Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. All banks are looking hard these days to get back in the game, and certain ones, like Silicon Valley Bank, are more focused on small businesses.

Silicon Valley 406

Silicon Valley Equity Startup Finance 406

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

After years of trying to persuade Kara Nortman to become a partner at Upfront Ventures I can officially announce now that she’s joined us effective immediately. It is rare to find somebody who matches exactly what I’m looking for in a partner so when you find it you act: Academic rigor (Princeton undergrad, Stanford MBA).

Partner 408

Partner Las Vegas Los Angeles Baltimore 408

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

just having a sparring partner with a vested interest in your success can be useful. A-round venture capital firms will almost certainly make it a requirement that they get a board seat upon financing. If you’re a super experienced Silicon Valley CEO with a billion-dollar exit?—?probably. But it’s quite rare.

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

Thanks to strategic partnerships with companies including US Bank, Visa, Mastercard, Silicon Valley Bank and more, any business – from eCommerce companies and healthcare facilities to construction companies and restaurants – can use Plastiq to pay or get paid. Plastiq has revolutionized how its more than 1.5 Start now, not later.

Customer 127

Customer Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Technical Review 127

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

They had been introduced by my friend Brian Garrett, a partner at Crosscut Ventures and the ambition outlined in their deck seemed almost unbelievable, “to make wireless charging of phones (and other devices) as easy as WiFi” that I had to see it for myself. Meredith came to see me along with the CTO Marc Berte.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence CTO Hire 418

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”).

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2022

Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to work and learn for many years in both the corporate environment (IBM), as well as the exploding Silicon Valley startup environment of the 90’s. Personal finances must be kept separate from the business. It’s a 24/7 job with no time off for vacation or fun.

Silicon Valley 292

Silicon Valley Viral Finance Leadership 292

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion. The best and most consistent funds in Silicon Valley (e.g.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 7, 2016

Moreover, startups don’t necessarily face the same issues other business models do – although finances may plague more than less – with trouble-shooting having now entered unchartered territory. Right now, Silicon Valley has a highly creative pool of talent, but there is a blaringly obvious missing link between creativity and business.

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Incubator Asia 100

Austin Startup

MARCH 4, 2019

Official SXSW Panels and Speakers SXSW Badge Required Watch Out Silicon Valley: Rising LATAM Tech Scene Watch Out Silicon Valley: Rising LATAM Tech Scene MAR 8, 2019 | 12:30PM?—?1:30PM See hundreds of exhibitors and demonstrations across every industry and technology. Bring a bag for collecting swag!

Silicon Valley 50

Silicon Valley Technical Review Texas Venture Capital 50

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

I trained the Startup Weekend Next Beijing mentors and instructors, presented to several hundred entrepreneurs, and had a great fireside chat with Zhen Fund founding partner Xu Xiaoping in front of another roomful of entrepreneurs. If it’s driven by profit then the ecosystem needs both entrepreneurs as well as Venture Finance.

Silicon Valley 267

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 267

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 28, 2015

by John Vrionis, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. This article highlights their advice on issues ranging from financing to patent trolls: While startups may believe lawyers are too costly, working with one early on avoids potentially serious problems later. ” The Cost of Financing. Convertible Securities.

Convertible Security 100

Convertible Security IP Technical Review Software Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

There was a lot of consumer internet activity again…resurgence of things, but it was still mysterious, venture capital was still kind of closed, 1st time entrepreneurs had a lot of questions that were unanswered, and there was still some sort of hand waiving around all the financing stuff and so we took it on….”. Is that when it became big?

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

ReadWriteStart

MAY 22, 2023

Europe has also lagged behind the US in venture to finance. Even though Finland offers free and high-quality education, it cannot compete with Silicon Valley regarding salaries. However, he also admits that they face major challenges.

Finland 187

Finland Europe Estonia Silicon Valley 187

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2020

Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to work and learn for many years in both the corporate environment (IBM), as well as the exploding Silicon Valley startup environment of the 90’s. Personal finances must be kept separate from the business. It’s a 24/7 job with no time off for vacation or fun.

Silicon Valley 361

Silicon Valley Viral Finance Leadership 361

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? He said, “Look again.”

Silicon Valley 225

Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Startup 225

David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Jeff Burkland , an experienced Silicon Valley CFO and CEO of Burkland Associates , says, “When you consider that most startups change so much and so frequently, trying to build a budget for a year and stick to it is useless. Without systems in place to manage distributed spending, finance teams will leave money on the table.”.

Agile 60

Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 9, 2010

Jacqueline and her partner Cortney are designing and manufacturing the line out of China and selling in the U.S. Jacqueline asked an important question: how do you mitigate your working capital challenges in an e-commerce company at the very early stages without raising financing? They are still very small, but have some validation.

