Subscribe via Email
Follow Us On TwitterPosts Tagged ‘investor’
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Reid Hoffman
by Scott Edward Walker on March 14th, 2012
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we post a short video presentation or interview of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics to help entrepreneurs succeed. This week, we again present Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, a partner at Greylock and a brilliant entrepreneur.
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Mark Pincus
by Scott Edward Walker on February 15th, 2012
To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we again present Mark Pincus, the founder and CEO of Zynga and a brilliant entrepreneur.
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Richard Branson
by Scott Edward Walker on January 27th, 2012To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group and one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world.
In this interesting, four-minute clip, Richard shares a few solid insights for founders, including the importance of (i) being a great listener and motivator; (ii) understanding the “thin dividing line” between success and failure; and (iii) effective delegation.
I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Elon Musk
by Scott Edward Walker on January 20th, 2012To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Elon Musk, a brilliant entrepreneur and the co-founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors and Space Exploration Technologies.
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Steve Jobs
by Scott Edward Walker on December 9th, 2011To 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. This week, we again present Steve Jobs, arguably the greatest entrepreneur who ever lived. Indeed, I just finished reading his biography by Walter Isaacson (which I highly recommend for all entrepreneurs), and I found this old video to share with you. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Phil Libin
by Scott Edward Walker on November 23rd, 2011To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we share a favorite video clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics. This week, we present Phil Libin, co-founder and CEO of Evernote, and a very intelligent and engaging entrepreneur.
Should I Use My Investor’s Lawyer?
by Scott Edward Walker on August 31st, 2011Introduction
This post was originally part of the “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs). Please shoot me any questions you may have in the comments section – or feel free to call me directly at 415-979-9998 (San Francisco) or 310-288-6667 (Los Angeles). Thanks, Scott
Question
We’re a startup based in Palo Alto, and we just received a Series A term sheet for a $725,000 investment. The investor is kind of insisting that we use his lawyer at a big Valley firm to represent us. He said that he doesn’t need a lawyer, and this will save us a lot of money. We’re first time entrepreneurs, and we don’t know if this is standard practice and what we should do. Any advice would be appreciated.
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Jason Nazar
by Scott Edward Walker on May 18th, 2011To 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.
This week, we present Jason Nazar, the Co-Founder and CEO of Docstoc.com and a very impressive entrepreneur. Indeed, there is a lot you can learn from Jason, including his extraordinary talent in building relationships.
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Jason Calacanis
by Scott Edward Walker on April 27th, 2011To 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 Reporter, Weblogs, TechCrunch 50, Mahalo, 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
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Joe Liemandt
by Scott Edward Walker on April 20th, 2011To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series entitled “Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed.” Each week, we post a clip of a successful entrepreneur, investor or business leader on a variety of topics to help entrepreneurs succeed.
This week, we present Joe Liemandt, the founder and CEO of Trilogy. In this amazing audio clip (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner), Joe discusses how we dropped out of Stanford in his senior year to launch Trilogy and other great stories. This is an inspiring, must-hear podcast for entrepreneurs. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Scott Belsky
by Scott Edward Walker on March 16th, 2011To 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 Scott Belsky, who is the founder and CEO of Behance and the author of Making Ideas Happen. In this interesting, three-minute clip, Scott discusses the importance of marketing. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Scott Belsky: Don’t Let Your Genius Go Unnoticed from 99% on Vimeo.
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Bill Gross
by Scott Edward Walker on March 8th, 2011To 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.
This week, we present Bill Gross, the founder and CEO of Idealab and a brilliant serial entrepreneur. In this interesting, six-minute clip (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner), Bill discusses the complementary skills necessary for a successful management team, including the respective roles of the entrepreneur (E), the producer (P), the administrator (A), and the integrator (I). I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Fred Destin
by Scott Edward Walker on March 2nd, 2011To 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 Fred Destin, a partner at Atlas Venture and a smart investor (and a good guy). In this interesting presentation in Berlin last year, Fred discusses how to pitch your startup to investors, including (i) honing your story, (ii) how to get past “no”, (iii) the importance of a business model and (iv) traction. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Hacking Venture Capital – Fred Destin – pt1 from Seedcamp on Vimeo.
