Pascal's View

MARCH 12, 2010

Susan Mangiero , CEO of Investment Governance’s Fiduciary X , asked me the following: Question: Please differentiate between the governance of a VC fund versus the governance of companies in a VC fund’s portfolio? Is one more important than the other?

Government 28

Government Portfolio Technical Review Due Diligence 28

ConversionXL

JANUARY 18, 2022

Your brand is how you differentiate, build awareness , and sear your solution into customers’ minds so they think of you when that time comes. It helps them audit existing content portfolios (blog posts, landing pages, etc.) Build systems and processes that enable your team to create and distribute content seamlessly.

Marketing 109

Marketing Social Media Non-Compete Audience 109

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

Yes an online video startup in ‘99 that helped large media companies encode and distribute their videos through portals. An example is Metacafe, a Highland Capital portfolio company. Bing is very open to 3 rd party elements in their index that create a differentiated user experience. Startup after Iron Planet? (6:00

Vertical 265

Vertical Curation Boston Burn Rate 265

Reid Hoffman

AUGUST 6, 2020

Sarah Guo: “We’re all operating on new ground here, but we do have companies in our portfolio that think about the next nine months to two years as a special time period for execution. Every company is going to get more distributed, more flexible, more global, and more digital-first. And I’m not saying every company becomes GitLab.

Technical Review 69

Technical Review Seed Stage Software Review Early Stage 69

Lightspeed Venture Partners

DECEMBER 14, 2012

I recently had the privilege of assembling an all-star group of media executives in Beverly Hills to discuss the challenges they face in distributing, monetizing and delivering their video content. In aggregate, the various revenue streams would continue to support the creation and distribution of high production value content.

Business Model 159

Business Model Distribution Aggregator Channel 159

View from Seed

JULY 19, 2019

And additionally, my partners and I use other, more differentiated, lenses like asking if a startup has an “ unfair distribution advantage.” has become a mantra here at NextView over the past few years after we were introduced to the concept by one of our portfolio CEOs. Asking “Is it JDCC?” Go (re)read that post.

Boston 149

Boston B2B Early Stage Portfolio 149

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

The strategy of GigaOm and where they differentiate in the market. Reportedly, Softbank and Zynga have discussed jointly distributing games through Softbank’s mobile-phone service in Japan and other countries. Will expand IBM’s business analytics capabilities and become part of IBM’s application and integration middleware portfolio.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Non-Compete Vertical Europe 225

Lightspeed Venture Partners

JUNE 11, 2012

In 2009 I wrote a guest post at Industry Gamers about why social gaming is so attractive to investors , where I talked about the three key elements oin gaming: Development, Distribution and Discovery. But I think the framework of Development, Distribution and Discovery is still a useful lens to view the industry. This is hard to do.

IP 114

IP Distribution Viral Mobile 114

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 14, 2021

Building a successful investment franchise over the past few decades required finding a distribution advantage as products have been mostly undifferentiated. While traditional finance offers few options for product differentiation, decentralized finance (DeFI) is the opposite.

Finance 78

Finance Portfolio Open Source Differentiation 78

Women Entrepreneurs Can

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

The key is to differentiate between operational revenue and capital that supports your business growth. For businesses with a diverse investment portfolio, these external gains, including those from high-risk ventures, should be classified accurately.

Revenue 40

Revenue Balance Sheet Equity Operations 40

VC Cafe

AUGUST 17, 2023

The process taught me the value of differentiation, client relationships, time management, and personal responsibility. Remagine continued to invest in AI (represented in about half of their portfolio companies ) and established itself as the prominent VC investing in Israeli genAI.

Generative AI 78

Generative AI Israel Venture Capital Pennsylvania 78

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 14, 2010

These are areas that may be gaps in the portfolio of large companies, and are perfect for M&A deals in three to five years after building enough validation and $10-$20 million in revenue. Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year. Ma Mi Skin Care.

Bootstrapping 114

Bootstrapping Marketing Angel Investor Silicon Valley 114

BeyondVC

JANUARY 29, 2007

I went out to dinner a couple weeks ago with a few key executives at a portfolio company and as we started talking about future product direction, it seemed that we all had different ideas of where the company should go. Seeing some confusion I tried to get us focused back on the basics when I asked the team what our vision was.

Differentiation 78

Differentiation Video Viral Algorithm 78

Brandanew

JULY 9, 2015

The easiest way to understand whether or not you have found the right experts is to check their portfolio of work. They may also engage with large PR houses to get the distribution going. Standing our and being differentiated as a brand is not simple. Image source: Flickr. The Internet is full of noise: .

Marketing 100

Marketing SEO Metrics Channel 100

Austin Startup

JANUARY 2, 2021

When anyone can work from anywhere, they don’t evenly distribute across the country. Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy told me that was the people of Austin that differentiated us from the other cities. Breyer Capital also has an impact investing arm and has eight portfolio companies based on the African continent.

Silicon Valley 100

Silicon Valley Austin Texas Raleigh 100

BeyondVC

JANUARY 29, 2007

I went out to dinner a couple weeks ago with a few key executives at a portfolio company and as we started talking about future product direction, it seemed that we all had different ideas of where the company should go. Seeing some confusion I tried to get us focused back on the basics when I asked the team what our vision was.

