View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

At the seed stage and as companies scale, helping the founders I work with identify and reach their goals, personally and professionally, gives me energy and purpose. I made over a dozen angel investments and a few investments in VC funds as an LP, expanding my focus to new geographies, sectors, and stages.

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

View from Seed

JULY 24, 2015

The invite-only event was attended by 300 of the area’s best tech leaders, founders, product managers, designers, developers, investors, engineers, salesmen and women, and more, all of whom are hard at work in consumer tech. We have companies in Chicago, San Francisco (and elsewhere in Silicon Valley), Omaha, and New York.

Boston 120

Boston Cofounder B2C PR 120

A Crowded Space

OCTOBER 3, 2018

I remember when I made that first flight out to San Francisco from Boston to meet the team in 2004, the company was down to its last $20K in the bank. We lived together in a crappy apartment in San Francisco and commuted together from SF down to the peninsula every day. We were effectively together 24/7.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Bangladesh Ukraine Philippines 60

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 30, 2017

William Hurley, co-founder of Honest Dollar , an Austin-based provider of retirement plans to small businesses, says creative talent is abundant : It’s got the music, the university scene, the hippies and the rule-breakers… It’s very easy to hire people who want to push the limits. San Francisco.

United States 48

United States Las Vegas San Francisco Denver 48

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

The companies I spoke to all agreed that the community there was extremely supportive, especially in the critical ulta-early-stage. As a result, for a lot of these companies, Boulder is just a gateway to San Francisco. Then, create an encouraging environment for early-stage companies.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Lean 113

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Another advantage of the early stages is that most dont have to juggle too many competing priorities. Some companies and founders refuse to serve existing customers, and are always lurching from one great idea to the next. April 23, 2010 in San Francisco. Bring your questions.

San Francisco 88

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 88

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue? It should be even more important to the founders themselves, because it demonstrates that their business hypothesis is grounded in reality.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

View from Seed

JULY 17, 2019

Although you still hear stories of investors that require founders to move to SF, it’s more likely these days that investors see a winning business outside of the Bay Area as a positive, given the costs and competitive pressure in that local market. How should a founder go about it? But doing this takes extra work.

San Francisco 243

San Francisco Cofounder B2B Seed Stage 243

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 21, 2014

Memphis, Tennessee-based nonprofit venture development organization Start Co. teams were guided by Start Co. managing director Mara Lewis and founder & CEO Eric Mathews. ” Find out more about Start Co’s Demo Day here. . ” Find out more about Start Co’s Demo Day here.

Memphis 170

Memphis St. Louis San Francisco Tennessee 170

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

JULY 18, 2011

The funny part is that I didn’t realize Eventbrite had male cofounders since Women 2.0 always spotlighted Julie Hartz, cofounder and wife of Kevin. Kevin’s bio on EventBrite.com: Kevin Hartz is Co-Founder & CEO of Eventbrite, a company changing the way events come together online, and happen offline.

Cofounder 49

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley San Francisco 49

Scalable Startup

APRIL 15, 2015

There was an article recently in VentureBeat about how much control the startup CEO founder has over his/her board of directors. Unfortunately, this actually isn’t true in most cases, especially for first time founders, for many reasons. Founder/CEO. at least one Co-Founder. Typical Pre-Funded Board.

Cofounder 20

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Los Angeles San Francisco 20

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

Today, when I talk to startup founders, the most common answer I get to the question "do you talk to your customers?" The people who are the lifeblood of an early-stage startup are earlyvangelists. April 23, 2010 in San Francisco. Most of the people building our product werent themselves target customers.

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment 131

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 30, 2009

A discounted price is available for early stage entrepreneurs and students. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. April 23, 2010 in San Francisco.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 68

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

At this year’s FUND Conference in Chicago, Illinois, over 100 startups presented their early-stage companies in front of hundreds of investors and industry leaders. We plan to start expanding to other markets, such as New York City and San Francisco, in a few years. Co-Founder/CEO : Kathy Bartlett.

Chicago 147

Chicago Illinois New York City Cofounder 147

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 2, 2009

Unfortunately, they are disinterested in doing the hard work to help early stage entrepreneurs and companies. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Bring your questions.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Tampa Continuous Deployment Lean 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2009

benjaminjoffe : early adopters of buggy product are visionary customers, sometimes smarter than founders! Many founders dont like to hear that visionary customers are as smart, maybe even more so, than they are. Getting to the chasm is actually quite difficult; most truly early-stage startups never even get that far.

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Japan Continuous Deployment 60

Early Growth Financial Services

MAY 19, 2015

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) May 19, 2015 Early Growth Financial Services (EGFS) is pleased to announce its first-ever panel event focused on cannabis-based businesses. Founder and CEO … Continue reading →

San Francisco 28

San Francisco San Jose Silicon Valley Incubator 28

Scalable Startup

OCTOBER 14, 2012

There was an article recently in VentureBeat about how much control the startup CEO founder has over his/her board of directors. Unfortunately, this actually isn’t true in most cases, especially for first time founders, for many reasons. Founder/CEO. at least one Co-Founder. Typical Pre-Funded Board.

Cofounder 31

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Design Los Angeles 31

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

Enrique Allen is the co-director of Designer Fund where he provides angel funding, mentorship and connections to designers creating businesses with meaningful impact. when you talk with the founders and the rest of team. Do you see evidence that the founders invest in design and value it at the same level as engineering and business?

Design 161

Design San Francisco Cofounder Startup 161

Scalable Startup

AUGUST 9, 2018

In their quest for sustainable growth, the elusive dream for most first time founders is that first funding. This can either come from the founder(s) own bank account or from outside investors. At this stage you’re essentially selling yourself and your cofounders. One of the easiest mistake to fix is timing.

