets. I guess if you’re in high-volume, low-differentiation mode perhaps this is efficient for you. Co-founder discontent. What would this founder do if he got an offer to be acquihired quickly by Facebook?

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndication Syndicate Early Stage 374

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

A well-organized library of best practices for founders in your vertical, which you can share as appropriate. First Round Search , Startupschool , and GSV Passport are examples of comprehensive founder resources from investors. I have developed a founder curriculum on my blog. AskAnything.VC Advantages.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

“If you can fix a problem for someone and do it better, quicker, and/or cheaper than your competitor, you’re off to a good start.” – Gabriel Kuperman, founder and CEO of CuePin. We created UpKeep to fill this void—a cloud-based solution that was affordable for any size business.” – Ryan Chan, founder of UpKeep.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

It is with this backdrop that I was really happy to learn from my friend Ethan Anderson (HBS alum & founder of RedBeacon) about an awesome program at HBS run by Tom Eisenmann called Launching Technology Ventures. However, I advocate a more nuanced approach for early-stage startup teams” 1.

Startup 319

Startup Early Stage Sales Cofounder 319

Startup Company Lawyer

MARCH 14, 2010

Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet (by WSGR – disclaimer, I represent the Founders Institute and was involved in drafting this document). To differentiate it from typical “Series A&# preferred stock, which comes with certain expectations with regard to rights. Co-sale rights. Legal fees.

Finance 70

Finance Software Review Term Sheet Liquidation Preference 70

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

He looked at his resume, and asked just one question: “ What’s your edge? ” My friend got the job because his answer was differentiated, credible, and backed up by a history of investing success. It is unexciting and hard to prove, but in fact “We execute better” is a critical differentiator. This model certainly makes sense.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

He looked at his resume, and asked just one question: “ What’s your edge? ” My friend got the job because his answer was differentiated, credible, and backed up by a history of investing success. It is unexciting and hard to prove, but in fact “We execute better” is a critical differentiator. This model certainly makes sense.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

Hunter Walker

MARCH 25, 2015

Forerunner Ventures is one of Homebrew’s favorite co-investors for consumer commerce/retail startups. Firm founder Kirsten Green has an amazing analytical mind combined with empathy for the consumer. At the time, no one was investing in early stage consumer companies — it wasn’t a “thing” yet.

Naming 48

Naming Technical Review Early Stage Green 48

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 25, 2023

7:30] Would you say self-publishing is seen as a differentiator for businesses? [11:42] We were founded by a gentleman named Bob Young, who was the original co-founder of Red Hat, which is a massive software company. [2:25] Is self-publishing a more profitable way to publish today? [5:12]

Audience 98

Audience Revenue Distribution Differentiation 98

cdixon.org

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

Quite early on, you will be able to differentiate yourself – and having competitors help you grow the market can actually be a good thing. Great points, though your bio does read “Personal investor in early-stage technology companies, including … a handful of other startups that are still in stealth mode!”

Stealth 68

Stealth Startup NDA Cofounder 68

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

Most founders have a strong sense of what they’re trying to achieve. They hire their initial co-founders and early employees and everybody has a sense of “mission.” We want to invest in early-stage technology enabled startup businesses – upfront in the funding cycle. Empowerment.

Leadership 150

Leadership Southern California San Diego Hiring 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

I first met the founder of Pose, Dustin Rosen , when he was a junior person with an LA-based venture capital firm called The Mail Room Fund. Our firm invested at a very early stage in retail brands including CostCo, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ulta, Starbucks and many more. The other “first call” went to Founder Collective.

Term Sheet 303

Term Sheet Mobile Cofounder Early Stage 303

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Greylock investor Sridhar Ramaswamy , who co-founded search engine startup Neeva , says it’s more important for startups to think about creating a product that is useful and resonates with people before worrying about whether a large incumbent is doing it. TRANSCRIPT.

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 17, 2021

Greylock investor Sridhar Ramaswamy , who co-founded search engine startup Neeva , says it’s more important for startups to think about creating a product that is useful and resonates with people before worrying about whether a large incumbent is doing it. TRANSCRIPT.

