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SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

success story Blackboard and veteran entrepreneur who’s held several COO and president roles at various startups. Many startup CEOs hire COOs or launch companies with a co-founder carrying the title. When should founders hire one? It’s why every successful entrepreneur will tell you that focus is so important.

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Hiring Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder 336

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FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Take serial entrepreneur Mike Lazerow, who founded Buddy Media. I would rather build product, learn new code, and read Hacker News than suffer through awkward hiring interviews. ” Hiring top talent is one of the most important things you can do as a founder. If you’re thinking this is a big time commitment, you’re right.

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Startup Cofounder Software Review Sales Cycle 120

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MARCH 19, 2015

In the mid-90s, brilliant innovator and entrepreneur Jeff Hawkins had an idea for the personal digital assistant (PDA) that would eventually become the Palm Pilot. ” After spending some time at the acquiring company, I was hired by Google and eventually was put in charge of the development team that launched AdWords.

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Product Technical Review Marketing Lean 120

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APRIL 30, 2015

From a company milestones perspective, entrepreneurs who take on venture debt are almost always thinking about raising that next round of capital from other institutions. GM: The model is more about the relationship with the entrepreneurs, the investors, and us as the bank, as opposed to cash flow or fixed assets to lend on.

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Term Sheet Equity Startup Seed Stage 120

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SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

New tech ecosystems often benefit from entrepreneurs who will dive in blind and figure out their direction along the way. In 2010, Eli Bronner and his Lua Technologies co-founders were this exact profile of entrepreneurs, and New York City was an exuberant tech ecosystem without much structure or identity.

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New York City New York Cofounder Channel 120

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SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

According to First Round’s State of Startups 3 out of 4 early-stage founders (series A or earlier) say hiring is their #1 concern, but the same amount say they spend less than 20% of their time on it. We try to alleviate some of this stress through our various talent initiatives and our own time and effort.

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North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

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MAY 31, 2019

As you might suspect, we talk a lot about entrepreneurs around the NextView offices, which bring us to this week’s installment of our Friday Fun-ism series. 01% of all entrepreneurs with the potential to start a uniquely transformative company. Some might argue that what goes up must come down.

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Valuation Portfolio Metrics Founder 149

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MAY 14, 2019

Their early hires are probably much stronger too, which allows for better execution as well. Hire the kind of people that are a fit for this stage, which usually means individual contributors (not executives), and generalists vs. specialists. Third, repeat founders are likely to execute at a much higher level early on.

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Founder Agile Cofounder Seed Capital 256

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

A lot has changed since we first established a Platform role here at NextView back in 2014, both because our own firm has evolved and as the broader community has subsequently recognized its importance for entrepreneurs. hiring a great team. building a product people love. getting customers and. not running out of money (i.e.

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Portfolio Boston PR Social Media 120

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MARCH 16, 2016

These companies have a long way to go until global dominance in many cases, but they are all growing, hiring, and strengthening the local community right now. There’s Semantic Machines , one of the best collections of AI and ML minds in the world, led by serial entrepreneur Dan Roth. Want hardcore futuristic technology?

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Boston Early Stage Artificial Inteligence Semantic 215

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SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

Listeners should also check out Vin’s blog for entrepreneurs, ViniciusVacanti.com. Exactly how Vin launched Yipit.com and built his list to the initial 20K and 50K users. Why Vin decided to pivot the business (read: launch a second startup) and what he learned going from B2C to B2B.

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CTO Hire Framework Cofounder Seed Stage 120

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OCTOBER 22, 2015

We want to create the go-to hub for entrepreneurs and startup teams going from zero to one in absolutely anything important. We’ll need your contributions and your knowledge around categories like Product & Design , Marketing & Growth , Hiring & Talent , Fundraising , and more. A study of classes 08-14).

