Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

We’re now in the second Internet bubble. The goal was to get your firm public as soon as possible using whatever it took including hype, spin, expand, and grab market share – because the sooner you got your billion dollar market cap, the sooner the VC firm could sell their shares and distribute their profits. Carpe Diem.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Just look at the disruptive challenges that businesses face today– globalization, China as a manufacturer, China as a consumer, the Internet, and a steady stream of new startups. As the venture capital business has come roaring back in the last 5 years, startups are awash in available capital.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

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?

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

VC Cafe

APRIL 23, 2012

Venture capital and other forms of seed funding have been crucial for the development of the best online colleges. Many third-party educational organizations exist to maintain online schooling ventures, and these organizations typically receive most of their funding from venture capital firms. By Estelle Shumann*.

Venture Capital 96

Venture Capital Michigan Seed Capital Programming 96

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

I regularly come across companies who happen to have the #1 paid app in the App Store fly under the radar for years before raising venture capital. Categories like retail, automotive, logistics, distribution, manufacturing, and many others all play a significant role in employment AND entrepreneurship in Southern California.

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Both Sides of the Table

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. Meebo’s current focus is US market.&#.

Connecticut 286

Connecticut Cofounder Silicon Valley Web 286

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

They have marked-up paper gains propped up by an over excited venture capital market that has validated their investments. It’s true that it’s cheaper to start companies now and cheaper to get distribution. Logic tells me the following: It is hard to make money angel investing.

Florida 299

Florida Technical Review San Antonio Los Angeles 299

VC Cafe

MAY 23, 2023

As I mentioned in my post on the LLM Benchmarking , venture capital investment in AI startups was down 43% in Q1 2023. So one way to think about it is no different from how we have thought about maybe the personal computing shift, the internet shift, the mobile shift. So along that dimension, I think it’s a big shift.”

Generative AI 165

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence ChatGPT API 165

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 5, 2012

Norse-Corp.com developed a fraud-detection system using distributed Internet-monitoring tools, and now is looking to sell this to credit card payment networks for their antifraud programs. Gremln.com built a social media monitoring program that it is extending into compliance management for financial services and health care providers.

St. Louis 127

St. Louis Kansas City Technical Review Kansas 127

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

VP of Engineering, AppNexus - New York, NY "It's over a billion ad impressions a day, we got a full tank of venture capital, half a pack of cigarettes, the future of ad networks is dark, and we're wearing sunglasses." One thing is for certain — you must have experience dealing with large scale distributed applications.

Part-Time VPE 92

Part-Time VPE CTO Hire Engineer Sales 92

Both Sides of the Table

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. Is the revenue dependent on a concentrated set of distribution partners or platforms that put future revenue at risk? What did they actually do?

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Gust

DECEMBER 22, 2011

The gulf has widened with the proliferation of social Internet / user-generated content and mobile application startups. In the Internet era, trademarks and domain names are closely interrelated, and both can be or become extremely valuable. Tech startups are at the other extreme. Instagram is a textbook example.)

Intellectual Property 149

Intellectual Property Technical Review Software Review IP 149

Austin Startup

JULY 14, 2017

Silicon Valley — another American racist/sexist shithole just like the Segregated South When the Internet first came around in the mid-1990s, it was herald as “The Great Equalizer” where anybody with a keyboard can start an e-commerce shop, publish their works and reach the world to millions who are also attached to the Internet.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Africa 48

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

TL:DR : This post aims to recap significant changes in the venture capital industry over the past ten years, and then make some [biased] predictions as to major forces at play in the next five years. However, all three shifts are related and can be summed up simply as: Geeks are Taking Over Venture Capital.

Silicon Valley 74

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

What Hasn’t Changed: The Internet Keeps Getting Bigger. Want Venture Capital Funding? How PRWeb Helps Distribute Crap Into Google & News Sites – [link]. US not the fastest in internet speeds but we’re way ahead of Congo, Central African Republic and turtles – [link].

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Central African Republic Design 100

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Internet and Online Business. Dave Graham Business Venture Capital Private Equity GlobalLogic Inc. Venture Capital Firms. During the first Internet boom, companies that provided services to tech start-ups were all too happy to work for stock. Leadership. Strategy and Planning. Human Resources (HR).

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2016

It ultimately failed because she was focused on engineering the product, but didn’t validate the rest of her business model (product/market fit, distribution channel, customer acquisition, etc.). Her first startup, Pencil You In, grew from a personal need to schedule hair appointments. If you can’t hear the clip, click here.

Detroit 120

Detroit Baltimore Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

It seems that four different models of "discussion creation" have occurred: Organice Discussion - someone posts something interesting, lots of bloggers post on the topic, distributed discussion ensues. Tag Memes - Someone posts a question and "Tags" five people to give their response. See Five Things Meme as an example.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

Both Sides of the Table

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. Yes an online video startup in ‘99 that helped large media companies encode and distribute their videos through portals. He was introduced through mutual friends to Highland Capital.

Vertical 265

Vertical Curation Boston Burn Rate 265

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

One is explaining the world as it used to work: the importance of gatekeepers, the scarcity implied by limited distribution, and the resulting quality bar that the industry is so proud of. Mostly it is the time and expense required to create the means of distribution for that industry. It’s just taking some longer than others.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Mucker Lab

JANUARY 1, 2014

VC’s start investing in technology-enabled “offline” businesses (distribution, services etc) – most of whom would never have gotten venture money 3 years ago. Apple finally decides to spend its cash hoard on buying internet companies instead of just on building cool campuses (RIP Cupertino Village and Fantasia? Because.

