Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s recent book, “ The New Experts: Win Today''s Newly Empowered Customers.” Capitalize on the multiplier moment. These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2015

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” Capitalize on the multiplier moment. These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H.

Customer 101

Customer Custom Startup Course 101

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary.

Summary 55

Summary Writing Competition Metrics 55

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

All this was done without damaging anyone’s credibility, or stealing customers. Here is a summary of each: Complementary strengths allows extended market penetration. It’s very unusual for two competitors to have exactly the same strengths – in development, marketing, distribution, or customer support.

Startup 173

Startup Outsource Development Examples Customer 173

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” Capitalize on the multiplier moment. These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Startup Course 52

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2021

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of the management team, or a sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. Selling too early triggers customer defenses and drives them away. Montgomery, which does a great job of laying out specifics.

Education 151

Education Customer Custom Sales 151

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As such, the primary goal of your executive summary is to open the door to an in-person meeting. Entrepreneurs routinely seek my advice regarding their executive summaries.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2015

announced they raised $9 million from Sequoia , arguably the best venture capital firm that exists. But the bigger truth is the competition is important. ” In summary: The competitors are the incumbents. Healthy competition keeps you on your toes. Stay focused on your business, your market and your customers.

Funding 150

Funding Competition Marketing Summary 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2016

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of the management team, or a sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. Selling too early triggers customer defenses and drives them away. Montgomery, which does a great job of laying out specifics.

Capital 58

Capital Startup Education Customer 58

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

The bad news is that it’s still a jungle fight for survival for entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics, with over 80 percent not having access to bank loans or venture capital. Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. If you want to be feared. Money is no substitute for these other treasures.

Startup 112

Startup News Framework Outsource 112

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Based on the final report for 2012 from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), it may appear that IPOs are back as a viable startup exit strategy. The dot.com heydays of free flowing venture capital and supercharged IPOs are not back. Line up a winning team.

Venture Capital 101

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2019

Yet I find that only a few are able to put their passion aside for a moment, and compare their solution to the attributes that really attract a large market of new customers. Most trend watchers agree that it is time for a revolutionary new category of medicine treatment devices and customized healthcare solutions.

Startup 91

Startup Customer Custom Examples 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

I just read the Q1 2011 report from CB Insights , which shows venture capital is back. Back to VCs, Silicon Valley venture capital firms are still the most active. So what can you do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue? Be ready with a killer executive summary , investor presentation , and financial model.

Venture Capital 93

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2019

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of the management team, or a sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. Selling too early triggers customer defenses and drives them away. Montgomery, which does a great job of laying out specifics.

Startup 97

Startup Education Customer Custom 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

controlling your psychology ) you no doubt have heard me say that raising capital is a sales & marketing process. Building models to evaluate the deal and/or reviewing customer files, company financials, business plans, etc. This is critical to build a cohesive venture capital firm. Remember, it’s not easy for anybody.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Here are some observations I have from this exposure: If a company moves from strength-to-strength with predictable outcomes, easy financings, low staff turn-over, limited competitive threats then the composition of the board probably doesn’t matter as much. Summary: Making Your Board More Effective Chose the right members.

Startup 269

Startup Venture Capital Layoffs Resource 269

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. This includes presentations, ROI calculators, competitive analyses and so forth. In Summary.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it. As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. How long does it take me to pay back my original customer acquisition costs?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2019

The bad news is that it’s still a jungle fight for survival for entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics, with over 80 percent not having access to bank loans or venture capital. Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. If you want to be feared. Money is no substitute for these other treasures.

Startup 94

Startup News Framework Outsource 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2019

I like his summary of five kinds of questions that can help you change your leadership effectiveness, and your organization’s view of reality when faced with complex new issues: Questions that highlight key roadblocks to a solution. Today’s workforce, and customers, are looking for leaders, not tyrants.

