OnlyOnce

OCTOBER 27, 2022

In 2005, I wrote a post called Unfolding the Map in which I looked at these two seemingly opposing philosophies from successful entrepreneurs: If you don’t have a map, you can’t get lost If you don’t have a map, you can’t get where you’re going. This started back in 2000.

Framework 62

Framework Partner Developer Employee 62

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 5, 2011

I’m procrastinating so I thought I’d write one of my periodic public service announcement for entrepreneurs. In 1999, 2000, and 2001 I had a my.yahoo.com page up with a bunch of stocks, including a number of companies I was an investor in, as my home page. As an entrepreneur, this was all noise.

Stock 155

Stock Entrepreneur Chicago Finance 155

Hearpreneur

APRIL 3, 2016

I had actually developed the logo in 1999 and it is now on the back of my entire product line. Another reason was because when I started my business it was 2000, and people used the phone more, I wanted something short and sweet I could say while answering the phone all day. Thanks to Julie Rustad, Julie Originals LLC. #4

Naming 48

Naming Technical Review PR LLC 48

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. Experienced and serial entrepreneurs in the content management space. I met a lot of really bright people that were passionate about and experienced in helping entrepreneurs build successful businesses. Page 2: What’s unique about Koral. Folksonomy. Free product.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet Viral San Diego 274

Seeing Both Sides

APRIL 10, 2011

The Internet bull market continued to run for four more years after the Open Market IPO, finally ending in the spring of 2000. Amidst all the recent talk of boom vs. bubble , there is a hue and cry that the current environment may smack of 1999. But what if it’s actually more akin to 1996?

IPO 48

IPO IRR Brazil Government 48

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

Silicon Valley is still emerging from the tech bubble and massive downturn of late 2000-2002. I also joke with Reid Hoffman that this was back in the days before he was “Reid” Reid’s an incredible entrepreneur, startup investor, and human being. This is my 2nd time trying this, first time was in 1999.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 20, 2012

In 2000, venture capitalists poured a staggering $112.2 According to Dow Jones VentureSource Senior Manager of Corporate Communications Kim Gagliardi, 3,404 venture financing rounds were completed in 2011, down 47% from the 6,361 closed in 2000. That was up 29% over 2000 in just five years. It just doesn’t fit.

Venture Capital 127

Venture Capital San Francisco Deal Flow Atlanta 127

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 9, 2012

Young entrepreneurs take note. Founded in 1999 by college student Bryn Carey, this ski and snowboard rental and delivery service is used by over 30 ski resorts in locations such as California, Colorado and British Columbia, Canada. Bought by Mike Pfieger in 2000, this company provides agricultural goods and services.

Small Business 140

Small Business New York Denmark America 140

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 5, 2018

The problem has been that many LPs lost money in European venture in the 1999-2000, were nervous about making the same mistake again, and wondered if there was a structural reason why venture capitalists seemed to be less successful here than in the US.

Private Equity 92

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Europe 92

Scalable Startup

DECEMBER 15, 2011

There seems to be a lot of this going around these days – the “I’m just about to start a startup” category of entrepreneurs, or “I just started a startup” when they haven’t. It’s also become the new euphemism for unemployed. micro funding ($25K). no formal certification or education required.

Angel Investor 24

Angel Investor Startup IPO Software Developers 24

Jeff Hilimire

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Sometime in the summer of 1999, I received an email from Raj telling me to get ready to answer the phone because a guy he’d been talking to in Queenstown, NZ, was interested in us building a website for him. Raj and me in New Zealand in 1999 wearing our Sunday best. We were a ragtag group of misfits if there ever was one.

New Zealand 36

New Zealand Atlanta Charlotte Restful 36

Ben's Blog

JANUARY 31, 2012

After raising our first round of funding for Loudcloud in 1999, we went to visit our new venture capital firm and meet their full team. These presentations resulted in more than 3,000 introductions between portfolio companies and prospective Fortune 500/Global 2000 senior executives. Next, we went after the network.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Portfolio Cofounder Partner 78

Feld Thoughts

JULY 31, 2014

I know many entrepreneurs who feel that VCs have played them, gamed them, deceived them, or bullshitted them. But this doesn’t only happen to entrepreneurs. But more importantly, it reminded me of how often VCs b t each other and entrepreneurs. VCs play this game with VCs all the time. But is wasn’t always this way.

