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Technical Advisors: Every Web/Mobile Startup Must Have One

SoCal CTO

I did a presentation recently for a graduate class from The Founder Institute around getting online/mobile products out the door. But what was interesting to me was that I found myself recommending that each of them should have a technical adviser. Third party products are used appropriately. Strategic Technical Advisor.

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7 Secrets To Bank Equity Funding Without Collateral

Startup Professionals Musings

The first thing to remember is that banks only do loans – they generally don’t do equity investments like angels and venture capitalists (and vice versa). You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition's, and why it will succeed.

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7 Tips To Getting A Bank Interested In Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

The first thing to remember is that banks only do loans – they don’t do equity investments like angels and venture capitalists (and vice versa). You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition's, and why it will succeed. An impressive team.

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Interview with Erik Rannala, MuckerLab

socalTECH

One of the biggest complaints you hear from both entrepreneurs and investors in Los Angeles, is the lack of a credible, visible startup accelerator in the Los Angeles area. We caught up with Erik to hear more about MuckerLab, and its efforts to grow the Los Angeles technology ecosystem. Erik, thanks for the time.

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Startup Mentors

SoCal CTO

I've had several Startup CTO Consulting sessions recently where it became apparent that the Founder needed help with the business and product as much or more than the technology. Then we discussed how they could go about finding this startup business advisor. These are not mutually exclusive and good mentors and advisors get into both.

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Equity Investment Platform Preparation Best Practices

Startup Professionals Musings

If you are one of the thousands of entrepreneurs who need equity funding to get your startup going (no loans to repay), you are probably overwhelmed at the prospect of finding, contacting and pitching to the huge number of qualified angels and investment groups around the country. Prepare a slide deck to highlight product and business.

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What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

We’re going to start aggressively spend money on marketing our product. Gross margin (GM) is the amount of profit you make per sale of your product or service taking into account your total costs of selling that product or service. We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok. otherwise I prefer to invest less and risk less).

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