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by Steven Loeb - February 19, 2013
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How Vinod Khosla pitched Sun Microsystems

by Bambi Francisco Roizen, May 8, 2008 | Comments (1)

High-profile VC shares the virtues of a short and sweet business plan

We had highlighted Vinod Khosla's "lessons learned" in our newsroom last year, when he advised entrepreneurs to have "passionate conviction." This time, for his lessons to entrepreneurs, Vinod talks about how he pitched Sun Microsystem to investors about 25 years ago. Vinod started Sun with his cofounders Scott McNealy, Andy Bechtolsheim, and Bil Joy. According to Vinod, a short and ...

Tips for U.S. startups looking to break into markets in China

by David Howard, March 28, 2008 | Comments

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Young tech companies have frequently used the "Road Warrior" approach to sell into China, by flying a U.S.-based Asia-Pacific sales rep back and forth across the Pacific. Popping up in Shanghai one day and Shenzen the next, these Mad Maxes are subject to burnout and not nearly as effective as having an in-country presence.Others startups have tried setting up in Hong Kong. Still, costs there are rising along with inflation, and as the Chinese market has grown, many customers are ...

Lessons Learned: Conde.net's Kourosh Karimkhany on what makes a strong startup team

by John Shinal, March 4, 2008 | Comments

Kourosh Karimkhany, head of corporate development at Conde.net, tells Vator.tv's Bambi Francisco in this interview that a startup CEO shouldn't be afraid to surround themselves with people who are at least as smart as they are."What's important is that they not be afraid to delegate decision-making to these people," says Karimkhany, who in this earlier interview handicapped the state of the acquisition market for online media properties.

Lessons Learned: Momentum Venture Management's Matt Ridenour

by Bambi Francisco Roizen, February 18, 2008 | Comments

	Matt Ridenour of Momentum Venture Management shares his lessons, both as an entrepreneur and an investor, with Vator.tv's Bambi Francisco.
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Lessons Learned: Google's IPO architect shares advice on exits

by Bambi Francisco Roizen, February 12, 2008 | Comments

Former investment banker, venture capitalist and analyst, Lise Buyer, is no stranger to controversial IPOs. About five years ago, she was a key architect of Google's unconventional, auction-styled initial offering. It was a formative time for her and the experience helped shape her new role as a consultant to companies that need guidance through the IPO process. I caught up with Lise at the Citibank media conference in Arizona recently. She gave me her video pitch for her new consulting ...

Lessons Learned: Carlyle Group's Bob Grady on markets and people

by John Shinal, January 22, 2008 | Comments

Know your market; the sources of capital are your partners; hire the best people

Bob Grady, who heads the Carlyle Group's investments in venture and growth capital, has been watching startup companies succeed and fail for two decades.Before joining the huge private equity firm, Grady was a managing director at Robertson Stephens, the one-time San Francisco-based technology investment bank that took public many of the largest tech companies. Grady served as Robbie Stephens' lead ...

Lessons Learned: Mark Cuban advises entrepreneurs to do their homework

by John Shinal, December 20, 2007 | Comments

	Sweat equity goes a lot further than a lot of money Mark Cuban belongs to a very select group of entrepreneurs who built a company with the right technology at the right time and then sold it to the right buyer at the top of a market.After going public, Broadcast.com was bought by Yahoo in 1999 for just over $5 billion in stock, making it one of the best exits for ...
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Lessons Learned: Lightspeed Venture's Jeremy Liew says not every company should raise venture capital

by John Shinal, December 11, 2007 | Comments

A VC's advice on how to meet with venture capitalists

Lightspeed Venture Partners' Jeremy Liew says entrepreneurs should approach raising venture capital the same way they would a video game that has levels of increasing difficulty. "You can't get to the top level without going through each step," says Liew, whose Silicon Valley firm evaluates thousands of startup business plans every year. "The point of sending an executive summary is ...

Lessons Learned: Microsoft's Dan'l Lewin is a big believer in distribution

by John Shinal, December 6, 2007 | Comments (1)

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Many startups fail for lack of distribution and sales; take more cash than you need

The interview we ran last week with Microsoft's Dan'l Lewin generated so much discussion that we wanted to put him back in the newsroom at the first opportunity -- this time for our Lessons Learned series. In this video, the Microsoft group vice president and Silicon Valley point man shares his advice for startup entrepreneurs."I have a strong belief in selling ...

Bryan Stolle, MDV partner and former Agile CEO, says "go with what's in your heart"

by John Shinal, November 27, 2007 | Comments

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Bryan Stolle, a partner with the Silicon Valley venture firm Mohr Davidow Ventures, has insight into an aspect of entrepreneurship that relatively few executives get to ponder: what to do when a big rival wants to swallow you up.Stolle, who co-founded Agile Software in 1995 and served as CEO until 2006, remained as its board chairman and major shareholder until this year, when Oracle bought the company for $495 million.Letting go wasn't easy for Stolle, who built Agile into the ...

Lessons learned: What Sergey and Larry taught Michael Moritz

by John Shinal, October 18, 2007 | Comments

Where you want to be is at the collision of a talented team and an emerging market

Usually, it's the startup execs who are asking for advice from their board members. But in this, our latest installment in our series on the entrpreneur's challenge, high-powered Silicon Valley venture capitalist Michael Moritz shares what he learned from Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page during Moritz's seven-year tenure on the Google board. Since 1986, Moritz has been a partner ...

Lessons Learned: Mark Leslie says be authentic

by John Shinal, September 13, 2007 | Comments

Right product, right market, right time, is better than the right team, wrong product, wrong time

If an entrepreneur with an OK team has the right product, right market, and right market conditions, they have a high likelihood of success because the rise with the tide, and importantly. Importantly, venture capitalists (should they be involved) can swap out the team for a better one. If a group of A-team entrepreneurs get together and create the wrong ...

Kleiner Perkins partner Ray Lane: what it takes to get funded

by John Shinal, September 13, 2007 | Comments

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With early investments in dozens of public technology companies including Google, Juniper Networks, Amazon.com and Sun Microsystems, Kleiner, Perkins Caufield and Byers has earned a place among the most savvy and successful venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. In this clip, Kleiner partner and former Oracle chief executive Ray Lane explains what the firm looks for when evaluating a deal, using the example of Xsigo Systems, a virtualization startup and Kleiner investment. Part of the reason Xsigo got funded was ...

Lessons Learned: Bob Grady on entrepreneurship

by Bambi Francisco Roizen, August 3, 2007 | Comments (1)

	Bob Grady heads up Carlyle's U.S. venture and growth capita group, called Carlyle Venture Partners. Carlyle's global venture and growth capital effort has over $3.5 billion under management in nine funds. To that end, Bob has some pretty good advice for entrepreneurs. He offers three lessons: Know your market, select your venture capitalists wisely, and recruit the best people you can find.
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