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Seed Stage Syndicate Syndication Seed Capital 120

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APRIL 2, 2015

And since I’m an operator, not investor, I recognize just how valuable all the casual, daily discussions inside a VC’s office can be to fellow operators and entrepreneurs. Few projects in an entrepreneur’s life can lead to more scope creep and more agony over little details than the company pitch deck.

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Seed Stage Design Startup Early Stage 120

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JULY 22, 2015

The NextView podcast Traction shares the incredible stories of the creative and unusual things entrepreneurs did to make initial progress in an important area of their businesses. It’s always amazing to hear people’s founding stories, but few have struck me as just plain necessary for entrepreneurs to hear today than this one.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Cofounder Viral Audience 120

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APRIL 16, 2015

What an investor (and I think an entrepreneur) really wants to know is: Is this something people want? The reason why hiring a technical co-founder or someone else in role X seems like a milestone is because investors might actually have questions about whether the team can be successful. These are not bad things to shoot for.

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Seed Stage Cofounder Early Stage Startup 120

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JULY 7, 2015

For those new to the show: Traction shares the incredible stories of the creative and unusual things entrepreneurs do to make initial progress. In the episode, you’ll hear about how we got hired in the first place and why we decided to leave. You can listen on iTunes or SoundCloud. And thanks for listening! Inside the Episode.

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Bootstrapping Founder Boston Cofounder 120

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MARCH 1, 2016

Investors and smart hires will always do appropriate diligence before investing money and time, but they won’t bother doing that unless they are excited about your story. In fact, in the very beginning, the story is the entirety of the company. That story is how you recruit employees, convince customers to give you a shot, and secure funding.

Founder 120

Founder Technical Review Cofounder Non-Compete 120

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AUGUST 3, 2015

The NextView podcast Traction shares the incredible stories of the creative and unusual things entrepreneurs did to make initial progress in an important. The hiring process at DraftKings and other data-obsessed companies. Listen on iTunes , SoundCloud , or Stitcher. Links Mentioned: Jason’s company: DraftKings.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Cofounder Acquisition Analytics 120

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AUGUST 3, 2015

The NextView podcast Traction shares the incredible stories of the creative and unusual things entrepreneurs did to make initial progress in an important. The hiring process at DraftKings and other data-obsessed companies. Listen on iTunes , SoundCloud , or Stitcher. Links Mentioned: Jason’s company: DraftKings.

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Seed Stage Cofounder Startup Acquisition 120

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FEBRUARY 19, 2015

I called the recruiter running the search and told him I was going to step down and hire a CEO. So, in order to hire a CEO, we have to give someone their first shot at the job.” It’s nice to get great valuations and hire A-players. Special thanks to Rob May for sharing his advice to other startup CEOs and entrepreneurs.

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Founder Startup Cofounder Business Model 120

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MARCH 5, 2015

When entrepreneurs think about approaching VCs to cultivate a relationship for a round, they often try to match their company with the sectors in which the VC has invested in the past. That’s pretty rational.

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Founder Matching Portfolio eCommerce 120

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SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

It will become extremely apparent to entrepreneurs (and investors) when it’s happening, so that if you have to ask where you are on the curve, it’s likely a signal that the startup isn’t on the right trajectory. Rather, when true product-market fit (PMF) happens, it’s an accelerating curve… and a very steep one at that!

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Metrics Revenue Partner Finance 120

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JANUARY 13, 2015

The observation here is that founders of great B2B companies more often than not have some demonstrable track record as operators or entrepreneurs. In a world of constrained resources, in a way, founders are “paying up” with each hiring decision or dollar they spend. This is less often the case for consumer.

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Seed Stage B2B Distribution Early Stage 120

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MARCH 8, 2016

Jay: How should a tech entrepreneur frame “brand” as an idea in the first place? What are some common, early mistakes entrepreneurs make when developing their company’s brand identity and message? And try to listen to the people you’re hiring as experts. If the product is good, people will find it.

