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Browse: Home / startup lessons

startup lessons

Understanding the Rich Tapestry of American Culture as Experienced Through Food

Understanding the Rich Tapestry of American Culture as Experienced Through Food

By Mark Suster on April 12, 2016

  Like many immigrant families and many Jewish families I grew up around a kitchen table, often outside my house and experiencing food, culture, life and other people through meals. I remember fondly my dad (from Colombia) wanting to eat out of the house and experience the best multi-cultural foods one could actually find in […]

Posted in Featured Posts, Trends & Concepts | Tagged startup lessons

An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

By Mark Suster on March 30, 2016

$30 million. That’s how much Invoca raised and we’re announcing it today. It is an heroic accomplishment in a brutal fund-raising market in which only market leaders can bring in that sort of money. But the story started more than 6 months ago. And the narrative may tell you something about your own journey one […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged startup lessons

How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

By Mark Suster on March 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. We also know that even though many of us who are experienced in startup successes & failures look at businesses and say, […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged startup lessons

Why You Should Put Yourself Out There and Try New Products

Why You Should Put Yourself Out There and Try New Products

By Mark Suster on March 7, 2016

  In 2006 I started using Facebook and most of my friends & colleagues thought I was strange. They thought it was like MySpace and why did I need a MySpace page? In 2007 I started using Twitter and most of my friends & colleagues wondered why people would care what I ate for lunch. […]

Posted in Featured Posts, Trends & Concepts | Tagged startup lessons, Tech Market Analysis

What Do LPs Think of the Venture Capital Markets for 2016?

What Do LPs Think of the Venture Capital Markets for 2016?

By Mark Suster on March 2, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. While I’m not an LP, the following post represents my discussions with more than 100 LP firms – specifically ones that do fund […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged Andreessen Horowitz, investment, silicon valley, Startup company, startup lessons, venture capital

Spotting, Nurturing and Mentoring Talent – The Power of Troy Carter

Spotting, Nurturing and Mentoring Talent – The Power of Troy Carter

By Mark Suster on February 26, 2016

I recently sat down with Troy Carter to talk about what he does and why he believes it is applicable to venture capital. The “what” is well known in LA circles – Troy discovered a little known young singer named Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta aka Lady Gaga and helped her launch her career. The “what” […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged startup lessons

So What is The Right Level of Burn Rate for a Startup These Days?

So What is The Right Level of Burn Rate for a Startup These Days?

By Mark Suster on February 17, 2016

There is much talk these days that startup valuations have decreased and may continue to do so and that the amount of time it takes to fund raise may take longer. As I have pointed out in previous posts, 91% of VCs surveyed believe prices are declining (30% believe substantially) and 77% believe that funding […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged startup lessons

What Most People Don’t Understand About How Startup Companies are Valued

What Most People Don’t Understand About How Startup Companies are Valued

By Mark Suster on February 15, 2016

There is much discussion online and also in small, private groups, about why the price of technology companies – public and private – are falling. Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization. And two big changes have happened […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged startup lessons

The One Video Every Silicon Valley Investor Should Watch

The One Video Every Silicon Valley Investor Should Watch

By Mark Suster on February 10, 2016

There was so much great content at the Upfront Summit but I think one that held a special place in minds of most people I talked to was our panel on diversity led by my partner Hamet Watt (<– what? you’re not following him?). The message of the panel was very clear – “We don’t need your help. […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged startup lessons

The Resetting of the Startup Industry

The Resetting of the Startup Industry

By Mark Suster on February 8, 2016

Much has changed in the past four months of the technology startup world and how outsiders value the business. Of course it’s too early to predict whether this is a trend or an aberration but the smartest people I know in the industry are predicting the former. The startup industry may be “resetting,” which doesn’t […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged startup lessons

Why I’ve Shifted More Attention to Facebook

Why I’ve Shifted More Attention to Facebook

By Mark Suster on January 24, 2016

I’ve been spending a lot more time on Facebook as a blogger than I ever did. So I thought it was worth explaining why. And I’m going to cross post this entire post on Facebook as an experiment rather than just posting a link on FB and trying to drive people to my blog. If […]

Posted in Application Software, Featured Posts | Tagged facebook, linkedin, startup lessons, twitter

Why The Next Generation of Online Video Companies Will be Vertical

Why The Next Generation of Online Video Companies Will be Vertical

By Mark Suster on January 13, 2016

Mitu Network is the largest digital media company for Latinos in the US and also targeting Mexico and South America. Founded in Los Angeles by Latinos to address the growing demand for short-form online video for Millennials it is probably single-handedly improving the diversity of the tech industry as the employee base is overwhelmingly Latino and proud. […]

Posted in Application Software, Featured Posts | Tagged startup lessons

How to Turn a FanBoy into a Hater in 5 Minutes: Lessons from the New WaPo

How to Turn a FanBoy into a Hater in 5 Minutes: Lessons from the New WaPo

By Mark Suster on January 7, 2016

Like many of you I read in awe about the accomplishments of the Washington Post since Jeff Bezos acquired the company two years ago. The killer chart is below: In the article it raved particularly about the WaPo’s amazing mobile app and how Bezos personally intervened to get the team to improve loading times – […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged startup lessons

An old school bronze justice scale with stacks of us dollar money on one side and a few crumpled notes on the other representing the inequality in the income gap an isolated white background

Why I Don’t Celebrate Income Inequality

By Mark Suster on January 6, 2016

What drives economic inequality in the US? Should we be concerned about the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few at the expense of the many? I am not writing about this out of the blue – this seems to be the topic of the day in my social stream based on blogs […]

Posted in Business, Featured Posts | Tagged Capital gains tax, Income Inequality, startup lessons, wealth, Wealth tax | 1 Response

Some Thoughts on Leadership Going into 2016

Some Thoughts on Leadership Going into 2016

By Mark Suster on January 4, 2016

Having time to think about “leadership” at most startups feels like a luxury. It feels like something you could turn your attention to once you have tens of millions of dollars and a large staff to run operations and you could step back from it all and think about how to lead. The reality of […]

Posted in Featured Posts, Trends & Concepts | Tagged leadership, startup lessons

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