Sat.Oct 13, 2012 - Fri.Oct 19, 2012

Gust

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Startup Map & Trends Analysis – September 2012

Gust

September’s Startup Map showcases the latest trends in startup profiles created on Gust between September 1 st and September 30 th. Some of the entrepreneurs chose to keep their startup profiles private and therefore are labeled as unpublished in this month’s map, and were not included in the trends analysis. In September the US has once again shown the highest concentration of startups, even though there was a decline when compared to the month of August.

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10 Entrepreneur Tips Dodge Million-Dollar Mistakes

Gust

Ryan Blair book image via Amazon. It’s a well-accepted axiom in the investor community that entrepreneurs learn more from their failures than their successes. Thus a well-explained startup failure often can actually improve your odds of funding in the next go-round. Yet, there is no doubt that the best strategy is to learn from someone else’s mistakes, so you can enjoy the millions that someone else lost in learning.

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2012 Valuation Survey of Angel Groups

Gust

This summer I conducted our third annual survey of the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies recently funded by angel groups in North America. Access to our 2010 and 2011 surveys can be found at 2011 Valuation Survey of North American Angel Investor Groups. We received data from thirty groups of the fifty angel groups from whom we requested data.

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Why aren’t venture capitalists lean and scrappy like the startups they fund?

Gust

This isn’t a question of hypocrisy, because the two roles aren’t at all analogous. Plato’s definition of beauty was “fitness to the end in view”, and the skills and characteristics that make for a great VC are quite different from those that make for a great entrepreneur. Think of it as the difference between the best spy working for the CIA or MI5…and the best spy recruiter tucked away on an academic campus keeping a keen eye out for those with high potential

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Angel Investors Do Make Money, Data Shows 2.5x Returns Overall

Gust

I began studying angel investing returns about 10 years ago as a result of a problem I couldn’t resolve: The investing world seemed certain that angel investors were rubes. Conventional wisdom dictated that they made reckless investments in very early-stage ventures mostly doomed to fail. And whenever they might come close to succeeding, savvy “professional” investors would just swoop in, cram them down, and win the real returns.

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Convertible Debt, Priced Equity Rounds and Deal Timing

Gust

An impromptu Twitter debate arose among Fred Wilson, Dave McClure, Mark Suster, Chris Dixon and others about convertible debt, priced equity rounds, and the nuances of early stage financing. It was such a good discussion that Fred asked that someone Storify it. I’ve done that here and expanded it with some additional references, background info and light commentary.

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Founders Learn One Day at a Time Like Everybody Else

Gust

I like this a lot. The executive summary: . Dropbox Co-Founder Drew Houston believes false mythologies about tech company founders do a disservice to aspiring entrepreneurs. While many people think all tech founders start with world conquering visions, says Houston, the reality is that founders learn one day at a time just like everyone else. This less-than-two-minute video comes from Stanford’s Ecorner , its online entrepreneurship center, which is a great resource. .

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