Viewing profile — msuster

This is mark (the author). I totally get why i would be seen as biased. I have given this advice hundreds of times in small sessions verbally and I REALLY have no interest in drivi…

"massive boondoggle" because you were there and know what my business there was? I was there meeting tech professionals, VCs, government officials and investors in VC funds.

I went to China to meet with tech firms, VCs and government officials. And to learn about the funding environment for Chinese firms investing in VCs. I know that Dave also met with…

I read your response, David. Frankly, I think you do many entrepreneurs an injustice in assuming that I'm talking about VC funded entrepreneurs only. At my talk at University of Ch…

Not true. The full ratchet is implicit in the deal. If the deal said $8m cap and next investor invests at $4m then the deal gets done as $4m and doesn't impact the next investor. I…

I didn't miss that point. I agree with what you say. But - there are very few companies that could pull this off so my post was to point this out to people. It may be obvious to yo…

that is EXACTLY what happened in the situation I described. We hadn't yet signed the term sheet. So I told the CEO that I would understand if he went with the other firm. But that …

My term sheet wasn't signed so I would have understood if the entrepreneur chose the other partner. In the case of the new vc / old vc example that wasn't me ... yes, there was a '…

term sheets have "no shop" clauses which prohibit you from talking with other investors. But they're pretty unenforceable so it happens anyways.

I definitely have never argued that all VCs are good or even that good VCs always act appropriately. That's for sure. I think the key is knowing the parties with whom you're dealin…

I think the "new VC" acted terribly.

Thank you. I wish more people saw it that way. I always believe in negotiating / seeking competitive deals. But once you agree a deal with people you honor it.

Nope. I was an entrepreneur for 10 years first. I always employed this mentality. Reputation matters.

Fair comment. I could see why it might come across that way. The impression I meant to leave was that I risked losing out on the deal all together because the CEO could have simply…

I understand that view. And I've certainly been burned. Still, if you're dealing with a VC there is much you can do to reference check them before signing a term sheet. This involv…

Ok. Fair enough. Thanks for expanding. FWIW, in the busy execs hate lunches post - I was really just trying to offer honest advice to young entrepreneurs. I do lunches all the time…

And why is that, Michael? Which bits did you find objectionable? What would you prefer to hear? People negotiate. We can pretend they don't, but they do. For business people it's i…

As Woody Allen said, "80% of success is just showing up" but I didn't think that made a good line for a blog post ;-)

In 20 years of giving & receiving presentations I can tell you that this is actually the second most important advice I can give: if you can avoid handouts do so. (the most importa…

I spent 8 years in the trenches. If you want to argue with my position I'm open to a discussion. But merely saying people who don't agree with you are "primadonnas" is a bit superf…

re: "I'll risk a 50/50 gridlock in decision making over having someone tell me what to do everyday at "my" company any day." why not just make sure that you're the majority owner o…

I accept that this is possible. If I were Twitter in this case then at worst I would issue a public statement of why they don't support UberTwitter's moves and I would encourage us…

empowerment of people to socially engage & communicate is the basis on which all democracy is built. That is what is beautiful about Twitter. Shutting down competition or dissensio…

I'm not sure which bit was misinformed. If I learn that some bit was I will correct it. My premise holds: - issue a public warning to UberMedia & its users and allow 72 hours - if …