The first question I ask myself when reviewing a start-up investment is whether they are "crashing the business model party".  By crashing the business model party, I refer to the ability of the proposed solution, software, network, or whatever to challenge conventional wisdom and create a new way of doing business. Picture in your mind…

Fred Wilson recently had a good post on choosing  board members for entrepreneurial companies.  As Fred points out, too often start-up companies either pick or are asked to add inappropriate people to their Board.  Some are better candidates for your advisory board, if you have one.  Others are not good candidates at all. Board members…

Over the years, I have had several requests to provide translations of my posts.  Until recently, this was not an easy option. I would paste the Blog entry into a translation site, hope for the best and forward the "result" to the requester.  I rarely heard positive or negative comments on the translation, just as…

I know this is a controversial topic.  Should CEO’s "shop" key decisions among board members prior to a meeting?  Many of my fellow VC’s want "equal and simultaneous" communications about corporate issues at board meetings so that "meaningful and fair" discussions can then take place. From my perspective, I hate to spend a lot of…

" Cash in the hand is worth more than promises in the spreadsheet" I coined this phrase during a long set of negotiations involving the sale of one of my portfolio companies. The Board faced a difficult decision about maximizing shareholder value in light of two very different offers for the company.  The discussions, negotiations…

I have had a number of requests to expand my shortest Blog ever–the one the said that the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make is a failure to monetize their business model.  So here goes…and thanks for asking. Let’s say you have this really great idea like a search engine to compete with Google.  There are sure…

Most of us have heard the fable of the chicken and pig discussing being participants in breakfast.  The chicken offers to contribute the eggs, but the pig demurs, realizing that by donating the ham or bacon, he becomes fully committed via the slaughterhouse. Investors can also come in these two levels of commitment.  The "chicken…

I have been having some animated discussions lately with some of my portfolio companies about their organizational structure, or lack thereof. The net result was Dave formalizing some overall suggestions on how to think about structuring an organization in a small, technology focused company: Customer-focused–An organization needs to be, first and foremost, customer focused.  That…

It’s a two-way street. You want the best senior executives for your start-up and the best senior executives want to make the right decision about which company to join.  How do you make it all come together for both parties? Here are three ways to ensure that everyone is on the right page before final…