Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor). It is most often a win-win for both you and the strategic partner.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Berkonomics

JUNE 22, 2023

Test yourself as to whether you can identify the size of your market niche, and whether you can overcome the many barriers to access customers within your niche. A strategic relationship with one or more of the largest customers? Do you have a world-class management team? Where in industry life cycle? Are margins high enough?

Patents 286

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2021

Most business managers preach that the key to success is holding employees accountable for actions, but I have found that successful entrepreneurs are all about holding themselves accountable. Usually these people think they are doing a great job, and are totally oblivious to their unhappy customers or cash drain.

Startup 164

Startup Class Entrepreneur Coach 164

InfoChachkie

JUNE 16, 2016

Entrepreneurs create their own jobs, why shouldn’t they also create their own degrees? As described in Should Millennial Entrepreneurs Skip College? most young entrepreneurs benefit greatly from the college experience. Custom Wharton Degree. Like a sheepeople, I dutifully signed up for the required classes.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Class Course Writing 100

InfoChachkie

MARCH 2, 2015

Despite the fact that I teach entrepreneurship at UC Santa Barbara , I do not believe that entrepreneurs are created in classrooms. Instead of trying to teach students to be an entrepreneur, I expose my entrepreneurial students to tools that will help them solve real-world problems. Challenging. My courses are rigorous and demanding.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Class Course Case Study 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

The realm of an entrepreneur is all about change, but in my experience as a mentor to business founders, I hear too much about incremental change, and not enough about revolutionary change. Great entrepreneurs cross industry boundaries to find synergies, and are constantly in learn mode on several fronts.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Social Media Artificial Inteligence Examples 103

InfoChachkie

APRIL 29, 2013

You operate your business from a small boat in the remote waters of northern Fiji and your customers are spread across the globe, residing in the US, Europe and Asia. How can you protect your company''s reputation when a rouge customer unjustly flames your startup? Left unattended, such attacks are detrimental. Bipolar Reviewers.

Social Media 213

Social Media Customer Custom Media 213

socalTECH

AUGUST 14, 2012

It's a warm summer night in Westwood and 35 entrepreneurs are mingling with a collection of the new SoCal silicon-set. StartEngine , the startup accelerator, which launched earlier this year with ten hopeful businesses, is now in the middle of its third and largest class to date.

Mentor 178

Mentor Entrepreneur Technology SoCalTech 178

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. But Tracy did what entrepreneurs do. Sam is the managing director of Launchpad LA and we were about to pick our 2012 class of entrepreneurs. In the first 5 minutes you’ll realize that she’s a classic entrepreneur. She focused on her customer.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2015

Entrepreneurship is all about leading – leading customers to a new product or service, leading a startup team to peak performance, and leading a new business to the market opportunity, while providing maximum return to stakeholders. Authentic entrepreneurs lead through the power of personal influence, rather than coercion.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Mentor Coach Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Online or evening entrepreneurship classes for anyone. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2014

Most businesses spend big money testing their brand logo, catchy marketing phrases, and demographics, but spend little time training and validating that their employees can and do deliver memorable experiences to their customers. Keep your team happy to create engaged customers. An unhappy team member can’t create an engaged customer.

Customer 106

Customer Custom Training Satisfaction 106

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 18, 2013

A traffic jam of expensive cars lined up to pull into the packed parking lot of MuckerLab for its second graduating class demo day. Tech Coast Angel investor Dale Okuno came out because he believes that MuckerLab attracts better talent because they keep their class size small and focused. And build great business they have.

Class 100

Class Startup Tech Coast Angels CTO Coach 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2021

The ultimate compliment that any entrepreneur can get is that they can “see around corners.” Great entrepreneurs seem to all exhibit a common set of attributes which go well beyond the basic skills required to be an entrepreneur: “Larger than life” personality and presence. We can all point to the casualties from that approach.

Marketing 157

Marketing Design Entrepreneur Ideas 157

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2013

Most businesses spend big money testing their brand logo, catchy marketing phrases, and demographics, but spend little time training and validating that their employees can and do deliver memorable experiences to their customers. Keep your team happy to create engaged customers. An unhappy team member can’t create an engaged customer.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Training Satisfaction 97

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

“Hi [entrepreneur], I hope all is well. I know the firm well and I know the entrepreneur & his business well. If the goal is simply to get the basic details (revenue, customers, staff numbers, prior funding) then no judgment is required. So I have to imagine many other entrepreneurs felt the same.

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 7, 2016

Most business managers preach that the key to success is holding employees accountable for actions, but I have found that successful entrepreneurs are all about holding themselves accountable. Usually these people think they are doing a great job, and are totally oblivious to their unhappy customers or cash drain.

