Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

We are experiencing a frenetic time. I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. One would think entrepreneurs would never want less available cash – until such time as their competitors ridiculously and unnecessarily all raise $50 million in the name of a “land grab” thus mak

Software Review 315

Software Review Turkey Portfolio Syndication 315

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2015

Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders, since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. But fortunately, team building is a skill that can be learned and practiced, for those willing to put in some effort.

Technical Review 206

Technical Review Development Team Review Leadership Cofounder 206

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

I’ve been working with large companies and the U.S. government to help them innovate faster– not just kind of fast, but 10x the number of initiatives in 1/5 the time. A 50x speedup kind of fast. Here’s how. —– Lean Innovation Management. In the last five years “ Lean Startup ” methodologies have enabled entrepreneurs to efficiently build a startup by searching for product/market fit rather than blindly trying to execute.

Lean 263

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 263

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2015

by Edward D. Hess, author of “ Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization “. Not so long ago, our culture really (really) admired people with big egos. We called them rugged individualists, fearless leaders, MVPs, visionaries, and go-getters. We respected these confident and successful folks for (seemingly) having all the answers.

Technical Review 198

Technical Review Developer Leadership Security 198

Speaker: Nick Noreña, Innovation Coach and Advisor, Kromatic

Every startup and innovation project exists within an ecosystem that either helps or hurts that project. As innovation managers, we need to keep a pulse of that ecosystem and make sure we're helping those innovation projects we're managing every step of the way. In this webinar, Nick Noreña will walk through an Innovation Ecosystem Model that he and his team at Kromatic have developed to help investors, heads of product, teachers, and executives understand how they can best support innovation in

Startup

The Next Web

JUNE 21, 2015

Summer has unofficially begun here in the U.S. And I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing I love more than relaxing with a great book on the beach or laying in the grass at a park. And if I can get better at my job in the process? That, my friends, is a win-win. Or double win, as I like to call it. Since our previous reading lists ( here and here ) were so helpful for me personally as a reader, I want to pay it forward.

PR 126

PR Startup Software Review Technical Review 126

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

Note: This is a long post and it’s based on reflecting on a couple of years of observations in the venture industry. It’s a work-in-progress and I expect to update and refine the content in this post a bit, especially in the next week as I prepare for a talk I’m giving at the Premoney conference in SF next week. It is published here in relatively raw form.

Seed Stage 105

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2015

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). New crowd funding platforms on the Internet, like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as well as the Jobs Act of 2012 , are expected by many to ramp up regular people’s ability to fund new opportunities and kill the need for angel groups.

Angel Investor 218

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor IRR 218

Up and Running

JUNE 29, 2015

You don’t have to do everything yourself—a partner can be an asset to your business. Entrepreneurs have a reputation for trying to do it all singlehandedly. In the early days of starting your business, you may feel like you’re wearing several hats—too many, in fact. For this reason, you might consider working with a business partner. Not only does having a business partner distribute some of the work, it gives you someone to bounce ideas off of, the benefit of an additional skill set, and

Partner 119

Partner Cofounder Networking Founder 119

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 9, 2015

by Alex Romanov, CEO of iSIGN Media. Influencing shoppers when they are close enough to respond is the key to any proximity marketing effort. The widespread excitement over beacon news announcements has marketers scrambling to climb on the bandwagon. Retailers get excited about new products and fail to balance enthusiasm with the knowledge required to handle the many shortcomings.

Software Review 175

Software Review Ireland Campaign Advertising 175

crowdSPRING Blog

JUNE 26, 2015

We love dreams. We love childhood memories. We love stop motion animation. Vera Van Wolferen ‘s How to Catch a Bird pulls it all together in a wonderfully creative and evocative way. Now wake up! Once again, it’s time for our weekly Roundup! Take a little trip through this week’s set of links and articles that we shared with you over the past week on our crowdSPRING Twitter account (as well as my own Twitter account ) is keyboard perfection!

Small Business 82

Small Business Design Guinea Social Media 82

Berkonomics

JUNE 2, 2015

So your business has begun to take off. You’ve figured out your channels of distribution, pricing model and how to support your growing list of customers. Don’t be alarmed by this next statement. That’s relatively easy. You can be the one to develop a product or service, promote it, and support it when you are a small operation. But what if you need to repeat the process of positioning, selling, and supporting your product ten thousand or more times as often as you do today?

