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Going Global: Google\'s Ascent
Using the BackRub software they had first begun with, Brin and Page re-launched it under the name of Google. The name was chosen as a play on words of ‘googol’, a mathematical term meaning a 1 followed by 100 zeros. They originally used the Stanford University website as the host for their program, with their website being google.stanford.edu.

Lesson #5: Discipline Yourself and Learn To Say No
“We were resolute to do what our users wanted,” says DeWolfe. “Having discipline and saying no is why we ended up being so successful.”

Lesson #3: When we see something that could be done better, we do it
“We’re innovative in many small ways,” says Newmark. “When we see something that could be done better, we do it. This is the notion of kaizen, the Japanese practice of continuous business process reengineering.”

Lesson #5: “Get yourself a comfortable living, then do a little something to change the world”
In 1997, Microsoft approached Newmark with a proposal to start running banner ads on his site. Microsoft had recognized the growing popularity – and even greater potential – of Craigslist and wanted to get a piece of the action. But, like all of the venture capitalists that Newmark had already turned down, so too did he reject Microsoft’s offer.

The Top Ten Lies of Corporate Partners
In a manner of speaking, I’m running out of lies to tell. So far I’ve taken care of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, engineers, and marketers. The target of this posting is “corporate partners.” (You might find a previous posting, "The Art of Partnering" interesting.)

The Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs
I get pitched dozens of times every year, and every pitch contains at least three or four of these lies. I provide them not because I believe I can increase the level of honesty of entrepreneurs as much as to help entrepreneurs come up with new lies. At least new lies indicate a modicum of creativity!

The Top Ten Lies of Venture Capitalists
Venture capitalists are simple people: we've either decided to invest, and we are convincing ourselves that our gut is right (aka, “due diligence”) or there's not a chance in hell. While we may be simple, we're not necessarily forthcoming, so if you think it's hard to get a “yes” out of venture capitalist, you should try to get a conclusive “no.”

The Top Ten Things I Love Most About Woz
Woz and I did a one-on one-chat for the Commonwealth Club on November 16, 2006 as part of his iWoz book tour. It was one of the most enjoyable gigs that I’ve ever done. After the event, I compiled this list of the “Top Ten Things I Love Most About Woz.”

Founders at Work
This is a picture of my copy of Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days. It has broken my record for the “book with most stickies.” My system is that the stickies on the top edge are ideas for my next book, and the ones on the side are ideas for this blog. As you can see, it’s a gold mine for great stories about entrepreneurship. Here is a list of some of my favorites.

How to Get the Attention of a Venture Capitalist
At the Elite Retreat I gave an off-the-cuff answer to a question concerning getting the attention of venture capitalists. My buddy Wendy Piersall blogged about my answer, and it was a very popular. However, to truly help entrepreneurs, I’d like to provide a cogent list of the tips to get the attention of a venture capitalist.

The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint

I suffer from something called Ménière’s disease—don’t worry, you cannot get it from reading my blog. The symptoms of Ménière’s include hearing loss, tinnitus (a constant ringing sound), and vertigo. There are many medical theories about its cause: too much salt, caffeine, or alcohol in one’s diet, too much stress, and allergies. Thus, I’ve worked to limit control all these factors.

How to Write a Business Plan: Ten Questions with Tim Berry

I work in the surreal world of Silicon Valley where venture capitalists fund companies based on PowerPoint pitches and executive summaries. My friend Tim Berry rightfully pointed that business plans still serve an important role in "the rest of the world." He's right, and he should know because he's the president of Palo Alto Software, the principal creator of Business Plan Pro, and the author of a blog called Planning, Startups, Stories. He was recently named the US Association of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Corporate Entrepreneur of the Year for 2007.

The Top Ten (Sixteen) Lies of Lawyers
Like CEOs, marketers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists, lawyers tell their own specialized tales. Most of my experience is with lawyers who do work for tech entrepreneurs, so this is my focus.

