An aspiring entrepreneur on Hacker News recently asked, “I want to start a startup, but have no ideas. Bring an existing idea to a different platform Ted Rheingold said that dogster was just a fun web site he made while doing consulting work, and the idea was so much fun that it evolved into a business. What should I do?” 8221;

Entrepreneurs spend a lot of time researching their market and customers.  But, when it comes to raising money, they tend to approach anyone with a heartbeat!   The problem with this approach is that a large majority of the investors you pitch are simply not appropriate for what you are doing or where you are as a company.  So, any time you spend on them is wasted. 

Good idea & plan: You must start with a good idea and a PowerPoint deck (my outline is here , scroll down mid way).  Jarl Very few people fund individuals.  I Professional angels / former entrepreneurs / seed funds – In Silicon Valley there are people like Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Mike Maples and many more.  In This is part of my ongoing series Pitching a VC . Last night I attended a DealMaker Media (whom I love because they always host such great discussions) panel on raising angel money moderated by Dan Gould and with panelists Rob Hayes (First

My firm GRP Partners recently funded a young LA based company named Ad.Ly that is an “in-stream advertising” company currently focused on monetizing Twitter.  8221;  Twitter then popularizes the idea of having only a stream (e.g. As John Battelle chronicles in his brilliant (and must read) book, The Search , Google thought this idea stunk.  Advertising has driven the majority of Internet innovation This has prompted many people to question whether advertising “in stream” and on Twitter is a good thing or a bad thing. 

We won the Industry Awards category of Services Company of the Year that led to meeting the Executive Director of CTM at USC who asked me to become a member which led to many new relationships and speaking opportunities, then led to meeting Verizon where we secured a very unique partnership and they are now our radio show sponsor and we presented at VentureNet which led to a sizable funding from Tech Coast Angels. I’ve recently had a chance to reconnect with Eric David Greenspan ( LinkedIn , Twitter ) He’s the CEO of Make It Work a high quality, personal, high touch technology service provider for homes and small businesses.

Have you noticed how some entrepreneurs look at getting funding as the ultimate sign of success? Not only is funding not the finish line, but the mistakes you make when you get investors can cost you when you finally do get to the finish line and are ready to sell your company. Brandon has done stints as an operator at all stages of the funding cycle, and at Soros Private Equity, investing over $70M in technology deals. Brandon Watson came to Mixergy to talk about how he raised money for his startup, how he grew it, and why he had to sell it. The two most powerful points

My perspective is not from a VC funding perspective – but from the very early stage (pre-funded and angel funded) – the phase that matters most to founders because it can cause so many problems at times when you don’t need to be slowed down (IMHO).  One startup not start up because the founder was foolish about distribution (he thought his idea was worth literally 99% – LMAO). As a founder equity tends to be one of the most cherished assets at your startup.  For many of us, it is ONE of the drivers of entrepreneurship – to own our businesses and have a shot

Northridge-based Gamma Medica-Ideas , a developer of digital molecular imaging systems, said Tuesday that it has raised $24M in financing. The firm said the round, the first institutional funding for the firm, was made up of $14M in equity, $5M in mezzanine debt, and a $5M revolving line of credit. The equity funding came from Psilos Group, along with Capital Resource Partners, which also provided mezzanine debt to the firm. The revolving line of credit came from Bridge Bank. Gamma Medica-Ideas develops digital imaging products, used for medical research and the drug discovery

Or look at funding activity if you are considering start-ups. I'm sure other folks have ideas on this topic. For some reason over the past week, I've been asked by three different people I know about job opportunities that might fit them. Since, I've given them the same advice, I thought it was worth putting in my blog. I

West Hollywood-based Citysearch , the local reviews and directory service of IAC, has taken an unusual approach to finding its next business idea: it's running a contest which asks its users to submit a "brilliant" idea for web and mobile applications. According to Citysearch and IAC, the firms will award $10,000 in cash, and up to $1M in funding to develop and manage a new business venture around the idea, for users who submit the best business idea to go with its website Sidewalk.com . The firms--calling it the "Right Here Right now" challenge--said the winner will be selected by a panel of judges, and that the winnings include an equity stake in the new venture.