Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2022

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? As an angel investor, I see too many business proposals that are heavy on sustainability, but light on financial realities. It’s difficult to measure the planet and people accounts in any quantifiable terms, compared to profits.

Startup 110

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 110

socalTECH

JUNE 11, 2018

For our interview this morning, we caught up with Scot Lawrie , the President and technical Co-founder of Los Angeles-based Coverfly (www.coverfly.com), and John Rhodes , Coverfly's head of Marketing and Business Development, to learn a bit more about the early stage, bootstrapped startup focused on Hollywood script writers. What is Coverfly?

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Hollywood Platform Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

Based on my own years of experience in startups and big business, and more recently as an angel investor, I often cringe when I see one of you entrepreneurs missing a cue that I have seen work for many before you. Postulate competitive reactions and your responses. Building a sustainable business is more like a marathon than an event.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or angel investors in Arizona, where I live. Exposure instills the fear and urgency you need to deliver the right competitive solution. Exposure is another key ingredient.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. Mithril is struggling to compete against ferocious competition in the growth-stage equity market. If there was a process or bidding war or something resembling a competition, he would just walk,” the employee said.

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

In today’s highly competitive ad environment, both content and data are kings. But then Facebook became a more crowded platform, and the same happened with Google: more advertisers, higher CPM and a more competitive environment. The key takeaway? Editor’s note: The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards. This is the norm and unless you have a hugely competitive round it’s not worth fighting.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

The solution here is to never stop the fundraising cycle, moving quickly from friends and family, to angels, to venture capitalists. Your customers and competition make unexpected moves. Smarter entrepreneurs don’t wait for a crisis to drive change, by defining key milestones and metrics for tracking progress.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

At Upfront we have always done 40% of our investing in Greater Los Angeles and it’s precisely for this reason. The timing horizon is much shorter, the prices one pays are much higher so you can’t just be right about the company but you must be right about the valuation and the exit price. We aren’t going to win every great deal in LA?—?there

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Originally created in the mid 1990’s to help with the imprecise problem of how to value early stage companies, especially those in technology, I developed what soon became known as “The Berkus Method” when published in the popular book, “Winning Angels” by Harvard’s Amis and Stevenson with my permission in 2001.

Startup 120

Startup Examples Metrics Marketing 120

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 26, 2013

Founded during 2012 in Los Angeles (and Amplify alum), Squabbler believes the web can serve as the perfect platform for staging and settling debate. Watch video metrics, track performance. Stage and settle debate. The post Squabbler Launches New Features To Power Video Engagement appeared first on TechZulu.

Metrics 79

Metrics Platform Content Web 79

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2017

I hear it all the time as an angel investor, but I also see that same naïve or cavalier attitude come back to haunt entrepreneurs once they really get out in the marketplace. What metrics should you use to measure success? Make sure all the elements are aligned before you commit. Make sure the team has buy-in, and is motivated.

Metrics 58

Metrics Resource Startup Training 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2019

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? As an angel investor, I see too many business proposals that are heavy on sustainability, but light on financial realities. It’s difficult to measure the planet and people accounts in any quantifiable terms, compared to profits.

Startup 93

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 93

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or Angel investors in Arizona, where I live. Exposure instills the fear and urgency you need to deliver the right competitive solution. Exposure is another key ingredient.

Startup 97

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 97

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

Death By Competitive Analysis - Steve Blank , March 1, 2010 Trading emails with a startup CEO building an iPhone app, I asked him why potential customers would buy his product. In response he sent me a competitive analysis. It looked like every competitive analysis I had done for 20 years, (ok maybe better.)

Startup 150

Startup Software Review Competition SoCal 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever. Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a new book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S.

Startup 61

Startup Social Media News Tool 61

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

That's the fascinating story behind Los Angeles-based Earbits (www.earbits.com), which offers up a mobile music streaming service focused on discovering both new and talent. We had some investors very interested but wanted us to validate some metrics, so we spent time building things to prove those metrics.

