View from Seed

MAY 14, 2015

Accidental VC is a series of short posts written by me, Jay Acunzo. Though I never planned it, I somehow wound up working in VC as NextView’s VP of platform. As an operator, not an investor, I’m amazed at how many casual, throwaway comments that happen inside a VC’s office would be genuinely useful to entrepreneurs building their businesses. So this series is my attempt to share that knowledge beyond our walls … one overheard lesson at a time.

Seed Stage 209

Seed Stage Startup Cofounder Technical Review 209

deal architect

MAY 14, 2015

When I wrote SAP Nation, I built several economic models on the size of the economy. In the book, I presented one which runs about $ 200 bn a year. The most expensive model showed close to $ 400 bn.

Software 290

Software 290

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2015

*. Unicorns. The most overused word in the technology industry today. And they aren’t even f **g real. That is how absurd thing have gotten. No, I take that back. THIS is how absurd things have gotten: “I have to raise at a billion-dollar valuation” “Why? You don’t have the revenue or profit to support that valuation.” “But if I don’t I won’t be able to recruit the best people in the market.

Valuation 290

Valuation Silicon Valley Non-Compete Software 290

YoungUpstarts

MAY 14, 2015

by Navarre Roy , Senior Associate with Selvam and Selvam. I’ve attended many IP seminars and conferences conducted specifically for businesses and they are generally always about Patents. If you have ever attended any one of these you’ll come away with feeling that Patents are important and an urge to dismiss anything related to trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and designs.

Intellectual Property 152

Intellectual Property IP India Vesting 152

Speaker: Nick Noreña, Innovation Coach and Advisor, Kromatic

Every startup and innovation project exists within an ecosystem that either helps or hurts that project. As innovation managers, we need to keep a pulse of that ecosystem and make sure we're helping those innovation projects we're managing every step of the way. In this webinar, Nick Noreña will walk through an Innovation Ecosystem Model that he and his team at Kromatic have developed to help investors, heads of product, teachers, and executives understand how they can best support innovation in

Startup

Gust

MAY 14, 2015

This is a grim fairy tale about a mythical company and its mythical founder. While I concocted this story, I did so by drawing upon my sixteen years of experience as a venture capitalist, plus the fourteen years I spent before that as an entrepreneur. I’m going to use some pretty simple math and some pretty basic terms to create Read more >.

Founder 134

Founder Entrepreneur 134

YoungUpstarts

MAY 14, 2015

We mentioned earlier that cultural understanding in business can be crucial, especially in this day and age of globalization where many enterprise owners are looking to increase their footprint in other markets. If you’re looking to expand your business overseas, or are travelling anytime soon to a different market where the cultural norms in business can be very different, it is crucial that you understand some of these potential pitfalls so you don’t make a faux pas.

UAE 147

UAE Global Marketing 147

Gust

MAY 14, 2015

This is a grim fairy tale about a mythical company and its mythical founder. While I concocted this story, I did so by drawing upon my sixteen years of experience as a venture capitalist, plus the fourteen years I spent before that as an entrepreneur. I’m going to use some pretty simple math and some pretty basic terms to create Read more >. The post How to Build a Unicorn From Scratch – and Walk Away with Nothing. appeared first on The Gust Blog.

Founder 119

Founder Entrepreneur Startup 119

The Equity Kicker

MAY 14, 2015

I re-read Eric Ries’s The Lean Startup this week largely because our partner companies do things a little differently to what I would describe as ‘classic lean startup’ and I wanted to get clearer on what the differences are and why. I don’t usually enjoy re-reading books, but this time I had lots of a-ha moments and it was a joy.

Aggregator 106

Aggregator Lean Analytics Metrics 106

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 14, 2015

A little more than a year ago, I got a note from Brian Fitzgerald, a Product Manager I met while I was at First Round. He was "taking time with family" to figure out what's next. Most people take that to mean that they'll stop spending as much time with their family and go on to work at another startup or be a founder themselves. Brian, on the other hand, doubled down on family and decided to work on the side project he started with his wife Meg.

Cofounder 105

Cofounder Distribution Portfolio Founder 105

Up and Running

MAY 14, 2015

Loans that are backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are attractive for business owners because they offer a range of loan sizes, long repayment terms, and most importantly, low interest rates. While some alternative business lenders charge as high as 80 percent APR, you can get an SBA-backed bank loan for around seven percent APR, depending on the amount you’re looking to borrow and for how long.

