Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle , partner at Greycroft Partners , a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Current round: $35mm in Series C (extension of Series B at higher valuation) from General Atlantic, Matrix Partners. Note that I’m not defining who numbers 1,2 are. Time will tell.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Every new business I know dreams of building momentum in their business, where growth continues to increase, customers become your best advocates, and employee motivation is high. It’s important to define your growth strategy, document it, communicate it to your team, and align metrics and employee rewards to target goals.

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Technical Review Technical Cofounder Advisory Board Cofounder 400

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. And I tried to evaluate the idea and figure out: What did the founder really need here? Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ?

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Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Equity Sweat Equity 241

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

You should also focus heavily on his or her former employees. I would take a strong employee referral from an existing employee I trust 10x over a person more qualified on paper (given similar skill levels). Many teams pay bonuses to employees who bring in people they know. In many ways that can be way more telling.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Cofounder San Francisco Silicon Valley 320

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

The challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk. In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” Some people are too independent to be partner material. Neither partner needs to be managed.

Partner 140

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 140

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

by Kenneth Coats, founder of eKnowID. If you don’t perform a background check on your potential partner before doing business with him, you’re setting yourself up to get duped. Just like launching a new product, hiring a partner requires protecting your business against potential risk and failure. Knowing What to Look For.

Technical Review 219

Technical Review Partner Due Diligence Bankruptcy 219

View from Seed

APRIL 14, 2020

VCs are always founder focused no matter the market environment. But in a FOMO world, more investors are willing to take a chance on a founder that they don’t know, but seems to match some of the heuristics of other high quality founders. This gets really challenging if it remains difficult to meet in person or to travel.

Early Stage 374

Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 374

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

Supportive co-founder and executive positions. Every young entrepreneur needs an experienced partner for credibility with investors, and as a trusted cohort for strategy and growth discussions. Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 9, 2022

As part of our Founder interview series , The Startup Magazine caught up with Salo Sterental, Co-Founder of the SoStereo, a marketing firm that enables brands and artists alike to unlock the marketing power of music. Salo: Zumba Fitness approached Beto (my co-founder) and I with a unique problem.

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Cofounder Founder Miami Marketing 158

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Venture Studios are an “idea factory” with their own employees searching for product/market fit and a repeatable and scalable business model. But these look for founders who have a technical or business model insight and a team. Venture studios create startups by incubating their own ideas or ideas from their partners.

Technical Cofounder 368

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 368

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2023

Cash isn’t always the scarcest resource startups have to invest – more often it’s the leadership capital of under-experienced and over-stretched entrepreneurs and co-founders. Most new startup founders start out by assuming they need to spread their leadership efforts evenly across all team members.

Employee 267

Employee Leadership Cofounder Matching 267

VC Cafe

MARCH 31, 2025

Michael Seibel first joined YC as a founder (twice: w07, w12) once with the live streaming service Justin.TV (which morphed into Twitch) and later on Socialcam, another streaming app. Michael later served as a group partner, managing director, and CEO of YC. The YC companies Michael has worked with are worth a combined $192 billion.

Cofounder 88

Cofounder Silicon Valley Technical Review PR 88

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 26, 2023

The path to success is far from easy, which is a lesson Quattro Development’s founders, Rob Walters and Mike Liyeos, know all too well. The duo recall their most profound failures as co-founders, as well as the steps they took to overcome misfortune and become a premier national developer.

Cofounder 148

Cofounder Developer United States Founder 148

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

Supportive co-founder and executive positions. Every young entrepreneur needs an experienced partner for credibility with investors, and as a trusted cohort for strategy and growth discussions. Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

The lack of team cohesion and respect for individuals has probably been one of the biggest weaknesses of Zynga – at least from nearly EVERY employee I’ve ever talked to who worked there. ” Of course we all go into businesses expecting to be aligned with our co-founders but over time life changes.

Founder 340

Founder Cofounder Sacramento Technical Review 340

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions. Mentorship. Experience.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

These periods of time can leave a founder very vulnerable in the future. These same people will join you and your one other co-founder (maximum) 6 months later when you’ve established the company, done your Powerpoint deck, built a prototype or product and started fund raising discussions. Founder vesting.

Founder Vesting 365

Founder Vesting Intellectual Property Stock Options IP 365

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2013

If you are a young startup founder, how do you find that CEO or other executive for your “dream team” to close on funding or complement your skills to kick start your company? There you can connect with thousands of potential executives and partners, or find a planned meetup in a city near you. Most founders are product guys.

Technical Cofounder 219

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Startup Exit Strategy 219

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

You have two founders and it was agreed that one would get the CEO role so the other needs to call themselves president or COO. Of course they “need&# the title to convince customers, biz dev partners and VCs that they’re to be taken seriously. I was the CEO of my startup and my co-founder was the president.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Due Diligence 325

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 29, 2020

by Hema Crockett and Jamie Jacobs, co-founders of Gig Talent . In the past, working remotely was considered “normal” for entrepreneurs or independent contractors in the gig economy only, but organizations wanted employees, and consultants, to be onsite and working in the office. Employees clearly want and enjoy the flexibility.

