7. Your Crew is Bigger than You Think Founders Executive Staff Board of Directors Service Providers Investors Functional Staff Advisory Board Don’t settle on any of these groups; pick the best
10. It Really Pays To Think This Through Savings Account Friends & Family Angels Strategic Partner Early Stage VC Later Stage VC Private Equity Venture Debt Distinguishing Characteristics Compatibility Sector experience Temperament Explicit Value Fund position
One of the things I really enjoy is spending time with other entrepreneurs talking about start-up life. And because of some of the high profile success I’ve had with deals like iMall and MySpace – I get a approached by a lot of entrepreneurs looking for advice. At the moment, I am currently teaching a course on New Media at UCLA with Peter Gruber – and this is another place that these kinds of questions come up. But today I decided to turn the tables a bit – and ask you guys the questions. These are questions that I haven’t always had good answers for in previous start-ups, but in retrospectiturn out to be more important than just about anything else that determines start-up success.