Cofounder 69

Cofounder Differentiation Search Advertising 69

David Teten

JANUARY 13, 2015

I’m speaking on a panel this afternoon on fundraising for minority founders at the Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project. Fundraising is always difficult for all founders; the median PE/VC fund sources and reviews 87 companies before investing in 1. This young, talented girl is given no chance of being the founder of the next Facebook.”. “I

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Greece Advisory Board Cofounder 60

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

We spent the first 45 minutes or so talking about industry trends (in this order): The history and background of True Ventures, one of my favorite early-stage VC’s (and the one with whom Om is a venture partner). The strategy of GigaOm and where they differentiate in the market.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Non-Compete Vertical Europe 225

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 5, 2016

I've heard a lot of VCs tell founders they need co-founders--and that they wouldn't look at a business at a very early stage without a co-founder. A lot of accelerators treat solo founders the same way--making it an implied requirement to participate. The same holds true for VC funds.

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Founder Equity Limited Partner 60

David Cohen

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

When it comes to early stage investing, it’s also personal. It’s relationship and OAF does a great job bring together both sides who are already living in the same community.“ – Dave Cass, CEO/Co-Founder of Uvize. ” – Alex, Founder at Conspire.

Cofounder 111

Cofounder Angel Investor Early Stage Community 111

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

I’ve done this by surrounding myself with great friends and co-investors at other funds – a handful of them have become my best daily sparring partners (outside of Boris and Leah at V1). Even when founders don’t get the desired response, they still appreciate our quick turnaround and even forward along referrals. Pay it forward.

Cofounder 180

Cofounder Portfolio Capital Gains Vertical 180

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

I discuss category creation with one of the co-authors of Play Bigger , Christopher Lochhead, in episode #232 of Legends and Losers if you would like to really delve into that (it is a very important topic). Opportunity cost is very real for any stage company, but it is critical for an early-stage one.

Software Review 48

Software Review Sales Cofounder Analytics 48

VC Cafe

MAY 1, 2011

After exploring the Entrepreneur’s wish list from VCs and How can VC funds differentiate themseleves , VC Cafe asked European and Israeli VCs for their wish list from entrepreneurs, or in other words, what should entrepreneurs be doing more or less of, to maximize their chances of success. Reid Hoffman’s ???list

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Early Stage Cofounder Differentiation 100

VC Cafe

JANUARY 28, 2011

“In the online advertising industry there is never a dull moment&# , told me Assaf Roth the founder of IgniteAd. Indeed, this early stage startup has a lot going on. VC Cafe had a chance to ask ignitAd ‘s CEO and co-founder Assaf Roth a few questions.

Algorithm 79

Algorithm Forecast Cofounder Advertising 79

VC Cafe

JANUARY 28, 2011

“In the online advertising industry there is never a dull moment&# , told me Assaf Roth the founder of IgnitAd. Indeed, this early stage startup has a lot going on. VC Cafe had a chance to ask ignitAd ‘s CEO and co-founder Assaf Roth a few questions.

Algorithm 74

Algorithm Forecast Cofounder Advertising 74

Hippoland

AUGUST 16, 2018

Unless you have a differentiated angle / approach to the problem AND/OR significant traction, an investor won’t be able to understand why you stand out and why to back your horse instead of someone else’s. Especially at the early stages. That’s a feature difference.

Sales Cycle 54

Sales Cycle Differentiation Early Stage Bootstrapping 54

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 28, 2022

To make preferred shares more marketable, different companies issuing the shares include several characteristics that differentiate them from common stock. Equity for Co-founders. Founders can compensate them in either equity or salary as per their preference. This range decreases if there are more founders.

Valuation 108

Valuation Equity Warrant Common Stock 108

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

The show follows the journeys of founders who share what it takes to build a startup – from restaurants to rocket scientists, to online gifts to online groceries and more. The agencies were all of differentiating ilk, and so they may or may not give us title. Tune in Thursday at 1 pm PT, 4 pm ET on Sirius XM Channel 111.

Government 120

Government Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Silicon Valley 120

Hippoland

AUGUST 16, 2018

Unless you have a differentiated angle / approach to the problem AND/OR significant traction, an investor won’t be able to understand why you stand out and why to back your horse instead of someone else’s. Especially at the early stages. That’s a feature difference.

Sales Cycle 48

Sales Cycle Differentiation Early Stage Bootstrapping 48

aweissman.com

JANUARY 30, 2010

There is an amazing wealth of innovation around early stage venture financing, most of which developed in just the past few years. Then there are new economic models - Founders Collective being the most prominent now, ("None of us have ever been bankers. Competitive differentiation. (4) Yes, they are a solid team.

Early Stage 46

Early Stage Entrepreneur Cofounder Framework 46