GigaOM

Updated with the Sequoia powerpoint: Last night I reported on a special meeting held by Sequoia Capital for its portfolio companies, warning them about the fiscal hurricane that was going to hit them, and how they’d better figure out ways to survive what could be a big downturn.

There were some gaps in the details about that meeting, but I have since been able to piece together the minutes and what folks there essentially said. Since these are second-sourced details, I cannot say they are a 100 percent accurate, so please view them with a degree of skepticism. Nevertheless, I still feel confident enough to share them.

These were the four speakers: Continue Reading

Being smart about legal matters can make a huge difference in the value of your company. Each legal decision you make — each strategic partnership, each trademark or patent filing — can add or subtract from it.

During the ’90s, my law firm worked with an internet software company whose proposed $400 million sale was stopped dead because of an ill-considered distribution deal it had signed for an Asian market. To the would-be acquirer, the deal was a fundamental obstacle to its own use of the startup’s technology. We eventually fixed the distribution deal, but not in time to save the $400 million deal. It took another 10 years to sell the startup at a favorable price.

Entrepreneurs aren’t typically well-versed in legal issues, and few have deep enough pockets to have lawyers evaluate the implications of every decision they make. That’s why I wrote a book that tells entrepreneurs what they need to know about technology law. As an example, here are five vital legal strategies every digital entrepreneur should know: Continue Reading

Daniel Meyerov, OnlyBusiness.com

I was crazy enough to start two businesses at the same time — OnlyBusiness.com and Polaris Blue. My partner and I run them concurrently, and fortunately both have done well. No doubt we got lucky, but I want to share a concept critical to our success that might help other founders, especially in this uncertain market. Create three versions of your strategic plan, one each to address a different potential outcome for your business: the overnight success, slow-but-steady growth and survival mode.

OnlyBusiness.com is a community platform that offers web tools and services to small businesses. My partner and I developed a multi-outcome strategic plan, detailing how the operation would perform under three, clearly defined scenarios. The exercise gave us more options for coping quickly with surprises that might ordinarily have caused big problems.

I’ll show you what I mean, by sharing how we staged three critical budgets for each potential outcome. Continue Reading

We’ve all read horror stories about con artists and fraudsters who swindle millions from investors or entrepreneurs. Whenever this kind of news breaks, someone always asks why someone else didn’t do better due diligence.

It’s a valid question — good diligence can certainly prevent rip-offs. But that’s not all it’s good for. Whether you’re raising money or investing money, you’re signing up for a multi-year relationship with someone you may have just met. At some point, you may have to look that person in the eye and deliver bad news. How will he react? If a company veers off course, you may need that person to help turn things around. Will she be up to the task?

Good diligence can answer these kinds of questions. To shed light on this often misunderstood practice, here are some common myths and uncommon truths about due diligence.
Continue Reading

We’ve written recently about how bootstrapping founders can help themselves navigate a very tight credit market. Now, the implosion of the investment banking industry promises to level what was left of the landscape for both IPO and M&A exits. Startup founders would be wise to reassess their strategic priorities.

With fewer opportunities to cash out of their current and future portfolio companies, the agendas of angels and VCs will also shift. Founders who are raising funds will certainly want to revamp their pitch decks, if they are to have any success raising capital in the current climate.

But how? What should a startup founder put on that slide in their investor presentation that addresses potential future outcomes? How can founders adjust their messaging to demonstrate to VCs that they have their strategy aligned with the needs of the investing community now? We asked Faysal Sohail, the managing partner with CMEA Ventures, for advice. Here’s what he had to say. Continue Reading

Five months ago I became a founder for the first time. I am not a total novice to the Valley; I’ve been fortunate to work with and befriend some very smart (and now influential) people from companies like Google and Powerset. But I am also a Midwesterner who migrated to the Valley in the late ’90s, and my resume includes staid institutions like NASA, which while innovative is not exactly a go-go Silicon Valley company. I tend to think of myself as a member of the Valley “digernati” — working off Valleywag’s radar, not a member of those startup mafias that seem to follow every liquidity event.

Still, one thing that has happily surprised me is my success at networking my way to just about anyone I wish, or need, to see — even if I’ve never met the person previously. Granted the connections often take longer than I’d like, but 9 times out of 10, when I reach out to find someone, it produces an email exchange, a phone call or a meeting. This is how I got to critical partners, added advisors, and found new hires.

Friends tell me: “You’re such a natural networker!” and it makes me laugh. As an engineer who spent most of his awkward teens in his bedroom writing code, I couldn’t disagree more. The truth is that I have taught myself to network, and I work at it — a lot.

Maybe it is consistent with being a geek, but I actually honed my relationship-building skills through practice and experimentation: I took a year sabbatical when the dotcom bubble burst and during this time, the only contract I made with myself was that I would focus on building my professional relationships. I learned some important lessons about networking during this time. Maybe they will also be helpful to you: Continue Reading