Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2013

It is no secret that the world of venture capital (VCs) was turned upside down by the recent Recession, and many other changes in the marketplace. Examples of some leaders in this space include Mike Maples in Silicon Valley and David S. Being “lifecycle investment partners” has a downside.

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Angel Investor Entrepreneur Early Stage Silicon Valley 231

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

As an entrepreneur himself, founding and operating printed circuit board factories in Taiwan, my father was debating between two places to immigrate to and build his next new venture: Los Angeles (“The Valley” aka San Fernando Valley) and Santa Clara (“Silicon Valley”).

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Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

Examples of some leaders in this space include Ron Conway in Silicon Valley and Jeff Bezos , CEO of Amazon, who each may have over 500 startups in their portfolio. Institutional venture capital dispensed in 2019 was down a bit from record highs the previous year, but up significantly over the last few years.

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Angel Investor Venture Capital Silicon Valley Startup 314

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had really positive experiences such as working with Greg Gretsch at Sigma Partners where he championed us to a partners’ meeting where we sort of got crucified. We made changes and Greg was a gentleman throughout the process rather than berating us for our performance (it was our first partners’ meeting).

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Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Union Square Ventures The next morning I got to spend time with Brad Burnham , partner at Union Square Ventures talking about their investment strategy and insights about web-based businesses. Bill and his partner Fred Wilson have invested in ~30 or so companies with 27 still active. End of theory.&#

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Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Over the same 30 years, Venture Capital firms have honed their skills and strategies to match Wall Streets needs to achieve liquidity for their portfolio companies. One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. What Do VC’s Do?

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Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

Reply One difference between VCs and Entrepreneurs « Lightspeed Venture Partners Blog , on April 20, 2009 at 7:06 am Said: [.] Reply Why Startups are Agile and Opportunistic -- Pivoting the Business Model , on April 14, 2010 at 6:32 am Said: [.] to see if they need to make a Pivot to find a better model.

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Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 300

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back. Back to VCs, Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still the most active. So what can you do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue? Overall, investors put $7.5 That represents a $1.5

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Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

The book has been shepherded and edited by a great Japanese VC at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, Takashi Tsutsumi, with help from Masato Iino. We kept talking, with Steve asking “How long are you staying in Silicon Valley?” I am confident we will see real startups and business emerge soon.

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Japan Customer Development Developer Customer 292

Up and Running

APRIL 25, 2014

The cast of “Silicon Valley” Image credit: HBO. Silicon Valley is a crazy place. I’ve opted not to return to the Valley for various reasons, but still have plenty of friends who work there and return regularly for business meetings. You have to prove your business model.

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Silicon Valley Business Plan Entrepreneur Cap Table 104

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2010

The key things I want students to take from the class are: Understand that a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a profitable business model. Learn how to put together a business model , not a business plan. Having a teaching partner makes life a lot easier and the class improves.

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Business Model Silicon Valley California Engineer 226

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2009

I was out and about in Silicon Valley doing what I would now call Customer Discovery trying to understand how marketing departments in large corporations worked. I remember presenting our ideas for Marketing Automation to one VP of Marketing in a large Silicon Valley company. Are These Your Slides?

Silicon Valley 225

Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Startup 225

Steve Blank

JANUARY 20, 2014

When Customer Development and the Lean Startup were just a sketch on the napkin, Dino Vendetti, a VC at Bay Partners, was one of the first venture capitalists I shared my ideas with. The differences between the Bend, Oregon region and Silicon Valley are obvious. Job creation in Bend is everyone’s business.

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Silicon Valley Oregon Lean Venture Capital 312

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

The Founder’s New Insight Smart founders are never satisfied with simply executing their current business model, they are constantly observing, orienting and deciding whether their current business model can be made better. It’s a natural part of learning about your customers and business model.)

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Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 195

Steve Blank

JULY 25, 2011

Scientists and engineers as founders and startup CEOs is one of the least celebrated contributions of Silicon Valley. ESL, the first company I worked for in Silicon Valley , was founded by a PhD in Math and six other scientists and engineers. Why It’s “Silicon” Valley. It might be its most important.

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Engineer Silicon Valley United States Venture Capital 305

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

Startups don’t fail because they lack a product; they fail because they lack customers and a profitable business model. Look at the Product Development model and you might wonder, “Where are the customers?” Or at times an even more honest answer, “My senior partners say this is the only way to do it.” before you ship.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. Silicon Valley, New York). The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Here’s how.

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Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance.

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Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. Silicon Valley, New York). The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Here’s how.

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Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 17, 2018

But a thesis centered around network effects isn’t static – and isn’t limited to any particular sector, business model, or platform. From Fund I and now to Fund III, we have been able to serve as an important bridge between Silicon Valley and other tech ecosystems. It is a true honor to be a partner of yours!