Differentiation 60

Differentiation Video Viral Algorithm 60

Occam's Razor

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

You can accomplish these goals: ~ Get an optimal understanding of what kind of people you ended up attracting to your website (look at primary purpose & distribution). Traffic Differentials. A portfolio of seven strategies that you can use in the ultimate quest for any online marketer / analyst: measuring branding campaigns.

Campaign 130

Campaign Analytics Metrics Search 130

Hunter Walker

MAY 18, 2015

They provide assistance to Californians in building a vibrant, successful and inclusive society, distributing more than $1.5b Anne Dinneen: Nothing has contributed more to the growth of the Irvine endowment over the years than our venture portfolio. And what leads to adding or removing a fund from Irvine’s portfolio?

LP 48

LP Portfolio Early Stage Institutional Investors 48

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

dominated by a few very large incumbents who control much of the distribution or are you going into a market that is “fragmented” where nobody controls the industry. They literally can’t respond to our core differentiator. That’s why Ring is amongst the fastest growing company in our portfolio.

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Women Entrepreneurs Can

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

Print a QR code linking to your portfolio or service offerings. How to Use It Distribute door hangers with a catchy design and a limited-time offer. Adding creative approaches like interactive print materials and guerrilla marketing can differentiate your brand and engage with your audience meaningfully.

Small Business 52

Small Business Marketing Audience Advertising 52

Steve Blank

JULY 16, 2009

Go spend some time outside the building talking to potential distribution partners. However the VC’s are managing a portfolio while you, the entrepreneur are managing one company – yours. The fact its board members sold it to their former portfolio company does not make it a great business, it makes it a great investment.

Silicon Valley 223

Silicon Valley RSS Video San Diego 223

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Besides being “busy doing great deals and distributing cash to your LPs”, what are they’re actually doing to make that happen? What are these folks who wind up on the Midas List accomplishing day to day that differentiates them from the middle of the pack? So I asked them.

Non-Compete 97

Non-Compete Cofounder Cap Table Reputation 97

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

Google has been investing in a broad healthcare portfolio, Amazon has been investing in pharmacy distribution and Apple…? This by itself is a key differentiator for the Watch as a healthcare device. Apple has been focused on turning the Apple Watch into the future of health screening and diagnostics. to the iPhone.)

China 67

China Technical Review Software Review Algorithm 67

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

These are areas that may be gaps in the portfolio of large companies, and are perfect for M&A deals in three to five years after building enough validation and $10-$20 million in revenue. Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

These are areas that may be gaps in the portfolio of large companies, and are perfect for M&A deals in three to five years after building enough validation and $10-$20 million in revenue. Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. This is the implied rate of return of a fund based on the value (mostly unrealized) of a portfolio. Part of the reason to do this was just to reconnect after a long time apart.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. This is the implied rate of return of a fund based on the value (mostly unrealized) of a portfolio. Part of the reason to do this was just to reconnect after a long time apart.

IRR 156

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 156

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. This is the implied rate of return of a fund based on the value (mostly unrealized) of a portfolio. Part of the reason to do this was just to reconnect after a long time apart.

IRR 136

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 136

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 8, 2024

Lock-up critical resources , like materials, components, people, law firms, distribution channels, partners and make them unavailable to innovation groups/startups. If possible, communicate and differentiate your innovation as incremental innovation. Build a defensive patent portfolio and strategy? Patent strategy.

Government 296

Government Advisory Board Leadership Programming 296

VC Cafe

JANUARY 16, 2011

. - Spacecom is offering a wide range of Pan African satellite services, including: Cellular backhaul, Rural telephony, Broadband VSAT networks, e-government, e-learning, e- health, Direct To Home (DTH) Multi-channel platforms, DSNG, Video Distribution & Contribution. Rad Data Communication.

Mobile 103

Mobile Securities and Exchange Commission Flash IP 103

This is going to be BIG.

JULY 30, 2015

And those exits would be roughly 10% of the portfolio--about 3 out of every 30ish deals. Distributions can actually be drawn out over an extended period of time, but for the purposes of this exercise, I just kept the fund to 11 years. The average VC-backed exit is somewhere around $250mm. It's what you'd expect.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation IRR Valuation 60

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

https://medium.com/media/cc969482e7abf6b75d3c0958c8ee409d/href I moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and as a VC who had built his career as a programmer, database designer, program manager, CEO then VP Products at Salesforce, I wanted to build a portfolio of software investments. He sees the same situation playing out today in online media.

Media 210

Media Los Angeles Russia Viral 210

VC Cafe

MARCH 6, 2025

The competitive edge lies in product and distribution, building defensible positions through industry alignment and effective go-to-market strategies. Companies can differentiate themselves by targeting overlooked categories with complex requirements and nuanced needs. Madrona’s Jon Turow has a great primer on this.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Vertical Open Source Generative AI 88

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 13, 2021

And one and two are, “I don’t want to do the deal,” with one being, “I really don’t want to do the deal,” and two is like, “I don’t think it should be part of the portfolio, but look, if the rest of you think it’s kind of a good idea…fine. You know, maybe I’m wrong.” But, in fact, you know we’re social animals.

Incubator 36

Incubator IPO Networking Cofounder 36