Technical Review 275

Technical Review Cofounder Leadership Employee 275

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

Supportive co-founder and executive positions. Every young entrepreneur needs an experienced partner for credibility with investors, and as a trusted cohort for strategy and growth discussions. Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold.

Entrepreneur 266

Entrepreneur Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor 266

YoungUpstarts

MAY 30, 2014

by Sam Bahreini, co-founder and COO of VoloForce. We test our products with our partners in their retail spaces. We put our technology into the hands of employees — but in a controlled environment. It seems like almost all technology goes to market with a “beta” tag attached.

Customer 231

Customer Development Team Review Cofounder Agile 231

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I gave him the same advice I give nearly all over-worked, control-freak, do-everything-yourself startup founders: “Your number one priority isn’t any of these things. There’s you and your killer CTO co-founder. It’s a very cool vibe at Founder’s Coop. Community Leaders + Organizers.

Seattle 317

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

Today, we have invested in over 100 high-growth companies, some of which have grown to be household names with thousands of employees making a huge impact in the everyday lives of everyday people. . We lead or co-lead most of our investments and we develop our individual conviction vs. trying to hang around the hoop for market signals.

Operations 227

Operations Hiring Seed Stage Boston 227

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 4, 2019

by Josh Fechter , co-founder and CEO of Squibler. Why keep employees engaged? Engagement isn’t just about putting on a good face for your customers and business partners. Unengaged employees also tend to fail as corporate culture representatives and brand ambassadors. Let Personal Devices Reign.

Employee 147

Employee Technology Cofounder Viral 147

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2011

I covered what I call “the co-founder mythology.&# Either you’re not technical and you think you need a technical co-founder or vice-versa. It is increasingly popular to have “founder dating&# or “startup weekend hackathons&# of some variety or the other. Hire your co-founder.

Cofounder 393

Cofounder Founder Vesting Founder Vesting 393

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

This week I sat down with Chris Dixon, co-founder / CEO of Hunch and Partner at Founder Collective in the most recent installment of This Week in Venture Capital. 2. Chris then discussed his time as founder and CEO of SiteAdvisor, his first venture-backed startup.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Cofounder API 281

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2020

No matter how talented you are, it doesn’t matter unless managers can see those talents and think of you as an invaluable employee, or a game-changing manager, or the person whose name is synonymous with success. Use the idea to kick-start your relationships with co-founders, investors, customers and business partners.

Startup 331

Startup Technical Review Social Network Reputation 331

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2010

And that they don’t set your co-founders or key employees against you in meetings. Remember what happened to the alleged co-founders when Peter Thiel came in? Well, some of the people who considered themselves co-founders suddenly found out they weren’t! Some of those will be outside the company.

Advisory Board 233

Advisory Board Cofounder Phoenix Arizona 233

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2021

If you are a young startup founder, how do you find that CEO or other executive for your “dream team” to close on funding or complement your skills to kick start your company? There you can connect with thousands of potential executives and partners, or find a planned meetup in a city near you. Most founders are product guys.

Exit Strategy 407

Exit Strategy Leadership Founder Networking 407

Eric Friedman

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

To help teams answer this question I have collaborated with Steve Schlafman to create a product – an exercise, to be completed by those founders building a company. Today we are launching a way for co-founders and founding teams to understand themselves and each other better. Tapestry.so Tapestry is one of those answers.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Founder Software Review Early Stage 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2015

As an advisor to startups, I often get asked what to look for in an ideal co-founder or business partner. After some reflection, I now realize these attributes are necessary but not sufficient to be an ideal business partner. Together they can attract investors, employees and even customers.

Partner 120

Partner Technical Review Due Diligence Startup 120

View from Seed

APRIL 27, 2020

Founders do not have this luxury. Most founders are going through hell right now, and that is not going away any time soon. For investors and founders, the next several years are going to be very different. Pre-seeds will be tougher as investors gravitate more towards proven founders or folks within their existing networks.

Cofounder 194

Cofounder Software Review Portfolio Technical Review 194

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

I read commentary or Twitter or blogs and realize that there are also strongly held convictions that there are these evil VCs who do terrible things to mostly altruistic founders. Executives run the day-to-day so often the board is more involved as a sparring partner at key intervals. That’s true.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217

YoungUpstarts

MAY 8, 2014

Or a partner defects with your top client. Along with several partners, I’ve built two thriving companies: Direct Mail Express (which now employs over 400 people) and Response Mail Express (which was eventually sold to an equity fund, Huron Capital Partners). Or a key vendor declares bankruptcy.

Technical Review 254

Technical Review Entrepreneur Florida Cofounder 254

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2011

Otherwise, I suggest that founders be up-front with their employers, with an honest commitment that the “side” work on the potential startup will not jeopardize committed results. In a part-time effort, a co-founder is essential to keeping you on-track and working. Pick a day and time per week where you always work together.

Founder 233

Founder Startup Cofounder Angel Investor 233

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

by Nick Candito, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Progressly. Your prospects, customers and partners (and employees for that matter) do not see you as a series of disparate organizations. They’re a key component to keeping systems and teams aligned with goals and objectives. 3 Frustrating Bottlenecks.

Cofounder 174

Cofounder Technical Review Operations Employee 174