Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

What every entrepreneur needs more than anything else, after they have built an innovative new product or service, is visibility, credibility, and trust by customers, potential employees, and future business partners. Yet, most good business people I know agree, but don’t know where to start.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Some people even believe that entrepreneurs must be born with the right genes, and no element of education is relevant. In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities.

Writing 111

Writing Coach Incubator Entrepreneur 111

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2012

The answer is a resounding yes today, and I’m convinced that it will be even more true tomorrow, as young idealistic entrepreneurs try to adapt to the long-standing business culture where success is only measured in the money you make for yourself and your business. Marty Zwilling First published on Young Entrepreneur on 10/25/2012.

Entrepreneur 86

Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction Mentor 86

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

The trophy investor understands these challenges and has developed a professional process to manage his investments. If the investor stresses over the investment, the interests of the investor and entrepreneur can easily grow at odds with one another. Tags: angel investor entrepreneur process trophy business. Business wisdom.

Entrepreneur 83

Entrepreneur Mentor Invest Angel 83

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. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. I plan to write about it early next year when we’re all through. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? There is a difference between a Conference Ho and a successful entrepreneur.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2019

The answer is a resounding yes today, and I’m convinced that it will be even more true tomorrow, as young idealistic entrepreneurs try to adapt to the long-standing business culture if success is only measured in the money you make for yourself and your business. Maintain some reality by listing vulnerabilities, risks, and costs.

Entrepreneur 91

Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction Mentor 91

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

"The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. Mark noted that even if an entrepreneur does not become a master developer, by simply understanding the software development process, they will be a more effective startup leader.

Tips 275

Tips Startup IP Santa Barbara 275

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

So part of playing an effective coach is helping the team to see the answer for themselves. We talk a lot about his schooling, his early jobs as a developer and then as a VC and we talk about his decision to spend winters in Los Angeles. In stead of just writing operating and funding advice Fred also talks about industries.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2013

The answer is a resounding yes today, and I’m convinced that it will be even more true tomorrow, as young idealistic entrepreneurs try to adapt to the long-standing business culture if success is only measured in the money you make for yourself and your business. Brian Gast entrepreneur fulfillment startup success' Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction Mentor 97

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2017

The answer is a resounding yes today, and I’m convinced that it will be even more true tomorrow, as young idealistic entrepreneurs try to adapt to the long-standing business culture if success is only measured in the money you make for yourself and your business. Maintain some reality by listing vulnerabilities, risks, and costs.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction Mentor 55

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

We try to hire people who we believe will be upfront and respectful of entrepreneurs and know that it’s far easier to judge ones decisions on the outside than it actually is to have to make the tough decisions inside of a startup every day. Developing trusting relationships with peers is critical. Winning paves over any flaws.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. I like to say to first-time entrepreneurs, picking a VC is more permanent than marriage. Trust your instincts – they will serve you well as an entrepreneur. And many of these people are money managers rather than people like Gus who inspire entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur 297

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

By the time of my second company MySQL was a much more robust solution and worked well when you had to read a lot of information but was less performant on “write&# activities. As a content management system we had lots of write activities and went with Postgres. Skipping is insidious. Don’t skip.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2011

Jonathan Lehmann: I was awarded the Larry Wolfen Entrepreneurial Spirit Award at UCLA, after getting amazing coaching from Matt Ridenour in our business plan development class. That allowed me to take a summer to develop the new idea, and transform it into a business. It has been really amazing. But, I realized it wasn't for me.

UCLA 256

UCLA Startup Ideas Help 256

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. Write things down. I hate losing. Be gracious.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. Write things down. I hate losing. Be gracious.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

I feel too many people are discouraging, and as a result, too many entrepreneurs are discouraged and give up. Not only do our business clients turn to us for lawsuits, but they also ask us to create efficient processes and develop their brands. You are writing about the essentials of business. That's great.

Startup 150

Startup SEO Pepperdine Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does. Some entrepreneurs make the mistake of never devolving power. I had developers who thought that the chief architect was a bottleneck – having to be involved in every decision. Both are basically people businesses.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Custom 319

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits ;-). Write things down. I hate losing. Be gracious.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

socalTECH

JULY 29, 2009

Instead of writing a book, we wanted to develop a platform to bring our methods to life, and scale our knowledge. One of our hopes, aside from creating a way to package knowledge, is to essentially allow entrepreneurs to create their own publishing company. But, it didn't seem scalable.

Geni 100

Geni Web Guide Platform 100

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2012

From LA Demo Day to Silicon Beach Fest to Crowdstart LA to hackathons to Startup Weekends, companies and entrepreneurs alike have joined forces to feed the startup ecosystem. So, I teamed up with a group of developers that showed interest in working on my idea after the weekend. Interesting offer considering he did nothing.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas San Diego Mentor 100

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 4, 2010

Bruce Sallan (@BruceSallan) - I'm a former showbiz guy who writes a dad's column. Cash Warren (@cash_warren) - producer, entrepreneur, president of Verso Entertainment. Cash Warren (@cash_warren) - producer, entrepreneur, president of Verso Entertainment. Cathy Brooks (@CathyBrooks) - Strategic Communications Coach.

Social Media 40

Social Media Journal Media Education 40

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

.&# Surprisinly, this strategy works well with many entrepreneurs. It’s as though we forgot the management mantra of the 90′s about “core competencies&# or the most common VC advice to entrepreneurs: Focus. I doubt this will end well for those VCs or for the entrepreneurs they backed. Funny, that.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2010

Doing nothing between board meetings to me is like running the “ waterfall software development process. &# We all know that modern software companies run on the “ agile &# development process by having short release cycles and frequent communications. Make sure when you write it you assume this. Be prudent.

Startup 301

Startup Venture Capital Software Review Email 301

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 2, 2011

Thiel and friends will also agree to mentor these young entrepreneurs. In Poly Sci I learned critical thinking and writing. If I’m counseling young people I often coach them to consider getting degrees that will be practical for becoming more employable when they graduate. At least not as an entrepreneur.

Education 322

Education Startup Incubator Class 322

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

It’s the story of persistence in entrepreneurs. As a VC I’m acutely that a “yes&# decision to support an entrepreneur can do just that, yet I only write 2-4 of them per year and maybe another 3-4 as an angel. As an entrepreneur you can change people’s lives, too. Your advice made a difference.&#.

Startup 352

Startup Help Blogging Entrepreneur 352