SBA 93

SBA Finder Small Business Administration Australia 93

SiliconHills

MAY 14, 2015

Peeple, a smart camera that attaches to the peephole of a front door, just launched its Kickstarter campaign today and is close to meeting its $50,000 goal. The Austin-based startup participated in the Highway1 Hardware startup accelerator in San Francisco last year and created quite a few prototypes before perfecting its product. The Peeple camera […] The post Peeple Launches Peephole Camera on Kickstarter appeared first on SiliconHills.

San Francisco 85

San Francisco Austin Campaign Startup 85

Up and Running

MAY 14, 2015

Freight is big business. The transportation of goods across the world is the keystone of modern society, with almost everything we use and consume passing through some part of the freight network. Unless a company is big enough to own a fleet of vehicles, they will need to rely on third parties to deliver their products. Even the world’s biggest corporations rely on specialist freight services for air, rail, and sea transport.

Reputation 82

Reputation Cost Matching Software 82

SiliconHills

MAY 14, 2015

At a special event at the Moody Theater Thursday night, officials with the Austin Chamber of Commerce announced its 2015 A-List of the top 12 most promising startups in Austin. A panel of independent judges selected the companies from more than 275 nominations. “Austin is rich with innovative startups that are primed for rapid growth. […] The post Austin’s A-List of Top Startups for 2015 appeared first on SiliconHills.

Austin 84

Austin Startup 84

Mike Michalowicz

MAY 14, 2015

Different is scary for most people. That alien fish larvae looking mush that was just plopped on your plate is awfully unappealing. You’ve never had it. And if all things go as planned, you never will. Different is unsafe. Sticking with the stuff you have always been eating (and have always been just bearing) feels so much safer. That beautiful diamond ring that looks so precious and is priced so well, is just too good to be true.

81

81

SiliconHills

MAY 14, 2015

Done.com helps people book services for their home. The Austin-based company just launched Yards for Vets, a program with plans to employ 50 local veterans in the lawn care industry. “There are over 19,000 unemployed veterans in Texas,” Keith Peterson, Chief Marketing Officer of Done.com, said in a news release. “We can’t solve that problem […] The post Austin-Based Done Aims to put Military Veterans to Work appeared first on SiliconHills.

Austin 75

Austin Texas Programming Marketing 75

Berkonomics

MAY 14, 2015

It is all about execution. Waiting over a year to see results is too long, since your chance of mid-course correction is greatly reduced. To make the point, Harvard’s Robert Kaplan believes that less than 10% of corporate strategies are effectively executed. Ouch! If that is true, we are tolerant bunch. We carefully plan in long, dedicated sessions each year or so, then draw up a series of goals, strategies, tactics, objectives, targets, or whatever we want to name them.

Matching 66

Matching Revenue Naming Hiring 66

SiliconHills

MAY 14, 2015

Vyopta Inc., a video and web conferencing firm, has announced plans to move into a bigger headquarters in the Barton Creek Plaza Office Building. The Austin-based startup, founded in 2007, also plans to hire additional employees to fill up its new office, which is more than 6,100 square feet. The company’s business is booming, according […] The post Vyopta Moves to Bigger Austin Headquarters and is Hiring appeared first on SiliconHills.

Austin 68

Austin Hiring Web Video 68

OnlyOnce

MAY 14, 2015

Give the Gift of a 360 to Your Board of Directors. I recently ran our biennial Board 360, and I thought it would be interesting to share the details. Attached are a few pages from, my book, Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business which describe the process as well as share the survey I developed, which I adapted from one that the legendary Bill Campbell uses at larger public companies like Intuit.

Management 66

Management Developer Startup 66

SiliconHills

MAY 14, 2015

Vested Finance, an Austin-based financial technology startup, announced it has closed on $5 million in seed financing led by Sandleigh Ventures. The Austin-based company plans to use the money to expand its operations by hiring a development team to create and distribute its mobile app. It has offices in Austin, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. […] The post Vested Finance Lands $5 Million in Funding appeared first on SiliconHills.

Vesting 66

Vesting Finance San Francisco Washington 66

Up and Running

MAY 14, 2015

Business plans go by many names: Strategic plans, operational plans, internal plans, and many others. Lately, I’ve been focusing on lean business plans. There are also one-page business plans, although those are really more summaries. Of course there are traditional business plans, which can also be called formal business plans, or wow-do-I-really-have-to-do-all-that business plans.

