Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. ” Put simply, if you care about building a successful tech community outside Silicon Valley you should read this book.

Community 378

Community San Diego Silicon Valley Los Angeles 378

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I had lost a previous deal where the team said they liked me but didn’t know my partners well enough so I promised myself never to let that happen again. So I organized a team dinner with all four of my partners and all three of their founders. 15 companies North of $1 billion exit. All other lessons were sort of obvious.

China 328

China Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review 328

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

They had been introduced by my friend Brian Garrett, a partner at Crosscut Ventures and the ambition outlined in their deck seemed almost unbelievable, “to make wireless charging of phones (and other devices) as easy as WiFi” that I had to see it for myself. Meredith came to see me along with the CTO Marc Berte.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence CTO Hire 418

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. The best and most consistent funds in Silicon Valley (e.g.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

Examples are Hollywood for movies, Milan for fashion, New York for finance and today, Silicon Valley for technology entrepreneurship. It has become China’s Silicon Valley. Industries have a competitive advantage when related companies cluster in a geographical location. This was the area I visited in this trip to China.)

Programming 287

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 287

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Right sized : I tried to work with one of the best known firms in Silicon Valley. He’s totally tapped into the startup communities in Silicon Valley and a bit in LA. Focus on the partner you would be working with. One issue he talked about was working with partners. Good people and evil people.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). So why did Larry need to return?

Founder 309

Founder CTO Hire Silicon Valley Leadership 309

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

If you are going to do the tour up and down Sandhill Road to try and raise your 1st round of financing you need a pitch deck because the vast majority of those meetings you are going to be sitting around a table and you will be presenting to one or more partners and that is going to be your first engagement.”. Is that when it became big?

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

My other partner, Steven Dietz, was on the board of my second company. I started working with David when I was an entrepreneur and he was an associate with a VC firmed called … wait for it … GRP Partners (now Upfront Ventures)! But he has the added benefit of living in the UK – making him the perfect partner for Nick.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Cofounder San Francisco Silicon Valley 320

View from Seed

JULY 31, 2014

Two weeks ago, my partners and I here at NextView Ventures announced our second fund. As my partner Rob Go has written , our goal is to invest half in consumer web and mobile and half in business-focused ventures. Furthermore, one of our recent investments was in Silicon Valley, as all three of us have lived and worked there.

Seed Stage 272

Seed Stage B2C Technical Review Disintermediation 272

VC Cafe

MARCH 31, 2025

Michael later served as a group partner, managing director, and CEO of YC. Prioritize growth as the primary metric for fundraising: For Silicon Valley investors, growth is the most important factor, even more so than the team or past experience. The YC companies Michael has worked with are worth a combined $192 billion.

Cofounder 88

Cofounder Silicon Valley Technical Review PR 88

View from Seed

APRIL 14, 2020

But the risk to founders is that these investors may not be very committed partners and might quickly disengage if things go sideways. The rationale is that these investments may be a way to get to know a team better and watch the move unfold with minimal risk of looking dumb if things don’t work out. Business Models and Sectors.

Early Stage 374

Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 374

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

The press called Rocket Science one of the hottest companies in Silicon Valley and predicted that our games would be great because the storyboards and trailers were spectacular. My wife was a great partner here. Stage 1: Shock and Surprise. We raised $35 million and after 18 months made the cover of Wired magazine.

Redemption 333

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 333

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2022

In that environment, you need to look broadly and work effectively on all the available sources of capital, including friends and family, angel investors, and strategic partners. If you need venture capital, maybe you need to spend more time in Silicon Valley or Boston. Intelligence and insight: book and street smarts.

Silicon Valley 325

Silicon Valley Angel Investor Technical Review Boston 325

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2020

This point was highlighted well in the classic book, “ Disrupting Digital Business ,” by R “Ray” Wang, CEO and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research. These dedicated fans and partners believe so much in your brand, your cause, and your product, that they do all the force multiplying work for free.

Silicon Valley 312

Silicon Valley Flash Social Media Software Review 312

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

“Yes&# was given to me by one of my favorite angel investor / seed VC’s to work with – John Greathouse of Rincon Venture Partners and author of the blog InfoChachkie that you should check out because it is filled with great info from a guy who has been a very successful operator.

Silicon Valley 293

Silicon Valley Technical Review Southern California Angel Investor 293

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2022

Alex is a Silicon Valley veteran and Cisco executive, often referred to as the ‘innovation therapist,’ who details his knowledge of many real-world cases and specifics on how to keep up with change and win in the marketplace. Innovation must be embedded in every function of your organization and measured at the highest levels.

Technical Review 252

Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review Metrics 252

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

During my time in Silicon Valley, I was struck by the fact that most successful entrepreneurs seemed to personally know and regularly hear from all the “movers and shakers” who had the investment capital and leadership they needed. I’m a believer in the old saying that investors look for great people, more than great ideas.

Silicon Valley 284

Silicon Valley Technical Review Leadership Metrics 284

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Partnering with outside entrepreneurial efforts is discouraged. That experience helped me to understand the excitement, determination, and satisfaction of an entrepreneur, and it made me a better one when I later worked for and with several real startups back in Silicon Valley.

Technical Review 214

Technical Review Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Burn Rate 214

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2018

The challenge is how to find that elusive perfect-fit partner. As a mentor to aspiring business owners, I often get asked to find that partner for them, since founders are usually too busy with their solution. In fact, your ideal partner may also be an investor. Explore matchmaking sites for business partners.

