Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

Of course as a non-Korean I can only generalize but when it was my turn I told her my experience of living in Europe and Japan where failure seemed less tolerated than my experience of living in California and working in the tech sector.

South Korea 261

South Korea Silicon Valley Los Angeles Japan 261

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

Again, much red tape even though David grew up in the US (he had since moved to Europe and married a wonderful woman from Romania). My dad’s father fled Jewish oppression in Eastern Europe as a teenager and ended up in South America. Eventually he got paperwork to do so, but it was ridiculously long and riddled with red tape.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Canada Green South Carolina 282

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2016

Example from this morning was a quick discussion on the “Brexit” and wether the UK will exit Europe. Essentially it’s a replacement for reading The Economist every week (which I would do if I could find more time!).

Pakistan 150

Pakistan Technical Review Iran Russia 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

I had just moved back to the US from living in Europe for 11 years. We had never purchased a house in Europe because we always knew we’d move home at some point. But there’s no doubt we took the edge off. Fast forward to my second company. I founded it in 2005 at the age of 37.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

You may have an opinion on your market-entry strategy for Europe. And you can often throw in a separate action like approving stock-option grants, getting approval for CAPEX spend, discussing fund raising timing – whatever. Always seek input. You may know how much to pay in cash or equity for your new VP Engineering.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2019

I always wanted to work in Europe but it was hard to ask for a sponsoring company to pay for you to come over. I called every person I knew in Accenture Europe and asked for advice to get transferred. It is better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission After 5 years in Europe I decided I really wanted to work in Japan.

Japan 253

Japan Chicago Europe South America 253

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2018

We were working on their go-to-market strategy for Europe and Carly was Group President of the division where I was advising (a $19 billion line of business) at Lucent and she flew out for the final presentations. I actually have to admit that I learned this from Carly Fiorina.

LP 189

LP Software Review Europe Founder 189

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2016

You attended speaker dinners, went to entrepreneur parties on ships or in Europe. Our inner script is heroic and the struggles are mere battle scars on the inevitable journey to slay King Joffrey. In your hero phase you got invited to speak on panels. But building a successful startup is hard.

Churn Rate 150

Churn Rate Vesting Dilution Europe 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

My trip was scheduled around the annual Web Summit and the f.ounders conference, both of which have become the hottest must-attend event in Europe and rivaling any great conference in the US. Getting names of marquee speakers would obviously draw a good crowd from across Europe. Paddy never stopped.

Ireland 392

Ireland Global Las Vegas Switzerland 392

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2017

I know this first hand having personally lived and worked in many countries in Europe (and Japan) over an 11-year period where the melting didn’t happen. This story is universal for every American immigrant in whatever century one’s family arrived here and the “melting pot” is what uniquely makes America great. It is the American story.

South America 197

South America America South Africa United States 197

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

I was in the midst of sizing the mobile handset markets in 3 regions: US, Europe and Asia. I was leading the analysis with a team of 14 people: 12 Japanese, 1 German and 1 Turk. I was the only one whose Japanese was limited to just a sushi menu.

Investment Bankers 415

Investment Bankers Mobile Software Review Japan 415

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2015

I saw some companies that became truly rancid – even one entrepreneur who flew to Hawaii as his company was melting down and got drunk at an M&A meeting to save his team and he ended up not paying his entire team all of their final expense payments but he flew first class to Europe.

South Korea 150

South Korea Italy Recapitalization Germany 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 15, 2010

But there was tons of client demand in Europe for Internet projects and very few people with real experience and so my senior partner in the London office was talking about 3 or 4 projects he was considering me for in Europe. By then I knew the local team well and they realized that I had done several relevant projects in Europe.

San Francisco 379

San Francisco Europe Japan Switzerland 379

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2016

He has said he wouldn’t take using nuclear weapons in Europe off the table and that his goal on nuclear weapons was to be “unpredictable.” He has questioned why the US would develop weapons unless we were prepared to use them preemptively.

Saudi Arabia 150

Saudi Arabia United States South Korea Ukraine 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2012

When you think about “time windows” of film distribution you literally need to think about the fact that you would open a film in the US and later ship the physical reels to London then Europe to open overseas.

Media 302

Media South Korea Distribution Technical Review 302

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2014

Jews were excluded from trade guilds across Europe for hundreds of years which made it impossible for Jewish people to have a normal, stable income from the most important jobs of those era. One only need watch Downtown Abbey to see what the wealthy classes of Europe thought of “businessmen.”

San Francisco 417

San Francisco Silicon Valley Germany Sacramento 417

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Due to the language and culture issues in Europe we opted for a country structure with an MD in each country and local sales, marketing & customers support staff. My first company was founded in Ireland, headquartered in England and had country operations in the UK, France & Germany.

Ireland 319

Ireland Sales Bankruptcy Germany 319

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

above inflation yet in many markets in the US & Europe prices were rising at 10-25% per year. I pointed to several Economist articles I had read that mapped historical prices of real estate for 400 years and how on average property values grow at no more 1.5% “Yeah, but there is a shortage of supply.

Florida 299

Florida Technical Review San Antonio Los Angeles 299

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

We were it in Europe: B2B. We then had a piece in Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Europe, we ran front cover of Tornado Insider (the top VC magazine in Europe at the time). We headlined at the Red Herring Europe conference (they were the equivalent of TechCrunch today). They always need something new.

