View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. New funds have formed, old market leaders are gone or walking dead. But the reality is that the more interesting the market, the more likely there is to be rapid and unpredictable change. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 24, 2020

by Sheryl Jones, Senior Marketing Specialist at Uplers. Google crawlers can differentiate good links from bad ones and determine the relevancy. In its place, invest in reliable SEO services with glowing reviews, proven track record, and impressive portfolio. This problem often plagues popular, hot topics. Conclusion.

SEO 147

SEO Semantic Web Development Engineer 147

VC Cafe

MARCH 1, 2024

Companionship Differentiated value prop vs. generalist chat products – AI companion products hat specialise in content that mainstream models aren’t good at (or don’t allow), like fictional role plays or erotica. Bitcoin Allocation – Growing the role of bitcoin in investment portfolios.

Artificial Inteligence 176

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Generative AI 176

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

They want to see that you have some unique advantage that differentiates your company from others in your industry, and they’d prefer that you have some experience in that industry, which gives you legitimate insight into the problem you’re attempting to solve. Investors want to feel confident that they’ll see a return on their investment.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

Steve Blank

MAY 28, 2009

Customer/Market Risk Versus Invention Risk One day I was having lunch with a VC sharing what I learned from my students. Steve,&# he said, “you’re missing the most interesting part of vertical markets. Markets with Customer/Market Risk are those where the unknown is whether customers will adopt the product.

Vertical 144

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing Customer 144

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. New funds have formed, old market leaders are gone or walking dead. But the reality is that the more interesting the market, the more likely there is to be rapid and unpredictable change. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 156

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 156

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

He looked at his resume, and asked just one question: “ What’s your edge? ” My friend got the job because his answer was differentiated, credible, and backed up by a history of investing success. It is unexciting and hard to prove, but in fact “We execute better” is a critical differentiator. – Reputation. – Execution.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

He looked at his resume, and asked just one question: “ What’s your edge? ” My friend got the job because his answer was differentiated, credible, and backed up by a history of investing success. It is unexciting and hard to prove, but in fact “We execute better” is a critical differentiator. – Reputation. – Execution.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. New funds have formed, old market leaders are gone or walking dead. But the reality is that the more interesting the market, the more likely there is to be rapid and unpredictable change. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 136

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 136

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 18, 2012

Barriers to entry are no longer created by patents or by tech differentiation alone, but by superior traction in the marketplace. In today’s web landscape, word of mouth drives adoption and can lead to “winner takes all” (or almost all) in both B2C and B2B markets. Let’s take my own portfolio as an example.

IP 163

IP Technical Review B2C Social Network 163

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2021

When raising a first fund (or a fifth or even a tenth), it’s all about establishing your core target market and finding out who is in the market for what you are selling? that’s your target market. And again, just like in enterprise sales, this is all about differentiation ?—?what Why buy me? Why buy now? Why Buy Me?

LP 375

LP Southern California Los Angeles Differentiation 375

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Lately I’ve been having to say things I thought I’d never have to remind people, like, “getting to positive gross margin in several territories is a very low bar to claim success” or “profitable excluding marketing costs” is not actually a real thing. Market Size. MakeSpace provides physical storage.

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

It’s easy to think the role of a VC is to have strong opinions about markets, trends, tech dynamics and so forth. But Gregg stayed and grew and took on more responsibilities and became a senior member of Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud team. Marketing departments, software partners and investors have now woken up to this opportunity.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

Brandanew

AUGUST 19, 2016

Over to the expert… Learn how to use content marketing like a pro. Effective usage differentiates you from those who fail to get productive results. This enables you to keep the sidebar and header from the portfolio page as well as the portfolio posts. Take notes, this is real good stuff.

PHP 100

PHP Widget HTML Portfolio 100

Version One Ventures

APRIL 30, 2013

While my portfolio is primarily centered around consumer internet as well as enterprise SaaS startups, I typically talk to two to three hardware startups each week. Many VCs have a background in software and are less familiar and comfortable with bringing hardware projects to market. Hardware requires time, money, and inventory.

Venture Capital 128

Venture Capital Software Review Incubator Startup 128

Hunter Walker

MARCH 28, 2018

.” I hear, read, see examples every day of investors espousing differentiated theses with regards to why they exist. Sometimes there’s substance behind these statements; others are rickety content marketing or breathless trend hopping. Your portfolio page. Your portfolio page is your thesis.

Portfolio 102

Portfolio LP Differentiation Founder 102

Version One Ventures

JANUARY 31, 2024

Since then, I’ve received 200+ inbound leads (and counting). Have backed close to 20 emerging GP's over the past 5 yrs & looking to add 3-4 more to the portfolio this year. — Boris Wertz (@bwertz) January 11, 2024 While I was aware of many emerging GPs raising right now, I didn’t realize just how many were in the market. .

LP 73

LP Differentiation Deal Flow India 73

Austin Startup

MAY 11, 2017

645 Ventures 645 Ventures makes deeply-researched investments in institutional Seed to Series A rounds for exceptional companies who demonstrate stellar early results in the areas of market validation, product differentiation, team strength, and brand narrative.

Private Equity 48

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage 48

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). But markets value high growth over short-term profitability. Where are we today?

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Smart is simply not a differentiator. SEO marketing vs. social marketing. I would call their portfolio companies and ask how helpful or not they’ve been. look at their portfolio list. In fact, book smart can be a negative. Think of web vs. mobile. Traditional software vs. SaaS.

