View from Seed

DECEMBER 17, 2015

Editor’s Note: NextView recently kicked off a Boston-based workshop series on technical interviewing with Google. I recently chatted with Saurya about how he approaches hiring engineers at Google and what founders can learn. NV: What are some basics you’d recommend to anyone hiring an engineer?

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Engineer Software Review Founder 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

I think you have to listen to the queue’s.” “…if you look at a lot of the early stage investors, whether it be Union Square Ventures or First Round or Jeff Clavier at Softtech or Dave McClure – we want to try the product, we want to experience the product, we want to get a sense of how the entrepreneur is thinking about it.

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

It occurred to me that although we mentioned our new thematic approach when we raised our last fund in 2017, we haven’t really shared a broader manifesto about how we are approaching the early stage market. It’s been an interesting several years in the early stage venture eco-system, and the sands have shifted considerably.

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I know he’s smart but you wouldn’t hire a Javascript developer to do your database design – would you? They want to lock in future clients at an early stage. So I tell you this because if you build a strong relationship with an early-stage VC they can be a great source to help you with your funding.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

View from Seed

MARCH 3, 2015

Ellie Mirman was the first marketer hired by the CMO of HubSpot, the Boston-based marketing software startup that IPOed in 2014. EM: When you’re at an early stage, you don’t know what that buyer path looks like yet, so you should be trying all different strategies to get data and figure out the playbook.

Marketing 120

Marketing Sales Cycle Startup CTO Hire 120

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

Early-stage investors in technology startups are only looking for growth-oriented companies that can achieve an “exit&# someday – either via selling your company to a larger company or via an IPO. 1 year in you stop catching early morning flights. But 6 months later you’re not working past 10pm.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

A Crowded Space

OCTOBER 3, 2018

I remember when I made that first flight out to San Francisco from Boston to meet the team in 2004, the company was down to its last $20K in the bank. Mistakes of Hiring Like most founding employees, people tend to ask me what lessons I learned throughout my tenure at the company (hence, this post).

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Bangladesh Ukraine Philippines 60

View from Seed

JULY 28, 2015

While the startup environment in Boston has vastly improved over the last several years , I continue to hear the sentiment that it’s really tough to build a great consumer startup in Boston. This is expressed by people outside of Boston, but it often comes from those within our community too. A belief in the new.

Boston 120

Boston Marketing Early Stage Startup 120

This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

That prediction obviously turned out pretty wrong, but it did drum up a whole lot of chatter about the right ingredients for building a startup community—about New York vs Boston on the East Coast and whether cities like Austin and Seattle would ever break through. Those two things aren’t really the same. Angels can’t do it alone.

Community 172

Community Miami Portland Startup 172

View from Seed

APRIL 30, 2015

Below, we talk to Glen Mello , Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank’s accelerator team in Boston. Especially in the early stages, so much about the company may change in how they think about product or go-to-market — and change multiple times — before raising an institutional round.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

We did that for six years, and then we decided we would move to Boston because … This is where my marketer brain kicked in. I was like, “There are not a lot of the type of church that we are at out there in Boston. ” Lance Cummins: So I literally moved my family, my three kids and my wife and I, to Boston.

Audio 57

Audio Boston Video HTML 57

Austin Startup

JANUARY 25, 2020

This was my time at a Wall Street firm that had hired me after I applied for their Junior Stockbroker position, a little while after I graduated from college. Having just moved to Austin from Boston, she thought adding African car sales could help, maybe thinking Africans looking for used cars can use it to find car deals.

Delaware 62

Delaware SEC New York City New York 62

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. Erin’s main points: “As a former tech sales executive, I agree with many of [Mark's] lessons — when applied to later-stage, post-traction point startups. And that leads me to today’s post.

