I just got off the phone with Mike Stonebraker. It was a very special and somewhat emotional conversation. You see, it was just announced that Mike has won the $1 Million Turing Award. It is the “Nobel Peace Prize of Computing.” Every year, for about ten years, Mike has been nominated for the prize and
Category: Technology and VC
Dear VC Associate…. Here’s How You Get Promoted
Over the years, it has been a blast to meet many people, including those in the VC industry. Sometimes, people come to me for career advice. I take very seriously those conversations, and I’m sworn to secrecy on the details. A question I get from VC Associates is this: how do I get promoted? So,
How I Negotiate Term Sheets as a VC
Over time, I’ve developed a certain approach to negotiating term sheets with entrepreneurs. The whole “email a term sheet document” back and forth method seemed inefficient to me. And, it put too much focus on redline edits rather than listening to each other. So, I don’t trade paper as a starting point. Here’s what I
Your VC Isn’t Enthusiastic. What to Do?
Sometimes, VCs behave in puzzling ways. Say you’re an entrepreneur, and you’ve made good progress with your company. But, you sense your VC isn’t jumping up and down. My advice? Take that VC out for a coffee or a meal and ask him/her this question: How are we doing relative to other companies in that
Why Your B2B Cost Strategy Must ‘Fit’
Your B2B cost strategy must match your B2B revenue model, or your business model won’t click. Let me explain. I wrote in the past about B2B revenue models (here) and the differences between the perpetual licensing and subscription pricing models. The summary is this. If you charge $1 for your software, a licensing model lets you get that
No Free Lunch with Venture Debt
I sometimes hear entrepreneurs extol venture debt because it is “free money.” Low interest, non-dilutive capital. In my experience, there’s no free lunch in the capital markets. That’s certainly the case with venture debt. The interest is low for a reason. Venture debt is simply a loan. There are interest and warrants attached. There are