What all Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Prorata Rights

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. They often create the biggest tensions between investors who are investing at different stages in the…

What is the Definition of a Seed Round or an A Round?

Marc Andreessen kicked off another great debate on Twitter last night, one that I’ve been talking about incessantly in private circles for the past 2–3 years — what actually IS the definition of a seed vs. A-round.

When Should Technical Founders Become CEO?

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth (know as the…

The Silent Benefits of PR

I’ve been having this PR discussion with three separate portfolio companies at once so I thought I’d just publish my thoughts more broadly.

I have written many times about PR so if you want a deep dive on the “how” of PR you may enjoy reading some of these…

Here’s How to Do PR on a Budget

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV).

The Audacious Plan to Make Electricity as Easy as WiFi

When I first met Meredith Perry she was 24. That was three months ago this week. Today I’m handing her the largest A-round check I’ve ever written as a VC as we lead her $10 million A-Round at uBeam.

Why Has LA Suddenly Gotten So Much Attention from VCs and Entrepreneurs?

An abbreviated version of this post appeared yesterday on TechCrunch.

If you want the full SlideShare deck with many slides not in either post it’s in this link → The LA Tech…

A Seriously Great Story and Why We Funded Them

We are often asked how companies get funded, why VCs make the decisions we make and what we’re looking for in entrepreneurs. I think this is a Seriously great example of how this process works for at least one VC — Upfront Ventures. But I’m…

When Does a Private-to-Private Merger Make Sense?

I’m pretty on record as saying I don’t think many private-to-private tech mergers make sense. They are often done from a position of weakness. Something in both companies isn’t working, which is why they come together.

Three Words Entrepreneurs (and VC’s) Should Take to Heart

Note: this is a non-religious post.

This weekend was Yom Kippur, holiest of the Jewish holidays and the day of atonement. It’s also the day when most Jewish minds are least focused since one needs to fast…