Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

In essence Muhammad thinks the “growth hacking” is a charlatan term for online marketing that consists of a bunch of everyday tasks that all online businesses should be doing: SEO, SEM, Content Marketing, Social Media, Referral Marketing, etc. “How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg?

Technical Review 384

Technical Review Hockey Stick SEM Channel 384

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

I’m proud to say that most early-stage VCs that I know really do care about making money ethically. So consider integrity on my personal list of attributes required to raise money from a reputable, early-stage VC. Unfortunately people with low integrity can be successful and can raise money from investors.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Due Diligence Entrepreneur Early Stage 284

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

Working with early-stage teams : coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, rolling up sleeves: 9/10. And while the press always likes to mention the other big media investors who participated in the investments (Time Warner, Canal+, Astro, Singtel, Elisabeth Murdoch, Robert Downey, Jr. Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10.

Los Angeles 387

Los Angeles Intellectual Property LP Venture Capital 387

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2009

We’re clearly in the early stages on Twitter monetization but let me offer some views on why we find Ad.ly We’re clearly in the early stages on Twitter monetization but let me offer some views on why we find Ad.ly Traditional media companies published their stories on the web. So did the media.

Technical Review 286

Technical Review Advertising Early Stage Internet 286

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Solve Media is that. In the early days of the Internet as an advertising medium the industry organized to create “standard ad units&# for which most media companies would sell their inventory. So the debate in the print media world is whether or not to insert a paywall between users and content.

Media 288

Media Advertising Early Stage Algorithm 288

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

Blanchard/O’Reilly Media. I talked about this in my social proof post where I gave some suggestions about how to get the early guys off of the fence. Most early-stage entrepreneurs who have worked with me (either as an angel or as a seed VC) know that I don’t rely at all on the social proof of other investors.

Finance 286

Finance Term Sheet Technical Review Warrant 286

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2021

Most of these startups spend the lion’s share of their marketing budget in today’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Snap, TikTok and so on because?—?no Photo by Vanna Phon on Unsplash Customer acquisition is the lifeblood of many startups from e-commerce to gaming to marketplace companies, among others. no surprise?—?that’s

Founder 424

Founder Product Cofounder Acquisition 424

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

They want to lock in future clients at an early stage. For a very small fee they can get your Delaware C corp registration, make sure that you have IP protection and ensure you didn’t make an early bumbling mistakes that you’ll pay for dearly in the next 7-10 years of hard work. Our lives are intertwined.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 23, 2012

In case you don’t know, they are one of the biggest media companies in the world. They are also very active as an early-stage tech investor, partner and acquirer. He also covered how “traditional media companies” think about the future and how they view disruption. Do you feel protected from new media?

Detroit 285

Detroit Partner Media Early Stage 285

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

The tech market is filled with many stories of early-stage funding. Our investments focus heavily on the financial services industry, digital media, mobile applications & infrastructure, SaaS / Cloud and retail innovation. It’s even more exciting when you can report an exit of a company that is a major win.

Partner 285

Partner Las Vegas San Francisco Baltimore 285

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

It’s always fun debating companies with Dana because she’s always so knowledgeable on deals – particularly those in the digital media, ad-tech and eCommerce spaces. Greycroft is an early-stage VC. When the show has been processed it will be available here (estimated 8pm PDT).

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2009

To be clear: most serial entrepreneurs who are working on an early-stage concept know that whatever they’re working on in year 1 is likely to be dramatically different than what they’re doing in year 5. They had signed up Gawker Media and the New York Post. They had signed up Glam Media and TMZ.

Entrepreneur 291

Entrepreneur Term Sheet Early Stage Affiliate 291

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Make sure these people understand the nature of early-stage angel investing. I think it stands for those people who have money but not the sophistication to understand the world of early-stage tech funding. This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC. Don’t worry if they can’t help in your daily business.

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

If you’re working with early-stage companies you need to be spending quality time with them which means you need to be nearby. It also has a built-in advantage in telling the world how awesome it’s doing – it’s the center of the media world. If you’re super hot / successful you can resist.

Community 378

Community San Diego Silicon Valley Los Angeles 378

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

He talked about how we were going through a period of time in which people were measuring “likes” and “followers” but not the real value of social media conversion by tracking what actually converts into business and that few people understood the catalyst of what drove a successful campaign in the first place.

Technical Review 303

Technical Review Cofounder Analytics Founder 303

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2012

When I first arrived in LA my good friend Matt Pillar (a long-term veteran of tech, media & VC) who had been in LA for some time told me, “in LA there’s none better than David.” If you’re not getting great deals early – you may never see them.” The same trend seems likely in the legal industry.

Los Angeles 299

Los Angeles Early Stage DC Silicon Valley 299

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2016

In a world that is hyper competitive – even amongst VCs – I can honestly say that not only is the media recognition accurate but it is amongst the proudest days I’ve had in developing Upfront Ventures and our future. Move our offices to Santa Monica so we could be closer to the early-stage companies being created in LA.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Early Stage LP Partner 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

The biggest media attention in our industry went to the so-called “super angels&# during the 2009/10 timeframe and while I don’t believe there is such thing as a super angel I believe that much media attention was deserved. Spawning of Micro VCs. I know I’m going on-and-on. I’m not a shareholder.

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Software PHP Open Source 334

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

In the latter cases many companies (Flickr, Delicious, Blogger, Writely in 05-08 and lately Invite Media, Aardvark, Dodgeball, etc.) got picked up early without raising a lot of VC. There has been a preponderance of early-stage deals that have seen quick exits. And the best early-stage investors know this.