Silicon Valley 117

Silicon Valley Malaysia India China 117

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 29, 2013

And given the fact that the majority of top investors were congregated around Silicon Valley, many entrepreneurs felt compelled to move to the valley to start their business. In short, you’re going to want to look for the best funding partner (or collection of partners) possible, rather than just focusing locally.

Silicon Valley 161

Silicon Valley Global Finance New York City 161

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Many of the start-ups my various angel funds have financed died a slow death, not because of poor concept but because of poor execution, wasting fixed overhead and draining the financial resources from the company coffers. And we were able to secure that investment along with a partner from that firm joining our board.

Silicon Valley 97

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 97

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

The functions of an early-stage board are pretty obvious and well understood: Providing introductions to customers, biz dev partners, recruits, the press, other investors, etc. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions. how much energy to put into channel partners vs. direct sales. Mentorship. Experience.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 22, 2010

The law firm Fenwick & West LLP has released its Third Quarter 2010 Silicon Valley Venture Capital Survey. The survey looks at the valuations and the terms of financing for over 100 technology companies in Silicon Valley that reported raising capital in the third quarter of this year.

Silicon Valley 115

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Valuation Down Round 115

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

Since 2017 we’ve managed $3 million in revenue-based financing, which helps cash-strapped technology companies grow. In 2019 we partnered with several revenue-based lending providers, effectively creating a marketplace. “. According to John Borchers, Co-founder, Decathlon is the largest revenue-based financing investor in the US.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Up and Running

JULY 25, 2016

Of all the television shows that center around businesses, none feel closer to reality than HBO’s “Silicon Valley.” While this is a great arrangement for Erlich and his modest finances, it’s a terrible idea for Big Head, and probably for most business partnerships. See Also: How to Find a Business Partner.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement Intellectual Property NDA 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

I trained the Startup Weekend Next Beijing mentors and instructors, presented to several hundred entrepreneurs, and had a great fireside chat with Zhen Fund founding partner Xu Xiaoping in front of another roomful of entrepreneurs. If it’s driven by profit then the ecosystem needs both entrepreneurs as well as Venture Finance.

Silicon Valley 159

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 159

ReadWriteStart

MAY 5, 2011

Meanwhile, financing the company will be quite challenging, and I advised Satya to manufacture parts based only on signed contracts and advances against orders, to avoid getting into an inventory-rich, working capital-poor situation. Bill has been following the 1M/1M project and would like to connect his partners to our team.

Costa Rica 115

Costa Rica Incubator Silicon Valley India 115

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

First is that there are, perhaps, a thousand people in the world of entrepreneurship who know what they are doing when it comes to dealing with issues like financing, positioning, market sizing, customer validation, customer acquisition and other seemingly obvious topics that all entrepreneurs need to deal with. Please try to understand why.

Silicon Valley 114

Silicon Valley Technical Review Startup Early Stage 114

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam , led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry , announced a $10 million round of financing. The beauty of Silicon Valley and the ethos it has driven in all of us is acceptance of failure and a profound respect for those who at least try.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review South Korea San Francisco Software Review 417

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Each VC firm/partner has a different spin on what to weigh more.) These types seem dangerous, yet are often the ones needed on board to get the fund to invest in the first place, seeing that the younger partners naturally have less pull during the Monday round-ups. I find the same still going on with a few firms and partners.&#

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice.

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

Bessemer Venture Partners Expands BVP VII Fund. 26 Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), the oldest venture capital practice in the United States, today announced the closing of a $350 million supplement to its current fund family, BVP VII, which closed in June 2007. 2009 Bessemer Venture Partners. Friday, February 27, 2009.

Software Review 48

Software Review Partner United States Venture Capital 48

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And the loosening of federal monetary policies, particularly in the US, has pushed more dollars into the venture ecosystems at every stage of financing. What Has Changed in Financing? The legends of Silicon Valley?—?two each with partners as the lead. even before the pandemic itself has been fully tamed.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 21, 2020

1 Your Personal Finances. In a sole proprietorship or partnership, you and any partners you have are responsible for any and all debts your business has. Relying on credit cards to pay for basic expenses can leave a lasting impact on your finances, even once you get back to work. 2 Your Career. 2 Your Career.

Bankruptcy 106

Bankruptcy Silicon Valley Startup LLC 106

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. So if you’re casually reading and don’t really care about angel financing – abort now!

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

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).

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Growthink Blog

MARCH 11, 2010

is an online community that allows entrepreneurs to showcase their ventures and communicate with customers, partners, and investors. Today, I'm writing to you about Vator's upcoming "Splash" showcase, where you'll have an opportunity to pitch Silicon Valley. Tags: Financing. If you don't recall, Vator.tv

Silicon Valley 59

Silicon Valley San Francisco Early Stage Social Network 59

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. All banks are looking hard right now to get back in the game, and certain ones, like Silicon Valley Bank, are more focused on small businesses.

Silicon Valley 187

Silicon Valley Equity Entrepreneur Finance 187