LP 155

LP Advisory Board Venture Capital Early Stage 155

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Entrepreneur news from reporter Eric Markowitz. Before Roving Software could receive its first round of financing from professional investors, in early 1999, he had to put all the stock arrangements in writing. Copyright © 2000 inc.com. Small Business Success | Mondays and Thursdays. The Goods: Your Business Toolbox | Thursdays.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

The movie, “The Social Network” might have had more of an impact on creating future entrepreneurs than any other event of the past 5 years. In 1998 there were around 850 VC funds and by 2000 there were 2,300. By 2000 the total LP commitments had mushroomed to more than $100 billion. Thank you, Aaron Sorkin! The Funding Problem.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Pascal's View

AUGUST 12, 2009

In Silicon Valley, Boston, Austin, and other innovation centers across the country, entrepreneurs and their backers (who are not limited to venture capitalists) are all keenly aware that Washington’s addiction to enacting hasty, one-size-fits–all financial regulation will continue to have far-reaching unintended negative consequences for the U.S.

IPO 28

IPO Silicon Valley Merger Sweat Equity 28

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 20, 2012

In 2000, venture capitalists poured a staggering $112.2 According to Dow Jones VentureSource Senior Manager of Corporate Communications Kim Gagliardi, 3,404 venture financing rounds were completed in 2011, down 47% from the 6,361 closed in 2000. That was up 29% over 2000 in just five years. It just doesn’t fit.

Venture Capital 66

Venture Capital Deal Flow Atlanta Incubator 66

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

And, rather than rational and helpful thoughts for entrepreneurs, it often brings out the schadenfreude in even the most talented people. We entrepreneurs have been spinning that line for decades in every boom cycle. I learned this lesson 127 times between 2000 and 2005. It’s simply not true.

Cap Table 70

Cap Table Down Round Liquidation Preference Founder 70

Growthink Blog

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

So much of the challenge that both entrepreneurs and investors face in earning return on time and capital is driven by the low growth rate of the economy as a whole. annually for the period 1982-1999, has since 2000 slowed to a mere 1.8%. GNP growth, after averaging 3.6% And here, we can escape from the “tyranny of the average.”

South Korea 87

South Korea Brazil Mexico India 87

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 13, 2010

By 1999 we had grown into the largest independent consulting firm in the world. By 1999 it seemed like everybody was growing, though. I left Andersen Consulting in 1999 at the height of the market. Within a year, by late 2000 / early 2001 consulting firms were firing people en masse. I love that.

Turkey 302

Turkey Differentiation IP Technical Review 302

The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

But they choose to invest in local businesses because they will make better investment decisions when they know the entrepreneurs, their friends and advisors, and where they can have more frequent face to face contact post-investment.). (Don’t interpret this as a sign of laziness: many VCs work very hard.

Silicon Valley 97

Silicon Valley Cost Startup Boston 97

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

Every investor and entrepreneur knows there is something scary about the current startup economy. More entrepreneurs get to try out their ideas with smaller amounts of capital, but the bar remains the same to get to the bigger rounds. Is 2012 going to be 2000 all over again? It's actually a great situation for the ecosystem.

Angel Investor 104

Angel Investor Valuation Startup Revenue 104

Pascal's View

AUGUST 28, 2010

v) “Since 1999, over 60% of IPOs have been VC-backed. .” (iii) “Roughly 600,000 new businesses (that employ others) are started each year in the U.S.” . (iv) iv) “Roughly 1,000 businesses receive their first VC funding each year.This means that only 1/16 th of 1% of new businesses obtain VC funding.”. (v)

Venture Capital 56

Venture Capital America Initial Public Offering IPO 56

Ben's Blog

OCTOBER 8, 2013

If you are an entrepreneur, you have probably heard some crusty old CEO or investor say something like “cash is king.” I was a founder/CEO during the period when cash seemed more like a serf than a king in 1999 and 2000. Wait ’til I get my money right. Then you can’t tell me nothing, right?

