started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur :  Tenacity .  I Great companies are comprised of great individual point people or functional leaders. There are plenty of great leaders who work really hard and work for big companies.  And This is part of my series on  what makes an entrepreneur successful .  I originally posted it on  VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs.

Recently I’ve been debating with a number of young startup companies that are raising money in the next few months, “what is the right about of capital to raise at a startup?” It places undue pressure early in the company’s history to “do big things” when sometimes what is warranted is more prudence.  It the funding environment This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital . 8221;

started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute:  Tenacity .  I You’ve got to be able to come out of unsuccessful VC meetings, pull your socks up, and go into the next pitch.  You’ve got to hear all of the doubters, and the world is FILLED with doubters, and still not give up.  This is part of my new series on  what makes an entrepreneur successful .  I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs.

This is part of my ongoing series “ Start Up Advice ” but I’d really like to call this post, “VC Advice.” If a company has reached a level of success, has been around for a few years and you believe the company has potential to break out into a much bigger company then you should let the founders take money off of the table.  It’s On a panel that I sat on with Ron in LA in 2008 8221; It’s that simple.  Only

He recommends that early stage companies get input from people who know the funding process, know the vertical, etc. On the flip side, as a person who regularly advises early stage start-ups, I often have a hard time finding interesting start-ups. Actually, the friction is even higher trying to find a partner for a start-up. Andrew Warner from Mixergy posted - Before Looking for Funding, Get an Advisor . That's great advice.

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009 .  In It is also a result of pent-up demand. It affects even B2B companies because ultimately most must sell to companies who sell to consumers and if they suffer they cut back on suppliers. In the second post I argued that as of September 2009 the pace of VC investments has increased rapidly (at least for software / Internet investments – the only sector on which I’m competent to comment), but only for those remaining VCs who have new enough funds and aren’t plagued by “the triage problem.”

What would you do if you built a tremendously successful internet company and sold it? interviewed Ryan Scott to find out what he did after he sold Netcreations, the email list management company that he co-founded. (Curious After being disenchanted with the easy life, Ryan refocused on what got him started: the need to build something. I Curious about how Netcreations was built?

Heres 5 steps to start exploring: View Write me an e-mail and let me know what youre up to! The first 6 steps to homegrowing basic startup analytics Comments Quick intro to getting set up on analytics I’ve Futuristic Play by @Andrew_Chen Analysis on viral marketing, user experience, game design, and online ads As

Let me start with a story.  When When I was raising money for my first company we had closed a seed round in 1999 and were working on our A round.  We We ended up agreeing a term sheet for $16.5 But we weren’t optimizing for dilution – we were building a $1 billion+ company and we wanted the runway to succeed.  We A reminder that it is important for all entrepreneurs is to remember to be careful about “deal drift.”  I I think the perfect saying to have as a reminder is “time is the enemy of all deals,” or as my wife is all too tired of hearing me say, “Don’t pop the

Is there a difference between tech startups in Silicon Valley vs. ve spent the last year running a tech company based in Santa Monica , CA and I’ve spent countless weeks in the Bay meeting with hundreds of tech founders. They build obsessively user focused products, do a fantastic job at virally driving a ton of traffic, but usually have their head up their ass when it comes to making money. Los Angeles? Most emphatically, Yes !