Ben's Blog

MARCH 1, 2011

In my career, I have never seen a position in any industry with more varying criteria than General Partner at a venture capital firm. Some firms hire pure investors, some firms hire operators, some Wall Street analysts, some firms hire sales people, some firms hire lawyers, and others hire reporters.

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Partner Technical Review Venture Capital Cofounder 78

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

The OEM Business Convergent’s business was selling desktop computers (with our own operating system and office applications) to other computer manufacturers – most of them long gone: Burroughs, Prime, Monroe Data Systems, ADP, Mohawk, Gould, NCR, 4-Phase, AT&T. Hiring a VP of Sales in customer discovery typically sets a startup back.

Technology 139

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 139

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 14, 2021

That’s groundbreaking in accounting, where margins are thin and the overheard of operating in-office with year-round staff is high. We’re aiming to bring that boost in productivity and cost-efficiency both to CPA firms and other professional services firms in other verticals (i.e. Quality control?

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CPA Founder Vertical Cofounder 139

Steve Blank

MARCH 25, 2009

It wasn’t until I found the extremely obscure Lanchester Strategy for market share that I realized that these ratios had their basis in operations research and the Lanchester’s Laws.) Our company’s graphics boards were designed to speed up a key part of the Macintosh graphics operating system called QuickDraw.

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Silicon Valley Marketing RSS California 144

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

But what I wanted was an agile marketing team capable of operating independently without day-to-day direction. We hired union laborers to do that. I hired a Director of Product Marketing who in his last company had ran its marketing and then went out into the field and became its national sales director.

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Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 263

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

But I am doing this from the vantage point of an investor / Board member, not an operating executive. Because early in a technology company's life, a true operating executive is NOT what the company needs. But I am doing this from the vantage point of an investor / Board member, not an operating executive.

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CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 20, 2020

Follow Craig on Twitter @unleashcraig #Investor #VeteransInTech #AspenInstitute Dan & Lisa Graham run Notley Ventures , an umbrella group that brilliantly combines for-profit investing with non-profit and social impact philanthropy. He’s one of the first people many execs in town call when they are looking for a key technical hire.

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Austin Texas Cofounder Los Angeles 110

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

V: Should you raise venture capital from a traditional equity VC or a Revenue-Based Investing VC? GCVF is pioneering the future of venture capital and high growth startups for all small communities. II: Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs? IV: Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing?

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Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

I tend to think of this group as distinct from the business advisors with whom you may discuss operational strategy, but all the better if there is an overlap in capabilities. This is useful for a number of reasons, the most obvious of which is to help you navigate the right channels in your vertical and open doors to potential customers.

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Advisory Board Sweat Equity Marketing Vertical 48

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

It is time to fix your key SaaS metrics: P&L: MRR = MRE: you control your destiny when your monthly revenue equals your monthly expenses Sales & Marketing: Your cost of capital doubled, so if a CAC ratio > 0.5 Rethink vertical segmentation: Healthcare? Venture Capital. (3). Explore Venture Capital.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Portfolio 48

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . I walk through below how progressive investors are using technology and analytics throughout all of their operations. ff Venture Capital hired two full-time engineers to build out Totem.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

Every waking day, we are having tremendous changes in regulations and technology which greatly affect the way businesses operate. Some entrepreneurs will say the future is definitely bright but to others, some of these changes are meant to work against their expansion and business operations. Thanks to David Reid, VEM Group !

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Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Global 108

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2009

But a series of Zen-like moments helped me move to a different level that changed how I operated. It didn’t make my marketing skills any worse or better, but moved me to play forever on a different field.

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Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

I had hired the VP of marketing from a potential software partner who was responsible to get all this 3 rd party software on our computer. In reality we hadn’t gotten any closer to our goal than the day we hired him. In fact, we would have been better off if we hadn’t hired him as we wouldn’t have confused a warm body with progress.

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Silicon Valley Software Review RSS Technical Review 327

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Engineering focuses on building the product; it designs the product, specifies the first release and hires a staff to build the product. Marketing starts to build a sales demo, writes sales materials (presentations, data sheets), and hires a PR agency.

Silicon Valley 263

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 263

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 17, 2013

In a casino, the term “rake” refers to the commission that the house earns for operating a poker game. eBay recently launched an aggressive campaign attacking Amazon’s rate table on a vertical-by-vertical basis ( those percentages can be found here ). As Jeff Bezos is fond of saying, “ your margin is my opportunity.”.