Portfolio 364

Portfolio Chicago Sales Incubator 364

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

portfolios. The last couple of years has also seen the huge initial success of Ycombinator, the Lean Startup and many other product driven approaches to going to market. So, definition: when I talk about a business plan I’m not talking about a 40-page Word document outlining your market approach. Do so at your peril.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

VC Cafe

MAY 29, 2022

Sequoia’s “Adapting to Endure” Sequoia presented this deck to a group of portfolio founders and it quickly spread online to founders worldwide. Carta’s State of Private Markets Q1 2022. Investing at this stage is primarily focused on founders, market tailwinds, and underlying product/strategy (in that order).

Venture Capital 183

Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation Startup 183

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Are you cynical about their chances in the market just because they seem to be hot in the press and that bugs you? If you think it’s all a marketing gimmick [I don't] then let’s discuss how we could be better at marketing in the way that they have. I hear views like this all the time. “It will never work.

Startup 313

Startup Guerilla Silicon Valley Portfolio 313

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. VCs crave the ability to help portfolio companies. You may have an opinion on your market-entry strategy for Europe. Always seek input.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

We believe that it’s good to be contrarian to the rest of the market and other investors, but not to be conflicted in a partnership where alignment should be more important. In fact, a recommendation from a founder we passed on is one of our best performing portfolio companies! as our portfolio shows ). Build a personal brand.

Cofounder 182

Cofounder Portfolio Capital Gains Vertical 182

VC Cafe

APRIL 27, 2011

10 things VCs can do to differentiate themselves and provide more value to potential investments – based on feedback from dozens of entrepreneurs. Despite the VC’s obvious disadvantage in the early stages, marketing and differentiation of venture capital funds is limited today. Have nothing to tweet about?

Venture Capital 90

Venture Capital Differentiation Incubator Angel Investor 90

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Spend some time understanding their preferences, any portfolio gaps and the right terminology to use in your plan. The market dynamics and the resulting opportunities. Market analysis. Market analysis. Your business should address a market need. It’s helpful to provide evidence of market acceptance where possible.

Business Plan 93

Business Plan Technical Review Initial Public Offering Due Diligence 93

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services, and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative, and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.”. Shifts in the contemporary market may also cause the company to lose sight of its mission.

Differentiation 217

Differentiation Portfolio Matching Operations 217

Version One Ventures

JULY 21, 2020

The startup market evolves, and so do we as VCs. However, most businesses are looking for network effects, so they are less of a differentiator than they were a decade ago. Amazing, mission-driven founders are found throughout our portfolio. Technology changes. We’ve quietly made changes to our website. Fast forward to today.

Founder 213

Founder Vertical Differentiation Portfolio 213

View from Seed

JULY 19, 2019

All early stage venture firms essentially look at some weighting of team, market, product, and traction. And additionally, my partners and I use other, more differentiated, lenses like asking if a startup has an “ unfair distribution advantage.” Asking “Is it JDCC?” Go (re)read that post.

Boston 149

Boston B2B Early Stage Portfolio 149

Up and Running

MAY 10, 2012

“I realized that nonprofits were struggling with fund raising due to the economic downturn, and they needed a more diversified portfolio for their fundraising. “The way we differentiate ourselves is that we’re much more than a platform. .” And that’s how WeDidIt was born.

Small Business 142

Small Business Advisory Board Employee Entrepreneur 142

Hunter Walker

MARCH 25, 2015

In today’s world where product and access are largely ubiquitous, and price is a terrible thing to compete on, we stand by our motto that customer experience is the last frontier to differentiate on to become a leading brand and a lasting company. Second to that is – why are you uniquely qualified to solve THIS problem.

Naming 48

Naming Technical Review Early Stage Green 48

The Equity Kicker

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

supply chain management, marketing), but not a good product. VCs without experience (which can come from either investing or operating) often struggle to differentiate between a good product and a bad one. VCs often use executives in relevant portfolio companies to do this expert review.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Product Venture Capital Valuation 123

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

I’ve written on the expert network industry a fair amount in the past: see How to Earn More Consulting Revenue from Expert Networks and How Executives Can Work with Private Equity and Venture Capital Portfolio Companies. Again, our value can really be differentiated in its scale and depth. We kind of bring it all together.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

VC Cafe

APRIL 8, 2011

What started originally as how can VCs differentiate themselves to stand out, quickly became an Entrepreneur’s wish list from its VCs. Host workshops and help establish a strong management team within your portfolio. Inspire them with gaps in the market or opportunities. not necesarily in order of importance!].

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Due Diligence Hosting Harvest 101

View from Seed

DECEMBER 7, 2020

I say this to remind you that reporters are humans too — and even if you’re building the most interesting product on the market, it may not be the right story, or the right moment for whoever you’re pitching. Yes, you know your businesses, market, and growth opportunities better than any reporter ever will. And that’s okay!

PR 177

PR Early Stage Founder Differentiation 177

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

As a product or service you can often trade short exclusivity periods for the retailer’s willingness to spend marketing dollars promoting your product or give you better merchandising in the physical or virtual store. and a differentiated feel in terms of fabric, design, sustainability, etc. So Why Does This Matter? Not so much.

Curation 296

Curation Los Angeles Differentiation Channel 296