Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

How would Billy Beane have done as an early stage investor? Im still not convinced that "gut feel" isnt a good way to invest at the early stage, but this can certainly get rid of over-thinking and provides diversification and investments in entrepreneurial teams that would be otherwise overlooked. ProfessorVC. at 2:32 PM.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review Early Stage San Jose Angel Investor 38

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Here’s an overview: Mitch Kapor: Kapor is founding partner of Kapor Capital , a firm that invests in seed and early stage startups. Brad Feld: Feld is co-founder and managing director of Foundry Group, a Boulder, Colorado venture capital firm that focuses on early stage investments ranging from $250,000 to $500,000.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2011

I strongly believe (at least for very early stage technology ventures) that you will get diminishing returns and arguably negative returns once you get past an initial threshold of team, product, market and financial diligence. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"?

Technical Review 31

Technical Review Due Diligence Silicon Valley San Jose 31

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

Are you refering to the various early stage platforms that are popping up? in fees is a hefty transaction fee considering company will still have legal and other fees on the financing. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? April 12, 2012 3:16 PM. Daniel Sisson.

SEC 54

SEC San Jose Angel Investor Accredited Investor 54

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2010

billion to work across 731 financing deals with US startups, a 50% increase over Q1 2009. But disappointingly, dollars invested in early-stage deals fell nearly 21%. To me, this indicates that venture capitalists (VCs) are looking for business, but they are clearly moving away from early-stage (pre-revenue) deals.

Venture Capital 123

Venture Capital Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley Massachusetts 123

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Updated Business tools for Startups. Social networking. Social/Sharing. Create your own social network. free enterprise social network. easy business finance software. model legal documents.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

It had a good mix of viewpoints with east ( James Geshwiler, Common Angels ) and west coast (yours truly) angels, early stage venture capitalist ( Jason Mendelson, Foundry Group ), and a couple of attorneys ( Dan Hansen and Mario Rosati ). Labels: Angel Investors , fundraising , term sheets , venture capital , venture financing.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Bump.com is a social network based on license plate numbers as the identifier. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 38

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2010

Since then Mike his built his career by investing in early-stage companies (seed or series A), which is remarkable given that Polaris Ventures is a $1 billion fund. I’ve already started the business modeling. Venture Financings we Discussed. I shall be looking to replicate this in Los Angeles.

San Francisco 230

San Francisco Los Angeles Cofounder SMS 230

Professor VC

APRIL 7, 2011

This will also serve as a good pointer for all the entrepreneurs who ask why I am not interested in their company led convertible note financing round. This can make it much more difficult to get any bank financing, new investment, and trade credit. In cases where it is truly a bridge financing (i.e. Steve Bennet. at 1:33 PM.

San Jose 36

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Valuation 36

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

Kennet has a white paper on that summarizes why bootstrapped businesses are the best. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? I take CFO roles in early stage companies and participate on the management team during the early financings and business model development phases.

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2008

The spring semester of my Entrepreneurial Finance class starts tomorrow. We will also look at a variety of financing methods including venture capital, angel investing, licensing, franchising, roll-up, venture debt and my old favorite, bootstrapping. Labels: entrepreneur , entrepreneurial finance course , venture capital.

San Jose 28

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Venture Capital 28

Professor VC

MAY 29, 2008

To the SEC, it means that you are an accredited investor and To the man (or woman) on the street, a minimum qualification would seem to be an interest and ability to invest in early stage ventures. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? ► January. (1). ► 2010. (7).

Angel Investor 28

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor San Jose 28

Professor VC

APRIL 11, 2008

Not to worry, I was busy working on closing the Series B financing for iControl Networks. I started working with the founders of iControl at the concept stage, prior to the first $100K of angel financing. Labels: CFO , home security , M and A , venture capital , venture financing. Steve Bennet. at 10:22 AM.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Venture Capital Balance Sheet 28

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

This got me thinking about the business model that Mike Keiser has built at the resort and a lecture began to form in my head. cant wait to go back, which is clearly goal #1 in the list of critical success factors if anyone is still following the business model tangent. Labels: Bandon Dunes , business models , golf.

Oregon 28

Oregon San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Professor VC

DECEMBER 18, 2008

Many entrepreneurial programs feature a business plan competition, which is a great exercise. At SJSU, we also have a business plan competition in the spring, which ideally allows the students to build a viable business model around their NIF projects. I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State.

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Technical Review Angel Investor 28

Genuine VC

APRIL 30, 2008

After the crash at the end of the last decade, web startups clamped down to focus on their core value proposition and were forced out of necessity for survival to hone their revenue models. But it goes beyond just widgets and social networks. to “how do we get big fast and monetize it?” is a progression in thinking.

Distribution 103

Distribution Widget Viral Social Media 103

Genuine VC

APRIL 30, 2008

After the crash at the end of the last decade, web startups clamped down to focus on their core value proposition and were forced out of necessity for survival to hone their revenue models. But it goes beyond just widgets and social networks. to “how do we get big fast and monetize it?” is a progression in thinking.

Distribution 100

Distribution Widget Viral Social Media 100

Professor VC

JUNE 6, 2008

Some conclusions were that the founders role is more important in the very early stage in the creation of the horse and as the visionary and as the company moves beyond this stage, becomes replaceable. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? ► January. (1).

