An article we liked from Thought Leader Alexander Jarvis: How do you validate a startup idea? You have a startup idea. Now what? This blog is going to take you through the key facets of a business model and the industry environment to help you build conviction that your startup idea makes sense before you start. It’s not just a... Read more →

Thank you to K&L Gates, a Silver Sponsor of the OC Startup Council! K&L Gates attorneys represent leading global corporations in every major industry, capital markets participants and ambitious middle-market and emerging growth companies. Their lawyers also serve public sector entities, educational institutions, philanthropic organizations, and individuals. They are leaders in legal issues related to industries critical to the economies... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Auren Hoffman of SafeGraph: 10 Non-Obvious Rules to Raising a Series B SafeGraph recently raised a $45M Series B and I have gotten a ton of inbound from entrepreneurs in similar stages for best practices. This piece is for other entrepreneurs but also for venture capitalists who want to better understand what crazy... Read more →

Have questions about venture capital term sheets? Tuesday 10/26's free MasterMinds Startup Fundraising Office Hours livestream will feature startup attorney, Joe Daniels of McCarter & English, to answer your term sheet questions! Join us LIVE and bring questions about raising money for your startup - and hear about the most important Term Sheet negotiation points that startup founders should watch... Read more →

An article we liked from Visible: How to Write the Perfect Investor Update In this guide we share best tips for using investor updates to leverage your investors' network, experience, resources, and capital. Getting Started To get started with your first investor update now — check out our template library here. The day-to-day life of a startup founder is tough.... Read more →

Does AWS power your Orange County startup? The OCSC can help your startup get $10,000 or even $25,000 of FREE service credits for Amazon Web Services. If your business is an AWS customer (or would like to be) these FREE AWS SERVICE CREDITS are essentially non-dilutive funding that Orange County startup company Members can use to grow their businesses. “Cloud... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Aaron Dinin, PhD on Medium: How to Know If a VC Is Interested in Investing in Your Startup Interpreting investor interest isn’t alway easy, and there’s a good reason why. “I just had a great meeting with a VC,” a founder was telling me. “He said he’s meeting with his partners later this... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Greg Miaskiewicz of Capbase: How to Find the Right Co-Founder for Your Startup What to look for in a co-founder? If your startup has two founders instead of one, you can expect 30% more investment, triple the customer growth rate, and a higher likelihood of success. Clearly, going solo has its drawbacks. But... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Kera DeMars of Hustle Fund: Why You Should Always Send Your Investor Updates In April 2020, venture capitalist Elizabeth Yin (general partner at Hustle Fund, former partner at 500 Startups) put out a poll on Twitter: “What proportion of your portfolio companies write you at least quarterly updates beyond the first year without... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Pedro Sostre of Navigate: An Open Letter to Founders Raising Capital for the First Time Hundreds of pitches later, I have some tough news for you. Back in October I wrote an article (more of a rant than an article tbh) about Quibi raising $1.8B in capital and then shutting down — it... Read more →

Ep 22: Startup Advice – Failing forward? What does that mean? How to Move on to the Next Big Thing, When the First Thing Wasn’t so Good? with Jon Shower “Fail fast. Fail Forward.” We have all heard that Silicon Valley saying. But what does that mean? In this show, Jon Showers, share his brutally honest journey about what it... Read more →

MasterMinds Startup Fundraising Video Office Hours help early stage company founders raise money for their startups. The fun, friendly live video Q&A sessions answer financing and strategy questions from entrepreneurs from all over the world with FREE expert startup advice. Startup Founder Discussion Questions This month Startup Council CEO Scott Fox took questions from startup founders live on camera and... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Emily Man of Redpoint Ventures: Standing out in Your Fundraising Process: Key Takeaways from Office Hours with Waseem Daher, Founder and CEO of Pilot Fundraising can too often feel like a black box. So for our latest Office Hours, we asked Waseem Daher, Founder and CEO of Pilot, to join us for an... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Gigi Levy-Weiss of NFX: Everyone’s fundraising experience is unique, but there are common processes that lead to success. Below we’ve provided a 7-step detailed template to help you maximize your efficiency, preparation, and learning as you fundraise. Phase 1: Make A Target Investor List Think of this list like a personal CRM of... Read more →

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Jon Stokes on 1729: Crypto for People Who Don't Follow Crypto A normie-friendly, buzzword-free argument for why crypto will change the world. There are too few examples of an author making the long-term bull case for crypto without using econ buzzwords like "fiat" and "sound money," which is why this recent piece by Jon... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Emma McGowan: 10 Real-World Startup Valuation Methods Startup valuation is more art than science - but let’s explore both. Here are 10 tried and true methods for figuring out what your startup is worth. The question of startup valuation is one that founders struggle with, especially in the early stages. If you’re pre-profitable... Read more →

Next free MasterMinds Startup Fundraising Office Hours livestream is Tuesday, September 28 at 12 Noon PT. Join us LIVE and bring questions about raising money for your startup! Register FREE here now on EventBrite: https://mastermindsofficehours.eventbrite.com Want to know how to find investors? Or practice your investor pitch to get some friendly feedback? Or maybe you have questions about venture strategy,... Read more →

Everybody has a network: Your boss, colleagues, mentors, lawyers, investors, accountants, classmates, startup friends… Could you please forward this newsletter to them with a quick invitation to subscribe for free? We could use your help expanding the reach of the work the OC Startup Council does to support local entrepreneurs and deal flow for our community. Twice every week the... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Tom Berg of Irvine Standard: REPORT: IRVINE AND REGION LEAD NORTH AMERICA IN TECH JOB GROWTH There is good news to report if you’re a tech professional, recent UC Irvine graduate or a STEM star at an Irvine high school. More tech jobs are gravitating to the region than anywhere in North America,... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Jerome Knyszewski of his interview with Inbal Claudio: Inbal Claudio of Like Minded Collective: Why We Need More Women Founders & Here Is What We Are Doing To Make That Happen An Interview With Jerome Knyszewski Empower your daughters to know that anything is possible! I grew up with a father that always... Read more →

Apply to Octane's Award Winning LaunchPad Accelerator You have a fantastic product, a great business plan and you're ready to finally start raising capital to launch your tech or medtech company. But what comes next? Refine your investor pitch with Octane's award-winning LaunchPad SBDC Accelerator! LaunchPad is a pro-bono service offered through support from the SBDC. The program offers: A... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Gigi Levy-Weiss of NFX: Beyond their incentives and constraints, the other thing you need to understand to successfully negotiate VCs is their personal inner psychology. Now that you understand the incentive model, you must learn the psychology this incentive model creates. Certainly, the VC’s individual desire to solve certain big problems in the... Read more →

Ep 20: Entrepreneurship – A decade in Review with Bill Waldo In another unscripted conversation, The Savvy Founder episode looks into the past 10+ years of entrepreneurship to see what we can learn from then and now. Bill Waldo, entrepreneur turned angel investor, provides those insights from then until now. They delve into both sides – the entrepreneurial mindset and... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Bryce Warnes of Capbase: Should You Send Prospective Investors a Non-Disclosure Agreement? If you’re approaching a potential investor to pitch your startup, is it a good idea to have them sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) first? No. That is, except for a few specific—and rare—instances, there is almost no occasion when it’s wise... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Elliot Grossbard: Equity Crowdfunding Explained From Regulation A+ to Regulation CF, it can quickly become confusing and difficult to understand the limitations and potential for each. Starting with the basics, there are three types of crowdfunding where people invest their money into a private company in exchange for equity in the company (shares).... Read more →