Disrupt-Then-Reframe Selling: How to Close a VC?
Have you heard of the concept called “disrupt-then-reframe”? The theory is that you introduce a non-sequitur or unexpected element into your pitch and then immediately inject a call-to-action. The disruption theoretically neutralizes critical thinking and makes a person more susceptible to agree.

The Venture Capital Capital Calamity Thing

Yo, BusinessWeek, the Trouble with VCs is not a new story. And Web 2.0 is not a "legitimately exciting frontier". Nevertheless, it is good fun reading this wildly bearish piece about the venture capital business. It touches on some legit issues, and will get attention. The VC industry is at a crossroads, no question, but things also look way worse than they are if you look at the VC biz solely through an IT lens.

In Search of Inexperience
TechCrunch published a great guest post by Glenn Kelman, the CEO of Redfin, called “Entrepreneur 2.0.” It inspired me to piggyback on his idea that investing in “serial entrepeneurs” who have already been successful might not be all that it’s cracked up to be and write this post.

Top Ten Myths of Entrepreneurship

This is a guest post by Scott Shane as a follow up to his entrepreneurship test. He is the A. Malachi Mixon Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of seven books, the latest of which is The Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths That Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By. Many entrepreneurs believe a bunch of myths about entrepreneurship, so here are ten of the most common and the realities that bust them:

How to Pickup a Venture Capitalist
I wrote a list of pickup/opening lines to use on venture capitalists for the Sun Microsystems small business blog.

Guy's Index of Absurdity: The Top Ten Ways to Tell If Things Are Really Bad
The experts are promulgating many esoteric ways to determine the financial condition of the economy. It's irrational to base one's mood on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). After all, (a) what does that have to do with the real world? And (b) it reflects the buying (and selling) decisions of the same investment bankers who got us into this mess.

Insufficient Innovation: Where are the New Products?
Interesting piece by Michael Mandel making a case I've made idly in the past -- that maybe a cause of our current predicament is insufficient innovation. Really.

Give Your VCs Assignments

Over the weekend, Mark Suster wrote a great post titled How To Communicate with your Investors between Board Meetings. Mark continues to just tear it up with great advice for entrepreneurs. However, he left out one thing from the post – which is one of my favorite pieces of advice for entrepreneurs. Give your venture capitalists (and board members) assignments Mark alludes to this in many of his suggestions but he never comes out and says it. And, amazingly to me, many entrepreneurs either don’t ever think of this or don’t feel comfortable doing it. They should.

Entrepreneurs Raising Early Stage Venture Capital are in a Beauty Contest

Startup and Early Stage entrepreneurs must compete for the attention and limited capital available from angel investors and early stage venture capitalists. In many ways it can be compared to a Beauty Contest. The business fundamentals of a successful business are in place, but to be "picked" from the other companies also pitching those investors, that company must be the most attractive to that investor, that judge who will decide if the company qualifies to go to the next stage in the process.

The new paradigm for V.C. Investing

Venture Capitalists and Private Equity firms alike insist that they only way to garner return on investment is to exit. If you’re investing in businesses that have real revenues and are, or soon will be, profitable and cash flow positive, why don’t you hold the company in a portfolio and take returns in the form of annual dividends? Depending on an exit for a return on your investment seems the highest risk kind of investment of all.

Mistakes of Entrepreneurs
Are you an entrepreneur that is constantly failing in many business ventures? This article will provide the common mistakes that business marketers make and how to avoid them.

Network Marketing In The 21st Century
There are two types of people those who take action and those who let opportunity pass them by, which one are you? "If you're willing to do for a year what others won't, you can do for a lifetime what others CAN'T!" Entrepreneurship in Network Marketing or any other Business Adventure must have 4 things to be successful...

