Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2022

As a startup advisor, I see many aspiring entrepreneurs whose primary motivation seems to be to work part time, or get rich quick, or avoid anyone else telling them what to do. Yet, for those with more realistic expectations and the right motivation, the entrepreneur lifestyle can be the dream life you envisioned.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2022

Yet if you wait for an economy bubble before starting your new business, you will be making a comparable mistake to the people who thought during the dot-com bubble "all I have to do is a startup, and I'll be rich." If your alternative is no job security, and low pay, why not work for yourself and build your startup?

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

When you see startups like SpaceX and Pinterest grow from a low valuation to a billion dollars in just a few years, it’s easy to assume that if you just keep doing what you are doing, you can get there as well. Of course, that means a mindset willing to give up much more equity, and taking on a whole new level of risk.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2020

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Social-media advertising. Display advertising. Cold calling.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

I’m fully convinced that both inspiration and perspiration are always required in a startup. Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Starting a business may be fun, but it’s not easy.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2022

By most definitions of the term, an entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business, incorporating innovative changes to existing products, services, business models, and creating new markets. One way of identifying the right characteristics and approaches is to take a hard look at entrepreneurs who have done it.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). Overcoming obstacles and learning is one of the biggest inspiration for most entrepreneurs. Note the growth of your team and your own leadership.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2021

If you are the first to deliver this, your startup might be the next Google! In today’s mobile hardware environment, that means able to set up meetings, convert text messages to voice, find contact information quickly, and search the Web intelligently for outside info. There are already many examples of startups edging into this space.

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Web Entrepreneur Software Review Google 152

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2018

What is Startup Boost , and how is it looking to help early stage startups in Los Angeles? We recently sat down with Matt Stodder , Co-Director of Startup Boost/Los Angeles, and Blake Caldwell , Global Director of Startup Boost, to learn more about the program, what it offers up to startups.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2013

I was never into spicy foods growing up but after living in the UK for nearly a decade and having so much great Indian food around me all of the time I developed more of a taste for it. I moved back to the US and after a stint in Palo Alto moved to LA where I started to notice Cholula sauce at some of the best Mexican restaurants I visited.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Don’t forget recognition for accomplishment and efforts.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2021

For today's interview, we sat down to catch up with Jon Waterman, the founder and CEO of Ad.net, to understand what the company's business is nowadays, how the company has evolved over the years, and how the company has adjusted to life during a pandemic. We pride ourselves in being able to add incremental consumers to our advertisers.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

When I started investing the US advertising market was $300 billion with only 10% of it ($30 billion) of it being online and measurable. One recession later and the US advertising market is about $245 billion – but still only 10-12% is online and measurable. This was their next act so they brought domain knowledge.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

I started with a Top 10 list for Nivi (at VentureHacks), but I couldn’t cram it into 10 so it became a Top 11 list. I originally conceived it as the Top 11 things that I believe “all entrepreneurs need to succeed.&# If it stuck to this theme then I would stand by my top 11. OK, it’s not really my final part.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2021

Creating a startup, or managing any business, is all about problem solving. Entrepreneurs who are great problem solvers within any business are the best prepared to solve their customers’ needs effectively as well. Many entrepreneurs like to jump into solution mode immediately, even before they understand the issue.

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InfoChachkie

JULY 16, 2012

Coull Offers Advertisers Video Skimlinks. Fortunately, several startups have devised tools which make it possible for content creators to maintain the entertainment integrity of their videos while embedding relevant calls-to-action. A number of startups have created compelling tools to enhance the monetization of online videos.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

Last Friday I was on This Week in Startups with Jason Calacanis. Ok, I know it’s an hour-long video, but if you have time in the evening, we had a series of great discussions once you get 6 minutes in or so past the upfront advertisements. Is it right to have in-stream advertising on Twitter? -

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2020

As a startup advisor, I see many aspiring entrepreneurs whose primary motivation seems to be to work part time, or get rich quick, or avoid anyone else telling them what to do. Yet, for those with more realistic expectations and the right motivation, the entrepreneur lifestyle can be the dream life you envisioned.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2022

I tell entrepreneurs that Google was an “exception” to all the investment and startup rules, but I’ve always wondered what it takes to be an exception. Here are some lessons from the book that all entrepreneurs should wish they could emulate: Independently outstanding, but complementary founders. Unique business tactics.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2015

If you think you are the perfect fit for the entrepreneur lifestyle, but you’re not yet sure if you’re ready to start your own, then I recommend that you take a job with an existing startup first to validate the culture realities against your dream. Running or working for a startup is more of a lifestyle than a career choice.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 21, 2014

When you''re looking to disrupt any industryadvertising, yogurt, VoIP technology, or whateverbegin with learning everything you can. Read more of Frank''s advice at Two Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know. entrepreneur startup insights advice project rubicon addante frank' Who else is in the market? Continued.).

