CEO Bloggers' Club

Blogger Dinner in Paris

Jeff Clavier and Marc Goldberg will be hosting a dinner at l’Area (brazilian/lebanese fusion cuisine) on April 26 at 20:00.

Expected topics: vc financing, blogging, photosharing (buzznet users most welcome :-), and frankly anything we'll all feel like talking about.

Seating is unfortunately limited to 20, so please rsvp (by posting a comment here ) to lock in your participation.

Address: L'Area, 10 r Tournelles 75004 PARIS (Metro: Bastille, Map)

Cost of the dinner: 30 EUR

We look forward to seeing you there.

Marc and Jeff

Being the Bridge

I often take the role of "bridge" and end up introducing business person A to business person B. This win/win introduction then creates business for person A and B that would not have occurred had I not first introduced them and second had a system in place for understanding person A and Person B's businesses. This understanding allows me to make contacts that produce results.

I am curious as to ideas for compensation for being the bridge or if thinking compensation makes no sense. I have one system in place that offers a subscription model and this allows me to be an extra set of eyes and ears over a set period of time, but what about those one time opportunities.

Would love some thoughts on how others are dealing with this.

US VC Insights

Allen Morgan, one of the General Partners of "Tier 1" west coast firm Mayfield, has just finished his "10 Commandments" series of posts. Any first-time entrepreneur planning to seek VC financing at some point will find worth reading and reflecting on Allen's interesting insights. I always say in such circumstance that no one should take "VC Do's and Don'ts" literally because each startup and each fund are particular. However Allen's points are often practical, and sometimes candid, and can be applied to many (first timer's) situations. Here they are:

1. Do your homework, and contact the right person
   
2. Be on time
   
3. Tease, don't overwhelm
   
4. Know your audience
   
5. Create the "Aha" early
   
6. Explain the idea by analogy to, or contrast with, older ideas
   
7. Go with 13 or less slides
   
8. Know what you don't know -- and admit it
   
9. Be like Goldilocks, when it comes to competition
   
10. Control the meeting -- but be smart about it

Congratulations to Allen for taking the time to put these thoughts "on paper", they are a great complement to Brad's own contribution on clarifying financing terms that are found in typical US termsheets. I should also have mentioned the three part series on "Saying No" that Bill Burnham has recently published. Why ? Because it is critical for entrepreneurs to "read" through Yes, No's and Maybe's. Ross provided the entrepreneur perspective with which I agree.

Cross-post from Software Only.