Brokers, Dealers, Private Lenders, and Venture Capital

A broker is defined as anyone who makes securities transactions for others. (The exception to this is a bank.) A dealer is defined as someone who buys and sells securities for their own account, through a broker or otherwise. Most entrepreneurs are looking for start-up capital and for someone else to raise capital for them on a straight commission, with no up-front fees. Only registered broker dealers, and Bona Fide employees, can legally solicit/sell securities for a company on straight commission, with no up-front fees. They always charge an up-front retainer, sometimes called due-diligence fees, before commencing. This fluctuates depending on the complexity of the transactions. Most brokers/dealers avoid startup and early stage companies. A Bona Fide employee cannot be paid commission from the sale of securities.

Dads Working From Home presents: I’ve decided to start a home business. What’s the first step?
Dads Working From Home presents: The 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions about Starting a Home Business #2: I’ve decided to start a home business. What’s the first step? We’ve all heard the old adage, “the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” Our goal today is to insure that your first step isn’t straight into the abyss.

Starting a Business During a Recession

When entrepreneurs start a new business they often have a nasty habit of paying little attention to whether or not the timing it right for that business idea. Some will start their business either way, no matter what the data (or the bozos) say. And some of those entrepreneurs are going to be successful in spite of the worst of odds. But today’s economic uncertainties actually puts the question of timing front and center in the entrepreneur’s minds eye.

Building Self Assurance
How Ellen Thompson built self assurance and maintained confident when it mattered.

Success with Angels: Ten Top Action Items
Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an Angel investor. Yet according to the latest data from AngelSoft, only about 1 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. If you follow these action items, you could be the next one.

Venture Capitalists – What Makes Them Tick?
Are you in the process of launching a business and having a major problems when it comes to financing. The difficulty is that even with a great idea and a great team of people, venture capital companies are hesitant to put any money into a company that is not already making millions. What can you do?

Entrepreneurs – Got A Great Business And Want To Capitalize As Quickly As Possible? Here’s Some Exit Strategy Ideas
Many business owners either with a new or established business are seeking to capitalize on their hard work and move onto other things. Some entrepreneurs are seeking capital from angel investors and need to provide suitable exit strategies within their business plans.

Eight Ways NOT To Write a Business Plan

Author Michael D. Jenkins, a CPA and attorney, has some advice to offer on some of the worst errors you should avoid when creating your business plan. Doing so should greatly improve your odds of having your business plan seriously considered and read, and of winning the financing you are seeking to obtain through such a document. The following article, excerpted from his book, "Starting and Operating a Business in California," describes 8 of the most common errors you should avoid when writing your business plan.

6 Ways To Fund Your New Business
Here are a few of the most common ways to finance a new business. All methods have pros and cons and some (or most) may not work for a specific situation. In any case one must always thoroughly investigate the ups and downs of any new venture before jumping in it with both feet.

Alternative Small Business Financing 101

When it comes to small business finance, the spotlight usually shines on the high profile world of venture capitalists and angel investors. Even the more traditional financing methods, such as small business bank loans, will get attention whenever the economic winds begin to shift. But what you may not realize is that there are plenty of alternative forms of financing available to small businesses.

7 Ways to Raise Small Business Startup Financing
Starting your own business takes cash. There are 7 ways to raise small business startup financing for your business. The good news is that there's no reason to let the need for cash derail your small business ideas.

A Look at Business Plans
What is the role of a Business and Marketing Plan as viewed by lenders whether they are traditional lenders, venture capitalists, angel investors or insurance companies? Some of the do's and don'ts in the development of the plan.

Sample Term Sheet
If the venture capitalists are interested, they will very quickly come up with a draft term sheet for you which gives an overview of the conditions under which they would make an investment in your company. (see next page for a sample term sheet).

Meeting With The Venture Capitalist
Meetings with venture capitalists are also referred to as “the dog & pony show.” It provides the first opportunity for investors to meet the management of your company face to face and assess the people behind the business. You could have a brilliant business plan backed by poor management. This will only become apparent to the venture capitalist in the meeting.

Contacting The Venture Capitalist

Venture capitalists are in business to make money. They have to have the ability to select companies that will make more money than their rivals. There are 2 types of companies. The first is a lifestyle business. These types of companies are centered around the lifestyle of the entrepreneurs. The owners will use the business to drive expensive cars and purchase big houses. These are not businesses that attract venture capital.