South Africa 310

South Africa Europe Disintermediation Poland 310

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2010

I pushed for Accenture to transfer me to Europe. years in LA (early 90’s) many of my friends left to start companies in Silicon Valley. We were high tech at the very start of the boom. I chose a different path.

France 295

France Spain Technical Review Hungary 295

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

You want somebody who can do handset deals in the US, Europe & Asia. You do a startup and decide you want somebody to step in and run the company so you can focus on technical excellence. You want somebody who can raise $15 million to build out your R&D, business development and sales organizations.

Leadership 363

Leadership CTO Hire Technical Review Cofounder 363

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 21, 2009

I retweeted this article and get some people in Europe telling me it was unfair. It’s not just Europe. There was a recent TechCrunch UK article by an anonymous VC (yes, I think posting anonymously is chicken shite) that talked about the work ethic of European tech companies versus those Silicon Valley. It’s not.

San Jose 290

San Jose Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Los Angeles 290

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2012

We are giving a version of our product to a team in Europe who will start selling our product internationally. Examples from discussions I’ve had this month that might resonate with your internal debates about how to prioritize.

Bandwidth 415

Bandwidth Management Startup Channel 415

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2009

I lived in Europe for 11 years and in Tokyo for 6 months so the idea that innovation is happening outside of our 50 states in not new to me. When I lived in Europe in the 90’s we all texted people on mobile phones. He also consults companies in Asia. EA and others in the US are copying this success (slide 71).

Asia 188

Asia Southern California China Japan 188

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

How I got to move to Europe. Deals that seemed lost but since you never gave up you ended up winning. If you have any interest here are two stories of how cheeky persistence change my life. How I got to work in Tokyo. Featured Image is amazing and is courtesy of my favorite 500px person, CPO Evgeny Tchebotarev - no, I am not an investor.].

Email 389

Email Europe Venture Capital Leadership 389

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2010

I was living in Europe in 2000 when the first WAP phones (Wireless Access Protocol) were introduced. Absolute Power Corrupts, Absolutely. These phones were so over hyped. They were going to bring the Internet to your mobile phones ushering in the era of “m-commerce.&# Gag.

Flash 326

Flash Mobile Application Development Cloud 326

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2017

I can’t NOT speak up: Silence killed too many of my tribe just 75 years ago in Europe. I don’t need that in my life. And it’s ok if they’re tired of hearing from me, too, and choose to unfollow. And it’s time we look at the positive side of this moment in time.

United States 202

United States Cofounder Europe Framework 202

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

The US market is worth more than $25 billion and Europe is the same. They photograph your stuff and provide a beautiful app where you can see what you have at any moment. So, let’s start with the basics. Asia is smaller but growing as wealth increases in large, urban environments.

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 22, 2010

Or when I lived in Europe and everybody I knew was using Skype. This happened in Europe way before the US because to make any call out of the country was a paid call whereas in the US you had a lot of “all you can eat&# national plans. ’ When you use technology for a really long time you begin to spot patterns.

Term Sheet 266

Term Sheet Europe Wiki Cloud 266

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2015

Between the US & Europe alone the video sector is worth around $500 billion. Anybody who reads the blog regularly will know that I’m long video. I’ve made 5 investments in the sector and I hope to make 5 more. And TV / Film / Video Games / Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality and frankly the Internet will all merge.

Startup 150

Startup B2C Portfolio Video 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures). We discussed European VC, which is rumored to be down by up to 82%.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital Non-Compete Vertical Europe 225

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

It was embarrassing to witness yet it was one of the least forms of gender bias I experienced in my time working in continental Europe and Asia. We got to define Internet offerings for one of the largest telcos in Europe. I hated that which is why the story still sticks in my head. Trust me I saw much worse in the 90s. Not operational.

Marketing 385

Marketing Europe Engineer Networking 385

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2018

As a Jewish person I know something about this scapegoating because it is the history of my people for 2,000+ years including the Pogroms in Eastern Europe that cause my family to escape using fake passports and wind up in South America (Colombia) in search of a better life. Invisibility.

Los Angeles 174

Los Angeles Mexico United States South America 174

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 4, 2011

I had been living in Europe since the start of 1995, most recently in London. Not true in Europe. The funniest experience I ever had on July 4th (US Independence Day) was in 1999. That was the year I spent July 4th in Tokyo, where I was living for 6 months. So one of my bucket list items was to live in Japan. Nobody cared.

America 290

America South America Honduras Sacramento 290

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2015

Every riot or protest Uber has ever had across Europe has led to record downloads of the app. When DC tried to ban Uber in the early days he didn’t cry in his beer – he flew out there and led a public protest and invited the press. ” Marketing schtick is what made Marc Benioff and Salesforce.com.

Employee 150

Employee Startup Canada Hawaii 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

Let me take you back just 10 years ago to 2005 in Silicon Valley where I returned after 11 years of living in Europe. If you are a 20-something tech entrepreneur you could be forgiven for thinking that seed-stage investors, Angellist Syndicates and widely available angel money always existed. It is, of course, a very recent phenomenon.

Seed Stage 150

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Syndicate Syndication 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 4, 2015

Europe was happy to have my forebears in society until they needed scapegoats for societal woes and we were easy targets. But so, too, were the Irish who arrived on our shores. And the Polish.

Colombia 150

Colombia St. Louis Romania Lithuania 150