*socaltech.com <http://socaltech.com> TechNews - Special Reflections on 2018/Predictions 2019 Issue!* Edited by Benjamin F. Kuo ISSN: 1524-6736 http://www.socaltech.com/News ------------------------------
*** As everyone gets back into things with the New Year, we thought we'd send out a special issue rounding up all of the great Reflections on 2018 and Predictions for 2019 we published over the holidays, in case you missed them. THANKS to all of your who contributed! To everyone else, there are some awesome insights well worth reading all of the contributions for this year. Also, for those who missed the deadline, who didn't see my email invitation, or who I missed -- we accept similar articles to our Insights and Opinions section -- just send me an email ([email protected]) . Thanks, Ben Kuo, Editor, socaltech.com ------------------------------ *Reflections on 2018/Predictions for 2019* - Reflections on 2018: Jeb Spencer, TVC Capital <#m_2446309823070254310_0076955> - Reflections on 2018: Peter Cowen, Sutton Capital Partners <#m_2446309823070254310_0076940> - Reflections on 2018: Kelly Perdew, Moonshots Capital <#m_2446309823070254310_0076927> - Reflections on 2018: Richard Wolpert, The Soul Of A Deal <#m_2446309823070254310_0076779> - Reflections on 2018: Alon Goren, 805 Startups and Crypto Invest Summit <#m_2446309823070254310_0076929> - Reflections on 2018: Marc Averitt, Okapi Venture Capital <#m_2446309823070254310_0076931> - Reflections on 2018: Mike Panesis, Center for Entrepreneurship at CLU <#m_2446309823070254310_0076930> - Reflections on 2018: Rob Freelen, Silicon Valley Bank <#m_2446309823070254310_0076926> - Reflections on 2018: Jay Goss, Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health <#m_2446309823070254310_0076778> - Reflections on 2018: Clinton Foy, CrossCut Ventures <#m_2446309823070254310_0076891> - Reflections on 2018: Anna Barber, Techstars LA <#m_2446309823070254310_0076925> - Reflections on 2018: Michael Jones, Science Inc. <#m_2446309823070254310_0076924> - Reflections on 2018: Jim Andelman, Bonfire Ventures <#m_2446309823070254310_0076747> - Reflections on 2018: Andy Wilson, Alliance for SoCal Innovation <#m_2446309823070254310_0076855> *Reflections on 2018: Jeb Spencer, TVC Capital* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076955.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? Two big lessons in 2018. Technology investing is the best job in the world, but it can be fraught with failure. Most of us have spent our lives not failing and feeling pretty lousy when we do fail. Once you make enough technology investments, as we have over the last decade, (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076955.html>) <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076940.html> <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076940.html> *Reflections on 2018: Peter Cowen, Sutton Capital Partners* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076940.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? As we get more comfortable with cellphone and video conferencing, it becomes more crucial to make sure to connect in person with people. I realize I don’t see a number of friends/business colleagues as frequently as I used to and need to make a proactive effort to see them. More in-person contact is one of my 2019 goals.(More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076940.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Kelly Perdew, Moonshots Capital* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076927.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? Raising money as a first-time VC fund is hard...In fact, turns out it is much, much harder than raising money for an early stage company. Many of my friends who are VCs (and some friends who tried to raise a fund unsuccessfully) warned me that raising for a first-time fund would be very difficult. As I look back on the last 18 months, I realize just how hard it was. My partner, Craig Cummings, and I were fortunate to close our $20M fund in October and couldn’t be more excited about identifying new portfolio companies and helping those entrepreneurs build their businesses. The early-stage tech ecosystems here in LA and in Austin (we have offices in both) are growing so quickly, and we are fired up to help fuel that growth. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076927.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Richard Wolpert, The Soul Of A Deal* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076779.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? Go Big or Go Home is a lesson I learned again :-). If you have a venture you believe in and you are showing good growth traction, it's all about growth not profitability. Raise as much as you can so long as you can keep the growth up. Uber still loses a few Billion dollars a year and will go public, likely in first half of ’19, for more the $50B. Amazon has razor thin profits compared to their revenue but Bezos doesn't care he just wants growth and world domination and has a market cap of $763B (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076779.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Alon Goren, 805 Startups and Crypto Invest Summit* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076929.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? Stick to what you love and what you know and do best. That's not to say to never get out of your comfort zone or to never try new things. We'd never grow as people and as a community if we never try new things, get dirty, screw up and be uncomfortable every now and then. But my thing has always been supporting startups and entrepreneurs at an early stage. It's what drove me to crowdfunding and what's sucked me into crypto. In crypto over the last year, there where MANY deals that were too good to be true, too urgent, too exciting and too exclusive for me to be totally comfortable with. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076929.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Marc Averitt, Okapi Venture Capital* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076931.html> What was the biggest news for your company in 2018? Since I began putting the pieces in place for Okapi in 2004, the industry as evolved dramatically as a whole but especially here in Southern California. The biggest news this year for Okapi, Southern California’s original seed stage venture capital fund, is that we ramped up the deployment of our 3rd fund and saw its portfolio grow by another 10 companies! (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076931.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Mike Panesis, Center for Entrepreneurship at CLU* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076930.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? It's difficult to choose one. I regularly learn something new from our students. I am confident that the next generation of leaders will take better care of the planet and each other than my generation has. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076930.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Rob Freelen, Silicon Valley Bank* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076926.