Business Plan 115

Business Plan Lean Forecast Balance Sheet 115

SiliconHills

MAY 14, 2015

RealMassive announced Thursday it has completed its Series A round with a large investment from RHS Investments. The Austin-based startup has raised $8 million so far. Hank Seale, chairman of the board for Q2 Holdings, runs RHS. RealMassive also named Seale as its chairman of the board. Craig Hancock, co-founder of RealMassive will now serve […] The post RealMassive Completes Series A Fundraising Round appeared first on SiliconHills.

Cofounder 59

Cofounder Austin Naming Founder 59

Jeff Hilimire

MAY 14, 2015

I’m continuing to work on how to optimize my life. Having five kids, running a company, being involved in community activities and my church , and somehow also trying to spend time with my close friends, is a constant struggle. One trick I’ve started doing is using my drive time to get things done. I recently got this car phone holder so that I could more easily use my phone for navigation, but it has the side benefit of forcing me not to use my phone at traffic lights and stop signs

Community 54

Community Startup 54

SiliconHills

MAY 14, 2015

By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News At Asana, every job is added to a list of Areas Of Responsibility (AORs) and anyone in the company who has the qualifications and desire can take on any one of those areas. It’s the manager’s job to ask questions about whether the employee is up to […] The post Asana Talks About Building a Culture of Accountability appeared first on SiliconHills.

Employee 59

Employee Austin 59

Early Growth Financial Services

MAY 14, 2015

When it comes to revenue recognition, SaaS companies have some special challenges, including additional considerations that require them to exercise a great deal of discretion in regards to when and how to recognize revenue and record expenses relative to other type of businesses. That will become even more challenging once FASB’s new accounting standards go into effect, beginning after 2016 for public companies and after 2017 for private ones.

Cloud 48

Cloud Revenue Software Hosting 48

SiliconHills

MAY 14, 2015

ESI Group, based in Paris, Thursday announced the acquisition of Austin-based Amoeba Technologies. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Amoeba, a privately held company founded in 2007, makes Presto software which provides cooling simulation and design optimization for electronics such as computers, mobile devices, automotive electronics, medical electronics and data centers.

Austin 56

Austin Technology Acquisition Mobile 56

Rob Go

MAY 14, 2015

I’ve had the apple watch for a couple weeks now and my experience has been mixed. My quick initial thoughts: It’s a beautiful watch. It feels great (I have the larger size screen, aluminum case, with the white sportsband). The band feels really comfortable, like the size and feel quite a bit. The battery life on the watch is great, but the drain on my iphone so far has been noticeable.

Software 37

Software Product 37

YoungUpstarts

MAY 14, 2015

by Chad Reid, Director of Communications for JotForm. If you’re a marketer, you live and breathe conversion rates. They’re the very lifeblood of your business. You look at the rates for everything from advertising to emails, because anywhere you can measure the number of visitors you get, you can measure just how successful your efforts really are. But what might be the single-most important factor when determining a campaign’s conversion rate might not be the most apparent: online forms.

Conversion 158

Conversion Chad San Francisco Analytics 158

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 14, 2015

3 Effective Ways to Use a Blog to Boost Your Retail Business written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. A million times you’ve heard that you need a blog to get more customers. Maybe you even created a blog for your retail business. You created the blog, wrote a bunch of articles with eager anticipation of the customers who would stampede through your door.

Lead Generation 56

Lead Generation Advertising Search Web 56

YoungUpstarts

MAY 14, 2015

Every brand has its own ups and downs, but if the successes are just lucky moments, one should change the approach. The success of your marketing campaigns should not be dictated by chance. If you can put in place proven best practices coupled with smart techniques, you will be successful every time. One such example is the split testing technique, which you can use prior to sending out your next email campaign.

Campaign 141

Campaign Email HTML Database 141

Brandanew

MAY 14, 2015

As an ongoing series called the Social Expert Speak , today we present insights from @KenHerron , an exemplary social marketer and a leading expert on content and social media. Ken has incidentally worked with a lot of new startups in this space and is thus the perfect choice for us to interview, especially when talking about social media and content marketing best practices for startups and small businesses.

Social Media 149

Social Media Marketing Technical Review Distribution 149