Startup Lessons

Understanding the Rich Tapestry of American Culture as Experienced Through Food

An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

$30 million. That’s how much Invoca raised and we’re announcing it today. It is an heroic accomplishment in a brutal fund-raising market in which only market leaders can bring in that sort of money. But…

How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

Many startup businesses — tech or otherwise — fail. In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. We also know that even though many of us…

Why You Should Put Yourself Out There and Try New Products

In 2006 I started using Facebook and most of my friends & colleagues thought I was strange. They thought it was like MySpace and why did I need a MySpace page?

What Do LPs Think of the Venture Capital Markets for 2016?

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. While I’m not an LP, the…

Spotting, Nurturing and Mentoring Talent — The Power of Troy Carter

I recently sat down with Troy Carter to talk about what he does and why he believes it is applicable to venture capital. The “what” is well known in LA circles — Troy discovered a little known young singer named…

MakeSpace Raises an Additional $17.5 million and Unveils Strategy to Make Public Storage the Next Blockbuster Video

MakeSpace, the leading provider of next-generation storage for consumers, today announced an additional $17.5 million in funding on…

Developing an Action Plan for High Performance With ADD

I’ve written about Attention Deficit Disorder a couple of times.

1. How to Know Whether You Have ADD & What to do About It
2. Why ADD Might Actually Benefit Startup Entrepreneurs

So What is The Right Level of Burn Rate for a Startup These Days?

There is much talk these days that startup valuations have decreased and may continue to do so and that the amount of time it takes to fund raise may take longer. As I have pointed out in previous posts, 91% of VCs…