Software Review 100

Software Review Startup Metrics Content 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

If you invested in the first angel round of a startup company it is usually very hard to sell your stock – usually for many years if ever at all. while acknowledging that San Fran deals are often higher valuations due to increased competition amongst investors. Use competition to make sure you get a fair price.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2015

As an angel investor, I get requests almost every day to review a new product or website, and provide feedback on its potential success. These people are the ultimate chess players in the game of startups, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. It is people who drive successful businesses.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

In the case of MakeSpace we had huge initial successes in New York City as Rahul led the scaling of our drivers, our trucks and our warehouses and we figured out the right price points to beat the local competition. We have been able to build deep customer insights on product, pricing, service, geography, competition, etc.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2014

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? As an Angel investor, I see too many business proposals that are heavy on sustainability, but light on financial realities. It’s difficult to measure the planet and people accounts in any quantifiable terms, compared to profits.

Startup 104

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Satisfaction 104

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

There’s plenty of capital out there, but there’s also a lot of competition for startup funding. Angels (invest their own money) and super angels. If you’re raising funds from angels you’ll likely need to get investments from several different players. His best advice: take capital where you can get it.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

Even if you are doing the work yourself, you need to document requirements, features, metrics, and milestones. Unless you are bootstrapping everything, you need to have a clear plan on what networking and documents are required to get to friends and family, Angel investors, and institutional investors. Product development process.

Startup 107

Startup Outsource Development Training Outsource 107

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

I remember just a decade ago in 2003 when we all laughed at how dumb people in the 90′s were talking about the race to “capture as many eyeballs as possible” before your competition. The minute you try to monetize now they have metrics with which to beat you up and say you’re business has limitations.”

Venture Capital 412

Venture Capital Startup Funding Snapchat 412

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or Angel investors in Phoenix, Arizona, where I live. Exposure instills the fear and urgency you need to deliver the right competitive solution.

Startup 109

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 109

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

And that was evident on today’s Angel vs. VC panel. There is no such thing as a super angel, only “micro VCs&# - Ron Conway said what I had been preparing to say, “there’s no such thing as a super angel.&# Either you’re an angel or you manage professional funds. Answer: Not much.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2017

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? As an angel investor, I see too many business proposals that are heavy on sustainability, but light on financial realities. It’s difficult to measure the planet and people accounts in any quantifiable terms, compared to profits.

Tips 55

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Examples 55

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2011

For our Friday interview, we thought we'd catch up with Los Angeles-based MarketShare , the Elevation Partners-backed software provider, to hear where the firm is nowadays. We now have teams in our headquarters in Los Angeles, and offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Tokyo, and Bangalore.

Social Media 235

Social Media Demand Activity Marketing 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2013

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? As an Angel investor, I see too many business proposals that are heavy on sustainability, but light on financial realities. It’s difficult to measure the planet and people accounts in any quantifiable terms, compared to profits.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Examples Satisfaction 98

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

My angel investing strategy vs Joshua Schachter - Gabriel Weinberg , May 18, 2010 Joshua Schacter has a great AMA thread on HN about angel investing. Klout Puts Metrics Into Social Media Management - Tim Berry's Blog - Planning Startups Stories , May 21, 2010 I really like klout.com for three good reasons: 1.) I know I do.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2013

The basic alignment framework of strategy, customers, people, and processes hasn’t changed, but the pace of technological, competitive, and social change has increased at an amazing rate. Re-evaluate processes as they are today and set metrics to better represent the new sales, operational, and service needs.

Startup 94

Startup Social Media Entrepreneur Framework 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2012

The basic alignment framework of strategy, customers, people, and processes hasn’t changed, but the pace of technological, competitive, and social change has increased at an amazing rate. Re-evaluate processes as they are today and set metrics to better represent the new sales, operational, and service needs.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Social Media Startup Framework 93

socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

Los Angeles-based Maple Media (maplemedia.io) recently announced a big, $30M funding from Shamrock Capital, to assemble a collection of mobile applications in the utility, productivity, games and entertainment verticals. A lot of what we've been looking at are the metrics. You're known as quite the angel investor here in companies (ie.

Media 153

Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. Semick: In the beginning, many of our conversations were about whether we wanted funding from angel investors and eventually VCs.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115