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Entrepreneur SoCalTech Advertising Ideas 159

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2023

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Social-media advertising. Display advertising. Cold calling.

Marketing 114

Marketing Invest Social Media SEM 114

socalTECH

AUGUST 22, 2014

We spoke with Jonathan about the company and where it fits into the advertising market. That strategy seems to be quite effective for our advertisers. Jonathan David: Our focus is primarily working with advertisers to drive a response of some kind, with a focus on providing the best possible returns on ad spend at scale.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2013

For true entrepreneurs, risk is viewed as a positive, with its implied challenge to overcome the unknown and hitting the big return. One way to learn is to understand better how successful entrepreneurs approach risk, and look at actual strategies they use for success. Save your bucks and get notice without expensive advertising.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Startup Advertising Social Media 117

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series Startup Advice. Many entrepreneurs who start technology companies are product people, technologists or savvy business people who worked previously for a larger company. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. I know I didn’t. To the contrary.

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Sales Startup Platform Tips 319

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2019

Image via Jisc As an advisor to startups and entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that all new businesses must start with a great idea. I believe the best entrepreneurs start by finding a large opportunity, and only then use good ideas to capitalize on that opportunity. I have to disagree.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2023

Entrepreneurs have always believed that their product or service must show real value to customers, but today the smart ones are even able to make their marketing valuable. Customers don’t even see this as advertising. As a startup, you the entrepreneur are the brand. As a startup, you the entrepreneur are the brand.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2023

In the world of entrepreneurs and startups, high level relationships are everything. You can’t start a business alone. This is where most business relationships start and remain. They’re far too dynamic, and may even move up and down floors like an elevator. Marty Zwilling

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InfoChachkie

AUGUST 4, 2014

Greathouse : Let''s start with a question that will be especially helpful for my UC Santa Barbara students. If you could share one startup lesson with a young entrepreneur, what would it be? So I ask prospective new entrepreneurs, ''What is it specifically that you can bring to the industry?''

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Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Resource 187

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Don’t forget recognition for accomplishment and efforts.

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Startup Training Customer Custom 154

socalTECH

OCTOBER 10, 2013

In what is a fairly unusual move, last week, Tradesparq (www.tradesparq.com), a Chinese startup in the area of B2B trade information, said it was planning on setting up its operations here in Southern California, as part of an expansion and scaling of the company. Michael Kleist: We started in 2010. What is Tradesparq?

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socalTECH

JANUARY 31, 2013

It was standing room only at StartEngine 's Demo Day Wednesday afternoon, held at Santa Monica's Cross Campus , as the startup accelerator launched eight of its latest startups into the world, after a 90 day process of mentoring, honing their business model, and heads down development. Standing room only crowd at StartEngine).

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socalTECH

AUGUST 14, 2012

It's a warm summer night in Westwood and 35 entrepreneurs are mingling with a collection of the new SoCal silicon-set. StartEngine , the startup accelerator, which launched earlier this year with ten hopeful businesses, is now in the middle of its third and largest class to date. READ MORE>>.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2011

One of the biggest red flags I see in many Internet-related business plans today is advertising as the initial revenue stream, or a key part of it. Until you get a million page-views per month, your revenue will be negligible, and advertisers won’t be interested in your site. Don’t count on that to fund your startup.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. He has helped many companies with this problem, and as an advisor to startups, I see the same common themes leading to growth slowdowns.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2022

It’s always been tough to start a new business, even when the bottom line was just making a profit to stay alive. Entrepreneurs are now measured against the “triple bottom line” (TBL or 3BL) of people, planet, and profit. Entrepreneurs are now measured against the “triple bottom line” (TBL or 3BL) of people, planet, and profit.

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Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 110

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community. There was no monetary reward for those who participated (and Startup Boost does not take fees or equity from the companies that we help). What was the biggest lesson you learned this year?

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