mistakes - The 411 On Startups (tm)

8 ways to get automatically rejected by an angel investor

Sep

2011

I’ve started three companies, and now I’m an angel investor. So I’ve been on both sides of the table. There are lots of good articles out there about pitching, and surely everyone who pitches me has read some of them. Still, a few problems appear over and over again. If you’ve ever had to sort ...

Start-up funding scarce. Who was to blame? – Los Angeles Times

Jun

2009

Hattie Bryant and Bruce Camber said they were thrilled when John Garcia told them he had made a fortune as an entrepreneur and could help their company make it big too. Swayed by his sales pitch — including his claim that he had scores of people lined up to invest in promising companies like theirs ...

10 lessons from a failed startup — VentureBeat

Apr

2009

A year and a half ago, my co-founder Dev Nag and I started an internet TV network for games called PlayCafe. Our ambitious plan was to run highly interactive game shows in which everyone was a contestant. Players could watch our hosts, answer questions, win prizes, form teams, call our studio, live chat, and run ...

The Entrepreneur’s Legal Dilemma: When And How To Consult An Attorney?

Sep

2008

Legal issues represent only some of the many problems facing entrepreneurs and start-up companies. If thought about at all, they often get pushed far down the list of pressing worries, behind revenue, overhead, marketing, etc. Of course, that is assuming a young company is even aware of the legal issues surrounding its business. Those legal ...

The Lowdown on Strategic Investments

Sep

2008

A fast-growing company recently called me up for some advisory work. One of its main competitors, a multibillion-dollar company, was making overtures for an acquisition. The sides started to talk and found they had both synergies and major disagreements about valuation and strategy. So the discussions moved to another approach: a strategic investment. Such investments ...

Ask the Angels — Blog Archive — Top Five Best Uses of an Entrepreneur’s Legal Dollars

Sep

2008

So you’ve just started your company, and as with most entrepreneurs, you have very limited money for service providers of any sort. That said, you have heard in the past that it is always best to get a lawyer involved in the company sooner rather than later, especially if you’re looking to raise capital in ...

The Finders Paradox — OC VC

Sep

2008

Should you use a finder to obtain venture capital? I won’t tell you definitively whether you should or shouldn’t, but I will share my personal thoughts on the matter here and summarize by stating that I wouldn’t use one (knowing what I know) for the following reasons, in no particular order: 1. Most finders I ...

Another Tip for Entrepreneurs: On Raising Venture Capital — You Don’t Need Finders!!!

Sep

2008

Here’s another suggestion for anyone starting a venture and/or seeking venture capital. Be careful about using funding agents or “finders” to help you locate and raise venture capital. These people will often make all kinds of promises about who they know, and what they can do for you, but in fact you usually don’t need ...

Beware of Capital Raising Middlemen

Sep

2008

This problem of capital scarcity for early stage companies is so prevalent that you may have begun to notice that there are literally thousands of people in the business of “helping” entrepreneurs raise money. At least that’s what they lead you to believe. They have taken their cue from the Gold Rush when the truly ...

Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs — HBS Working Knowledge

Aug

2008

To prepare current students for the Harvard Business School Business Plan Contest, associate professor Connie Bagley gives a seminar in which she shares these war stories with the prospective entrepreneurs, in the form of a list of “top ten” legal mistakes often made by the unsuspecting. In addition, Bagley teaches the second year elective course, ...