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Seed Stage Conversion Startup PR 120

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JULY 9, 2015

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. a product launch, hiring a key executive, a rebrand, an expansion of market focus, etc.). Announce in connection with other news (e.g.

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Startup PR Cofounder Stealth 120

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JUNE 20, 2017

Today, as angel investors, they see dozens of entrepreneurs every quarter, and they’ve joined the show today to help us answer some tough questions: How should you structure communication with your cofounder? Wayne Chang and Jeff Seibert are the cofounders of Crashlytics, which Twitter acquired in 2013.

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Cofounder Angel Investor Channel Entrepreneur 120

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FEBRUARY 9, 2016

As a result, the interview process during the seed stage can feel a bit more meandering to the hiring manager — who is most likely the founder(s) given the size and stage of the company. Here’s what we learned… Hire a Missionary. If it’s a seed-stage hire, you should already know the person.

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Founder Seed Stage Cofounder Boston 120

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AUGUST 22, 2016

On August 9, we released the first episode in a series together with Reboot , which helps educate and coach entrepreneurs on communication, leadership, and well-being.

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Cofounder Startup Hosting Channel 120

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AUGUST 9, 2016

Theirs is a tremendous organization coaching and counseling entrepreneurs through the ups and downs of building a startup. I’m excited to officially roll out the first of several Traction podcast episodes in partnership with Reboot. His thoughts are here. ).

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Leadership Founder Cofounder Channel 120

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MARCH 22, 2016

This is for the early-stage companies — the entrepreneurs with great ideas and tireless work ethics who feel like they’ve emailed half of the country’s news outlets with nothing but the rare “thanks, but not interested” reply to show for it. Reporters may be leery of showcasing an unproven entrepreneur. The irony hurts.

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Seed Stage San Francisco Startup CTO Hire 120

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FEBRUARY 2, 2016

With conviction in this city, its entrepreneurs, and their ideas — and given that I’m carrying the NextView banner in New York City full-time — I thought I would put some of my analysis and opinion about the state of NYC seed out there to our world.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage New York New York City Startup 120

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JUNE 11, 2015

However, this approach tends to work only for high profile teams of entrepreneurs, as their reputation draws interest by itself. (In In the NextView portfolio, we’d currently cite Driftt and their great team led by established entrepreneurs David Cancel and Elias Torres as the example.)

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Stealth Seed Stage Startup Software Review 120

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JANUARY 8, 2015

Some entrepreneurs rationalize these types of posts as investor relations or recruitment tactics instead of marketing, which is totally reasonable. The What & Why of Hiring a Great Startup COO (Publish date: September 9). These types of content are actually pretty lousy for growing audience. The rest were older.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Startup Audience Leadership 120

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FEBRUARY 25, 2015

It can’t be overstated — stating this clearly and early is crucial to the success of your pitch, whether you’re pitching investors, customers, or potential new hires. #2: That much was clear when reviewing all the various types of decks I used during my research and matching them to my perception of a given entrepreneur.

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Technical Review Seed Stage Boston Startup 120

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DECEMBER 23, 2015

This theme of focus extended to the ways we want to help entrepreneurs as well. As a result, we hired Tim Devane to be our NY-based Principal. First, there was a focus on a single but large problem area: gaining traction. Each have unique challenges, and each deserve different kinds of focus from us.

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Boston New York Incubator Early Stage 120

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MARCH 15, 2016

Here are are two super common answers: “You know, it’s all about the team and we were able to hire great people.”. At the end of the day, we as entrepreneurs are consumers, too, and we hate that. Founders are all typically asked about their growth and the key to their success. It’s all about having a great product experience.”.

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Customer Startup Email Channel 174

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MAY 27, 2015

On the show, we’ll explore and share the stories of all the creative, unusual, and clever ways that entrepreneurs find early results. Today, we are excited to announce the launch of our new podcast TRACTION.

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Cofounder Early Stage Non-Compete Silicon Valley 120