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: William Sahlman
by Scott Edward Walker on January 31st, 2011To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “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 William Sahlman, a professor at Harvard Business School and a very intelligent, engaging guy. In this interesting, three-minute clip from a few years ago (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner), Bill discusses, among other things, (i) the importance of the “relentless pursuit of opportunity” and (ii) how “ideas are a dime a dozen and execution is all that matters.” I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Aaron Levie
by Scott Edward Walker on January 24th, 2011To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “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 Aaron Levie, the Co-Founder and CEO of Box.net and a smart, engaging entrepreneur. In this interesting, three-minute clip (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner), Aaron discusses how he launched Box from his dorm room and how he had the guts to quit college to pursue his dream. I love this clip because it’s another example of the importance of guts – which I addressed in my recent post, “What Makes a Great Entrepreneur?” I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Marc Andreessen
by Scott Edward Walker on January 17th, 2011To Our Clients & Friends: Welcome to our weekly series “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 again present Marc Andreessen, a brilliant entrepreneur and co-founder and general partner of the venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz; he is also co-founder and chairman of Ning. In this interesting, two-minute clip (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner), Marc discusses the general criteria for a successful, high-tech startup: (i) Is there a big market? (ii) Is there a “10x change” happening in the landscape? and (iii) Is the team outstanding? I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Randy Komisar
by Scott Edward Walker on January 3rd, 2011To 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 Randy Komisar, a partner at Kleiner Perkins and a very smart investor. In this interesting, eight-minute clip (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner from a few years back), Randy discusses the magic of Silicon Valley and its “culture of constructive failure.” I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Steve Blank
by Scott Edward Walker on December 20th, 2010To 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 again present startup guru Steve Blank, a retired, highly-successful serial entrepreneur (with 30+ years of venture experience) and one of the smartest startup guys out there. In this powerful clip, Steve discusses, among other things, (i) the importance of hubris, vision and passion; (ii) how entrepreneurship is a “calling” – “not a job”; (iii) the importance of getting out of the building to learn what the customer wants; and (iv) how a startup is “nothing more than a series of guesses.” I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Sheryl Sandberg
by Scott Edward Walker on December 6th, 2010To 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 Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and a brilliant thinker. In this interesting, three-minute clip (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner), Sheryl discusses leadership, including (i) the importance of getting passion and “true enthusiasm” from your team, (ii) how to be a great leader and (iii) the sine qua non of leadership: vision (and “one that scales”). I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Scott Belsky
by Scott Edward Walker on November 29th, 2010To 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 Scott Belsky, the founder and CEO of Behance and the author of the best-selling book Making Ideas Happen. In this interesting, four-minute interview with Henry Blodget (courtesy of Business Insider), Scott discusses (i) why he quit Goldman Sachs to launch a startup: (ii) his desire “to do what he loves”: and (iii) the value of startup experience. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Dennis Crowley
by Scott Edward Walker on November 16th, 2010To 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 Dennis Crowley, co-Founder and CEO of foursquare and a very smart and successful entrepreneur. In this interesting three-minute clip from a couple of years ago, Dennis discusses, among other things, (i) what foursquare is, (ii) early growth and (iii) hot-spots. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott
Walker Twitter Highlights: November 7th – 13th
by Scott Edward Walker on November 14th, 2010I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting blog posts, articles and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship & startups, mergers & acquisitions, and business & corporate law issues.
For those of you who missed this week’s Twitter updates, below are my five most popular tweets (via bit.ly) and my blog-related tweets. If you’d like to see all of my tweets (or an RSS feed of them), you can do so here. Thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Michael Dell
by Scott Edward Walker on November 8th, 2010To 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 Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers and a brilliant entrepreneur. In this interesting three-minute clip, Michael advises entrepreneurs and startups (i) to experiment and to try things (and to learn as much as you possible), (ii) to understand that it’s OK to fail, (iii) to view tough times as an opportunity and (iv) to know what you’re good at. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks, Scott
Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed: Mark Suster
by Scott Edward Walker on November 1st, 2010To 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 Mark Suster, a partner at GRP Partners, the founder of Launchpad LA and blogger extraordinaire. In this interesting, five-minute clip (courtesy of Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner), Mark discusses, among other things, (i) the difficulty of getting started; (ii) how being an entrepreneur is “not sexy”; and (iii) the importance of choosing a venture you are passionate about. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks, Scott