San Jose 28

San Jose Technical Review Norway Angel Investor 28

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 24, 2011

So that means stuff like thinking about what a business model might be, it does mean customer development. So it’s not necessarily true, but if you are like another popular group in Chexts is younger people who don’t have a lot of money to manage, but they don’t need financing and all of that stuff.

Cofounder 208

Cofounder Technical Review Software Review Differentiation 208

Professor VC

JULY 31, 2008

I actually enjoy the process of pulling together a selection of materials to create a complete course on Entrepreneurial Finance. I assembled textbook chapters, Harvard Business Review articles, cases, and notes to pull together my own textbook. This whole process got me thinking about the textbook business model.

San Jose 28

San Jose Software Review Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2008

As early stage investors, our goal is to eliminate as much risk as possible with the least amount of cash spent. However, I was glad to see they were able to raise financing and launch the service. Steve, I was pleasantly surprised to find your blog when researching startup financing. February 15, 2008 2:08 PM.

San Jose 31

San Jose Technical Review Venture Capital Angel Investor 31

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Tweet View Comments Sarah Lacy Feb 19, 2010 Pepperdine has a new study out that attempts to shed some light on the clubby, shadowy world of private finance. Researchers polled experts in lending, mezzanine capital, private equity, venture capital and private businesses themselves. Think Again. dasein Yeah, I agree.

Venture Capital 62

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2008

As I mentioned in the previous post, Jeff Fluhr (founder of StubHub) recently stopped by my Entrepreneurial Finance class to share his 4 Lessons of Entrepreneurship with the students. His gut told him the opportunity might not be there in a year and he dropped out of business school to launch the venture. ► January. (1).

Technical Review 28

Technical Review San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Scott Edward Walker

JANUARY 13, 2012

House of Representatives overwhelming passed the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act , a crowdfunding bill which permits startups to offer and sell securities via crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter or social networking sites like Facebook.

SEC 91

SEC Las Vegas Accredited Investor Security 91

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

The business environment is much more complex today, and the hopeful entrepreneur need to understand more of the environment in which they will operate. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State. ► January. (1).

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

I am not sure how this relates to venture finance or entrepreneurship, but Im sure Ill find some connection along the way. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State. ProfessorVC. The last blogger in Silicon Valley.

San Jose 28

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Professor VC

JANUARY 17, 2008

While currently free to angel groups, their business model revolves around aggregating the angel investment data. He then went on to say that this type of financing was good for the entrepreneur (vs taking VC money) because they got to keep more of the company. I also teach Entrepreneurial Finance at San Jose State.

Pre-Money Valuation 28

Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Angel Groups Valuation 28

Professor VC

AUGUST 26, 2011

To that last one, there is certainly some truth as the standard time vs. revenue chart in most business plans looks like this: Im not teaching Entrepreneurial Finance this semester for the first time since Fall 2007. Is the model consistent with the business plan? Does the business model make sense?

Silicon Valley 35

Silicon Valley San Jose Hockey Stick Venture Capital 35

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

Financing, that is.I had mixed emotions when I read the the press release on the recent funding of iControl Networks. Now that iControl has raised over $100M, this got me thinking back to our original business plan. I took a look back at our original financial model we presented to VCs in 2004. ProfessorVC.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 2, 2010

The fall semester at SJSU started this week and had the first class meeting of my Entrepreneurial Finance class, which was overflowing with students standing, sitting on the floor and begging to get in. Whether you buy this or not for public equities, the market for early stage private companies has always been wildly inefficient.

Angel Investor 28

Angel Investor Angel Groups San Jose Venture Capital 28

Up and Running

JULY 14, 2015

Peter: Techstars is probably the most famous accelerator but the idea of the accelerator versus the incubator because there is living field, because there’s this very early stage fields for them both. If you really want to get some sort of business out of that idea, this might be what it takes. Jonathan: Okay.

Incubator 60

Incubator Email Startup Oregon 60

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2008

It is certainly true that we can pick apart the financial projections or pour through contracts, legal and financial diligence, but none of those areas tend to be the most important areas in deciding whether to make an early stage investment. How passionate are the entrepreneurs about their business? Steve Bennet. at 3:48 PM.

Angel Groups 28

Angel Groups San Jose Early Stage Angel Investor 28

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Rethinking “F@#$ You Money” - Tony Wright dot com , August 2, 2010 Now that I’ve stepped down from RescueTime, I’m pondering my next thing (whether it’s a product role at a very early stage startup or spinning up my own for the 3rd time). Social gaming was naturally one of the key topics, covered in many presentations.

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

If you believe in it – then finance whatever you can yourself. I’m not afraid to pick up the phone, cold call someone, use LinkedIn to find someone who’s recently left a company that might be considered competitive and ask them for advise around the business model and marketplace. Now our biz model is lighter, more flexible.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

A Comparison Between Novice and Serial Entrepreneurs" Her research shows that there is a positive correlation between prior founding experience and new venture performance due to stronger and more diverse social networks, access to capital, reliance on collaborators and other factors. Steve Bennet. at 1:42 PM. Email This BlogThis!

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Venture Capital Angel Investor 28

Professor VC

OCTOBER 26, 2010

The search for a world series ticket brought up some more thoughts about entrepreneurial finance. Ive written about this before and I certainly wasnt the only one, but what a great business. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? A Lot of Horn Tooting over a Kazoo sized deal.

San Jose 28

San Jose San Francisco Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28