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Reflections On CES From A Perfective Of The Future

February 1, 2012 by Brad Feld with 15 views

I believe that science fiction is reality catching up to the future. Others say that science fact is the science fiction of the past. Regardless, the gap between science fact and science fiction is fascinating to me, especially as it applies to computers. [read more]

The Startup Basics: Cap Table

January 25, 2012 by Anthony Richardson with 43 views

I'm always happy to give out advice. However, anyone who knows me personally can tell you that I talk fast and usually don't slow down enough to ensure that the beginner understands some of the key terms I'm using before moving forward. [read more]

Why Good Entrepreneurs Borrow, Great Ones Steal

December 23, 2011 by Fabrice Grinda with 35 views

Advice to CEOs on the attraction of Brazil and Russia. [read more]

Reach Success: 5 Easy Ways to Increase Your Clientele

December 21, 2011 by Small Biz Bee with 33 views

Establishing a solid customer-base is crucial for any start up or small business owner—after all, without any customers/clients, you make no money and without any money your small business will crash and burn. While hiring a strong marketing team can help you acquire a good number of costumers, this route can be pretty expensive. And... [read more]

Medium or Message? Republican Candidates

December 13, 2011 by Jonathan Salem Ba... with 18 views

Republican voters are having a tough go of it this Presidential election cycle. They keep getting too much information from candidates like Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and, oh, in about three weeks, Newt Gingrich (again), and they aren’t hearing enough from Mitt Romney. I wonder how much of the conundrum is the result of the media through which they’re communicating, and not necessarily what they’re saying. [read more]

Reach Your Best Insights! A SmallBiz Interview with Pierre DeBois

December 6, 2011 by Rajeev Malik with 67 views

Today’s KikScore interview features Pierre DeBois, founder of Zimana, a web analytics service. In this rapidly changing e-commerce environment, Pierre is instrumental in helping other small business reach success through his analysis of their web analytics and his assistance and advice for marketing and social media strategies. I had a pleasure talking with Pierre and learned a lot, so I hope you all share similar benefits from reading what he had to say. [read more]

Faux Diplomacy, Faux Management, Faux Purpose

November 3, 2011 by Lisa Haneberg with 30 views

I just got back from 10 days in Italy and the region and overheard someone using the term "faux diplomacy" in the airport. I like the phrase! This got me thinking about one of the most common differences between great managers and lousy ones - great managers don't do faux. [read more]

Want To Be A VC? Start A Company.

November 2, 2011 by Fred Wilson with 56 views

Steve Blank has a great post up on his blog suggesting that VCs should require startup CEO experience in their partners' resumes. He quotes from me in that post but I'm not going to state which one came from me. You can guess if you want. [read more]

The Social Shark Tank

October 12, 2011 by Jay Deragon with 59 views

Shark Tank is a reality television series based on the Sony TV/BBCTV Dragons' Den.It premiered on ABC television in August 2009 and features a panel of five wealthy entrepreneurs who are called "sharks". The panel evaluates and negotiates investment proposals from entrepreneurs. [read more]

Answers About 'Warrants' in a Deal with an Advisor

October 3, 2011 by Brad Feld with 34 views

"Question: I am a startup about to receive a convertible loan investment. My friend has been advising me on an adhoc basis re. the financials on a barter basis with me. Now he’d like to formalise his agreement with the company. He has made his money as an entrepreneur and now travels a lot but will be available for consultancy for us.... [read more]

The Predictable Flood of Politics Oriented Web Startups

October 2, 2011 by Brad Feld with 24 views

While I have no doubt that some people can make money creating web services for helping candidates get elected, especially those that include mobile, real-time data, and geo-location, I have no real interest in investing in companies that have the singular goal of helping politicians get elected. [read more]

Moneyball for Startups

September 26, 2011 by Fred Wilson with 42 views

Dan Frommer wrote an interesting post on SplatF yesterday talking about the possibility of a quantitative assessment of founders/founding teams, like they use in baseball. [read more]

6 Ways to Make the Most of Conference Parties and Networking Events

August 31, 2011 by Matt Heinz with 115 views

Most conference agendas include one or more parties - usually sponsored by the conference host or their sponsors and exhibiting vendors. These events are a great opportunity to relax and enjoy the company of fellow attendees, but they're also an important opportunity to meet new people, add to your network, and create new business opportunities. [read more]

Go: Should You Meet With VC’s Early for Feedback?

August 12, 2011 by Brad Feld with 30 views

Rob Go (NextView Ventures) has the VC post of the day titled Should You Meet With VC’s Early for Feedback? [read more]

Should Entrepreneurs and VCs Meet Often, or Only to Pitch?

August 1, 2011 by Brad Feld with 57 views

Today’s VC Post of the Day is from Allen Morgan (Idealab, Mayfield) and is titled Why Entrepreneurs Should Never Meet VC’s Unless They’re Formally Pitching. In it, Allen explains – well – why entrepreneurs should never meet VCs unless they’re formally pitching. It stands out in direct contrast to a recent post from Mark Suster titled Invest in Lines, not Dots in which Mark strongly recommends the opposite – meet with your potential investors regularly in advance of actually fundraising. [read more]

Six (Non-Sleazy) Steps to Networking

July 12, 2011 by Small Biz Bee with 286 views

It's not about you. [read more]

You Got To Be In It To Win It

June 26, 2011 by Fred Wilson with 53 views

That's how Skype's option plan is described in this piece by Felix Salmon. I've seen option plans that have repurchase rights in them. They used to be more common twenty five years ago when I entered the venture capital business. The theory was that employees would have to stay until the exit if they wanted to keep their equity (be in it... [read more]

Social Media Received $2.52 Billion in Private Equity Funding in Q1

June 25, 2011 by Stephen G. Barr with 509 views

Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably know that private equity and venture capital firms have been pouring cash into social networks like it was their job (and apparently, it is). Until recently, however, it was hard to get a handle on just how much money was being invested in social media startups. That's no longer the... [read more]

Investors Thinking About 2015

June 4, 2011 by Brad Feld with 59 views

Once a quarter my partners (Seth, Ryan, Jason) and I spend 48 hours together. Unlike a typical offsite that ten zillion organizations have, we tend to spend less time on formalities and more time on wider ranging, forward looking discussions about what we are doing, both professionally and personally. Last night, over an amazing meal, we... [read more]

Best practices for raising a VC round

May 4, 2011 by Chris Dixon with 162 views

Having raised a number of VC rounds personally and observed many more as an investor or friend, I’ve come to think there are a set of dominant best practices that entrepreneurs should follow. 1. Valuation: Come up with what minimum valuation you’d be happy with but never share that number with any investor.  If the number is too low... [read more]

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