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Europe Social Network Technical Review IPO 101

VC Cafe

APRIL 29, 2020

According to the Covid-19 impact report by research firm Beauhurst: 5,070 UK companies are at a ‘severe’ or ‘critical’ risk 615K startup and scaleup jobs are at risk Later stage startups are at the most risk Across the board, tech sectors and verticals are the most likely to experience a positive or low impact.

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SBA Technical Review Startup 124

Steve Blank

JUNE 29, 2009

You’re Hired, You’re Fired. My first job in Silicon Valley: I was hired as a lab technician at ESL to support the training department. The manager of the training department who hired you wasn’t authorized to do so – and he’s been fired. Could I work here if he wanted to hire me?&#

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Agile Silicon Valley RSS California 251

Steve Blank

MARCH 28, 2009

Now the Soviets had first hand knowledge of how their air defense systems would work against the nuclear armed B-52G and H models in an operational environment. All as an integral part of the Strategic Integrated Operating Plan – our war-fighting plan to destroy the Soviet Union. 23 to Ann Arbor when the leaves turned in the fall.

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Silicon Valley Thailand RSS Michigan 202

abovethecrowd.com

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

In many cases, a deeper focus on a particular category or vertical allows these marketplaces to distinguish themselves from broader marketplaces like eBay. Often, investors miss out on vertically focused companies like RigUp as they find themselves overly anxious about TAM (total available market). based teachers.

Internet 88

Internet Matching Vertical Hosting 88

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2009

Companies specializing in components and systems that operated in the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum sprouted faster than fruit trees in the valley orchards. In ten years, from the early 1950′s to the early 1960′s, the valley went through a hiring frenzy as jobs in microwave companies went from 700 to 7,000.

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Silicon Valley RSS San Francisco Technical Review 279

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 16, 2012

In founding TripAdvisor, Kaufer wanted to take his hard core engineering skills and apply them to vertical search in travel. Fortunately, on the side, the company had built up TripAdvisor.com as a demo site to show the prospective clients what a vertical search engine could do. Big Data meets travel…in 2000.

Part-Time VPE 54

Part-Time VPE Software Review Costa Rica Technical Review 54

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Don’t take my word for it – in the roundup of venture capital predictions for 2017 , I found it to be the top recurring theme. Many large companies will be built (Michael Wolfe, Point Nine Capital). Venture Capital investments in AI, Europe 2016 (Source: Dealroom ). Billion in VC funding.

Artificial Inteligence 122

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Startup 122

Steve Blank

MAY 15, 2009

We hired an interior designer and a great facilities person to manage the process. Reply Jerry Ji , on May 15, 2009 at 4:56 pm Said: When my startup starts hiring, I’ll make “The Four Steps to the Epiphany&# a prerequisite reading for every interviewer. The same principles operate in living as in business.

Silicon Valley 212

Silicon Valley RSS Lean Agile 212

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

If you are an entrepreneur seeking funding, try our free Funding Recommendation Engine to identify a list of angels, venture capital and state grant programs that best match your business. Post-Mortem Title : My eHarmony for Hiring Failure. Hiring was a challenge we found difficult throughout the life of our Company.

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

Steve Blank

MAY 4, 2009

Every marketing communication hire couldn’t wait to produce the next great ad or PR program. None of these departments operated with any particular sense of malice – just with the certainty that the company revolved around them. In my experience, every marketer with an MBA wants to “do strategy.”

Silicon Valley 127

Silicon Valley RSS Non-Compete California 127

Austin Startup

MARCH 7, 2018

Huston-Tillotson (@HustonTillotson) | Twitter Eugene Sepulveda CEO, Entrepreneurs Foundation Director, Capital Factory Sr. Advisor, Austin Mayor Steve Adler Eugene has long operated at the intersection of business, government & nonprofits, locally and nationally.

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Technical Cofounder Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 48

blog.expensify.com

APRIL 24, 2012

Update: The end is near, Expensify is hiring a.NET programmer! As you might know, we’re hiring the best programmers in the world. If you are a startup looking to hire really excellent people, take notice of.NET on a resume, and ask why it’s there. Expensify Blog. Expense Reports That Don't Suck. Checkout [link].net

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Java PHP Software Review Coder 107

www.businessinsider.com

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

JOB OF THE WEEK: Operations Manager. Microsofts New Enterprise Operating System Is Going To Be A Big Hit. And of course a venture-capital investor and an advisor to entrepreneurs would take opposite sides in a price negotiation. Blackboard Home » Google Ventures. Wow, The iPhone 5 Is Going To Be Pretty Thin.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup Valuation Venture Capital 54