Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had previously raised VC in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005. It included one firm who I asked not to call Salesforce.com as a reference (they were our largest pilot customer) and in their kindness they called Marc Benioff (the CEO) and asked his opinion. I don’t plan to write the authoritative venture capital blog, just some anecdotes.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. Looking ahead at the next decade I am excited by what I believe will be viewed as one of the best and most rational investment periods for venture capital due to seven discrete factors: 1. The Exit Problem.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. 2. .“… “Then we engage with the product and the entrepreneur and because we know these areas very well we don’t have to spend a lot of time understanding the market or understanding the customer.”.

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

These days there are many lawyers that will do equity deals cheaply as long is it is a standardized, simplified term sheet, early stage, no serious investor / management debates, limited IP / customers / due diligence and as long as they perceive you as a “hot&# company that’s likely to need legal services for many years ahead. (if

Finance 286

Finance Term Sheet Technical Review Warrant 286

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

Greycroft is Alan’s venture capital firm that recently raised its second fund ($130 million) with offices in both New York and LA. We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer development, etc.

PR 279

PR Technical Review Portfolio Customer Development 279

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

by Michael Woolf that is worth any startup founder reading to get a sense of perspective on the reality warp that is startup world during a frothy market such as 1997-1999, 2005-2007 or 2012-2014. You are particularly vulnerable if: You have revenue concentration (few customers each providing a large total of percentage of your revenue).

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

One of our core tasks was “market analysis,&# which consistent of: market sizing, market forecasts, competitive analysis and then instructing customers on which direction to take. In 1999 I was in Japan doing a strategy project for the board of directors of Sony. Numbers are important. It can happen.

Investment Bankers 415

Investment Bankers Mobile Software Review Japan 415

thebarefootvc

AUGUST 13, 2013

These vertical solutions would focus on specific pain pain points in the enterprise, such as logistics or customer relationship management. Whereas I may have seen a dozen companies in 1999 with a point solution in a particular area, now I see multiples. Are you following, in sync, or ahead of the market? – PEOPLE.

Advisory Board 70

Advisory Board Cloud Venture Capital Vertical 70

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

The video above shows Billie Holiday (one of my favorite singers) singing “Strange Fruit”, a song that Time manazine named, in 1999, the “song of the century” The song is a protest against racism. Practical Advice for Raising Early Stage Venture Capital – [link]. Staffing your startup?

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

Ben's Blog

JANUARY 31, 2012

The two most obvious are: Why did such a new venture capital firm raise so much money? How did such a new venture capital firm raise so much money? 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.

Venture Capital 78

Venture Capital Portfolio Cofounder Partner 78

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

The Times Square Strategy discussion I had with Eric Ries , was still top of mind, so instead of my standard Customer Development lecture , I offered my thoughts on: the origin of Customer Development, where we are today, and where does Customer Development go, and how you can help get it there.

Customer Development 217

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 217

abovethecrowd.com

OCTOBER 17, 2013

Customers are first asked to fill out an in depth profile to help identify their size, style, and preferences. Then, on the customer’s requested date, the company sends a personally styled offering (a Fix) of five items (previously unseen) to the individual to try on in her own home. Katrina herself is equally impressive.

eCommerce 62

eCommerce Technical Review North America San Francisco 62

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Other companies in the 1999 PDA market were Palm, the original innovator, as well Microsoft and Hewlett Packard.

Customer Development 203

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 203

Steve Blank

JUNE 29, 2009

Filed under: Customer Development , ESL , Technology | Tagged: Steve Blank , Entrepreneurs , ESL « Convergent Technologies: War Story 1 – Selling with Sports Scores A Wilderness of Mirrors » 17 Responses Michael F. 2 weeks in they had outsourced my job, which lead to an awkward conversation.

Agile 251

Agile Silicon Valley RSS California 251

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

The framework of his book has profoundly altered how I think about the technology market and affects how I thought about building my businesses and how I think about investing in venture capital. This is important because the customers they serve (the red line) demand a product that meets their complex requirements. billion.

Vesting 376

Vesting Framework Revenue Technology 376

David Teten

JANUARY 8, 2013

For example, many leading VCs, including First Round Capital and ff Venture Capital , have made their websites hubs for job-seekers, because their portfolio companies by definition are growth firms constantly in need of the best talent. For example, an increase in internet traffic is usually a sign of customer traction.

Private Equity 114

Private Equity Social Media Equity Media 114

online.wsj.com

JULY 11, 2012

Customer Center. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com. Over the past two years, one of the most influential venture-capital firms has turned the usual rules of start-up investing on its head.

Silicon Valley 42

Silicon Valley Founder Software Review Technical Review 42

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

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. For example, Morse notes that neither C corporations nor venture capital funds structured as partnerships can, by law, be S corporation shareholders. Leadership.

Fractional CTO 40

Fractional CTO Equity Iowa Technical Cofounder 40

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 24, 2016

While our customer for each product was the same (a webmaster or a company trying to build a website), we were having trouble leading with all three products. I eventually co-founded SoftBank Technology Partners (which became Mobius Venture Capital) and SoftBank (the corporation) became a 50% LP in Flatiron with Chase.

