Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2016

In picking your market you should focus on “deflationary economics” or lowering the price, functionality and margin of your business but targeting ever-increasing market sizes afforded by Internet scale. But you need to understand venture economics. And if you want more daily startup advice follow me on Snapchat (msuster).

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital San Francisco Startup Limited Partner 150

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APRIL 13, 2011

Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. A deep dive into the Foundry Group investment philosophy including an interesting discussion of their investing Themes. “… our lens is: Internet Software Companies anywhere in the U.S. was starting.

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

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OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 3rd Brad Feld wrote a one paragraph blog post titled “ Raising Venture Capital &# in which he linked to my blog. The Original Post (after the jump): Venture Capital, By Mark Suster (December 2nd, 2006). I don’t plan to write the authoritative venture capital blog, just some anecdotes.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

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DECEMBER 27, 2011

Internet scale. Have easy access to capital by investors who are committed to building businesses at Interent scale. The first company represents a normal software company that sells its products directly (either via sales staff or directly off of the internet). They raised $5 million in venture capital to fund growth.

Startup 418

Startup Revenue Technical Review Flash 418

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OCTOBER 8, 2014

Given how efficient markets are when a large market like LA starts to blossom it attracts capital pretty quickly. billion in venture capital to LA’s technology startups and 2014 will shatter that figure. He built & sold iMall in Internet 1.0 In the last full year where we have data LA attracted $1.5

Los Angeles 376

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Seattle 376

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JULY 12, 2011

This week I sat down with Chris Dixon, co-founder / CEO of Hunch and Partner at Founder Collective in the most recent installment of This Week in Venture Capital. He added that current Internet trends favor NYC, given the reliance on creativity, design, and the importance of consumers – all areas in which NYC excels.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Cofounder API 281

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AUGUST 12, 2010

There is an industry changing shift going on in the internet and mobile-based IT space for sure. Dan believed that consumer internet entrepreneurs have a choice now: traditional VC vs. super seed investors. Tags: This Week in Venture Capital. We both felt there was a bit of a gap for B round funding. Minutes 36- 38.

Seed Stage 232

Seed Stage Valuation Private Equity Venture Capital 232

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APRIL 2, 2010

This is part of my series on Understanding Venture Capital. But you can do some focused Internet-based research before approaching the firms. Tags: Pitching VCs Raising Venture Capital VC Industry. It in not uncommon to see a VC talk about “total assets under management&# as in “We have $1.5

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Early Stage Software Review 269

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OCTOBER 1, 2009

It’s my job to invest wisely in entrepreneurs who are capital efficient, who innovate in ways that pay off economically in good markets or bad and who plan for worst-case scenarios. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice VC Industry startup technology vc venture capital.

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Stock Hawaii Early Stage 269

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

it is also the title of a fabulous book from Internet 1.0 In startup world low GM almost always equals death which is why many Internet retailers have failed or are failing (many operated at 35% gross margins). On the other hand, exits at lower prices are easier with these providers of capital.

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

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JULY 25, 2010

The key to this strategy is getting 5 people who form the social proof to help you get a bigger angel round done at a higher valuation by tons of industry insiders and thus offering the social proof you need attract great employees and ultimately venture capital investors. Tags: Raising Venture Capital Startup Advice.

Silicon Valley 293

Silicon Valley Technical Review Southern California Angel Investor 293

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JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. Here’s my take: 1.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

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APRIL 20, 2011

In the early 80’s he left academia to work on venture capital investing with Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies. The discussion with Howard Morgan starts off by acknowledging Josh Kopelman as a co-founder of First Round Capital. He then went on to teach Computer Science at Cornell, Caltech, and University of Pennsylvania.

Pre-Money Valuation 284

Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review Cofounder Cram Down 284

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JUNE 22, 2011

The fact that today’s Internet bubble does not represent all companies does not disprove its existence. Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! It’s what I love about entrepreneurship and about venture capital. I said that at the Founder Showcase, too. and profits!

Saudi Arabia 309

Saudi Arabia Valuation IPO Technical Review 309

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FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Before we filmed the segment we had the chance to chat over lunch over the direction of the Internet and how social was changing the fabric of the web. He grew up in Connecticut attended Yale undergrad and worked for IBM after graduation doing M&A, strategy and venture capital. What is your mobile strategy?

Connecticut 286

Connecticut Cofounder Silicon Valley Web 286

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OCTOBER 22, 2010

It sort of reminds me of the new generation of innovation that is happening around user-controlled terrestrial & Internet station Jelli.]. Tags: Startup Advice This Week in Venture Capital. Authenticity - I asked Chamillionaire why he thinks he connects so much with people at tech conferences.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Los Angeles Norway Audience 356

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JUNE 17, 2017

Venture capital isn’t right for many business but if you do want to raise from a VC at some point you need to understand that often investors care more about growth than profits. The first company represents a normal software company that sells its products directly (either via sales staff or directly off of the internet).

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

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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 San Diego Startup 337

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FEBRUARY 14, 2010

We were looking at all sorts of strategic decisions that Sony was considering, which required analysis and data on broadband networks, Internet portas and mobile handsets/networks. In 1999 I was in Japan doing a strategy project for the board of directors of Sony. I was the only one whose Japanese was limited to just a sushi menu.