Partner 139

Partner Cofounder Silicon Valley Kansas 139

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2013

He joined when Maker was a small, chaotic organization and helped bridge our talented creative team with the outside world of investor, brands, partners & press. Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley and Who Will Win. And he has truly been a pleasure to work with. Another major hire was Ryan Lissack who joined as CTO.

Video 320

Video Los Angeles Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 320

Steve Blank

JANUARY 14, 2013

universities (See the blog posts on the Secret History of Silicon Valley here , and for a story about one of the University weapons labs here.). In exchange for federal science funding, universities became partners in weapons systems research and development. Establish the U.S. Give the U.S.

Silicon Valley 247

Silicon Valley Government Germany Japan 247

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

The functions of an early-stage board are pretty obvious and well understood: Providing introductions to customers, biz dev partners, recruits, the press, other investors, etc. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions. how much energy to put into channel partners vs. direct sales. Mentorship.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

” It’s a standard line I use at our partners meetings. Their firm is one of those that you think of when you think of Silicon Valley. So whenever I get a deal sent my way that is from out of town and seems amazing but seems almost too good to be true, my first thought is always, “Why am I so lucky?”

Silicon Valley 333

Silicon Valley Early Stage Later Stage Technical Review 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

The beauty of Silicon Valley and the ethos it has driven in all of us is acceptance of failure and a profound respect for those who at least try. Now they are partners. If a society shuns people for TRYING you discourage people from creating truly breakthrough innovation out of fear of failure.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review South Korea San Francisco Software Review 417

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2011

But he left to work on what he told me he came to do - crack the innovation code of Silicon Valley and share it with the rest of the world. Max and his partners interviewed and analyzed over 650 early-stage Internet startups. They went to work gathering deep knowledege of what makes successful Internet startups.

Technical Cofounder 335

Technical Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 335

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2023

This point was highlighted well in the classic book, “ Disrupting Digital Business ,” by R “Ray” Wang, CEO and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research. These dedicated fans and partners believe so much in your brand, your cause, and your product, that they do all the force multiplying work for free.

Silicon Valley 265

Silicon Valley Flash Social Media Software Review 265

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 17, 2015

Read part one on the Evolution of Corporate R&D , part two on Innovation Outposts in Silicon Valley , and part three The 6 Decisions to Make Before Setting up an Innovation Outpost. In the first stage the Outpost focusses on networking and partnering in the Innovation Cluster in which it is based (i.e.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Incubator Acquisition Business Model 120

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

You must find ways to get some distribution through other online partners like Hulu or package up shows for distribution on Roku or Xbox. So you either need to invest millions or partner with a “tools company” designed to help you promote and distribute video. And production is where Hollywood beats Silicon Valley.

Video 339

Video Technical Review Distribution Aggregator 339

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

You’ve found a VC partner or principal who has invited you to the Monday partners’ meeting. You come into a meeting where your sponsor (the person who invited you to present to the partners) knows a lot about you and the rest of the room may have varying degrees of knowledge. Congratulations. Sometimes that works.

Technical Review 318

Technical Review Venture Capital Partner Silicon Valley 318

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2014

So here is a rational hedge strategy I recommend, and see playing out every day in Silicon Valley and other startup hubs. The partner most obsessed with the startup lifestyle tests the water by going to work in an early-stage startup, similar to one they might hope to start someday.

Technical Review 250

Technical Review Stock Options Silicon Valley Due Diligence 250

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2013

Examples of some leaders in this space include Mike Maples in Silicon Valley and David S. Being “lifecycle investment partners” has a downside. I see now emerging a new wave of investors, popularly known as “super-Angels,” micro-VCs, or “super-seed” investors. They can plant more seeds, and place less dependency on the big win.

Angel Investor 231

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Early Stage Silicon Valley 231

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Last year I was on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley meeting with one of the most prominent venture capital firms in the country. The VC partner, somebody I greatly respect said, “Yeah, we like Gil and what they’re doing. So can you really build a great tech firm outside of Silicon Valley? Los Angeles.

Silicon Valley 313

Silicon Valley Southern California Los Angeles Semantic 313

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2015

I was struck by something that had been slowly percolating through my head during my entire week – there are a higher percentage of women on the founding teams of New York City startups than in Silicon Valley. Companies that get started and built in Silicon Valley have historically focused on core technology.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley New York City New York Venture Capital 120

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2015

I was flabbergasted – almost stunned — to discover that in Silicon Valley all kinds of people looked at that resume and said, ‘Hey you’ve learned a lot of important lessons on someone else’s dime.’ That’s part of the magic of Silicon Valley.”. If you can’t hear the clip, click here.

Lean 120

Lean Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder Channel 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Called Tim Spicer (c-companies partner) and he told him matt, they only want one thing, more warrant coverage!!! Raised money from Splitrock Partners (of whom Matt thinks very highly) experience was so emotionally traumatic he came out of it vowing he’d never go thru that again – get cash flow positive RIGHT NOW!!! [if

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

We kept talking, with Steve asking “How long are you staying in Silicon Valley?” When I told him, “two more days,” he asked, “Are you interested in meeting with venture firms in the Valley?”

Japan 305

Japan Customer Development Developer Customer 305