Non-Compete 70

Non-Compete LP Venture Capital Affiliate 70

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Alone in a ski cabin with the snow coming down outside, and my wife and daughters out on the slopes all day, I started collecting my thoughts by writing a series of “lessons learned” stories that I had hoped would become my memoirs.

Redemption 127

Redemption Silicon Valley RSS California 127

The Equity Kicker

APRIL 13, 2017

In 1999 when I started in venture capital there were no blogs and very few business books that were useful for entrepreneurs. assuming you know what customers think) and to pick up tactics and best practices (e.g. All founders could do was accumulate wise advisors and rely on their wits and instinct.

Lean 90

Lean Startup Silicon Valley Venture Capital 90

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

I’m not going to cover in this post the obvious post-show marketing tasks such as following up on all those business cards you grabbed, communicating with all those people who registered at your site and leveraging your new found fame to score venture capital. million … yes that was seed in 1999!) Mistakes we made?

South Africa 310

South Africa Europe Disintermediation Poland 310

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

This is a story of one of the risks of venture capital. 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. This is what happened to me. True story.)

Founder 299

Founder Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 299

Steve Blank

MAY 17, 2011

Customers voted with their wallets and didn’t buy our products. We let our customers, our investors, and our employees down. As it turned out, rather than run me out of town on a rail, the two venture capital firms that had lost $12 million in my failed startup actually asked me to work with them.

Philadelphia 336

Philadelphia Miami Thailand Silicon Valley 336

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 26, 2012

In an interview with ReadWriteWeb, Davidson explains how the latest industry to receive the disruption treatment has been the venture capital business itself, with the epicenter of the quake right around San Francisco. There used to be the Four Horsemen of the IPO world, back in the '80s and '90s. The question is why?

IPO 115

IPO Stock San Francisco Lean 115

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

That is when no customers wanted to work with Internet startups because we as an industry had burned so many customers. My company had raised venture capital in April 2001 but we were told that there may never be any more coming. I learned how to integrate customers into our product development process.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

thebarefootvc

DECEMBER 16, 2011

Disruption in the Education Space: When I first started looking at education technology investments in 1999, very few VCs would go near the sector. Universities are also creating more interdisciplinary programs in order to encourage this collaboration. And Beyond….

Technical Review 110

Technical Review India Mobile Hockey Stick 110

David Teten

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

David Teten, Partner, ff Venture Capital ; Chairman, HBS Alumni Angels of Greater New York. Karen Bantuveris has 15 years experience as a consultant in customer centric- leadership development, marketing strategy and business process design. Karen Bantuveris, CEO of VolunteerSpot ( ff VC and angel-backed startup with 2.5m

Private Equity 114

Private Equity North America Cofounder Angel Groups 114

VC Cafe

JUNE 4, 2012

Founded in 1999, AeroScout’s products are used in hospitals to track patients and blood products, such as organs; to manage and monitor equipment in universities; and to keep tabs on products throughout the manufacturing process. The company’s customers include aircraft giant Boeing and more than 500 hospitals around the world.

San Francisco 90

San Francisco New Jersey Private Equity 90

Scalable Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

So originally the customer was the Department of Defense. It was the first customer for the computer. The advantage of the consumer businesses is they tend to be much broader-based, much larger number of customers, that tend to over time be a lot more predictable. But I would say the market is schizophrenic.

Software Review 22

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Stock 22

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 8, 2011

angel funding, venture capital, bank loans, etc.) Customer Analysis 5. We have successfully developed business plans for over 2,000 clients since 1999, so I have to recommend our team here at Growthink. Particularly in the Industry and Customer sections of your business plan, you should cite industry statistics.

Business Plan 106

Business Plan Venture Capital Operations Developer 106

Seeing Both Sides

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Hiring talent and gathering customer feedback are even harder when teams are so physically far apart, and this separation can make it harder to build culture, forge partnerships, and raise capital. A move allows the business to get close to the customer, learn their pain points, and adapt accordingly.

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Review United States 20

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Shortly after we sold Opsware to Hewlett-Packard, I had a conversation with the legendary venture capitalist Doug Leone of Sequoia Capital. Coworking Spaces - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , September 2, 2010 I've never been much of a fan of incubators. Some have made the model work. It’s great advice.

Technology 191

Technology Product San Francisco CTO Hire 191

Professor VC

DECEMBER 8, 2015

Often times those involve trading within a venture capital portfolio or between two venture firms portfolios. But what about the case where both companies are well capitalized and doing well? one company running out of cash and another with cash but searching for a business model).

Merger 28

Merger LP IPO Redemption 28

Seeing Both Sides

APRIL 12, 2012

When I first entered the venture capital business 10 years ago after being an entrepereneur, my partners warned me that "my bar" for new investments would get higher over time. When they build the prototype, they go get customers. When they get customers, they are told to show engagement metrics.

IPO 44

IPO Metrics Venture Capital Social Media 44

VC Cafe

JANUARY 10, 2011

Zend was started in 1999 and is currently headquartered in Cupertino, CA with an R&D office in Israel. According to Linkedin , Zend has a headcount of 130.

Private Equity 87

Private Equity Equity PHP 87

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

Coupled with my participating preferred from 1999 and 2000 I had more than $55 million of liquidation preferences. The company did well in 2006 as we delivered a phenomenal product that got much industry acclaim at conferences and with initial customers. In my first company I had to raise money in April 2001 or die.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329