Revenue 90

Revenue Distribution Reputation Operations 90

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2015

Business leaders have many tasks to accomplish and prioritizing stuff can be hard. Yesterday I wrote about the need to “ do fewer things, more often ” in which I described that frenzied world we live in and why the shiny objects and distractions stop us from living up to our true potential. Today I’d like to give that advice in more tangible terms and with a framework to think about your tasks – the funnel.

LP 329

LP Warrant Portfolio Framework 329

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Few investors these days have the time or patience to read a full business plan, so a better way to catch their eye is with a tightly written and well formatted two-page executive summary. As a model, think high-quality marketing collateral, with text and graphics in columns and sidebars, but focused on the value of your business, rather than selling your product.

Intellectual Property 209

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Technical Review 209

Up and Running

JUNE 16, 2015

Billboards: definitely offline. Most of us believe that these days, digital marketing is the only way to get results. While this may be true for a specific target market, some of the best marketing ideas happen offline. The best marketing strategies are those that combine both online and offline ideas seamlessly, in one complete package. If you haven’t been putting much effort into your offline marketing tactics, then it’s time that you give your start-up a boost with the following tips.

Marketing 110

Marketing PR Non-Compete Software Review 110

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 11, 2015

by Eyal Shinar, CEO & Founder of Fundbox. Everything big must first be small. The largest, most successful businesses today were once small, start-ups with grand visions. Giant tech companies like Google, Amazon and Apple all started out in garages or in someone’s basement and now each boast hundreds of billions in market capitalization. As a small business owner and entrepreneur, it is easy to get frustrated and discouraged when faced with daily obstacles as you try to scale your business.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Small Business Entrepreneur Pennsylvania 170

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 24, 2015

5 Ways Writing A Book Will Supercharge Your Online Presence written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. Let me tell you right off the bat, writing and publishing a book is a lot easier than you think. In September of 2014, when I became a Duct Tape Marketing Certified Consultant, I provided a list of ten reasons why joining the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant network is a no-brainer for digital agencies.

Kansas City 61

Kansas City Kansas Social Media Lead Generation 61

Rob Go

JUNE 23, 2015

When an investor “does work” on a potential investment, it usually means engaging in some form of due diligence. One of my favorite VC sayings is from an investor that has said that “due diligence is something VC’s do very studiously when they want to kill a deal” I’ve often quoted this, half joking, half in truth.

Technical Review 57

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Venture Capital 57

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 24, 2015

I recently interviewed Matt Mazzeo of Lowercase Capital. By now most of you know that Chris Sacca invested in what is now thought to be one of the best performing VC funds of all time having invested an $8.4 million fund in: Uber, Instagram, Docker and Twitter, amongst others. He then went on to build perhaps the largest single shareholding in Twitter.

Los Angeles 273

Los Angeles Vietnam Venture Capital Technical Review 273

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Every investor in your startup, even friends and family, normally expects a share of your company (equity), which means your return for all your effort goes down quickly. Thus founders seeking funding for a good cause or a new technology often seize on grants from universities, government agencies and philanthropic organizations as free money to solve their problems.

SBIR 207

SBIR Equity Technical Review Early Stage 207

Up and Running

JUNE 5, 2015

When I think of pitching, I think of presentations (unless we’re talking about baseball, of course). But, pitching can come in different forms, and one of the most common ways to pitch your business —even in our technologically advanced age—is the “pitch email.” Email is everywhere. It’s used by nearly everyone, it’s more personal than social media, and it’s less obtrusive than a phone call.

Email 110

Email Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Social Media 110

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 15, 2015

by Andrea Martins, co-founder of GreenSocks. Have you ever fallen in love so passionately with someone or something that you find yourself addicted to their every tweet, video or Facebook update? I have, thanks to Sam Altman, the President of Y Combinator. Not that I fell in love with Sam himself. He may have been named by Silicon Valley thought leader Paul Graham as one of the five most interesting startup founders since 1979, but Sam’s curious penchant for wearing t-shirts over long-sleeve shi

Cofounder 213

Cofounder Delaware Startup Technical Review 213

deal architect

JUNE 24, 2015

Like most, I have watched many a “One more thing” announcement by Steve Jobs. While it made many run out and line up for blocks when Apple introduced that shiny new thing, it inspired the author in me to write.

Technology 264

Technology Software 264

View from Seed

JUNE 17, 2015

I’ve observed what may be an emerging trend, at least in some startups, that I find somewhat unsettling. It has an impact at an individual level, a company level, and an ecosystem level. This is not an easy topic to discuss without coming off like a jerk or a crusty old dude, so I wanted to share two quick stories about my own career below. But I think it’s important to discuss, particularly given today’s heady environment for startups.