Technical Cofounder 20

Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley Early Stage Cofounder 20

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

One way to conceive of our goal in an early-stage venture is to incrementally “fill in the blanks&# for the business model that we think will one day power our startup. April 23, 2010 in San Francisco. The solution is to change our focus from outputs to inputs. Bring your questions. Amazon PostRank

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

But in the early stages of a startup you are still trying to hone in on what exactly the problem is. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Bring your questions.

Software Review 87

Software Review Design Software San Francisco 87

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2010

I apologize for the audio quality – we did this in a rush because we found a last minute studio and recorded in San Francisco. 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. Competitors: Google.

San Francisco 230

San Francisco Los Angeles Cofounder SMS 230

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 1, 2015

The co-founders are Greg Gottesman, Geoff Entress, Mike Galgon, and Ben Gilbert. Greg is a co-founder of Madrona and long-time VC. Mike was the co-founder of aQuantive which was acquired by Microsoft for $6.2 Mike was the co-founder of aQuantive which was acquired by Microsoft for $6.2

Seattle 70

Seattle San Francisco Angel Investor Syndicate 70

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 26, 2022

Ashley Mayer: I was two years post-college and working at a public relations agency in San Francisco, a job and career path I stumbled onto when I was rejected by my top law school picks. I had gone to high school with the founders in the Seattle area, and we had recently reconnected. Enter Box. They gave me a shot.

IPO 91

IPO Cofounder Early Stage Portfolio 91

www.women2.org

MARCH 8, 2012

female founders. founder friday. Lessons learned from female founders and women entrepreneurs. Startup Quote: Wendy Tan White on Building a Successful Startup » FounderDating: How I Found My Co-Founder. Tweet By Elizabeth Knopf (Co-Founder & CEO, Sorced). Conference 2012.

Cofounder 47

Cofounder Technical Review San Francisco Founder 47

Steve Blank

JANUARY 20, 2014

Part 2: Early-stage Regional Venture Funds. After several visits skiing here, I had become smitten with the “mojo” of Bend – its superb quality of life, recreational opportunities and proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area. Founders Pad. Part 1: Bend, Oregon Ecosystem and Entrepreneurs.

Silicon Valley 314

Silicon Valley Oregon Lean Venture Capital 314

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

Thanks to those of you who were willing to fill out the survey, I learned my net promoter score (about 25) as well as some clear other segmentation insights: about 80% of you are founders of or work at a startup, you read many of the same other blogs, and many of you would like to engage with Lessons Learned in formats and venues beyond this blog.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68

Hippoland

JULY 6, 2018

I think we are *on our way down* as an early stage startup hub unless we start to fix some of our problems around here. These days, although my VC fund Hustle Fund is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, I actively seek to invest in startups outside the Bay Area. (To This is absolutely insane.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley San Francisco Portugal Ireland 48

Hippoland

JULY 6, 2018

I think we are *on our way down* as an early stage startup hub unless we start to fix some of our problems around here. These days, although my VC fund Hustle Fund is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, I actively seek to invest in startups outside the Bay Area. (To This is absolutely insane.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley San Francisco Portugal Ireland 48

Austin Startup

AUGUST 30, 2018

A tendency towards more money but less deals could be debilitating for early-stage companies. The tens-of-millions-of-dollars rounds aren’t going to the early-stage startups. For startups seeking early-stage rounds, this could be grounds for a more challenging fundraising environment.

Austin 48

Austin Early Stage San Francisco Later Stage 48

Version One Ventures

MAY 24, 2016

It meant frequent flights or moving your company to San Francisco to raise money from Bay Area VCs. Over the past month, I’ve spent a lot of time in NYC, Toronto, and Ottawa for board meetings, conferences, meetings with our founders, re-connecting with co-investors, and meeting new entrepreneurs.

Silicon Valley 113

Silicon Valley San Francisco Startup DC 113

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 31, 2016

by Brent Freeman , co-founder and president of Stealth Venture Labs. Despite what many entrepreneurs may think, know this: Not all growth is good growth. In fact, expanding too quickly can be just as dangerous as not growing at all.

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles Stealth San Francisco Cofounder 100

Hunter Walker

NOVEMBER 25, 2017

Flying back to San Francisco, spending some time in my Pocket since I rarely read anything when it’s actually published. The Angel’s in the Details – Andy Dunn, Walmart (Bonobos cofounder/CEO). At early stage companies specifically they’re not about just managing your investors or putting on a show.

San Francisco 49

San Francisco Seed Stage Cofounder Angel Investor 49

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

This post was co-written by Sarah Milstein & Eric Ries, co-hosts of The Lean Startup Conference. We’ve just published the program for this year’s Lean Startup Conference , December 9 to 11 in San Francisco, and we can say without hesitation that it’s completely unlike any other entrepreneurship conference in existence.

Lean 166

Lean Early Stage San Francisco Cofounder 166

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2017

Tianyi is also a co-founder of West Suburban Angels , a prominent angel investment group in the west suburbs of Chicago. Two years ago, Tianyi co-founded SmartHealth Activator, an early stage biotech accelerator and venture firm in North Chicago. It is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, DC.

Illinois 78

Illinois Chicago Entrepreneur Cofounder 78

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

But once you reach the point where you need to bring on more bodies, whether as co-founders or employees, your startup faces competition from just about everyone else in the industry. The "Which startups in San Francisco Bay Area are hiring?" thread on Quora gives just a glimpse.

San Francisco 118

San Francisco Non-Compete Deal Flow Startup 118