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Silicon Valley North America San Francisco LP 127

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

Examples of some leaders in this space include Ron Conway in Silicon Valley and Brian Cohen , chairman of the New York Angels, who each may have over 500 startups in their portfolio. They have too many highly paid partners, fat fees, an aging corporate infrastructure and difficulty raising money from institutions.

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Angel Investor Silicon Valley Startup Portfolio 260

thebarefootvc

JUNE 15, 2014

The ingenuity of a rural farmer in Africa is on par with some of the greatest innovation I’ve seen in the heart of Silicon Valley, particularly in light of the lack of “formal” training and mentorship many of us experience in the developed world.

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Africa India Bangladesh United States 106

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2010

Consumer Internet investing seems to have split off from traditional Venture Capital, and is creating a new category of VC’s: Lean VC’s. Electron-based Venture Capital. When I first came to Silicon Valley the world of Venture Capital looked pretty simple. Here’s why.

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Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 258

Steve Blank

JULY 28, 2011

Silicon Valley was born in an era of applied experimentation driven by scientists and engineers. This approach would shape Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial ethos: In startups, failure was treated as experience (until you ran out of money). Yet this system isn’t perfect. – seems like another planet.

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Engineer Silicon Valley United States Intellectual Property 278

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

He tells the story of how he was out of cash, stressed out, nobody in LA or Silicon Valley would give him money, he had finally found an investor in Minneapolis but his venture bank was going to shut him down for breaking a “covenant&# in their agreement by not having enough cash in the bank. And he said ok got it.

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Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

www.usatoday.com

JULY 16, 2012

Americas new business model: Sharing. The nation is in a sharing mood — and start-ups are capitalizing on it. Find road-trip partners on Zimride. TaskRabbit has (people) making over $5,000 a month in San Francisco," says Craig Shapiro, founder of Collaborative Fund, a venture-capital fund specializing in sharing sites.

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San Francisco Technical Review Zimbabwe New York City 105

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She hasn’t raised any venture capital. Unfortunately Tracy would learn first hand not much later that the business model has two components: both buying and selling. She’s a painter and a self-proclaimed Bohemian.

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Silicon Valley Cofounder Entrepreneur Startup 363

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 30, 2014

. ———– The National Institutes of Health recognizes that Life Science/Health Care commercialization has two components: the science/technology, and the business model. The Lean Launchpad® for Life Sciences (the I-Corps @ NIH ) uses the Lean Startup Model to discover and validate the business model.

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San Diego North Carolina Chicago Lean 261

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

The last blogger in Silicon Valley. I moderated a panel discussion last night on one of my favorite topics, bootstrapping, as part of our Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship Eminent Speaker Series at San Jose State. Jon Fisher purposely avoided raising venture capital in his ventures.

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Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

Duct Tape Marketing

JULY 26, 2018

Rand Fishkin: I think it’s a company that is striving for rapid growth and seeking to find a scalable, repeatable business model that works. John Jantsch: Isn’t that every business? The rest will hopefully die because the partners don’t even have time to engage with 100 companies.

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Silicon Valley SEO Startup Technical Review 33

Feld Thoughts

JULY 28, 2015

” “With the rise in venture capitalism it’s hard to say the word “start up” and not be offered an abundance of accelerator programmes, free office space, free apartments & a free bible of connections. “We were 0 for 21 with Silicon Valley VCs. I never got close. All 3 invested.”

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Silicon Valley Algorithm Venture Capital Partner 70

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 17, 2015

Evangelos and I are working on what we hope will become a book about the new model for corporate entrepreneurship. Read part one on the Evolution of Corporate R&D , part two on Innovation Outposts in Silicon Valley , and part three The 6 Decisions to Make Before Setting up an Innovation Outpost. Silicon Valley, Boston).

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Silicon Valley Incubator Acquisition Business Model 120

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2011

The last blogger in Silicon Valley. 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. The Most Important Venture Capital Statistic.

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Technical Review Due Diligence Silicon Valley San Jose 31

ReadWriteStart

MAY 2, 2012

When we did our first survey there was competition between VCs, angels, superangels and incubators,” says Ted Hollifield, a corporate partner in Dorsey & Whitney’s venture capital practice. Angels were swooping in and entrepreneurs, a lot of whom had soured on the VC model, welcomed them with open hands.

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San Francisco Silicon Valley Incubator Startup 115

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

Greylock Partners · Reid Hoffman | Philosopher Versus MBA. If they don’t have the right skills or resources, they’ll pick them up along the way by hiring someone, partnering with someone, or just learning it themselves. MBA programs teach valuable analytical skills that can help you evaluate and refine strategies and business models.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

Greylock Partners · Reid Hoffman | Philosopher Versus MBA. If they don’t have the right skills or resources, they’ll pick them up along the way by hiring someone, partnering with someone, or just learning it themselves. MBA programs teach valuable analytical skills that can help you evaluate and refine strategies and business models.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 13, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. Silicon Valley, New York). The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Here's how.

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Silicon Valley Balance Sheet Metrics Early Stage 117