30 comments

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  CCjudy

  5 months ago

  Hiring and keeping people in this climate in this Paradigm requires a fresh approach a clean and clear strategy that attracts people into your space
  ccjudy
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  Kylie Sachs

  5 months ago

  How about Business Model 2.0? What are the unique new ways web 2.0 companies have created to make money from (and between) businesses and consumers? Both top line and bottom line...are there news ways to generate revenue and are web 2.0 models inherently more profitable?
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  doke01

  5 months ago

  I'd be interested in the following:
  
  Team building prior to funding...techniques to build your team from outside of your circle of influence, determining team member strength, etc.
  
  Marketing and business development...you can copy others, pay for the expertise or just throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks. What is the best and most efficient method to determine where your most profitable business path lies?
  
  Pay for privacy...thoughts on whether this could evolve into a strong business model?
  
  Factors in growth...what causes growth, how do you control growth, determining whether enough growth exists for an entity to be profitable.
  
  Business models as services continue to expand across the web and become more decentralized...Diskus, MyBlogLog, etc.
  
  The Twitter problem and what impact its resolution will have on web services and products. Great segway into when to bring in outside expertise, the power of evangelism, rapid execution and innovation, etc.
  
  If this is not the direction you were planning for the workshop to take let me know. I am full of questions.
  
  - Doug K.
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  fredwilson

  5 months ago

  Great stuff. This workshop is going to a must attend with ideas like this coming in
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  albert

  5 months ago

  Great list indeed -- many thanks!
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  Shawn Broderick

  5 months ago

  Can the Internet Survive Making the Implicit Bargain Explicit?
  
  The Internet (in most of the world) has been built on an implicit bargain between users and the sites they use: that services will generally be provided for free in exchange for those users giving up some of their privacy and personal data (an email address, their clickstream on that site (and/or others), etc. etc.), which data will then get leveraged for marketing purposes.
  
  The model evolved out of broadcast media, but in broadcast media, the level of data being shared by the individual is nearly nil. People are starting to understand that this tradeoff exists. Behaviorally targeted marketing and services that scrape information about you are leveraging this data. Will the implicit bargain hold as it becomes more and more explicit and folks begin to understand the privacy tradeoffs?
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  vrao423

  5 months ago

  Revenue or Users....when should a start-up focus on users and when should it focus on finding revenue
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  fredwilson

  5 months ago

  Ah. Good one.
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  Tom

  5 months ago

  It seems a common question people always have is when to go it alone, when to raise money, when to start looking for investors, that sort of thing. What about a few case studies on some companies that raised money/decided not to raise money. Give people some ideas on why it might be a bad idea to spend your time raising money, and when it might be helpful. Explain why you would want to raise money, and give people some tools for examining their own businesses a little more closely to figure out what might be best for them.
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  Mike

  5 months ago

  I second the revenue vs users topic.
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  albert

  5 months ago

  Something that we often discuss internally and with our portfolio companies.
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  jeremiahsjamison

  5 months ago

  I'd love to hear very specific, detailed, and concrete examples of your 'greatest hits' on the following:
  
  -companies that have walked the razor's edge that balance the need to execute super fast (hiring, building, selling, etc.) with the need to build an organization that is sustainable/built to last.
  -many experienced vc's such as yourself will talk about the many cases where companies get started on a viable path, when the ground shifts, and customers want something different. (paypal is a canonical example.) as an experienced investor in early stage companies, can you describe some of those experiences. also can you reflect on the process and qualities needed by entrepreneurs (beside a strong will to survive <g>) that you see as common or interesting in order for a business team to shift focus successfully from what they thought they were building to what it turns out customers want. this is a tricky wicket--i'd love to hear your viewpoints on this.
  - any business person's most important asset is her/his time. yet despite how crazy busy we all are--especially hi tech vcs or entrepreneurs--i still see many people doing time decretive stuff. how do you maximize yours? what are tips and tricks you've seen other entrepreneurs do to save time. note--this is specifically not about saving money--anyone can work on a door and sawhorses. i'm talking about saving time...
  
  thanks, love your blogs. good luck with the conference.
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  albert

  5 months ago

  All great suggestions - thanks!
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  Steve Barsh

  5 months ago

  Making sure that companies are not "pitching too early." I see many, many start-ups doing what I call "pre-mature pitching." They have not yet spent enough time creating an extremely compelling value proposition, and there are so many assumptions (risks) all over their business model (e.g., market demand, pricing, differentiators/positioning will work, etc).. There are many easy, "out of box" techniques that start-ups can use to "de-risk" (as Josh Kopelman likes to say) their business model before even going after angel or VC money. This way the entrepreneur has a lot more data / info / fodder when they do start pitching -- great info to include in their pitch decks. This is all easy to do and costs very, very little. The techniques are great and helpful for both the entrepreneurs AND the VC's. I am giving a brief version of this talk at Supernova in SFO today. I am based out of Philly (camping out at First Round Capital) and would be happy to come and do a 30 minute talk on this at NYC Web 2.0 Expo in September. Let me know.
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  albert