Startup 319

Startup Early Stage Sales Cofounder 319

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

As president of Y Combinator, the hugely successful seed-stage investor/accelerator, Sam Altman has a lot of knowledge to share. He covers broad topics such as net neutrality, but also dives into the specifics of starting a company, touching on things like hiring and employee retention. Follow Jalak on Twitter @jalak. The Gong Show.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

Supercomputers get Personal Back in Sunnyvale my friend had not only been hired but had convinced the team that we should be building hardware – making a new class of computers not a software application. We’re building a supercomputer.” We told Andy we’d talk further when he got back from Europe.

North Carolina 125

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 125

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2018

Despite repeated efforts, only a few cities outside the Valley (New York and Boston) have historically had the critical mix of VC funding, network, and talent to fuel vibrant startup centers. Las Vegas sets itself apart from startup cities like Boston and San Francisco by offering a much lower cost of living in a major city.

United States 113

United States Las Vegas San Francisco Denver 113

Altgate

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

The presentation was on outsourcing generally, not just software engineering and the audience was very early stage companies (some yet to be founded). Now, for very early stage companies, you may be thinking, “I don’t have any cash, so outsourcing isn’t an option.&# To that I say baloney. Branding/Copy.

Software Review 65

Software Review Offshore Startup Boston 65

Rob Go

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

Seed and early stage companies are in need of people who like hand-to-hand combat. Early stage companies need to be free of politics and that kind of ego. Earlier today, I stumbled upon the team page of a seed funded startup in Boston, and saw 7 VP-level and higher people NOT including the CEO.

CTO Hire 61

CTO Hire Seed Stage Startup Early Stage 61

www.greenhornconnect.com

OCTOBER 3, 2011

2) You’re hiring employees. Hiring employees through your company, rather than directly, helps limit your personal liability if something goes wrong in the employment relationship. Boston Startup Weekend. Many federal and state laws govern the employer-employee relationship and impose numerous obligations on the employer.

IP 40

IP Intellectual Property Limited Liability Company Boston 40

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

The companies I spoke to all agreed that the community there was extremely supportive, especially in the critical ulta-early-stage. Then, create an encouraging environment for early-stage companies. Provide early seed capital, and be the ones to make those introductions. And do your customer development.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Continuous Deployment 113

www.entrepreneur.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

When you're getting started, sweat equity is often a critical component of your negotiating leverage with co-founders, early stage employees and others who aren't paid market wages to help you grow your business. Sweat equity is just one component of early-stage valuation. In fact, it could be worth much more.

Sweat Equity 55

Sweat Equity Equity Fractional CTO CTO 55

David Teten

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

The real goal is growth; no one else hires. • We’re not just focused on NY/Boston/Silicon Valley. Early stage startups are <5 yrs old. 5-10 years is typically the rampup stage. We focus on everything that can help them grow. So, we zoomed in on how to help companies grow: 1. Aggregate America’s startups.

America 144

America DC Startup Aggregator 144

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 30, 2017

Despite repeated efforts, only a few cities outside the Valley (New York and Boston) have historically had the critical mix of funding, network, and talent to fuel vibrant startup centers. Las Vegas sets itself apart from startup cities like Boston and San Francisco by offering a much lower cost of living in a major city. We think so.

United States 82

United States Las Vegas San Francisco Denver 82

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Another advantage of the early stages is that most dont have to juggle too many competing priorities. Expo New York New York, NY Nov 19 The Lean Startup at MIT Boston, MA Nov 20 Lunch workshop at Dogpatch Labs Boston, MA Dec 17 Lean Startup Cohort program begins San Francisco, CA KISSmetrics KISSmetrics is loading.

San Francisco 88

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 88

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 30, 2009

A discounted price is available for early stage entrepreneurs and students. Come to TS in Boston! Expo New York New York, NY Nov 19 The Lean Startup at MIT Boston, MA Nov 20 Lunch workshop at Dogpatch Labs Boston, MA Dec 17 Lean Startup Cohort program begins San Francisco, CA KISSmetrics KISSmetrics is loading.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 68

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

I know that VC firms don’t hire partners very often so the change to adding more female partners will take time. You can apply using the links below: Feb 22nd in San Francisco Feb 27th in Boston March 13th in Upfront’s offices in Los Angeles (bonus?—?ocean ocean views!) And April 12th back in San Francisco. Tell a friend. Take action.

