Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

I must admit I discuss this very frequently with portfolio companies but hadn’t thought to write about it. As the desk-based Internet emerged it was initially sold through telecom carriers (after players like AOL and EarthLink innovated the market). I need to give credit for the topic to PR Malloy who Tweeted me this question.

PR 150

PR Early Stage Software Naming 150

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NOVEMBER 22, 2009

Our portfolio company did so well that Google copied this approach and out executed Overture. will be a prosperous addition to the Internet ecosystem. but also because I care deeply about innovation and the evolution of the Internet. John Batelle profiles this well in his book The Search. I’m hopeful that Ad.ly

Advertising 277

Advertising Technical Review Affiliate SEM 277

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

And as long as people put things right and show contrition, situations like this eventually become a “ tempest in a teapot. &# Today’s Internet titans are filled with such momentary lapses. With portfolio companies I’m always involved in the planning phase. If You Don’t Shape Your Story, Somebody Else Will.

PR 329

PR Management Startup Vietnam 329

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APRIL 2, 2010

So look at the latest portfolio of your VC (not prior funds) and see whether they’ve had exits and how many of their non-exited companies are likely to exit in the near future. We also took one of our large portfolio companies, Ulta, public. But you can do some focused Internet-based research before approaching the firms.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Early Stage Software Review 269

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2015

And TV / Film / Video Games / Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality and frankly the Internet will all merge. This is a stunning video done for our portfolio company Osmo that has been watched > 200,000 times. We often recommend Sandwhich to startups since they’ve done great work with several of our portfolio companies.

Startup 150

Startup B2C Portfolio Video 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

While you may be able to offer a price & terms for your service and not ever negotiate (especially if you’re an Internet company that sells cheaply to small businesses over the web and without onsite support & service) – you’ll still likely have to negotiate on business development deals.

Development Team Review 293

Development Team Review Software Review Demand Software 293

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Check out this interesting piece on PEHub talking about how Stanford is discreetly looking to sell it’s asset portfolio ! In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. Want to know how bad it is to raise money as a VC right now?

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Stock Hawaii Early Stage 269

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

My goal in the interview overall was to capture more of the personal side of Fred since so much of his investment thesis and portfolio work already comes out in his blog. ”) but these days many investors have started to realize that the future of the Internet will contain large elements of video.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Term Sheet Video 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

Each VC has their own take on which services to provide and mostly they’re free but some smaller VCs charge portfolio companies for use of these services but usually at a cheap cost. Examples of VC platform services include: recruiting, marketing, design support, inside sales reps, consulting, accounting services and so forth.

Portfolio 150

Portfolio PR Partner Early Stage 150

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MARCH 11, 2014

Last week displayed the best of LA last week for a gala event of all of Upfront’s portfolio companies + the CEOs of many of LA’s top technology companies + 75 VC firms from LA, SF, NY & Boston + 25 LP Funds + the Chairman of Yahoo! LA has a serious technology scene. And I’m proud of that, too.

Los Angeles 318

Los Angeles Silicon Valley LP Warrant 318

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

62% of adult US Internet users check or send email on a daily basis. But my specific point is that while everybody is busy telling you that “kids don’t use email” or “email is dead” I have actual data from portfolio company CEO’s showing the efficacy of email as a communication and marketing channel.

Mobile 339

Mobile Email Social Media Global 339

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APRIL 23, 2011

In the late 90’s he saw the internet boom and helped start IronPlanet.com, a construction equipment marketplace that is nearing an IPO. At the time consumer internet venture capital was still suffering from the collapse of the Tech Bubble. The in invest in IT (Software + Internet + Healthcare). Tell us more about MetaCafe? (37:00-40:30).

Vertical 265

Vertical Curation Boston Burn Rate 265

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

On the other hand, the best firms have developed strategies to capture more value while their best portfolio companies stay private. There are significantly more Internet users and we’re no longer newbies b. Some of the earliest-stage funds have set up SPVs because they are at times easier and faster to raise than new funds.

Venture Capital 292

Venture Capital IPO Early Stage Mezzanine 292

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 15, 2010

I had been working on marketing & strategy initiatives for European telcos for the past several years helping them to think through and design Internet offerings. They also knew that I was from NorCal, which in 1999 was a huge bonus to foreign companies thinking about Internet strategies. Absolutely!

San Francisco 379

San Francisco Japan Europe Switzerland 379

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

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. I’m forwarding it to all of my portfolio companies). I think we’ve all come to accept that “ banner blindness &# is a real phenomenon.

Media 288

Media Advertising Early Stage Algorithm 288

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JANUARY 31, 2011

It was 2002 – the “dog days&# of the Internet and we were running out of cash. The VC sense of accomplishment or failure is blunted by being slightly removed and by the portfolio effect. It was well past the Internet boom, well into Web 2.0, Internet pioneers. They seem to have bounced back nicely.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 384

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

By the way, this was still pre-Netscape, pre-Internet. So I joined this group called Network Solutions, we did computer networking, the predecessor to the internet. Probably the internet helped because they needed internet skills in their strategy group. I was like, “Hang on a second. ” No, no.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup San Diego 337

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APRIL 17, 2012

Home to the Internet’s first true “accelerator,” Idealab led by Bill Gross. Deviant Art, led by Angelo Sotira, which is one of the largest online communities on the Internet [Hollywood]. A quick survey of their portfolio tells you just how many high-profile startups have included them in their rounds.