Startup 262

Startup Cofounder Seed Stage IPO 262

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

I’ve heard many investors and some executives repeat the mantra, “Never offer exclusive deals,” and since this blanket statement is generally bad advice I thought I’d offer the less conventional but I believe more practical version of why exclusive deals can actually be a huge bonus for a startup and why I actively encourage them.

PR 269

PR Early Stage Software Naming 269

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2015

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea. Thus, unless the visionary highlights a cofounder who can take the vision and execute, I assume the worst.

Cofounder 205

Cofounder Bandwidth Matching Leadership 205

Up and Running

JUNE 23, 2015

Meg Wirth and Allyson Cote, founders of Maternova. Maternal health is a concern the world over, especially in developing nations. Childbirth can be a precarious process; for some women and their infants it can be life-threatening. According to the World Health Organization, 800 women die every day during childbirth, with 99 percent of those deaths taking place in the developing world.

Cofounder 99

Cofounder Sweat Equity Social Media Business Model 99

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 15, 2015

by Marcel Daane, author of “ Headstrong Performance: Improve Your Mental Performance With Nutrition, Exercise, and Neuroscience “ It’s Monday morning, and Michael, a senior executive at a global telecommunications company, faces the week utterly exhausted. Only 38, he’s been a high-level leader with the firm for more than a decade.

Stock 189

Stock Singapore Global Leadership 189

deal architect

JUNE 4, 2015

I know people measure Gartner by its Magic Quadrants, Cool Vendor lists and Symposium presentations, but to me Gartner really shines when it triangulates a) maturing, large markets it sees from its thousands of client queries each month b) summarizes.

Marketing 259

Marketing 259

View from Seed

JUNE 30, 2015

A few weeks ago, Manu Kumar wrote an excellent post detailing the current state of the seed financing landscape. Read it – it’s excellent. I agree with most of the things that Manu wrote, and I’ve been thinking about the topic quite a bit over the last several days. One very common meme these days is that “seed is the new A.” I kind of agree, but I also kind of think that the whole phrase is confusing people.

Seed Stage 260

Seed Stage Syndication Syndicate Dilution 260

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

Over the years I’ve written extensively about the downsides of convertible notes for startups such as here , here and here. The truth is that I’ve been warning about convertible notes since 2010 it was first declared that “convertible notes have won.” Today I want to talk about how a VC thinks about equity pricing on your round and particularly if you’re coming off of a convertible note.

Pre-Money Valuation 292

Pre-Money Valuation Option Pool Post-Money Valuation Dilution 292

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 18, 2015

How to Use Email Tracking to Dramatically Ramp Up Sales written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. It’s no secret that email marketing metrics offer great insights. They let you learn from your customers’ behavior and steer your marketing ship accordingly. But how do you find the best strategy for connecting with customers and prospects directly?

Email 55

Email Sales Technical Review Analytics 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2015

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Every company needs this focus to attract the best minds and loyalty in both categories.

Entrepreneur 235

Entrepreneur Leadership Early Stage Demand 235

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2015

Providing great customer service is one of the most important parts of the business equation. If you want to ensure that your customers keep coming back to you with their business, you need to make sure that they can find help when they need it, that they are left alone when they want to be, and that your sales team is able to anticipate their needs so that they will feel exceedingly well attended to.

Customer 179

Customer Security Software Review Sales 179

deal architect

JUNE 15, 2015

I am writing the sequel to SAP Nation to update it for the launch of S/4HANA. I analyze the launch and also delve into the history of next-gen products in enterprise software over two decades to provide some perspective on.

Software 254

Software Product 254

View from Seed

JUNE 2, 2015

Seemingly overnight, podcasts are exploding — as are blog posts that claim, “Podcasts are exploding.” Last week, NextView announced the launch of our new show, Traction , exploring the creative and unusual ways entrepreneurs make initial progress. Today, we wanted to share some of the top VC podcasts as a nod to our peers. First, we thought it’d be useful to share a quick lesson we’ve learned on creating podcasts in the event you plan to launch your own: traits of w

Boston 237

Boston Startup Audience Audio 237

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 25, 2015

Many people don’t know that I actually became Chairman of my first company and relinquishing the CEO role before the company was sold. It’s a topic I’m well versed in personally and I understand the difficult emotional decision of whether to hand the reigns to someone else of the baby you’ve struggled so hard to launch into the world.

Silicon Valley 268

Silicon Valley IPO Demand Revenue 268