Venture Capital - Preparing The Plan

Make it so that your mother or grandmother can understand it. Entrepreneurs too often fill their business plans with of acronyms, tech terms, and buzz words. Intermediaries can usually tell after the first paragraph how difficult it will be to raise capital for your business. Condense what you do and what you want into a statement that you can make very promptly in seconds or minutes. If you cannot communicate quickly, you will lose the investor’s interest.

How To Valuate Your Business
The venture capitalists will usually look at your projected, or pro forma, earnings 3 to 5 years from the point of their investment. From there they will deduct a 30% annual return that they expect to receive and will subtract a further percentage for the fact that you are a private and therefore non liquid company. This is known as the pre-money valuation.

Venture Capital - Getting Ready
If you've ever wished you could sit down alone with an experienced venture capitalist and have them give you an inside track on exactly what they look for when funding projects, and how to give yourself an edge, this will be an important website for you.

Are You a Change Seeker? Make Your Skills Work for You
In terms of your career, are you always on the move? Do you quickly tire of repetitive tasks and working with the same people day in and day out? Do you jump from profession to profession, industry to industry, and job to job? If so, you are a change seeker.

Venture Capital. What is it?
Venture Capital is money invested in a higher risk business than most traditional lenders will consider lending money to.

Ask for advice and control your costs

Ask for advice. I had built a successful business in the past as an employee and was looking to find my entrepreneurial wings. I was able to put together a profile of myself and I didn’t approach venture capitalists specifically to find a company. I went to them and asked them for their council. I wanted their opinions as to where and how I might be able to leverage my assets. That partnership approach worked very well.

Equity Financing
Most small or growth-stage businesses use equity financing in a limited way. As with debt financing, most of the time additional equity comes from non-professional investors such as friends, relatives, employees, customers or industry colleagues.

Financing Basics

While poor management is cited most frequently as the reason businesses fail, inadequate or ill-timed financing is a close second. Whether you're starting a business or expanding one, sufficient ready capital is essential. But it is not enough to simply have sufficient financing; knowledge and planning are required to manage it well. These qualities ensure that entrepreneurs avoid common mistakes like securing the wrong type of financing, miscalculating the amount required, or underestimating the cost of borrowing money.

The Invisble Hand of Partnerships
Venture capitalists state the number one reason for not funding a new venture is 'lack of strategic partnership strategy'. Learn what leading VC firms look for in a venture pitch, the role they expect a CEO to play in creating partnerships, and how you can improve your chances of being funded by anticipating and answering critical partner development questions.

“Tips For Entrepreneurs In Selecting A Venture Capitalist”
As a business coach, I do get the opportunity from time to time to assist, guide and facilitate the search for venture capital and venture capital firms. Recently I have been involved in doing just that and here are some tips on what characteristics to look for when searching for venture capitalists. Characteristics of a good venture capitalist should include:

Funding Resources
Many entrepreneurs only seek venture capitalists or angel investors for their new business projects. By doing that, they leave one valuable alternative on the table; namely, the opportunity to start or expand their business via a joint venture.

Venture Capitalists – Are They A Good Idea For A New Company?
You have your great business idea but it is going to take a load of money to get started so what are your options? Well Venture Capitalists are one source of funding, but you need to understand what venture funding might do to your company.

October 2011 Top 50 Venture Capitalists to Follow on Twitter
This is a list of the top 50 recommended venture capitalists to follow on Twitter for October 2011.

November 2011 Top 50 Venture Capitalists to Follow on Twitter
This is a list of the top 50 recommended venture capitalists to follow on Twitter for November 2011.

January 2012 Top 100 Venture Capitalists to Follow on Twitter
This is a list of the top 100 recommended venture capitalists to follow on Twitter for January 2012.

February 2012 Top 100 Venture Capitalists to Follow on Twitter
This is a list of the top 100 recommended venture capitalists to follow on Twitter for February 2012.

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