It’s all about efficiency. So, what are VCs looking for before they decide to invest in a start-up? The good news is that I’ll disclose the secrets here. The bad news is that even if you cover all of these elements it still doesn’t guarantee you will get funding (more on this point later). Large ADDRESSABLE market. How large?

OC VC Just a VC in The OC thinking out loud July 20th, 2010 19:08:19 September 4th, 2007 Location, Location, Location » Posted in Venture Capital at 11:09 pm I spent last week in NYC for a board meeting and decided to abandon any thoughts of travel for the Labor Day Weekend and just stay home. have been geographically near the university.

As I have no desire to delve into the “art&# of risk assessment (for want of time), I thought I could at least share a bit of the formalistic “science&# (ie questions posed) behind VC risk analysis so that you have a better idea of the type of questions VCs ask entrepreneurs (and themselves) when making investment decisions. License.

OC VC Just a VC in The OC thinking out loud July 20th, 2010 19:08:04 January 22nd, 2008 Due Diligence » Posted in Due Diligence , Start-Ups , Venture Capital at 9:02 pm I thought I’d post on due diligence since folks seem to be curious as to what it is, how much to do, and where it fits into the whole venture ecosystem. License.

Yeah, that would be nice.  The guys I went skiing with are, by and large, not in the technology industry in any fashion and so it is always interesting to me to run things by them and get their thoughts as “lay people&#.  Once such conversation revolved around social networks and which of us had Facebook profiles.  Here’s why.  License.

One of the topics that came up in my post Mobile Internet Apple Facebook was around open vs. closed platforms. This issue comes up at the start of almost every new startup company in a variety of forms. m constantly struggling with trying to figure out the best way to pull together solutions, especially with how fast things move. That’s it.

I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. used an image from Roger Smith that describes the varying roles of a CTO as the company matures. Gap closed, right?

A post by Fred Wilson pointed me to Dave McClure's Startup Metrics presentation. This is a great presentation and one that I'm going to point out to startup / early stage company CEOs. This kind of a simple model also helps: Define the early proof points for the company. You only build what you need to prove that model. Great stuff.

I generally am working as an acting CTO for about 3-4 start-ups or other companies at any one time. was just talking with someone who asked me to define how that could work and what they meant. Great question. Roger Smith ) This helps explain where I normally play. During Stabilization, often the focus is transitioning to a full-time CTO.

Because I was the Acting CTO for eHarmony at it's start, I quite often get introduced to people who have an idea for a startup company that is based on some kind of matching algorithm. They describe the company as the eHarmony of careers, clothes, jobs, college, tutoring services, doctors, service companies, investments, etc. That feels powerful.