Posts Tagged ‘Jason Calacanis’

Is the House Crowdfunding Bill Being Killed in the Senate?

by Scott Edward Walker on March 1st, 2012

“The Senate is the place where bills go to die.” Bill Maher

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Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Jason Calacanis

by Scott Edward Walker on April 27th, 2011

To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series entitled “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.”  Each week, we post a short video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics to help entrepreneurs succeed.

This week, we present Jason Calacanis, a highly-successful entrepreneur, angel investor and founder of Silicon Alley ReporterWeblogsTechCrunch 50Mahalo, ThisWeekIn.com and Launch.  In this very interesting, recent presentation at the California Institute of Technology, Jason shares some extraordinary words of wisdom for entrepreneurs, including:

  • Ideas mean little – execution is everything;
  • Iteration is much more important than inspiration or ideas;
  • Focus is overrated – and pivoting is underrated;
  • Hard work is the most critical part of being an entrepreneur, coupled with resiliency;
  • Execution is critical to raising money;
  • The selection of a domain name is an important “tell”; and
  • When you pivot proactively, that’s when you really become a great entrepreneur.

I hope you enjoy it.  Many thanks, Scott

How Do I Raise Seed Capital If I Don’t Know Any Investors? (Part 3) – AngelList

by Scott Edward Walker on November 10th, 2010

Introduction

This post is part 3 of my three-part series: “How do I raise seed capital if I don’t know any investors?”  In part 1, I discussed the importance of hustling and building relationships in order to get warm introductions to investors.  In part 2, I discussed some of the different mentorship and seed capital programs, including Y Combinator and TechStars.  In this post, I will discuss applying directly to a relatively new site called “AngelList.”

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5 Common Mistakes in Pitch Decks

by Scott Edward Walker on September 29th, 2010

Introduction

Pitch Deck

As a corporate lawyer for entrepreneurs, I am often asked to review “pitch decks” or “decks.”  A deck is a collection of PowerPoint slides created by founders to raise funds from investors.  The deck can be sent to investors as a stand-alone document (e.g., via email) or it can be used in conjunction with an in-person presentation.  I am generally happy to give my input with respect to decks — with the caveat that I’m a lawyer, not an investor.  That being said, here are five common mistakes that I often see:

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ODE TO OAF: A Personal Tribute to Jason Calacanis, Tyler Crowley & the Angels

by Scott Edward Walker on May 19th, 2010

In the spirit of entrepreneurship (and fun), I wrote the following poem about my experience at last night’s Open Angel Forum.  (more…)