Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Our founder, Yves Sisteron, was my mentor and board member at my first startup. ” But it’s that exact trust that allowed them to agree for me to join, the gradually introduce change (that they encouraged & supported) and to eventually co-lead the partnership after just a few short years on the inside.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Cofounder San Francisco Silicon Valley 320

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

We are often asked how companies get funded, why VCs make the decisions we make and what we’re looking for in entrepreneurs. I first met Andrew Stalbow , the founder & CEO of Seriously in August of 2013. Domain knowledge gives entrepreneurs an “unfair advantage” over newbies. (on

Technical Review 373

Technical Review North America Los Angeles Cofounder 373

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

” From the hyperbolic Jason Calacanis weighing in that “The petty VC’s did everything to deride [Naval, the co-founder of AngelList]” as though the industry was collectively s g its pants that AngelList was going to put us out of business. founder fighting. founder fighting. Both are right.

Syndicate 356

Syndicate Syndication Cofounder Early Stage 356

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. Thinking out loud – I’m sure that’s important for entrepreneurs as well. He was at a 3-person startup where he was a co-founder but not the CEO.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Burn Rate Cofounder Sales 306

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2016

We know that to be successful we need to fund truly transformational entrepreneurs grounded in unique academic skills and with the self confidence and ambition to try and achieve results in which the market will naturally be skeptical. We can’t wait to see what the next few years bring.

Cofounder 207

Cofounder Differentiation Hosting Design 207

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 27, 2012

By now you probably know that David Sacks , co-founder of PayPal and founder of both Geni & Yammer made some observations on Facebook that Silicon Valley “as we know it” was coming to an end. Entrepreneurs can still build big businesses on the outskirts.” Where David is Totally Right.

Silicon Valley 299

Silicon Valley Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder 299

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

They have totally changed the way you run a VC firm, investing heavily in systems & events for their founders that are pushing the boundaries of the way our industry works. The discussion with Howard Morgan starts off by acknowledging Josh Kopelman as a co-founder of First Round Capital. I'm a huge fan of this innovation.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Entrepreneurs are supposed to have insights that others don’t have and we’re supposed to be good judges about which entrepreneurs and executives have both the most clever ideas and the right skill sets to do transformational things against all odds. It’s the founders who are willing to let you join their boards.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

I’ve been meaning to write this post since September of last year when Brad Feld first wrote about the The Founders Visa Movement. Two weeks after Brad’s post I was at the 140 Conference in LA and I held open office hours for any entrepreneur who wanted to spend 15 minutes talking with a VC about their business.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Canada Green South Carolina 282

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. They are likely taking losses on their first project with the entrepreneur so they select carefully.

Early Stage 361

Early Stage Deal Flow Investment Bankers Technical Review 361

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

From left to right above is Tristan Walker (founder of Walker & Co), Magic Johnson (successful NBA basketball player and successful business man – his two life goals), Beatriz Acevedo (founder of Mitu, the largest Latino digital media company) and Troy Carter (founder of Atom Factory and Cross Culture Ventures).

Silicon Valley 150

Silicon Valley Video Los Angeles Philadelphia 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

We had a wide-ranging discussion which included discussions of Eric’s early career (including his failures), how he came to focus on the Lean Startup movement (at the encouragement of Steve Blank who was an investor in the company he co-founded) and what he wants to do next. 3:35 The real entrepreneurs come out during a down economy.

Silicon Valley 301

Silicon Valley Lean Social Media PR 301

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. There are just as many bad entrepreneurs who do bad things. Founder’s perspective.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

He is the CEO of Hunch , company that I believe is solving a very big problem that I have been telling entrepreneurs needs to be solved for the past 2 years. This week I sat down with Chris Dixon, co-founder / CEO of Hunch and Partner at Founder Collective in the most recent installment of This Week in Venture Capital.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Cofounder API 281

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. They are likely taking losses on their first project with the entrepreneur so they select carefully.

Deal Flow 347

Deal Flow Early Stage Investment Bankers Technical Review 347

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. But Tracy did what entrepreneurs do. Sam is the managing director of Launchpad LA and we were about to pick our 2012 class of entrepreneurs. She’s a painter and a self-proclaimed Bohemian.

Silicon Valley 363

Silicon Valley Cofounder Entrepreneur Startup 363

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I’d say about 80% of the experienced entrepreneurs & VCs I know privately agreed with me. “We’re all equal co-founders and we don’t care about titles.&# I usually encourage people to think about titles like, “Founder & CTO&# or “Founder & VP Marketing.&#.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2016

We also look for a cultural fit with Upfront, which includes the gravitas to deal with executives and founders at the startups we back as well as the other board members. Having a great co-investor (in good times and bad times, till death do we part) can make all the difference in critical moments of a company’s trajectory.

Partner 150

Partner South Korea Venture Capital Europe 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Technical Review Los Angeles 256

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 7, 2015

One of my favorite entrepreneur-Twitterer weighed in, “You want to keep tapping into their collective intelligence so you keep saying ‘Thank you for the feedback’ and they keep sending it,” Ms. I save room in literally every deal to invite angels (or seed funds) to co-invest with me. Morrill said. All of my partners at Upfront do.

