Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2016

For a software startup, a patent can be the intellectual property providing the key competitive advantage, or it can be an expensive non-defensible bureaucratic nightmare -- or both. Some argue to simply eliminate software patents, while others put their hopes in U.S. Patent offices can’t keep up with software technology.

Patents 53

Patents Software Review Software Technical Advisors 53

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2016

There is a common belief in the angel and venture capital community that you put your money on the best team, rather than the best idea. Thus the top priority of every entrepreneur who wants funding should be to build and highlight their “dream team” of co-founders, executives and advisers, to attract the biggest and best investors.

Startup 60

Startup Entrepreneur Software Review Technical Review 60

socalTECH

DECEMBER 12, 2013

Our target market is entrepreneurs, creatives, and developers. Our services range from basically any platform service to enable an entrepreneur or developer or creative, to get online with a website, or do things like set up a blog. First, for those not familiar with DreamHost, talk about what your company does? Simon Anderson: It is.

Software Review 238

Software Review Cloud Computing Technical Review Platform 238

Tech.Co

MARCH 8, 2018

Also at Startup Night will be 25 diverse and innovative startups showcasing their latest products, competing for prizes including: $1K from LaunchKC , Business Extra Points from American Airlines , and a fast tracked spot to the Startup of the Year semifinals competition at Innovate Celebrate 2018. Joanne Chen, Partner at Foundation Capital.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Startup Software Review Entrepreneur 70

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. Today, Silicon Valley is the consumer and enterprise software capital of the world. Raising capital isn’t the be-all and end-all of startup success.

Startup 97

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 97

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The vast majority of those are nowhere up to modern codes. “From the invention of the semiconductor to the creation of the Internet, new engines of economic growth have emerged due to public investments that support research, commercialization, and strong supply chains,” the White House wrote. ” Climate resiliency .

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. This benefits you, the entrepreneur. This is total bullshit.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

We typically do not ask entrepreneurs to visit our offices in Santa Barbara, but Jeff wanted to meet with Kevin, an investor in our Fund who helped us vet opportunities and occasionally invested alongside of us. Tech Diligence - Consider The Source. asked that his feedback be kept in confidence and NOT be passed along to Twilio.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

In fact, during my many years as an operational entrepreneur, I explicitly avoided working with governments, for the reasons described below. It is downright criminal to lose a hard-fought sale because of crony capitalism. Now, more than ever, government agencies in the US and abroad are lousy startup customers.

Startup 207

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Sales 207

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series of posts and I need to file this one under both Raising Venture Capital and Startup Advice. There were tons of young entrepreneurs showing their latest Web 2.0 Many of these businesses were what First Round Capital called FNACs (features, not companies – this acronym has always stuck with me).

Web 2.0 334

Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

socalTECH

MARCH 20, 2015

our primary competition is Intent Media, which has raised $51M in venture money. Given the competition in this space, have you ever considered taking some venture money to compete? That built us a nice piece of cushion in the business, so we''ve been able to completely fund everything ourselves without any need for venture capital.

Advertising 100

Advertising Startup Software Review Platform 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

There are many times when being overly capitalized before you’re ready is a negative. Plus, most early-stage M&A fails so this isn’t likely a good use of capital for a young company). But software companies often take longer to scale top-line revenue than retailers so it takes a while to cover your nut.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. Today, Silicon Valley is the consumer and enterprise software capital of the world. Raising capital isn’t the be all and end all of startup success.

Startup 109

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 109

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. We are experiencing a frenetic time. “Yeah, we think about going every year.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

Whether you are talking to peers, competitors or investors, you as an active entrepreneur will be judged on your familiarity with today’s startup and funding jargon. In that context, I offer you my latest collection of popular investor-to-entrepreneur terms and concepts. Frothy is good for entrepreneurs. Seed-round investment.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

The company provides SAT, ACT, and other similar test preparation courses and related software. I had worked as a tutor for Princeton Review, and Jake for Kaplan. We thought, we could put out a better product than Kaplan or Princeton Review, which would be more compelling, and also would tie in a strong social mission.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2013

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. Today, Silicon Valley is the consumer and enterprise software capital of the world. Raising capital isn’t the be all and end all of startup success.

Startup 102

Startup Technical Review Oracle Entrepreneur 102

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Unfortunately, investors and surfers can be lemmings, which results in good breaks getting over surfed and market sectors attracting too much capital. However, at the time I reviewed the deals, the opportunities did not appear to be credible, let alone lucrative. Sharing – Many surfers do not want to share their waves.

