Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Most of these investors are members of Angel groups that have a rigorous filtering and screening process, to select the top 3% and most fundable proposals. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.”

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Did anybody hold patents that would prevent us from using this technology? I seldom hire patent attorneys during due diligence but this was too important. Meredith Perry came up with the idea for uBeam while still in college at University of Pennsylvania and like many great inventors won her school’s business plan competition.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. They are not interested in research and development, or funding at the idea stage. Lack of intellectual property.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Invest 123

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Line up an experienced team.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

How much Angel and institutional money did they collectively raise? Graduate Programs – the school should be affiliated with strong, technical graduate schools because astounding business ideas generally originate from engineers, scientists and life sciences students. Is there a venture competition with cash prizes?

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Class Patents 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Los Angeles-based Tilofy (www.tilofy.com)--out of USC''s Viterbi Startup Garage--is doing just that, helping to highlight what is going on around you, by absorbing all of that location data out there at any particular time and place. Markets now, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Las Vegas. How did Tilofy come about?

USC 236

USC Southern California Organization UCLA 236

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

The bad news is that many are already doing it, with competition growing, so the longer you wait, the less chance you have of getting there first. In a new startup, there is tremendous competitive value in registering intellectual property early, but you don’t need to contract these tasks to expensive experts any longer.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Line up an experienced team.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Don’t believe that Silicon Valley myth that all you have to do is sketch your idea on the back of a napkin, and investors will line up to give you money. Based on my experience as an angel investor and a mentor to dozens of entrepreneurs, having no business plan is the quickest way to define yourself as just a dreamer, or at best a hobbyist.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2015

As an angel investor, I hear many entrepreneurs making negative comments about competitors or asserting they don’t have any competitors. They don’t realize that knocking competitors is assessed as a weakness and denying that you have any competition suggests there is no market for your solution.

Capital 63

Capital Competition Case Study Patents 63

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

As noted in Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Pitch Their Ideas To Venture Capitalists , most sophisticated investors place their bets on people rather than opportunities. For instance, a services business or an opportunity with limited growth potential might be a good fit for an Angel investor, but not a venture capitalist. Competition.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Too many people still believe the urban myth that you can sketch your idea on a napkin, and people will throw money at you.

Software Review 106

Software Review Funding Startup Seed Funding 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2016

Most universities have a file of patents from project work that they are willing to license to any entrepreneur for business commercialization, with little or no cost up front. Other project and research reports in their library are a rich source of new ideas, if you are still looking for a place to start.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Capital Class Startup 55

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2015

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and Angel investor, I still see too many common failure causes that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. Not every great idea is a viable business. Dreamers come up with ideas, and do-ers come up with businesses.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 105

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

Bitvore is based in Irvine, and is backed by serial entrepreneur Yuri Pikover, as well as other angels. Whether that''s for competitive analysis or market analysis, our product is basically able to monitor--on a very large scale--things that are important to your particular company. It''s designed for business people.

Orange County 245

Orange County Startup News IBM 245

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2012

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Too many people still believe the urban myth that you can sketch your idea on a napkin, and people will throw money at you.

Seed Funding 100

Seed Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Funding 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many shortcuts leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. Not every great idea is a viable business. Dreamers come up with ideas, and do-ers come up with businesses.

Startup 57

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 57

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2016

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. They are not interested in research and development, or funding at the idea stage. Lack of intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 57

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 57

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2011

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Too many people still believe the urban myth that you can sketch your idea on a napkin, and people will throw money at you.

Software Review 98

Software Review Funding Seed Funding Startup 98

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Guide to Evaluating Startup Ideas - Tony Wright dot com , May 27, 2010 A great developer I once worked with was kvetching at lunch one day. He’d been working at a well-funded startup for about a year and had come to terms with the fact that the startup was really a pretty dumb idea. Below are 50 ideas for step 2. We get it!

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets.

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2017

When you are starting a business with an exciting new idea, it’s easy to dismiss potential competitors as not being in the same space, or too fat, dumb, and happy to be concerned that you even exist. A strong work ethic is great, but patents and intellectual property are critical. Do you have a contingency plan to mitigate risk?

Metrics 58

Metrics Resource Startup Training 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2010

Yesterday I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Too many people still believe the urban myth that you can sketch your idea on a napkin, and people will throw money at you.

Software Review 95

Software Review Startup Seed Funding Funding 95

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

GumGum is led by founder and Los Angeles native wunderkind, Ophir Tanz. After Tanz had sold his pre-Instagram photo-sharing app called MoJungle, he was intrigued with notion of bringing advertising to photos, and had no idea if it was even possible. Photos…the final frontier. The old media companies were resistant to change.

Advertising 98

Advertising Santa Monica Startup Content 98

SoCal Delicious

MARCH 1, 2010

Los Angeles By: Laura Rich February 26, 2010 It used to be, if you were serious about starting a tech company, you went to Silicon Valley. But lets face it, when you think of Los Angeles, Internet startups are not the first things that spring to mind. Thats not Los Angeles. RSS ); Why You Should Start a Company in.

Los Angeles 50

Los Angeles Company Companies Angel 50

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 9, 2015

ZehnerGroup is a full-service digital agency headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. Our unique entrepreneurial spirit lends itself perfectly to launching the next great web startup or is generating that fresh spark to create a competitive advantage for a large corporation. ZehnerGroup designs and builds custom websites that scale.

Culver City 40

Culver City Media Web Design 40

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2009

We brought together Peter Cowen of Groundwork Equity , Mark Suster of GRP Partners , Rick Smith of Crosscut Ventures , and Richard Yen of Saban Ventures -- all of who will be on the judging panel for the Tech Coast Angel's Fast Pitch on February 24th, to give us a their hints and tips about pitching to venture capitalists.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Ideas Entrepreneur Invest 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. Traction means forward progress. Register some intellectual property.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 23, 2014

The idea for Grokker came to me while on a multi-year sabbatical, traveling the world with my family. Grokker’s patent-pending approach allows us to cost effectively shoot and produce beautiful, compelling video classes of all kinds at scale. What makes you unique from the competition? and Canada.

Help 87

Help Content Activity Networking 87

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. Traction means forward progress. Register some intellectual property.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. Traction means forward progress. Register some intellectual property.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. Traction means forward progress. Register some intellectual property.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

" And in the spirit of how to get your ideas to happen, they asked me to talk about entrepreneurship and the myriad ways you can "be your own boss." Creating Incremental Strategic Value - Ask the Angels , June 17, 2010 We can easily overlook the level of demand pull when we are assessing strategic value.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175