Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

In all cases, it pays to play to your strengths, and stick to business domains and skills you already know. Adopt the Silicon Valley entrepreneur family model. In my view, entrepreneur roles need to be planned carefully rather than made on the spur of the moment.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

As I’ve highlighted I believe we’re in a unique period similar to 2005-08 where the biggest tech firms of Silicon Valley (and some media companies) are scooping up small software companies as “talent acquisitions&# versus accretive revenue / profit generators. Pay to play.

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Steve Blank

MARCH 22, 2016

There’s almost $2 billion spent in North America on paying to play basketball. Entrepreneurship stretches from Main Street to Silicon Valley, from startups to big companies. What we really found that our client was essentially the basketball league, and we could throw ourselves in the middle of the transaction.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Back then Michael Arrington accused some of Silicon Valley’s top seed funds of “colluding” by meeting secretly to talk down the valuation of startups. So inside rounds get delayed and when there are non-participants you often find “recaps” or “structure” or “pay-to-play” provisions.

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Professor VC

MARCH 11, 2013

While the rest of Silicon Valley is slamming drinks at SXSW in Austin and trying out the mobile app Bang with Friends , I'm sitting in my office thinking about last week's Launch Festival. I'm surprised it is still around in 2013, but am sure the selectivity criteria has changed to whoever is willing to pay.

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