Invest 100

Invest Software Review Journal Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2017

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. Today, Silicon Valley is the consumer and enterprise software capital of the world. Raising capital isn’t the be all and end all of startup success.

Sites 59

Sites Startup Technical Review Oracle 59

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

” I mention journalists here because they perpetuate the myth that focusing on profits is ALWAYS the right answer and then I hear many entrepreneurs (and certainly many “normals”) repeating the same mantra. Have easy access to capital by investors who are committed to building businesses at Interent scale.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. So here is what I have been telling entrepreneurs privately for the past 6 months. I guess that makes USV, Spark Capital, Foundry Group, Accel, Benchmark, Revolution (along with several others) pretty happy right now.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

One is the “denominator problem&# which says that if an LP invests X% (the denominator) into “alternative investments&# such as venture capital and if their total amount available to invest (the numerator) goes down by 30% then the amount they allocate to VC will by definition need to go down by 30% to stay the same percentage.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 3rd Brad Feld wrote a one paragraph blog post titled “ Raising Venture Capital &# in which he linked to my blog. The Original Post (after the jump): Venture Capital, By Mark Suster (December 2nd, 2006). I don’t plan to write the authoritative venture capital blog, just some anecdotes. Thus is venture capital.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. Marketing with long payback is precisely what requires venture capital. Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2018

According to the Harvard Business Review , acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to twenty-five times more expensive than retaining an existing one. Find ways to work with your competition. This experience includes browsing your website, social media interactions, the sales process, as well as your support and follow-up.

Examples 67

Examples Customer Custom Software Review 67

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. Looking ahead at the next decade I am excited by what I believe will be viewed as one of the best and most rational investment periods for venture capital due to seven discrete factors: 1. This article originally ran on PEHub.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

Fortunately I was mostly a technology consultant, which meant that I coded computers, designed databases and planned system integration projects. One of our core tasks was “market analysis,&# which consistent of: market sizing, market forecasts, competitive analysis and then instructing customers on which direction to take.

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2012

It’s a great survival strategy for small companies or entrepreneurs, and a good expansion strategy for even the largest companies. As an example, a few years ago I worked for small software company selling an expensive enterprise workflow product. Up-sell related products after the initial sale. Marty Zwilling.

Company 96

Company Companies Startup Examples 96

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

Patents held by startups generally have a limited ability to reduce competition. Even if your company is not acquired and you elect to access the public capital markets via an IPO, the above tenets remain valid. Patent examiners generally ask for clarification during the review process. No Patents, No Interest.

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2018

If you find yourself in this category, you need to focus on techniques to improve your productivity On software teams, for example, a detailed study published years ago shows differences as great as ten to one in productivity between comparable team members. Capitalize on deadlines to maintain a sense of urgency.

Coach 56

Coach Paramount Software Review Product 56

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2010

Al is a repeat entrepreneur, who last founded Integrien, and was SVP and GM at LowerMyBills. As of the last four months, we've had about 200,000 plus downloads, a bunch of great write ups, and a lot of mom bloggers who have been reviewing the app and writing stories on it. We're also raising capital to get the word out in a better way.

Mobile 168

Mobile .Net Pasadena Software Review 168

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2011

It’s a great survival strategy for small companies or entrepreneurs, and a good expansion strategy for even the largest companies. As an example, a few years ago I worked for small software company selling an expensive enterprise workflow product. Up-sell related products after the initial sale. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 90

Startup Examples Customer Custom 90

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

We told you about young twins behind Social network LAGbook , Today we caught up with two 19 year-old entrepreneurs from Naperville, Illinois. Any Competition? At the moment we have not raised any funds yet but we started with Founders Capital. Juckins and Jeremy A. Any Funding Yet and How Much? Any User Feedback? “I

Startup 65

Startup Software Review Ideas Social Network 65

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

We will be bringing you some of the hottest startups around to give you a quick rundown about their companies and get to know the entrepreneur behind those companies. This Panel is filled with investing super stars who will be going over must have content for all the startups and entrepreneurs out there. Adrenaline Fueled Angel.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

CapLinked lets entrepreneurs focus on what they do best, while making sure their investors always stay in the loop. InVenture has created a market for "micro venture capital," whereby everyday investors can provide expansion capital to developing businesses. How startup can leverage social media to get investors attention.

Social Media 60

Social Media Technical Review Tech Coast Angels Venture Capital 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2023

The military has long recognized that machine guns are force multipliers for rifles, but businesses have been slow to capitalize on this concept. Soliciting user-generated online feedback and reviews. Top entrepreneurs still have to decide what activities and tools are the most important for their domain and their environment.

Social Media 106

Social Media Software Review Course Networking 106