Community 304

Community Los Angeles Startup Silicon Valley 304

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MAY 4, 2010

We also talked a lot about Geodelic , a portfolio company of Clearstone, who is trying to change the metaphor of how people discover location based information by partnering with large companies and brands. We shared our disappointment at Blackberry even though we’re both faithful users.

IPO 236

IPO .Net Venture Capital Strategic Investors 236

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018

I will use some examples from Parachute and some other portfolio companies to give you examples from our experiences of watching successful brands grow. We seed funded a company a few years ago called Parachute Home that has grown 180% CAGR (compounded annually) and is now doing tens of millions of revenue with very little capital raised.

Curation 296

Curation Los Angeles Differentiation Channel 296

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Make sure to call the companies in that VCs portfolio that didn’t succeed. Nobody wanted anything to do with Internet companies. When you finally get back up on your feet again, Everybody wants to be your old long-lost friend. Said it's mighty strange, without a doubt, Nobody knows you when you're down and out. Except GRP.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Term Sheet Cofounder Partner 288

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

It was 2002 – the “dog days&# of the Internet and we were running out of cash. The VC sense of accomplishment or failure is blunted by being slightly removed and by the portfolio effect. It was well past the Internet boom, well into Web 2.0, Internet pioneers. They seem to have bounced back nicely.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 176

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

It’s also worth noting as data would suggest from this SVB venture funding report, lower costs to build tech & operate businesses implies the possibility of lower loss ratios in portfolios. By the end of 2011 the Internet population was estimated at 2.3 We’re online all the time and at high speed. Today we’re online 3.1

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

This conversation seems to come up very frequently these days both with portfolio companies and with entrepreneurs just looking for mentorship. There is a natural tension between wanting to have cash in the bank now versus believing that our businesses will be more valuable in the future and therefore wanting to wait.

Pre-Money Valuation 303

Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Valuation PR 303

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. I’ve raised in boom markets and when everybody thought the Internet was a fraud. But the short answer is that the best intro is from a portfolio company of that VC or by other entrepreneurs whom that VC respects. Of course much of it is conflicting.

Developer 366

Developer Silicon Valley PR Las Vegas 366

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. I obviously don’t speak for all investors. million round.

Early Stage 360

Early Stage Startup Venture Capital Seed Stage 360

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

The “Infrastructure Phase” of the Internet … Before we had an Internet startup explosion we needed infrastructure which spawned the original tech startup community in Silicon Valley. The “Three C’s” of the Internet … The infrastructure and web services phases of the Internet are built.

Silicon Valley 390

Silicon Valley Kansas City Startup Venture Capital 390

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2011

This version has some additional details on a portfolio company I’ve invested in, which are disclosed below. from winning the Internet portal wars. And no TV manufacturer with a brain doesn’t see that Apple will likely one day have its own Internet TV that will be scooped up by adoring fans like me. Or Box.net.

SMS 325

SMS Non-Compete Differentiation Social Network 325

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

You are then a “stranded&# portfolio company. I know that a lot of VCs had roadkill in the Internet Video 1.0 Best if you get much of this from due diligence of calling other portfolio companies and then use this information to confirm with the VC. The most common case is that the partner who did the deal left the firm.

Dilution 314

Dilution Cap Table Due Diligence Option Pool 314

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I think how hard it is for me to be hands-on with a handful of portfolio companies. He was talking profusely about their portfolio company email lists and the knowledge that is shared. Helped get the first security to ever be sold over the internet with a credit card. Not intended that way, it was sincere. So I thought, WTF?

Deal Flow 292

Deal Flow Valuation Lead Investor Silicon Valley 292

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2015

And I even drafted notes to some portfolio companies afterward. They offered 2,000 free hours of Internet (* to be used in the first month) and each CD looked like a laundry detergent ad. I watched with headphones on with my wife in the room and I cackled so loudly and so often I think she wondered what I was up to. I laughed.

Employee 150

Employee Startup Canada Hawaii 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2016

They either had a portfolio company in market and weren’t getting offers as quickly as expected or they knew a friend in the biz who was recounting this to them in a session VCs strangely call “comparing notes.”. But I’d say there are a few more gray hairs around the table.

Balance Sheet 150

Balance Sheet Burn Rate Valuation Forecast 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

I thought about things I never had to as an entrepreneur: check size, ownership percentage, deal stage, portfolio construction and risk. When the market tanked they had the “triage problem&# – which portfolio companies to save, which to kill. Companies raised too much money in 2005-08 and had high burn rates. And Social.

Stock 305

Stock Technical Review Marketing Greece 305

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 31, 2011

.” 15 years ago when many of us first started discussing the future of the web, the smartest future thinkers about where this would all go would say that people interacting with websites would just scratch the surface of the power of the Internet. When machines can talk with others machines you will have a truly powerful Internet.

Florida 324

Florida API Seattle Semantic 324

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FEBRUARY 12, 2017

https://medium.com/media/cc969482e7abf6b75d3c0958c8ee409d/href I moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and as a VC who had built his career as a programmer, database designer, program manager, CEO then VP Products at Salesforce, I wanted to build a portfolio of software investments. He thinks the very nature of video is changing.

Media 210

Media Los Angeles Russia Viral 210