Angel Investor 284

Angel Investor Early Stage Cap Table Deal Flow 284

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

I often recommend that super early-stage teams hire somebody in-house first – either full-time or possibly a part-time contractor or small agency. And you need somebody who is committed to keeping up your presence in blogs, social media and other online forums. So be careful. Just don’t spam people.

PR 319

PR Venture Capital Hiring Seed Capital 319

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

One of the advantages of blogging, using social media, public speaking, etc as a VC is that you get a more nuanced view of these shifts by watching your own successes and failures. When many of us advisors / investors did our first startups there were very few purely tech media outlets. That used to be the standard.

Startup 355

Startup PR Dividend Merger 355

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

They focus on trying to drive engagbranded social media marketing campaigns (e.g. I knew that OATV had invested in the company and I typically like to look harder at stuff that they do since I consider them to be very savvy with early stage trends. It is a platform to help brands building viral marketing campaigns.

Venture Capital 270

Venture Capital Cofounder Spain San Diego 270

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

There’s no doubt (at least anecdotally) that the pace of VC investments in early-stage technology companies has picked up in the past few months. I hear from several sources that Sequoia is very active in the market aggressively chasing several deals and even driving up prices on some early-stage deals.

IPO 255

IPO Investment Bankers Venture Capital Marketing 255

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

Of course the media doesn’t do nuance well so this is an emotional topic. As a result that company is now as valuable as Invoca ( last round raised >$70 million ) so Jason ended up with two very valuable equity positions and has now raised an early-stage seed fund.

IP 223

IP Intellectual Property IRR Cofounder 223

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 5, 2011

In the past 15 years our partners have backed nearly one company every year that was early stage and eventually exited for North of a billion dollars. Yet we wanted to be clear that we invest heavily in digital media, mobile & software companies. We also invest in the UK as you’ll soon find out.

Early Stage 260

Early Stage Lead Investor Portfolio Partner 260

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

And we’re left with a city with idyllic weather, major commerce, the media center of the world, and a great emerging technology scene. It’s not uncommon for incredibly smart and talented Phd’s or CS majors from Stanford to raise $10 million on an early-stage “platform&# that if it succeeds it will be huge.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Technology Los Angeles Southern California 290

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

Yes an online video startup in ‘99 that helped large media companies encode and distribute their videos through portals. The idea was right but the timing was early and required a pivot into being a software company. Do you think the impact of social media is effecting Google’s search business? (42:00 6:00 – 7:30).

Vertical 265

Vertical Curation Boston Burn Rate 265

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

If you don’t know Montgomery & Co it is one of the premier technology & media focused investment banks in the country (and as Michael corrected me they also have a strong Healthcare / Med tech practice). Acquired by Disney, who also invested in Playdom, and will become part of the Interactive Media Group. TechCrunch.

IPO 242

IPO Venture Capital Private Placement Cofounder 242

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2009

He had pitched me in the past and I told him that for a variety of reasons his company was too early stage for me but that I would happily keep track of their progress. Most notably you need to understand Earned Media and how blogging, public speaking and social media play an important role in the new PR landscape.

PR 291

PR Bankruptcy Venture Capital Acquisition 291

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

We spent the first 45 minutes or so talking about industry trends (in this order): The history and background of True Ventures, one of my favorite early-stage VC’s (and the one with whom Om is a venture partner). Independents: Millennial Media , Greystripe , Medialets , JumpTap , Mojiva.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Non-Compete Vertical Europe 225

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

We are a city unique in merging the world’s best content with digital media and technology expertise. There are now a second generation of entrepreneurs and companies that have learned from their last successes and are producing great new companies like TopSpin Media , Sometrics and GumGum.

Silicon Valley 228

Silicon Valley Cofounder Hawaii Semantic 228

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 2, 2009

I see many early-stage businesses pitching me today talking about solving this need. Tags: Social Media social networking startup technology Twitter. Actions based on a user authority is an emerging area where I believe the tools are nascent today but you’ll likely see more emphasis on this in the future.

Conversion 235

Conversion Management Social Network Philadelphia 235

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

Let me remind readers as I outlined in this post , there are VERY FEW M&A transactions for early-stage startup companies above $100 million. case, which is what is often never written in the annals of the tech news media. .” You know, close your $100 million round so buyers will come in at $200 million.

Valuation 316

Valuation Balance Sheet Dilution Term Sheet 316

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

You thought media twitter was bad… You thought tech twitter was bad… — Hunter Walk (@hunterwalk) August 24, 2015. So why invest in that period of uncertainty unless it’s early-stage and thus valuation matters less. It was a nerve racking morning. My favorite Tweet of the morning came from Hunter Walk.

Stock 150

Stock Finance Marketing Valuation 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Consider Usher a hard-working early-stage VC. The media eats it up as they always need something to write about. Be unique, find free marketing opportunities and use social media to build your following. That’s broadcast not new media. And he has acted as a personal mentor for Justin ever since. He knew this.

Entrepreneur 398

Entrepreneur Atlanta Audience SEM 398

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

But the larger funds usually have lower returns because they are often investing bigger dollars at later stages with less risk and therefore lower returns. As you can see in this Cambridge Associates data, early-stage investing beat later stage investing in returns in 70% of the past 30 years. I use social media.

LP 374

LP Later Stage IRR Term Sheet 374

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2009

When you’re an early-stage startup that hasn’t raised any institutional money you end up doing almost every job function of the company yourself. This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. This is a story of one of the risks of venture capital.

Founder 299

Founder Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 299