Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2023

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. I was reminded of a number of these by a classic book, “ The Thing About Work: Showing Up and Other Important Matters ,” by Richard A. Anything less makes you non-competitive.

Startup 106

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

I was happy to see this strategy expertly illustrated in a new book, “ The Innovation Mindset ,” by Lorraine H. Write down your business model and five-year plan. I believe that writing down your business plan has tremendous value for you, even if you don’t need investors. Plan for change before the crisis.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. A business plan is for you first, not investors.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. I have found that the process of writing down your idea, with a plan for implementation, and reviewing that plan with a business advisor, will force you to learn and acknowledge the real requirements for implementation.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. Start writing down predictions about people, companies, and markets. Pro tip: take on the mantle of book editor for a major tech publication, and the publishers will mail you books for free. What a boring mess.

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

It’s building a product that is substantially differentiated, and, as Bill Gross, one of the most prolific tech entrepreneurs of our era says, “ It needs to be 10x better than the competition ” (because if you shoot for that then in competitive markets you might achieve 3x. Simply write a great book?

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2020

For an inspiring story full of specifics on how to achieve goals, I recommend the classic book, “ Three Points of Contact ,” by Gregory Q. I was most impressed with the steps he outlined for turning ideas into goals into results, which I paraphrase here for aspiring entrepreneurs: Write down your goals or your dreams.

Ideas 121

Ideas Writing Startup Entrepreneur 121

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. A business plan is for you first, not investors.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. I was reminded of a number of these by a classic book, “ The Thing About Work: Showing Up and Other Important Matters ,” by Richard A. Anything less makes you non-competitive.

Startup 153

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 153

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2021

This may mean attending industry conferences, taking college courses, or reading some key books. It may be time for you to start your own blog, write a book, or volunteer as a speaker at public events in your domain. The more you know, the more self-confident you will be to make your own leadership decisions.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Course Satisfaction Guide 132

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return. Effective communication requires real listening, as well as talking.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2023

I always struggle with coaching along these lines, so I was pleased to see some excellent guidance on tactics in making decisions in a new book, “ The Leap To Leader ,” by Adam Bryant. Don’t demotivate people by setting expectations too high, or become non-competitive by accepting complacency.

Help 94

Help Framework Statistics Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2015

There really is no excuse these days, with samples on the Internet, business-plan books in every bookstore, and dozens of apps to automate the process. A great business plan doesn’t have to be a book in length, with extensive financial statements. Don’t try to impress constituents with technical terms, jargon, and acronyms.

Startup 109

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2021

In her classic book “ Corporate Concinnity in the Boardroom ,” board expert Nancy Falls outlines the most common mistakes with boards, and I believe several of these apply to startups as well as to more mature companies as follows: Have too many or too few board members. Fail to establish adequate structure. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 145

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 145

Tech.Co

MAY 26, 2020

Jeff Bezos didn't get to be the world's richest man by writing a lot of checks, and one recent way to keep Amazon's profits healthy has been to cut its affiliate commissions scheme. Amazon started with books, so we will too. The ecommerce site Bookshop offers a book-specific affiliate program. commission).

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Buzzfeed News Networking 129

InfoChachkie

MARCH 10, 2014

Jackson Brown sat at his kitchen table, pulled out a pad of paper and began writing advice to his son, who had just entered college. Mr. Brown''s aphorisms eventually evolve into twenty one books, including four New York Times bestsellers. Brown''s musing are anachronisms (e.g., "Don''t Grind it out. Take care of your reputation.

Competition 274

Competition Mentor Entrepreneur Startup 274

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Competitive sportswoman. Kara on one side of the table showing me market sizes, competitive dynamics, product roadmaps, pricing plans for physical products with COGS and gross margins. She helps write press releases. When you think about physical stickers and activity books every parent can understand. Stanford MBA.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return. Effective communication requires real listening, as well as talking.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Let me be quick to say that a plan doesn’t have be a book, and probably should start as a “pitch deck” of maybe a dozen slides which cover all the right bases. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive. The details can be added later.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2014

This week I wrote about obsessive and competitive founders and how this forms the basis of what I look for when I invest. Why will people invest 5x the money to get book smart and struggle so much to take a big salary cut to get real life experience? I normally finish with my soap box speech. “Look. It’s gonna suck, I know.

