Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2012

The simple answer is to find a business partner, not an “implementer,” who already has the technical experience you need, and is willing and able to run that side of the business. If you are an entrepreneur, like Andrew Mason , CEO of Groupon, with a degree in music and no technical business partner to be found, your job is a bit harder.

Technical Review 230

Technical Review Technology Founder Management 230

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2011

The simple answer is to find a business partner, not an “implementer,” who already has the technical experience you need, and is willing and able to run that side of the business. If you are an entrepreneur, like Andrew Mason , CEO of Groupon, with a degree in music and no technical business partner to be found, your job is a bit harder.

Technical Review 236

Technical Review Partner Entrepreneur Architecture 236

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. Investors, partners, team members, and customers implicitly value or devalue a startup based on the leader’s physical presence, emotional identity, social skills, intellectual agility, moral values, and past performance in the domain.

Valuation 311

Valuation Technical Review Due Diligence Leadership 311

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Each co-founder should get equity for value, based on these key variables: Lived a key role in a previous startup.

Equity 238

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 238

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. How will you differentiate from these? What have you done so far to validate the concept?

Developer 396

Developer Founder Viral Oauth 396

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. How will you differentiate from these? What have you done so far to validate the concept?

Developer 384

Developer Founder Viral Oauth 384

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 8, 2023

Lightricks even partnered with Paramount Studios on an innovative Photoleap feature that allowed fans to create AI-generated avatars as characters from Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Lightricks’s announcement came with two potentially differentiating aspects.

Generative AI 148

Generative AI Video Technical Review Cofounder 148

ReadWriteStart

JULY 5, 2023

Neko Health is well positioned to achieve its goals, as the board of directors recently welcomed notable investors such as Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of Skype, and Klaus Hommels, founder of the venture capital firm Lakestar.

Sweden 126

Sweden Artificial Inteligence Cofounder Technical Review 126

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

by Lu Zhang, founder and managing partner of Fusion Fund. Competition from other startups and established incumbents, constraints on time and capital, and limited access to talent and technology resources are just a few of the hurdles nearly every first-time founder faces while trying to build a business.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

Version One Ventures

JANUARY 9, 2024

Patch is partnering with Stripe to accelerate carbon removal by using Climate Orders. And more news from Patch – A huge congratulations to co-founder and CEO Brennan Spellacy for being named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list ! Sorcerer is an encouraging AI that asks great questions, differentiated for every learner.

Portfolio 72

Portfolio Technical Review Cofounder Differentiation 72

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 29, 2020

by Hema Crockett and Jamie Jacobs, co-founders of Gig Talent . Since employees have been working remotely, organizations have seen a significant increase in productivity and communication, making employers more open toward hiring or partnering with people that are located throughout the US and all over the world. It’s a win-win.

Technical Review 275

Technical Review Cofounder Leadership Employee 275

Version One Ventures

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

At Version One, we are strong believers that early-stage investing is best done by small teams that are aligned around a differentiated investment thesis and are investing with high conviction. We’re on our fourth fund and second opportunity fund , and we are looking to add a third partner over the course of the next year or so.

Partner 60

Partner Early Stage Angel Investor Differentiation 60

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 156

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 156

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

In general, VC decision-making can feel like a black box, which can be frustrating for founders who are trying to manage their fundraising process and timeline. Regardless, your singular goal is typically to drive towards a “Partner Meeting” where you can pitch the story and vision to the entire investment team.

Partner 196

Partner Seed Stage Restful Differentiation 196

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 14, 2022

Startups that are named after their founders sometimes do not succeed. If the name is already taken, add an adjective or verb to differentiate it from other similar names. If you are honest with your customers, clients, partners, and employees, you will earn their respect and trust. Choose a unique brand name.

Startup 173

Startup Early Stage Naming Public Relations 173

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. Patience is a virtue.

IRR 136

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 136

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

We then help surround founders with other talent who want to join important causes but don’t have the startup idea themselves. We help founders through difficult moments, we help coach, we act as sparring partners, we help them resolve conflicts when they’re fighting with co-founders and we help them deal with adversity as well as successes.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. Each co-founder should get equity for value, based on these key variables: Lived a key role in a previous startup.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. It consists of a highly intelligent and opinionated founder – Nick Halstead. What Rob wrote in his post is right. Wallflower – yours truly.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

Dan Kozikowski, Partner and Head of Platform, First Mark Capital , said to me, “Firms should match services to the stage-specific needs of companies. A well-organized library of best practices for founders in your vertical, which you can share as appropriate. I have developed a founder curriculum on my blog. AskAnything.VC

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Hunter Walker

JUNE 16, 2017

Brad Feld , one of my VC “true norths,” posted about VC Fund Differentiation the other day. Differentiation is one of them. It’s now part of a cliche, as in “how are you differentiated?” Why has “differentiation” been so watered down as to be meaningless? I no longer care about this. Is it overuse?