Seed Stage 84

Seed Stage Early Stage Distribution Bootstrapping 84

Up and Running

MAY 3, 2012

Sean Seton-Rogers of PROfounders Capital recently claimed that of the more than 3,500 business plans they had received, his London, U.K. based venture capital fund had just invested in 17 companies. Some entrepreneurs ask me whether we have a business plan for an “internet business”, as if there’s a secret recipe they could use.

Entrepreneur 82

Entrepreneur Technical Review Silicon Valley Lean 82

Both Sides of the Table

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

abovethecrowd.com

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

Entrepreneurs accurately recognize that the connective tissue of the Internet provides an opportunity to link the players in a particular market, reducing friction in both the buying and selling experience. Since Benchmark’s investment in Ebay 15 years ago, we have been fascinated by online marketplaces.

Aggregator 101

Aggregator Marketing Software Review North America 101

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

Finally, and importantly, society is better off because Amazon makes the system for distributing books (and other products) vastly more productive, freeing up resources for other value-creating investments. Amazon saw that the internet would change retail. Nowhere in our book do we recommend that all entrepreneurs blitzscale.

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

Mucker Lab

JANUARY 1, 2014

VC’s accelerate investments in “internet of things” except sometime in Q4, wake up and realize it’s no different than “consumer electronics” – and that we still need to innovate around the manufacturing infrastructure, distribution economics, and consumer liability of the consumer goods business to really make this a venture fundable category.

Seed Stage 60

Seed Stage Early Stage Distribution Bootstrapping 60

Genuine VC

JANUARY 3, 2013

According to all of the blogosphere chatter over the past month, seed-funded internet startups are entering this year gearing up for the now-near-infamous Series A Crunch. The nuance which isn’t being recognized is that most of the companies of this latter profile, while viable businesses, aren’t venture-scale businesses.

Seed Stage 166

Seed Stage Venture Capital Audience New York 166

Austin Startup

MARCH 7, 2021

San Antonio has Geekdom with USAA and Port San Antonio with the Air Force Cyber Command; Houston has The Ion with Rice University, Microsoft and NASA and The Cannon distributed across the city; Dallas has Pegasus Park with UT Southwestern and Lyda Hill Philanthropies; and Austin has Capital Factory with the Army Futures Command.

Texas 90

Texas San Antonio Houston Dallas 90

abovethecrowd.com

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Unfortunately, either information asymmetry or physical distances and the resulting distribution costs can both cut against the economic advantages that would otherwise arise for all. Any discussion of Internet marketplaces begins with the first quintessential marketplace, ebay (*). Exchange of Goods Marketplaces.

Internet 88

Internet Matching Vertical Hosting 88

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 18, 2011

I also plan to price it low so it has the potential for broad distribution. Before the Internet (1970 to 1994). Pre Internet Bubble (1995 – 2000). The Internet Bubble (2001 – 2002). Venture Capital Matters. Comments of any sort are welcome and encouraged! The Boulder Entrepreneurial Community.

Community 142

Community Silicon Valley Incubator Colorado 142

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

They focus on helping content creators and app developers create, identify, package and distribute those meaningful video highlights in ways that help them reach more customers and generate more revenue. I was living in Sacramento and had worked in venture capital with Intel Capital and a Sacramento-based VC fund.

Sacramento 73

Sacramento San Jose Startup Distribution 73

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

The large investment flows into entertainment fuel advanced in technology to produce, to distribute and monetise content that educates us, relax us, entertains us, and so on. Each category represents a large vertical on its own, which together comprise of Entertainment Tech across content creation, consumption, distribution and monetisation.

Vertical 113

Vertical Artificial Inteligence Distribution IPO 113

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 25, 2016

The trend toward launching without planning may be why the failure rate for venture capital-backed businesses is as high as 75 percent. How much will it cost to produce your product (manufacturing & distribution)? Or should you do some planning first? How will you brand the business (name, logo, tagline)?

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping LLC Equity Revenue 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2011

But before you jump on the bandwagon, you should consider the advice I saw recently from the maven of venture capital, William H. You need to work through a team of underwriters, who administer the public issuance and distribution of securities from a corporation. Draper III, in his new book titled “ The Startup Game.”

IPO 223

IPO Social Media Media Exit Strategy 223

Mucker Lab

DECEMBER 2, 2015

Most brilliant “Internet of Things” ideas are quicksand for capital unless you have the branding, vertical integration and customer lock-in that Apple achieved. 20 years ago, a majority of “Sand Hill” venture capital went into enterprise-focused startups. The iPod model will separate IoT platforms from fads. retailer.

Vertical 60

Vertical Widget Distribution China 60

The Next Web

OCTOBER 2, 2013

Distribution and cashflow pose challenges in China. Jenny Lee, a partner at venture capital firm GGV Capital which has a presence in both the US and China, also observes that in the US, the willingness to pay for an app is pretty high — especially for a utility tool, which is what CooTek’s TouchPal X Keyboard essentially is.

China 122

China Developer Intellectual Property Mobile 122

The Equity Kicker

APRIL 12, 2012

Now that distribution is as easy as uploading a file to the internet middlemen simply don’t add enough value any more. Nicholas Lovell and I saw something similar when we talked to publishers about our 50 Questions you should ask before raising venture capital blog series and book.

Venture Capital 94

Venture Capital .Net Distribution Matching 94