Startup 409

Startup Invest Venture Capital Writing 409

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). It’s not you.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2016

For an inspiring story full of specifics on how to achieve goals, I recommend a recent book, “ Three Points of Contact ,” by Gregory Q. I was most impressed with the steps he outlined for turning ideas into goals into results, which I paraphrase here for aspiring entrepreneurs: Write down your goals or your dreams.

Writing 100

Writing Ideas Startup Entrepreneur 100

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

The video was produced as a means of marketing Brad and Jason’s book, Venture Deals , yet the wide coverage it received resulted in significant promotion of the firm, its partners, and the book. “We We write blogs, we do music videos, we show up, we engage with people…we love our product. Write Your Own Playbook.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

If you haven’t read Adam Lashinsky’s awesome new book about Apple , you should. The idea that the course asks students to write public blog posts is a testament to its more modern teaching style. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2013

This is sad, since “how to write a business plan” is a frequent topic found in every business journal, and a common title in the business section of every book store. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually understand it yourself. What is the definition of a good business plan?

Sample 92

Sample Writing Startup Summary 92

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2012

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Your competitive advantage. Don’t kill your credibility by saying you have no competition.

Summary 97

Summary Writing Competition Sample 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 21, 2012

This is sad, since “how to write a business plan” is a frequent topic found in every business journal, and a common title in the business section of every book store. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually understand it yourself. What is the definition of a good business plan?

Sample 96

Sample Writing Summary Startup 96

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2012

Alain Theriault, better known as StartupCoach , tells entrepreneurs that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start by writing a cook book (business plan), you work in the kitchen for a while, you learn some tools of the trade, you experiment with a few recipes, you test on willing clients. then you can start writing a recipe.

Startup 96

Startup Writing Metrics Marketing 96

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

I told him only 2 weeks ago when we were in London together that I wanted to write a blog post that has been in my head for 2 years. He is profiled in my favorite book about ADHD, Delivered From Distraction , where the author talks about high-performance ADHD professionals. I’ve been told so. How can anybody do 500 startups?”.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. I was reminded of a number of these by a recent book, “ The Thing About Work: Showing Up and Other Important Matters ,” by Richard A. Anything less makes you non-competitive.

Startup 93

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 93

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2015

I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. A business plan is for you first, not investors.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 105

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Your competitive advantage. Don’t kill your credibility by saying you have no competition.

Summary 90

Summary Writing Competition Sample 90

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2010

I’ll confess up front that I’m a big fan of Guy Kawasaki’s humor and writing style. Back when he was writing to entrepreneurs, he published the book “ Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition.” All it takes is reading this book and practicing for twenty years.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Sample 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2011

I just finished a modern-day primer on the key elements of great online content in “ Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition ,” a new book by Michael Stelzner, founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com. If you want to connect with customers, put aside your writing formalities. Then write it down.

Content 94

Content Startup Newsletter Writing 94

socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2008

In their case, people write their scripts on a web site, and when they're done, they can submit them to contests with a single click. If you're doing freelance writing, have a story you're trying to sell, there's a whole process of finding out where you're doing well, not doing well, and what responses you have received.

Writing 209

Writing Hollywood Startup Sites 209

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Now, you’re handling payroll and doing writing as well. You may even discover that you enjoy writing more than crunching numbers. Piaw Na, who spent over six years at Google, writes on Quora that she recommends fresh grads to join a startup instead of big companies. Startups are hiring.

Startup 102

Startup Social Media Writing Google 102

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2010

This is sad, since “how to write a business plan” is a frequent topic found in every business journal, and a common title in the business section of every book store. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually understand it yourself. What is the definition of a good business plan?

Startup 91

Startup Funding Sample Writing 91