Help 91

Help Examples Summary Design 91

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

When a product is truly unique and demanded a retailer willingly promotes and sells it en masse in part because it does get margin on the good but also because it brings customers in the door who spend on other products. Ariel understood her customer?—?the So Why Does This Matter? the modern buyer of home products?—?better

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

According to the Angel Capital Association , at least 300,000 people have made angel investments in the last two years, totaling $24 billion in the U.S. Angels are most interested to help you scale the business, once you have real customer traction and ready to break out. Prepare an executive summary and investor presentation.

Angel 65

Angel Startup Technical Review Social Media 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2013

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of the management team, or a sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. Selling too early triggers customer defenses and drives them away. Montgomery, which does a great job of laying out specifics.

Startup 117

Startup Education Customer Custom 117

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

Today the company officially announced its most recent round of capital ?—?having Capital of course drives scale advantages and when you have “winner take most” markets it also has a way of scaring away some investors from investing in the 3–5th “me too” competitors. having raised $300 million?—?less There is nothing viral! Not really.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

I think you’ll really enjoy this video , but as always I have summary notes for those with less time. If you like the quick summary notes, please check out Adam’s blog on tech, entrepreneurship & VC as a thank you. Hopefully it will entice you to come back and watch the show at a later time! West Coast”).

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2013

I found a great summary of key strategies used, with life stories, in “ The Risk Takers ,” by Renee and Don Martin. This is the origin of the “first movers” competitive advantage. The sharpest entrepreneurs have a knack for viewing the world from the perspective of their customers. Hit ‘em where they ain’t.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Startup Advertising Social Media 117

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off. Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. Internet scale. What makes up revenue?

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2012

Microsoft found this out when their market capitalization, once at $560B, had fallen in 2010 to $219B, allowing them to be passed by Apple, who grew from $15.6B I found a good summary of the relevant keys to business operational excellence in a new book by Faisal Hoque, called “ The Power of Convergence.” during that period.

Ideas 94

Ideas Startup Summary Competition 94

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2011

Microsoft found this out last year when their market capitalization, once at $560 billion in the year 2000, had fallen to $219 billion, allowing them to be passed by Apple at $222 billion, who grew from $15.6 Your value chain consists of customers, partners, vendors, internal systems, and your own team. billion during the same period.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas Summary Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2014

All this was done without damaging anyone’s credibility, or stealing customers. Here is a summary of each: Complementary strengths allows extended market penetration. It’s very unusual for two competitors to have exactly the same strengths – in development, marketing, distribution, or customer support.

Startup 103

Startup Outsource Development Examples Customer 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Competition and sustainable advantage. Executive team.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2012

I found a great summary of key strategies used, with life stories, in a book titled “ The Risk Takers ,” by Renee and Don Martin. This is the origin of the “first movers” competitive advantage. The sharpest entrepreneurs have a knack for viewing the world from the perspective of their customers. Hit ‘em where they ain’t.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Advertising Social Media Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Here is a summary of the top four wrong reasons I see for looking for investors: A desire to start with an impressive infrastructure. Once you have a complete offering, with real revenue from real customers, it’s time to ramp up the business. Organic growth at this stage may be non-competitive.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity Summary 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Competition and sustainable advantage. Executive team.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. I wrote the summary notes in this blog post. Who are your key customers? Mobile app?

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

I found a great summary of key strategies used, with life stories, in a book titled “ The Risk Takers ,” by Renee and Don Martin. This is the origin of the “first movers” competitive advantage. The sharpest entrepreneurs have a knack for viewing the world from the perspective of their customers. Hit ‘em where they ain’t.

Tips 89

Tips Entrepreneur Advertising Social Media 89

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2015

There’s plenty of capital out there, but there’s also a lot of competition for startup funding. His best advice: take capital where you can get it. This can be a great way to test your product and get customer feedback. If your product is capital-intensive this can be a good financing option. Crowdfunding.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Equity Funding 40