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? Telling compelling stories is crucial. For the startup CEO, it can be their most important job. The best founders and CEOs artfully craft narratives that articulate a lucid vision amid the chaos of disruption. Over the last four years, I watched numerous entrepreneurs raise equity. In 2018, many of them sold their companies or raised massive equity rounds. The common thread – these entrepreneurs describe a compelling vision of how they are poised to transform an industry. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076926.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Jay Goss, Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076778.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? A major differentiator of Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health is our LP base, the majority of whom are healthcare executives. We learned early on this year that one of our key success factors was efficiently “harnessing” this group to create value for our portfolio companies, nearly all of whom benefit in one way or another from our investors. Having healthcare industry LPs is only valuable is you take advantage of their experience, smarts and networks. This effort requires more energy by the fund (for sure!), but the end result is absolutely worth it. Nearly every day our 50+ LPs are creating real and measurable value for our early stage healthcare companies. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076778.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Clinton Foy, CrossCut Ventures* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076891.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? Venture Capital is a Long Term Game. In business I learned how critical it is to pick your partners, founders, and relationships carefully because you will be with them for years and possibly for decades. We need to think long term, and always learn, grow, and improve. That growth mindset is something I've been working on everyday in what I read, the meetings I take, and how present I am in everything I do. Personally, I've been meditating and exercising on and off for the last thirty years with training at a Zen monastery in Japan and jumping into a few marathons. But this is the first year I made a concerted effort to make meditation, running, and yoga a consistent part of my everyday practice. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076891.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Anna Barber, Techstars LA* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076925.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? This year I got back to the basics of helping founders build strong, high functioning teams. If there are burnout or communication problems on a founding team those problems can hijack a company's progress. The team's individual and collective health has to come first. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076925.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Michael Jones, Science Inc.* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076924.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? One theme I saw repeatedly this year was companies continuing to do things the same way, ultimately getting the same results. Companies that took bold steps to try and change or increase the positive trajectory of their businesses were either successful or failed -- but all gained learning. Often from this learning are they were able to improve, make better choices and continue to take bold actions to scale their company. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076924.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Jim Andelman, Bonfire Ventures* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076747.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? Strategic investors can be such a double-edge sword. On the one hand they can provide meaningful validation, and investment can support a deeper business relationship that significantly helps the startup. But as employees of another corporation, it’s not uncommon for interests to diverge and for the Strategic investor to add complexities and challenges that founders must deal with. We’ve learned the right and wrong ways to structure that relationship to maximize the potential gain and minimize the potential pain. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076747.html>) *Reflections on 2018: Andy Wilson, Alliance for SoCal Innovation* <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076855.html> What was the biggest lesson you learned this year? In my new role as the first executive director for the Alliance for Southern California Innovation, I spent a lot of time outside of my home turf of Pasadena -- visiting innovation nodes such as San Diego, Irvine, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Venice, Santa Monica, and others. What was most striking was the diversity and breadth of the node-network that defines the region--so complex and at times, overwhelming. I met with many deeply talented entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, community organizers and professionals who are thriving in these separate yet overlapping (and interdependent) ecosystems. To more fully realize the abundant innovation potential of the region, we must not only thrive as individual communities but also collaborate/strengthen our cross-community connectivity. (More... <http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0076855.html>) ------------------------------ ------------------------------ *Sponsored By * TVC Capital LLC (www.tvccapital.com) Investments and acquisitions of growing software companies. Silicon Valley Bank (http://www.svb.com). Make next happen now. Stubbs Alderton Markiles, LLP (http://www.stubbsalderton.com). Business. Technology. Law. Vision. PricewaterhouseCoopers (http://www.socaltech.com/pwc). Key info (http://www.keyinfo.com) infrastructure ~ connectivity ~ co-location ~ cloud Singer Lewak (http://www.singerlewak.com) Accounting and Consulting for Growing and Innovative Businesses Email [email protected] for more information about sponsoring this newsletter. ------------------------------ You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the socalTECH.com TechNews from our web site, or otherwise requested a subscription. If you do not want to receive this newsletter go to: http://listserv.socaltech.com/mailman/listinfo/socaltech or email us at [email protected] ------------------------------ Legal Notices ---- While SOCALTECH LLC has used its best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein, SOCALTECH LLC does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident or other causes. All contents Copyright (c) 2019 SOCALTECH LLC. All rights reserved. socalTECH.com - Dedicated to High Tech in Southern California http://www.socaltech.com/ SOCALTECH LLC 4607 Lakeview Canyon Road, Suite 290, Westlake Village, CA 91361
_______________________________________________ Socaltech mailing list [email protected] http://listserv.socaltech.com/mailman/listinfo/socaltech
