Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2021

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. You need to have business relationships with team members, investors, customers, and a myriad of other support people. See my article from way back “ Entrepreneurs Learn Best From Business Networking ” on how and where to get started. Give and you will receive.

Entrepreneur 140

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network Mentor 140

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 15, 2022

It is natural for executives and entrepreneurs with lots on their plate and little extra time – to just keep up the same activities that have made the company a success. Keep on doing what works and that grows the company (rinse and repeat) and actively work on the rest? Innovation should be a goal….

Activity 156

Activity Email Customer Custom 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

If you need funding for these early stage activities, I have some suggestions on better strategies to follow. Funding for commercial product prototypes is still R&D in the eyes of venture capital investors, but in business areas with large opportunities, this activity will catch the eyes of specialized angel investors.

Help 165

Help Research Startup Funding 165

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2021

Some people even believe that entrepreneurs must be born with the right genes, and no element of education is relevant. In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities.

Entrepreneur 149

Entrepreneur Tips Writing Coach 149

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2020

In my experience working with entrepreneurs, once they feel they have a winning formula for their business, they are often hesitant to change or update it. They forget that adapting their company and themselves as their customers evolve is the key to long-term survival. Create an overt strategy to react to emerging customer trends.

Customer 143

Customer Custom Examples IBM 143

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. His top eight required skill set elements for sales don’t even mention product skills, and match my view of the right skill set for successful entrepreneurs, with only a few priority changes: Creating and sharing a vision. Negotiating and creating win-win deals.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Startup Sales Customer 134

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2022

titled “ The Intelligent Entrepreneur ,” outlining the keys to successful entrepreneurship, as follows: Make the commitment. It will likely take several ideas, with the learning process of failing on a couple, before you can call yourself a successful entrepreneur. Problem solvers make successful entrepreneurs. Learn to lead.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Resource 110

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

Jon Kraft: Our mission is to help kids discover and pursue their passions in life. I actually convinced Girish to help me with that other project, and worked together. But, we find that lots of kids these days are overscheduled, and not only that, are overscheduled into a lot of the same kinds of kid''s activities.

Help 252

Help Idealab Activity Startup 252

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. There are dozens of tools available to help you monitor relevant activity, including Social Mention and Google Alerts.

Product 127

Product Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Technical Review 127

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Asking someone to be your mentor is not a sign of weakness, and most mentors love to help.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities.

Funding 133

Funding Activity Customer Custom 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2020

Every new entrepreneur has to initiate the right actions to be perceived as a leader in their chosen business domain by their team and by their customers, or the road to success and satisfaction will be lost along the way. No entrepreneur can build a business alone. Make an honest effort to help others.

Entrepreneur 125

Entrepreneur Training Resource Customer 125

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2016

Long before author Stephen King sold over 350 million books, he was a budding entrepreneur. Papers that resulted in an “A” grade earned him $20, “B” papers cost his customers $10. The most enterprising aspect of King’s business model was his promise to pay his customers $20 for any paper that didn’t earn at least a C grade.

Activity 100

Activity Startup Sales Santa Barbara 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

Even though I’m a big proponent of becoming an entrepreneur, it is definitely not for everyone. In my view, entrepreneur roles need to be planned carefully rather than made on the spur of the moment. Adopt the Silicon Valley entrepreneur family model. Test your entrepreneur instincts through crowdfunding.

Sample 126

Sample Entrepreneur Ideas Startup 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2018

As an angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Investors and strategic partners look for entrepreneurs who can execute.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Activity Ideas 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2020

As an angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Investors and strategic partners look for entrepreneurs who can execute.

Startup 171

Startup Entrepreneur Activity Ideas 171

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Hire real help and learn to delegate. Focus on activities rather than results. Lack of communication.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2023

His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. His top eight required skill set elements for sales don’t even mention product skills, and match my view of the right skill set for successful entrepreneurs, with only a few priority changes: Creating and sharing a vision. Negotiating and creating win-win deals.

Startup 154

Startup Sales Entrepreneur Customer 154

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

According to Nimble, the offer--available to all veterans and active-duty members of the US military--is aimed at helping both job seekers and entrepreneurs. Nimble's software is used for managing business contacts, professional networks, customers, prospects, and more. READ MORE>>.

