BC Start-Up: Raising the seed money

From the moment we wake up on Friday morning at 7 a.m., there isn't a minute to waste. This Friday, as with almost all Fridays, we will make five investor presentations - in rapid-fire succession.

We won't take breaks because there isn't any time for them. The minute an idea pops into an individual's head and he or she chooses to follow through, it's a never-ending race to launch.

Adrenaline pumping, I throw on some slacks and a crinkled shirt I wore last week, shovel some food in, and race over to Miles' house to pick him up. Dressed in similar attire, business casual with a dash of disorganized, Miles darts to the car with the Mapquest directions folded in his back pocket and we are on our way to presentation No. 1. The ride there is a non-stop discussion of personality analysis: Who is the person? What is his relationship to us? I tell Miles this particular guy tends to be very impatient in the mornings, and we should spare him all details that are not essential. Miles tells me that given his profession, we should focus on concept and steer clear of the financials. In sales we have learned quickly that a well thought-out, strategic approach to a meeting is almost as important as the content.

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How to Start a Startup

March 2005
(This essay is derived from a talk at the Harvard Computer Society.)

You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed.

And that's kind of exciting, when you think about it, because all three are doable. Hard, but doable. And since a startup that succeeds ordinarily makes its founders rich, that implies getting rich is doable too. Hard, but doable.

If there is one message I'd like to get across about startups, that's it. There is no magically difficult step that requires brilliance to solve.

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Retail E-Commerce Sales Strong in Q2

Americans press the "Click to Buy" button.

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Attracting Venture Capital in 2008

The founder of Rembrandt Venture Partners offers predictions for next year and advice for entrepreneurs seeking funding

by Karen E. Klein

What's on the horizon for venture capital investing? The founder of one Menlo Park (Calif.) firm predicts conflicting trends in 2008: the demise of a number of VC firms and healthy growth for others, especially those focused on the high-tech, biotech, and green-tech sectors. The founders of Rembrandt Venture Partners focus on early-stage companies with unique propositions and significant "unfair advantage" over their competition. General partner Richard Ling spoke to Smart Answers columnist This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it recently about the future and how entrepreneurs might go about capturing his attention. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow.

Your firm has been around since 2004, you've invested in 19 companies, and you've returned all the capital from your initial fund. So you guys are doing well. But what do you see happening on the broader venture capital landscape in 20

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