Investment Bankers 415

Investment Bankers Mobile Software Review Japan 415

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APRIL 26, 2016

In an eCommerce or Internet Services business it is often the marketing costs (if purchased online) and in an enterprise software company it is often marketing plus enterprise sales reps. Sustaining short-term losses is all predicated on ability to finance the losses through venture capital or other means. That bit is easy.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

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MAY 30, 2013

He said he wanted to found this company (he had founded a previous company that sold for about $300 million) because he thought the Internet was a big idea. The first time I met Andy Dunn he was working for the venture capital firm Maveron. Raising Venture Capital Tech Market Analysis' And space travel (SpaceX).

Silicon Valley 315

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Cofounder Video 315

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NOVEMBER 25, 2014

Yet somehow many people think that startups intended to operate at massive, Internet scale can be casual affairs. I don’t believe it’s possible to compete at Internet scale and have balance. I’m not making a qualitative statement that I believe obsession in startups is necessarily a good thing. Zuckerberg.

Founder 394

Founder Non-Compete Venture Capital Leadership 394

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JUNE 19, 2017

There also were excellent posts by other VCs this week on the topic including Fred Wilson —  Should Your Company be Profitable Brad Feld —  Lessons from the Internet Bubble and importantly The Rule of 40% for a SaaS Startup (this influenced my thinking a great deal) Photo via Visual Hunt What is the Right Burn Rate for your Startup?

Burn Rate 212

Burn Rate Startup .Net Venture Capital 212

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NOVEMBER 14, 2010

They have marked-up paper gains propped up by an over excited venture capital market that has validated their investments. The dinner parties now are filled with self-righteous angel investors bragging about how many deals they are in on. Logic tells me the following: It is hard to make money angel investing.

Florida 299

Florida Technical Review San Antonio Los Angeles 299

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APRIL 16, 2011

“The Internet saved my life. The Internet really re-connected Joanne with her former working self. I didn’t think about who was going to put food in the refrigerator.&#. I needed something to find my own identity.&# She went to work running sales for Jason Calacanis at Silicon Alley Reporter (mid 90′s).

Startup 311

Startup Sales Database Community 311

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JUNE 9, 2013

As I outlined in my talk, I believe the greatest Internet companies created over the past 15 years have been “deflationary” meaning they are driving down the prices or goods & services. Venture capital will be easy and then hard. Why is Collaborative Consumption Becoming a Hot Trend for Startup Companies?

Syria 361

Syria Marketing Libya Los Angeles 361

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MARCH 11, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Recently I’ve been debating with a number of young startup companies that are raising money in the next few months, “what is the right about of capital to raise at a startup?&#. It’s a tricky question with no clear answer. There are trade offs.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Silicon Valley Warrant 319

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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. He was introduced through mutual friends to Highland Capital. At the time consumer internet venture capital was still suffering from the collapse of the Tech Bubble.

Vertical 265

Vertical Curation Boston Burn Rate 265

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JULY 10, 2010

This episode of This Week in Venture Capital featured Michael Montgomery, president of Montgomery & Co. You have to be selected to present and it is typically reserved for companies that have already raised early-stage capital and are well into revenue growth. Should you use investment banks to raise venture capital?

IPO 242

IPO Venture Capital Private Placement Cofounder 242

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JUNE 5, 2011

It is highly dependent upon many factors: experience of the team, type of opportunity (a big biotech or semi-conductor A round is likely to look different from an Internet A round), geography, etc. So the ranges you would expect can be highly imprecise.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

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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]. Think about venture capital. World-class education including Caltech, USC and UCLA. North of the 101].

Community 304

Community Los Angeles Startup Silicon Valley 304

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JULY 1, 2010

They raised around $350 million to try and sell cars direct over the Internet. Scott left the company, which eventually IPO’d and became Internet Brands. Tags: This Week in Venture Capital. While Zag is not a dealer if you measured it in terms of cars sold it would be in the top 5 auto dealers in the country.

San Francisco 248

San Francisco Venture Capital Analytics Government 248

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FEBRUARY 8, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Not so in venture capital. Nobody wanted anything to do with Internet companies. I often tell people that raising money is worse than getting married. I have to be careful in how that sounds because I love my wife and am happily married. Except GRP.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Term Sheet Cofounder Partner 288

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FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She hasn’t raised any venture capital. By the time we had met Tracy she was running a profitable business, was paying herself a salary and was on the verge of launching her second (related) Internet business called Style Trader (more on that in a minute). She did her first tech startup after the age of 30.

Silicon Valley 363

Silicon Valley Cofounder Entrepreneur Startup 363

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NOVEMBER 5, 2012

” Many people in Internet TV talk to me about “ Torso TV ” or “ Why Hulu is like OPEC. It was a journalist who covered Venture Capital. Nor did Al Gore actually claim in “invented” the Internet. He did the interview and was eviscerated in the article. ” None of these are true.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Startup United States 370

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APRIL 19, 2011

As internet crashed media became cheaper so they bought more and their tracking and analysis became really good so they did better. Later they became big business in Financial services lead-gen. o Their strong skill was online media buying and optimization – they rarely would do CPA deals – mostly buying CPM.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

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NOVEMBER 4, 2010

The framework of his book has profoundly altered how I think about the technology market and affects how I thought about building my businesses and how I think about investing in venture capital. Think Compaq when Dell first went direct over the phone then Internet. There you have the innovator’s dilemma.

Vesting 376

Vesting Framework Revenue Technology 376