Differentiation 77

Differentiation Founder Partner Customer 77

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

By Thelton McMillian, Founder & CEO of Comrade. While it’s perfectly acceptable to be influenced by others, find your own groove, differentiate your experience from competitors and use what you’ve seen as inspiration to push boundaries and innovate. Effective marketing depends on a seamless user experience.

Oakland 180

Oakland Design Differentiation Software Developers 180

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

It turns out it actually takes time to build a high-growth business with differentiated intellectual property and roll out large, enterprise-class marketing solutions. I remain a huge supporter and am very proud of our accomplishments and hugely optimistic about our future. 5 years ago.

Los Angeles 387

Los Angeles Intellectual Property LP Venture Capital 387

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2014

This week I wrote about obsessive and competitive founders and how this forms the basis of what I look for when I invest. I quit a very well paid job at Accenture with very little time remaining before making partner and took a risk of having no job security at all. And that’s what differentiates founders and early employees.

Founder 409

Founder Salary Startup Early Stage 409

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions. You’ll get empathy.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2021

I counsel first-time VCs (as well as founders) to have mid-funnel strategies to get from first LP meeting to close and to put a disproportionate amount of time into this area (I say more about this on the podcast starting at timecode 27:41). And again, just like in enterprise sales, this is all about differentiation ?—?what

LP 375

LP Southern California Los Angeles Differentiation 375

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. Investors, partners, team members, and customers implicitly value or devalue a startup based on the leader’s physical presence, emotional identity, social skills, intellectual agility, moral values, and past performance in the domain.

Leadership 120

Leadership Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation 120

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

He looked at his resume, and asked just one question: “ What’s your edge? ” My friend got the job because his answer was differentiated, credible, and backed up by a history of investing success. a “Bitcoin Fund”, a “Social Media Fund”, a “Nanotech Fund”), you’re going to raise capital from Limited Partners who are very focused on Theme X.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

He looked at his resume, and asked just one question: “ What’s your edge? ” My friend got the job because his answer was differentiated, credible, and backed up by a history of investing success. a “Bitcoin Fund”, a “Social Media Fund”, a “Nanotech Fund”), you’re going to raise capital from Limited Partners who are very focused on Theme X.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

YoungUpstarts

MAY 13, 2014

by Joshua Conran , senior partner at Deksia . Its founders had an idea to offer a mail-order coffee product. Finding your niche is a great way to differentiate your business and build a reputation within your industry. Niche businesses almost always originate from an identifiable need in the marketplace.

Pennsylvania 224

Pennsylvania Retention Differentiation Reputation 224

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Steve is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup accelerators with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Founders Space was ranked the #1 incubator for overseas startups by Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazines. 18:05] How does the Founder Space operate? [20:21] He's the CEO of founders space.

San Francisco 96

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 96

Austin Startup

MAY 11, 2017

645 Ventures 645 Ventures makes deeply-researched investments in institutional Seed to Series A rounds for exceptional companies who demonstrate stellar early results in the areas of market validation, product differentiation, team strength, and brand narrative. These sectors generally leverage the Internet or software in a fundamental way.

Private Equity 48

Private Equity Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage 48

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2013

Being “lifecycle investment partners” has a downside. Of course there a couple of potential down sides to this movement: As more startups are funded, without the big VCs on the other end, more companies will be looking for growth dollars and may languish trying to differentiate themselves in a crowded, but slow spending, consumer marketplace.

Angel Investor 231

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Early Stage Silicon Valley 231

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 14, 2019

It is estimated that at least 80% of all startups rely on personal funds from their founders for operations, albeit in their formative stages. If you have been self-employed, you probably have had episodes where you cannot clearly differentiate between work and personal finances or time. 1. Set obvious parameters. 1. Savings.

Balance Sheet 144

Balance Sheet Limited Liability Company Bootstrapping Startup 144

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 28, 2022

Enventys Partners was born when my company Command Partners, a digital marketing firm, vertically merged with Enventys, a product development firm. With that merger, half of each of our business’ names also merged, and that’s how we came up with ‘Enventys Partners’. Thanks to Roy Morejon, Enventys Partners ! #10-

Naming 151

Naming Entrepreneur Jordan Merger 151

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2021

If you are not starting one yourself, the next best thing is joining one as a partner, or as an early employee. A qualified career coach can help you get totally clear on your objectives, differentiate you from the competition, market you effectively, get the offer, and negotiate the best compensation. Invest in career coaching.

Community 420

Community Startup Hiring Differentiation 420