Software 113

Software Santa Monica Software Development Activity 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2016

As a small business and startup advisor, I find that entrepreneurs often love to talk about their latest idea, but not their execution. For example, Elon Musk is recognized as a visionary entrepreneur, but his fortune and his impact has come from the great companies he has built, including SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and PayPal.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics Ideas 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2022

Too many customers have long felt distanced from many successful brands, seeing them as closed and mysterious environments, focused only on profits and killing competitors. In the idea stage, get customers involved with an engaging contest. Support and enable mutually beneficial activities inside and outside the organization.

Organization 126

Organization Social Media Examples Customer 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2019

When you have been on the startup firing line, you quickly learn that any insight from experts and entrepreneurs who have been there before you can make the difference between failure and success. Yet, many new entrepreneurs brazenly assume they are bulletproof, and march blindly into the fray. Keep moving forward. Read and heed.

Entrepreneur 88

Entrepreneur Summary Activity Resource 88

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2015

With the advent of social media and the pervasive move to smartphones, even customers who still prefer to purchase in brick-and-mortar stores have dramatically changed their shopping habits. If you refuse to play by their rules, they have the power to easily find alternatives, and actively pull other potential customers away.

Customer 103

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 103

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed. So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. She took an operating role helping run Citysearch and Urbanspoon. Leadership is about recognizing your next generation of talent and helping lift them up. I’m only 52!

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor).

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

It is natural for executives and entrepreneurs with lots on their plate and little extra time – to just keep up the same activities that have made the company a success. Keep on doing what works and grows the company (rinse and repeat) and actively work on the rest?

Activity 226

Activity Email Customer Custom 226

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2023

As an advisor to early-stage entrepreneurs, I see a lot of dreams, but not so many business results. I’ve always wished I had a magic metaphor to motivate the best dreamers to become the best entrepreneurs. There is no cookie-cutter route to success as an entrepreneur. Ask for help from advisors and mentor your team.

Ideas 105

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Social Media 105

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

According to Jared Belsky, President, 360i , “We see Search and Social as a 24 hour real-time consumer focus group that helps us stay on top of what consumers care about for our brands. It also gives marketers an opportunity to engage potential customers early on in the discovery phase, and track this journey to a conversion.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Commerce Sites Social Network 210

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe that a great idea alone will assure business success. Yet in this age when customers have a thousand alternatives, and are overwhelmed by a multitude of messages, sales efforts can make or break a business. You can either find customers for your solution or you can find solutions for your customers.

Sales 139

Sales Training Startup Customer 139

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2022

When you have been on the startup firing line, you quickly learn that any insight from experts and entrepreneurs who have been there before you can make the difference between failure and success. Yet, many new entrepreneurs brazenly assume they are bulletproof, and march blindly into the fray. Keep moving forward. Read and heed.

Summary 147

Summary Entrepreneur Activity Resource 147

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2022

As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to set the culture you need for a thriving business, as well as thriving employees, customers, partners, and vendors. I recommend that every aspiring entrepreneur and serious business professional take each one of these to heart from day-one of their startup: Talent is the whole ball game.

Training 127

Training Customer Custom Social Media 127

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2023

In the last few years I have seen a popular business model emerging which embodies a greater focus on social and environmental responsibility, and a new requirement for trust and sharing, as well as customer and community collaboration. Customers and team members must be inspired, rather than pushed.

Commerce 109

Commerce Slides Customer Custom 109

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

(In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Entrepreneurs make fast decisions and move forward knowing that at best 70% of their decisions are going to be right. This paralyzes most people.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

After working in business at all levels, and consulting to entrepreneurs for years, I’m still surprised to see so many situations where things that should be easy are painful to customers, and lead to customers hating your business. Get out and meet your customers to learn what turns them on these days.

Customer 83

Customer Custom Demand Examples 83

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2023

In the world of entrepreneurs and startups, high level relationships are everything. You need partners, team members, investors, vendors, and customers. There are people you only recognize on the street, business friends, and then close friends whom you can always count on to help. You can’t start a business alone.

Startup 127

Startup Guide Networking Help 127

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2021

If you are a new business owner or entrepreneur, you are likely to be creative and willing to take a risk , and you probably assume that most potential team members have the same mindset. Find folks who are customer-centric and sensitive to competition. Find people who enjoy being problem solvers.

Coach 174

Coach Activity Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2014

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Hire real help and learn to delegate. Focus on activities rather than results. Lack of communication.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Resource Training Product 115