  5 months ago

  Steve - would love to learn more about your talk - this is an interesting area. Definitely important for entrepreneurs to understand how VCs think about risk. But firms and even individuals at firms differ widely in how early they like to meet with folks.
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  ceonyc

  5 months ago

  I actually disagree here... I think you should pitch early and often, and stacking the deck full of data isn't necessarily going to improve your chances of getting money. The key is that you don't walk in the door asking for money... you walk in the door just sharing what you're up to, asking for feedback, advice, introductions, perspective, etc. Too many companies try for the three run homer when small ball will do.
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  Steve Barsh

  5 months ago

  Great comments CEONYC. As long as the *expectations* are set as to the objectives of meeting with a VC, I completely agree with what you are saying. I'm just not sure I would call what you describe as a "pitch." So, what are the objectives of the meetings and expectations of both parties? I take meetings all the time with entrepreneurs and start-ups where it's not a pitch, they just want my feedback. That's fine and I am more than happy to do that. Then again, I am in meetings frequently where it is a pitch, and IMHO they are "pitching too early."
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  ceonyc

  5 months ago

  You're right.
  
  That's why I think the best way to raise money is to never pitch. :)
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  fredwilson

  5 months ago

  I'm with charlie on this one. You just need to set the expectations low in the early discussions. Don't ask for the order. Ask for interest in what you are doing
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  Steve Barsh

  5 months ago

  Happy to tell you more / discuss. I will be in NYC for the NY Venture Summit (June 24-25) next week. Do you have time to get together? My contact info can be found at http://www.stevebarsh.com.
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  Danvers

  5 months ago

  Managing your professional advisors: deals you should negotiate with your lawyers/accountants/PR, what to use them for and when to do it yourself. How to brief them and how to handle them during a project.
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  petemeyers

  5 months ago

  I second the "when to go it alone vs. seek investors" topic.
  
  Another interesting discussion would be about valuation models across individual categories (ad networks / social networks / widget and apps, etc.)
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  Andy Forbes

  5 months ago

  Luck goes to the prepared - in your minds, what constitutes "preparation"? I have worked for half a dozen startups and I have seen many ways to fail and a couple ways to succeed. The successes, quite frankly, seemed to depend more on having experienced and well connected management, directors, and advisors than having a “cool” or patentable idea. I’d be curious to hear what you think the top three items are in your “prepared for success” list.
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  Steve Barsh

  5 months ago

  Definition of luck?
  * Being in the right place
  * At the right time
  * With the right ingredients
  I find that luck usually does not happen by accident. Yes, sometimes there is "dumb luck," but most of the time it's not. So, you make luck happen. You work hard, work smart, have a plan, and adapt the plan. In essence, you "open windows of opportunity" and jump through them and make luck happen.
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  ceonyc

  5 months ago

  I think this is something really undervalued... Today, just about anyone can build something, and lately it's been a lot of inexperienced industry "outsiders". Not to say that's bad, because that's often where innovation comes from, but sometimes its easier to change an industry from within and with partners as well.
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  Mike

  5 months ago

  Fred,
  
  What about a topic on launching a company in stealth mode vs open source mode. What are the advantages vs disadvantages of each, what types of companies should launch in stealth mode, which ones shouldn't, etc..
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  albert

  5 months ago

  Charlie will be able to provide a lot of insight on the open mode - would be good to find someone who has done a stealth approach startup.
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  Brian T

  5 months ago

  I think it would be helpful to discuss structuring funding. And talking the pros and cons of financing with friends and family, convertible notes, stock, and incorporation types. I think there a lot of us out there who know business and work hard and smart and have great ideas but aren't finance experts. This could ruin a great idea or a great company if not set up right and and could prevent larger funding later down the road. (not to mention thousands in legal fees)
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  Jim Hirshfield

  5 months ago

  Start-Up Failure - The Cost of an Education
  
  What lessons have been learned by the serial entrepreneur who has failed?
  Are those lessons teachable?
  Can we learn more from the failed start-ups or the successful ones?
  With so much knowledge on how to succeed, why do most fail?
  Is a back-up plan wise or is it "planning to fail"?
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  Kjelene Magnell Bertrand

  5 months ago

  Hi Jim,
  I'm creating and hosting a radio show starting mid July. I will be interviewing business owners and service providers here in the Albany New York market. This is an amazing opportunity for me personally as well as helping our "Backbone of America" get the word out about their product or service. For the listener, my show will be a good old fashioned talk show, stimulating converstation, entertaining and informative. I would want to speak with those that failed with their start-ups. I own my own business as well. I can tell you that funding is an important and crucial aspect of continuing my vision.
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