Blog

Size of Round Does NOT Equal Level of Success
Wednesday, September 28, 2011 Jon O'Shaughnessy - Associate, Dace Ventures
This subject annoys me to no end. It seems to pervade the startup ecosystem, dominate media coverage over funding, and be the focus of far, far too many entrepreneurs’ discussions. The topic is...
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Entrepreneurship, Expert Advice, Funding, Opinions, Voices
Check out Open Runway - beta invites here!
Monday, September 26, 2011 Keith Cline - Founder, VentureFizz
Started by local entrepreneurs, Monika Desai & Eric Estabrooks...
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Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Voices
Checklist: How to Prepare for a VC Fund Raise
Friday, September 23, 2011 Firas Raouf - Venture Partner, OpenView Venture Partners
I recently wrote a post with some tips on avoiding a busted VC deal. One of my tips was to be ready for diligence before you sign the LOI. Here’s some more thoughts on getting ready. The key to a...
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Entrepreneurship, Expert Advice, Funding, Voices
Startup IPO Market: A Fickle Mistress
Friday, September 16, 2011 Lee Hower - Partner and Co-Founder, NextView Ventures
The IPO market, she is a fickle mistress. In the first half of 2011, the IPO markets were looking strong for VC-backed companies. In the software an internet space a number of companies...
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Entrepreneurship, Voices
“Strategic” customers are a myth.
Monday, September 12, 2011 Alex Taussig - Principal, Highland Capital Partners
Lots of small companies will do anything to sign up a big customer. Startups often make concessions of two varieties: We’ll give you more stuff (read: features / support). You give us...
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Entrepreneurship, Expert Advice, Innovation, Lessons Learned, Opinions, Voices
Taking the Long View as the Value-add Investor
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 Tien Anh Nguyen - Associate, OpenView Venture Partners
A few weeks back, Eric Ries issued a stark warning for the start-up community: Winter is coming, and it will be long and hard, and there will be a lot of casualties from the unsuspecting crop...
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Entrepreneurship, Funding, Lessons Learned, Voices
Rules for an Effective Business Plan
Thursday, August 25, 2011 Sarayu Srinivasan - Venture Capitalist
The written business plan is often the first contact an entrepreneur has with the investment community. It presents the company on paper before the company can represent itself and...
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Best Practices, Entrepreneurship, Funding, Lessons Learned, Voices
What will the fall of 2011 look like for entrepreneurs?
Thursday, August 18, 2011 Brad Harkavy - President, Harkador Partners
It is that time of the year again — the dog days of August when I wax poetic about the prospects for start-up companies in the coming months. This post is a follow-on to my Summer time...
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Entrepreneurship, Expert Advice, Funding, Voices
What milestones are needed to raise a Series A?
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 Lee Hower - Partner and Co-Founder, NextView Ventures
For entrepreneurs seeking to build big companies on a rapid trajectory, raising larger scale venture capital rounds is likely a necessity at some point after the initial seed funding...
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Entrepreneurship, Expert Advice, Funding, Lessons Learned, Voices
StyleFeeder - A "lean" success story
Friday, August 12, 2011 Keith Cline - Founder, VentureFizz
Philip Jacob wrote an interesting blog post recently called StyleFeeder: a retrospective. Philip was...
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Entrepreneurship, Lessons Learned, Success Stories, Voices