Reading time: 3 - 4 minutes
Video Time: 26 minutes 59 seconds
Could you get a town to change it’s name to that of your company? Josh Kopelman’s from Half.com did.
A lot of entrepreneurs dream of launching a company that is so successful it gets snapped up by another company that sees the vision and is willing to pony up a substantial sum to buy into that success. Josh Kopelman did it. And he did it more than once.
Josh Kopelman (@joshk on Twitter), founder of Half.com talks about how he went from the local kid taking pictures at Bar Mitzvas to running a company while in college, and then on to other successful start ups including the aforementioned Half.com (sold to eBay within a year of launch), and TurnTide, an anti-spam company later sold to Symantec. Today, you’ll find Josh in the Managing Director spot at First Round Capital, a seed-stage venture fund. . .and that is what brings him to this episode of LunchLearning.com.
Other than the general story-telling here, it’s a great reminder to hear Josh talk about the importance of focusing on our strengths as entrepreneurs. . .a realization further cemented now that as a VC he can focus on what he does best. . .starting companies! Josh also comments on the role of business plans in relation to getting funding, and how important individuals and teams are in early stage companies where direction often changes on a dime. Great stuff if you’re ever pitching.
So, check out Josh’s chat with Samantha Ettus. . .he provides a nice cursory look at where some VC firms are looking these days as well as a (little) peek into how some VC think with regard to proposals, etc. Gary Vaynerchuk stops by end the end of this Obsessed segment, of course, with a wine selection for Josh, and some more questions about business. . .always great to hear from Gary as well!
From Josh’s bio: Josh is an inventor on eight U.S. Patents for his work in Internet technology, and in June 2000, was awarded Ernst and Young’s prestigious “Entrepreneur of the Year” award for the Greater Philadelphia region. Josh has also appeared on numerous national television shows, and is a frequent speaker at industry-wide conferences on entrepreneurship, Internet marketing and the future of Internet services. In 2001 Josh and his wife created the Kopelman Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on angel philanthropy to provide “start-up” grants to social entrepreneurs.
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