Cap Table 150

Cap Table Cofounder Silicon Valley Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

A couple of years ago an entrepreneur had requested a meeting with me to present his business. “As an entrepreneur myself I COMPLETELY understand that you wouldn’t pass up on the impromptu and opportunistic chance to meet somebody so important to your business. Basically, don’t be cavalier about rescheduling meetings.

Las Vegas 369

Las Vegas Warrant Technical Review Cofounder 369

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2012

I have seen some entrepreneurs go into first meetings willing to share almost anything about their company. I’ve seen this back fire on entrepreneurs who say things like, “Well, we’re not talking financials with investors yet.”. Another VC called the co-founder & tech head – Parker Harris. The First Meeting.

Technical Review 316

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Cap Table 316

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Such was my recent meeting with Seth Sternberg, founder & CEO of Meebo. And I’d recommend them to any talented startup founders out there.&#. He knew he was an entrepreneur because he couldn’t stop thinking about ideas. With three co-founders, what was decision making and roles and responsibilities like?

Connecticut 286

Connecticut Cofounder Silicon Valley Web 286

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

When we started our next company, Koral, Ryan was a co-founder. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Startup Advice. It was a very strange process for me to accept transferring our most senior technologist to the US where we only had a small presence. Ryan is now in his 30’s (old fart). .&# Ryan was certainly one of them.

San Francisco 322

San Francisco South Africa CTO Hire Fractional CTO 322

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

There is a telltale sign of an inexperienced startup entrepreneur. years ago and told me, “I just got offered the chance to buy this company because the founder doesn’t want to continue. I’m doing due diligence on a company of another entrepreneur in LA whose company was apparently doing very well.

Merger 276

Merger Technical Review Early Stage Dilution 276

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? You’d imagine that every founder was getting rich. Actually, positive outcomes for founders are quite rare. I’m reminded of this feeling.

Monaco 420

Monaco Cofounder Chicago Mexico 420

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, Co-founder discontent. What would this founder do if he got an offer to be acquihired quickly by Facebook? And there’s conferences.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 1, 2009

I was reading one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs, VentureHacks, this weekend and noticed that they are running a long piece on how to pick a co-founder. Once it’s set up I recommend bringing in a co-founder and giving them 10-30% of the company depending upon when you bring them in.

Hiring 289

Hiring Cofounder Dilution Startup 289

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 2, 2014

The acquiring company wants 100% of the proceeds to go to founders whatever the cap table says because buyers care way more about incentivizing and locking in founders than they do about VC returns or legal provisions to protect VCs. They are great entrepreneurs and let’s just make sure we work with them in the future.”

Cap Table 346

Cap Table Cofounder Stock Acquisition 346

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” As an entrepreneur it can feel as intimidating as going to buy a car where the dealer knows the price of every make & model of a car and you’re guessing at how much to pay.

Valuation 324

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Cofounder 324

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Rolf Winkler wrote a piece in the WSJ about A16Z’s returns in which he says they “lag behind Sequoia, Benchmark and Founders Fund.” As an entrepreneur I never really knew what to make of VC return data. Here’s what I know: Most entrepreneurs I know would love to work with A16Z. Let me offer you an insider’s take. Absolutely.

LP 264

LP Jordan Cofounder Limited Partner 264

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

I understand that and actually think it’s ok because that partner gets experience with making investments, sitting on boards, finding co-investors, managing founder relationships, etc. But once your feet are firmly under the desk, I believe the job of a VC is actually to make the harder bets.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Detroit Early Stage Partner 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

It proved to be fortuitous because it allowed me the time & space I needed to get to know tons of founders and VCs and to hone my craft. The advantage is that in many of our best deals we now have $50+ million invested so we can really support entrepreneurs as their businesses scale. VCs have different views and strategies on this.

IP 223

IP Intellectual Property IRR Cofounder 223

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2011

I turned around and there was StockTwits founder (and my favorite Tweeter) Howard Lindzon. And we’re here with Dan Martell , who like any great startup founder is wearing his company t-shirt for Flowtown. This time on mysterious party bus to nowhere but situated with the CTO & Cofounder of Living Social, Aaron Batalion.

Technical Cofounder 294

Technical Cofounder Austin Hosting Cofounder 294

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

If the deal is from out of your geography and/or out of your focus area or a deal is being referred by a well-know investor who normally co-invests with similar syndicates – at least ask yourself, “Why am I so lucky to be getting this call.” I seek out great entrepreneurs. I wrote here about why I avoid party rounds.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Angel Investor 337

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

We all can intuit the benefits to founders of these trends so there’s little reason to elaborate. How founders get screwed on convertible notes. But I have always warned of the consequences of not very well regulated situations in wish investors (and even entrepreneurs) produce information bordering on financial malfeasance.

SEC 352

SEC Venture Capital Early Stage Cofounder 352

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2013

I’m sure you know, but Elon was the co-founder (and largest shareholder) of PayPal, the most important payment transfer technology of its era and still the most instrumental to date. Dorrian is an entrepreneur. The first time I met Mark Suster he was the founder and CEO of a company called BuildOnline. He is that.0001%

Silicon Valley 315

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Video 315