Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

Since they don’t know you (yet), their first integrity check on you as a person is whether your friends and family believe in you strongly enough to give you seed money for your new idea. If you set around quietly waiting for someone you know to offer you money to fund a startup, you will probably have a long wait.

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Angel Investor 233

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

Through comment conversations with many of you I tried to emphasize that it isn’t enough to just have one attribute. A caller dialed in to ask us questions about his startup. He was from South America but living in Switzerland and had launched a startup while holding down a day job at a consulting firm (McKinsey if memory serves).

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur CTO Hire South America Salary 293

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!” What did they actually do?

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Hippoland

MARCH 27, 2016

The startup industry should stop using the word “pitch”. Doing a Demo Day or a startup pitch competition is NOT the same as a pitch meeting with an investor. But, the other 50% is about controlling the conversation – how you answer questions, how you address topics, what the power dynamics are in the meeting, etc.

Seed Money 48

Seed Money Conversion Leadership Partner 48

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 16, 2018

You think you're getting this big fat check compared to the seed money you raised, but they're actually doing something more like dipping their toes in the water. One partner might want to meet with you while you're "not raising" in order to build the case inside their firm for doing this deal. It's less signal than you think.

Due Diligence 74

Due Diligence Early Stage Term Sheet Vesting 74

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Problem was, I seemed to suck at the whole startup thing. Rather, I didn’t have anyone around me familiar enough with startups to tell me that I was doing it all wrong. One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going. No raising money.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 9, 2018

Toronto is the core of Canadian innovation and is home to some of the most progressive startups in the world. I fully immersed myself in industry conversations, met ecosystem partners, and participated in social media discussions with next-generation entrepreneurs. I attended Web Summit 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal this month.

South Korea 57

South Korea Entrepreneur Portugal Social Media 57

pandodaily.com

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

Add to this regular angels becoming “super angels” — a much-mocked phrase for when someone goes from investing their own money to investing institutional funds. Essentially they became micro-VCs, still investing at the seed level but with much greater resources behind them. A name like 500 Startups says it all.

Technical Review 93

Technical Review Silicon Valley Incubator Syria 93

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 6, 2014

There are too many people giving advice who have been through one or two startups, none of which grew into a huge company, got to profitability, or an IPO. The startup world, which is supposed to be tolerant of failure, rarely admits when failure occurs. Yet, it all sounds like awesome advice to other startup people--i.e.

Startup 147

Startup Venture Capital IPO Viral 147