Entrepreneur 59

Entrepreneur Startup Class Coach 59

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2016

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Online or evening entrepreneurship classes for anyone. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Capital Class Startup 55

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Yet as a business advisor I am convinced that making the jump from a startup to a the next unicorn takes a different mindset, and actions most entrepreneurs are reluctant to face. Bring in an experienced Board and world-class leaders. Isolate marketing from sales for maximum customer focus.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Even entrepreneurs that already sold on SaaS should stake note of new research from the SalientGroup : SaaS gets funded - Nearly 50% of SaaS-based startups are getting successfully funded—a rate of funding success no other sector can match. Most companies do not have the infrastructure to build and support an enterprise-class portal.

SaaS 100

SaaS Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2017

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Thus I believe that business leaders and entrepreneurs need to focus first on people leadership, rather than process leadership. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Coach Organization Mentor 78

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

Entrepreneurship is all about leading – leading customers to a new product or service, leading a startup team to peak performance, and leading a new business to the market opportunity, while providing maximum return to stakeholders. Authentic entrepreneurs lead through the power of personal influence, rather than coercion.

Entrepreneur 116

Entrepreneur Mentor Coach Customer 116

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

If this is your first foray into the entrepreneurial arena, with no track record in business or technology, your best and perhaps only supporters will be that class of investors known in the trade as friends, family and fools (FFF). The technology is now embodied in a solution that can be replicated to reliably solve a real customer problem.

Resource 102

Resource Ideas Funding Research 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. Highlight your world-class team as the secret sauce. I look for entrepreneurs that can sell themselves and their offering to discerning customers.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

Having the best solution is a good start these days, but a solution alone is no longer enough to keep customer attention and loyalty. Start with feedback from real customers, set measurable objectives, and make sure rewards and incentives are tempered by customer experiences, rather than only internal thresholds.

Customer 56

Customer Custom Startup Competition 56

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

Entrepreneurs talk to customers and competitors talk to each other about the new trends and technologies they see. Evaluate customer response prior to development. Surface your prototype, get customer feedback, make corrections, and iterate until you get it right. Being open is the new business culture around the world.

Marketing 105

Marketing Startup Search Engine Optimization Ideas 105

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor). Dave’s book and ebook on raising money available on Amazon.com.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2021

As I have said many times, the cost of entry for an aspiring entrepreneur has never been lower, and the total wealth of opportunities has never been larger. Entrepreneurs have huge opportunities to deliver higher-performance materials at lower cost, like carbon fiber for steel. These will be your customers, and your competitors.

Startup 162

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Social Media 162

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. Highlight your world-class team as the secret sauce. I look for entrepreneurs that can sell themselves and their offering to discerning customers.

Competition 133

Competition Patents Resource Invest 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2020

Technical entrepreneurs love their technology, and often are driven to launch a startup on the assumption that everyone will buy any solution which highlights this technology. Instead, they need to validate a customer problem and real market need first. Customers buy solutions, not technology. Limit the features and complexity.

Technology 127

Technology Marketing Social Media Customer 127

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Equally, I encouraged entrepreneurs to spend time getting to know their future VCs early because getting a feel for your chemistry is far more important than how the VC is ranked in some survey. Equally, I encouraged entrepreneurs to thoroughly reference check their VCs – you’ll learn much more from this than anything else.

Entrepreneur 330

Entrepreneur Marketing Venture Capital Hulu 330

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2013

The ultimate compliment that any entrepreneur can get is that they can “see around corners.” Great entrepreneurs seem to all exhibit a common set of attributes which go well beyond the basic skills required to be an entrepreneur: “Larger than life” personality and presence. We can all point to the casualties from that approach.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Marketing Startup Design 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2020

Entrepreneurs talk to customers and competitors talk to each other about the new trends and technologies they see. Evaluate customer response prior to development. Surface your prototype, get customer feedback, make corrections, and iterate until you get it right. Being open is the new business culture around the world.

Search Engine Optimization 174

Search Engine Optimization Ideas Startup Customer 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2012

Most entrepreneurs fail on at least one attempt. Investors agree that an entrepreneur who has never failed probably hasn’t pushed the limits. A great entrepreneur is like a great racehorse. Heart and class are permanent. We have just been through a recession, and big customers do change their mind.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Startup Class Customer 103

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Is there a market for your class of product at all? Market risk is constant and should be of greatest concern to any executive or entrepreneur. Not only is the enterprise threatened, but confidence is shaken among employees, suppliers, even customers. Here are five basic kinds of internal risks that a business faces over time.

Competition 156

Competition Marketing Class Product 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2012

The ultimate compliment that any entrepreneur can get is that they can “see around corners.” Great entrepreneurs seem to all exhibit a common set of attributes which go well beyond the basic skills required to be an entrepreneur: “Larger than life” personality and presence. We can all point to the casualties from that approach.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Design Ideas Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Yet in my experience on both sides of this equation, I find that many aspiring entrepreneurs focus only on the best idea , assuming that it will attract the right investors. Investors love entrepreneurs who come across as constantly on the lookout for new ideas, and able to grasp the larger implications for market change.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140