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Finance Internet Founder 78

Ben's Blog

OCTOBER 8, 2013

If you are an entrepreneur, you have probably heard some crusty old CEO or investor say something like “cash is king.” I was a founder/CEO during the period when cash seemed more like a serf than a king in 1999 and 2000. Wait ’til I get my money right Then you can''t tell me nothing, right? Kanye West, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Internet Finance Founder 78

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

While that’s not true, it is a fact that entrepreneurs only have one word for “startup.” Handspring in a Existing Market As an example, imagine it’s October 1999 and you are Donna Dubinsky the CEO of a feisty new startup, Handspring, entering the billion dollar Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) market. End result?

Customer Development 196

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 196

View from Seed

JUNE 17, 2015

My first startup job was as an early employee at PayPal, where I took a job at the end of ‘1999 and started a few months later in 2000. But I think it’s important to discuss, particularly given today’s heady environment for startups.

Startup 120

Startup Cofounder Seed Stage Boston 120

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

But some companies have entrepreneurs that seem talented on paper, are in a space that seems interesting to investors and are able to raise venture capital early in the company’s existence. million which closed the first week of March 2000 – a week before the market crashed. True story.) million were enormous.

Founder 299

Founder Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 299

dashes.com

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

But for individual entrepreneurs who just have a good idea and big dreams, its easy to be misled into thinking that walking in the door with a fancy legal document makes you look professional or "serious". Im Anil Dash, and Ive blogged half a million words here since 1999, writing about how culture is made. Comments (HTML is okay).

NDA 52

NDA Technical Review Non-Compete San Francisco 52

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 3, 2012

Facebook and Google would be obvious choices for this, but so much has been written about each of them and they represent such special business models, I worried that it would be both hard for entrepreneurs to relate and hard for me to develop new insights. The first year of revenue (1999) was $4 million – a remarkable achievement.

Lean 49

Lean Distribution Massachusetts Cofounder 49

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

I freely admit this (along with nearly everything between 1999-2000) was a mistake. But I thought I should do a quick post on the topic. Options are gravy - I lived through the first dot com era where we used stock options as a recruiting tool.

Stock Options 294

Stock Options Stock Valuation Liquidation Preference 294

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

I know you’re thinking that you have your head on straight but I promise you the experience of finding yourself in this maelstrom will leave any first time entrepreneur spinning. My Story: The public coming out for my first company, BuildOnline, was in early 2000. million … yes that was seed in 1999!)

South Africa 310

South Africa Europe Disintermediation Poland 310

The Entrepreneurial Mind

JANUARY 4, 2011

Charlie Crystle shares his own sorted exit story from the sale of his business in an article at CNN Money : "My software company ChiliSoft sold for $100 million in 2000. Notably, from December 1999 to May 2000, my stake dropped from 40% to 15% when the deal. Or $70 million. Or $28 million. "It Don't leave anything to chance.

Sales 64

Sales Employee Software Hiring 64

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

A reminder that it is important for all entrepreneurs is to remember to be careful about “deal drift.” When I was raising money for my first company we had closed a seed round in 1999 and were working on our A round. We had many term sheets (it was 1999 and we had a pulse) and we were deciding which one to take.

Technical Review 301

Technical Review Term Sheet Due Diligence Venture Capital 301

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 15, 2017

The original company name was Scene on TV (going back to 1999), and I expanded into movies, and the name was also confusing to people (Scene instead of Seen). I started a consulting firm called Global Marketing Resources, LLC in 2000 as source for additional income while I was a corporate executive. Photo Credit: Ajay Prasad.

Naming 95

Naming Entrepreneur Green LLC 95

Campus Entrepreneurship

MARCH 19, 2012

I was at the University of Chicago when a bunch distinguished professors created UNext.com during the late 1990s — BIG BUST just like the startup I joined in 1999). Courseload, the digital-textbook start-up revived in 2009, was born in 2000, but its leaders say tools weren’t available to support it until more recently.)

Indiana 54

Indiana Cofounder Chicago Venture Capital 54

BeyondVC

JANUARY 22, 2009

.  As a VC, you couldn't believe them, but it didn't stop every entrepreneur from using the hockey stick projections in their business plans.  "  Anyway, Pseudo.com went under in 2000 and Josh subsequently disappeared in isolation for quite awhile. 

Hockey Stick 60

Hockey Stick Web New York Social Network 60