Founder 256

Founder San Francisco Deal Flow Los Angeles 256

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue? For more on how this plays into the process of scaling up, see the Customer Creation stage of the customer development model.)

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

The Startup Magazine

MAY 15, 2018

Not to mention that there are still numerous diversity problems, high salaries, and the lack of opportunities for early-stage businesses to hire experienced talent. Some other relevant startup centres are Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Phoenix, and Austin. The Rise of the Canadian Startup Scene. billion in 2017.

North America 69

North America America Silicon Valley Los Angeles 69

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 2, 2009

Unfortunately, they are disinterested in doing the hard work to help early stage entrepreneurs and companies. Expo New York New York, NY Nov 19 The Lean Startup at MIT Boston, MA Nov 20 Lunch workshop at Dogpatch Labs Boston, MA Dec 17 Lean Startup Cohort program begins San Francisco, CA KISSmetrics KISSmetrics is loading.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Tampa Continuous Deployment Lean 60

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

The people who are the lifeblood of an early-stage startup are earlyvangelists. Expo New York New York, NY Nov 19 The Lean Startup at MIT Boston, MA Nov 20 Lunch workshop at Dogpatch Labs Boston, MA Dec 17 Lean Startup Cohort program begins San Francisco, CA KISSmetrics KISSmetrics is loading. Amazon PostRank

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment 131

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 30, 2017

Despite repeated efforts, only a few cities outside the Valley (New York and Boston) have historically had the critical mix of funding, network, and talent to fuel vibrant startup centers. Las Vegas sets itself apart from startup cities like Boston and San Francisco by offering a much lower cost of living in a major city. We think so.

United States 48

United States Las Vegas San Francisco Denver 48

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

I called the recruiter running the search and told him I was going to step down and hire a CEO. So, in order to hire a CEO, we have to give someone their first shot at the job.” It’s nice to get great valuations and hire A-players. His response changed the way I thought about the CEO role for the next five years.

Founder 120

Founder Startup Cofounder Business Model 120

Version One Ventures

MAY 24, 2016

Yet, having a vibrant ecosystem to seed early stage startups is one thing. These aren’t so critical in something like math or physics, where no audience matters except your peers, and judging ability is sufficiently straightforward that hiring and admissions committees can do it reliably.

Silicon Valley 113

Silicon Valley San Francisco Startup DC 113

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2009

In fact, early stage companies shouldnt be able to get time from anyone else - who else would be crazy enough to try an truly innovative new product? christinelu : if youre building a disruptive innovation.the only people who you want to talk to are early adopters. Brilliant insight. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Japan Continuous Deployment 60

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 20, 2020

Bob invented Ethernet, founded 3Com (revenues of $5.7B), was the Editor of InfoWorld magazine, and was a venture capitalist at Polaris in Boston. Now he is a VC at Moonshots Capital , focused on investing in early stage tech companies with a special focus on backing military veterans.

Austin 110

Austin Texas Cofounder Los Angeles 110

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

Once you’ve figured out whether you want to find a very early stage startup or a late stage one (the topic of my first post in this series ), the real hard work begins. On the early side, it's repeat founders coming together again or early runaway traction in an early beta that generates buzz.

Startup 148

Startup Portfolio Later Stage Hiring 148

Agile VC

JULY 11, 2012

The names of these once great, now defunct firms may not be terribly familiar today but here are just a few examples: American Research & Development [Boston] –> Founded by George Doriot and depending how you count it, either the first or second formal VC firm in the US. they generate $400M in proceeds from that $100M).

Silicon Valley 240

Silicon Valley Carried Interest Cofounder Boston 240