10.03.06
Funny and scary video
Not sure what’s funnier/scarier, the video, or the fact that I’m guilty of at least 50% of the Nerd’s accomplishments?
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Plenty of room for another Google - of video search
“CastTV Will Revolutionize Video Search”
Arrington writes some pretty strong words about this one. I’m bummed I couldn’t play with it too. How will a Google-level video search engine change the current paradigm? Talk about the outdated program guide!
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I’m just shaking my head
“Demand Media raises $100M for Web site land grab”
Demand Media, the company pursuing the audacious strategy of buying up a bunch of generic Web sites that have no staff generating real content of their own — to throw advertising on them — has raised another $100 million.
No wonder why entrepreneurs new to fund-raising think they can raise $1M over lunch.
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10.02.06
You know MySpace is big when Cops post a page
“Police Department’s Web Site On MySpace
The Haverhill Police Department hopes to enlist the younger generation to help catch criminals by posting the department’s Web site on the popular MySpace.
Why not?
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There’s gold in them thar food trays
“Young Entrepreneur Turns Trash into Cash”
Phillip Tapia launched Tray Display Advertising Inc. into a business in 2004 from the basement of his home. Tapia designed and developed a new advertising concept that turned trash into cash. Tapia has agreed to sell advertising space on the tray liners (placemats) , that Wendy’s use to serve all dine-in customers.
My lesson here is that there’s oppty all around you. Just open your eyes.
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09.29.06
Is podcasting a business?
I have a personal interest in podcasting and so Podshow’s recent $15M B-round definitely raised my eyebrows. Assuming that purchase was for 20% of the company, that’s pegging their valuation at about $75M. That implies that they think they will be worth $750M in 5 years. (These assumptions are just taking basic VC rules of thumb like a 10x return in 5 years and never sell more than 20% of the company at any given round).
Assuming that DAG Ventures is not stupid, this seems to indicate that Podshow may in fact be on to something. It must also mean that advertisers are happy with their podcast advertising ROI.
I always wondered how well a podcast audience responds to the right kind of advertising. This seems to indicate that people aren’t hitting the fast forward button (as I do).
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08.14.06
Quick thought on Executive Summaries
Many Exec Summs I read are either too long or too wordy. Here’s some bullets/thoughts to keep in mind when writing yours:
- Its purpose is to give the investor enough to see if they are interested.
- It’s not to give in-depth info, that’s what the pitch/slides/businessPlan is for.
- In many ways, you want to give enough to get them interested, enough for them to say “hey, lets look more into this”.
- Investors are pretty smart and they can go through something really quickly and know whether they are interested or not.
- The ES’ purpose is to state the plan in a quick and easy-to-digest way so they don’t have to think or move around it to get what they need to know.
- LESS is ALWAYS better. Why? Because it forces you to only keep what’s absolutely necessary, allowing the reader/investor to cut through the fat and get to the meat in the quickest way.
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08.04.06
How much of your own money have you invested?
I remember one presentation made by a CEO who had claimed to take several companies public beforehand, yet here he was pitching to raise a relatively small amount of money that someone with his alleged previous success would have easily been able to self-fund. When the investors asked him why he didn’t just fund his own venture, his answer was, “My wife won’t let me”. I’m sure he was telling the truth (my wife won’t let me invest in all the deals I want to either), but he definitely lost a lot of points with some of the investors in the audience.
This simple question (How much of your own money have you put in the venture) is an obvious one that you should be prepared to answer. In addition to looking for the direct answer, investors are also trying to subliminally find out:
How successful have you been on your previous ventures?
If you have presented a history of previous successes, you must have money in the bank, right? If you don’t have money in the bank, then you either didn’t make as much money as your success claimed, or you spent it all on something else.
How confident are you in your current venture?
An obvious point, but extremely important nonetheless. If you’re raising $X and asking investors to pony up their money, surely you have already stepped up to the plate. If you don’t have money in the bank, did you mortgage the house to raise capital? Hock the car?
If you haven’t invested any of your own money, don’t skirt the question and exceed expectations by proactively addressing the subliminal questions. Some investors will disqualify you right away regardless, but if you have an honest and compelling story that answers both the direct and subliminal questions, you may be able to come out of it alive.
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07.11.06
I’m not the only one that thinks Google is for search only
A while back I wrote that Google is trying to do too much and hardly succeeding at anything other than search.
Its nice to see someone else agreeing with me. Read Don Dodge’s “Google a one trick pony?”
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Listen to a live pitch to real VCs
Here’s a cool post “Gnomedex 6: Should TagJag be funded ?” from Jeff Clavier that talks about how Chris Pirillo had the creative idea to do a live pitch to VCs about his company TagJag. I suggest you read it as the basic advice is excellent, pointing out many mistakes that entrepreneurs make. Also, listen to the mp3 file of the presentation.
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