Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2016

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.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Tips Writing Coach 98

Berkonomics

JUNE 29, 2017

Their investment should be structured with the help of a good attorney who understands the mutual goal of maximum leverage of funds with minimum interference in your business decisions. I was so enthusiastic that I coached the entrepreneur to approach his mother, who invested $50,000 under the same terms as my investment.

Invest 243

Invest Entrepreneur Sales Startup 243

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Hire more help than helpers.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

You will realize much more from the ultimate sale of your business even if at a considerably lower price than if splitting the proceeds with investors. And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup. There is a lot to say about retaining control.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. What stage?

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, You have to decide how hard to help with downstream marketing for your deals. A little Groucho Marx always helps. And there’s conferences.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

I’ve written about the topic of convertible debt at length before specifically about how angels & entrepreneurs should think about pricing. Convertible debt is an investment that “converts&# into equity in the future usually at a discount to your next funding round price and sometimes has a “cap&# (maximum price).

Equity 319

Equity Pricing Venture Capital Entrepreneur 319

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2019

Richards--a serial entrepreneur who has been involved in a number of technology companies here, including NTI Group (sold to Blackboard), Internships.com, MP3.com, Robin Richards: Brand amplification and brand protection are critical to companies, in helping them attract and retain employees. That's been very effective.

Content 193

Content Social Network Coach Help 193

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. What stage?

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2018

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.

Startup 97

Startup Writing Coach Incubator 97

InfoChachkie

JULY 11, 2012

Vince Lombardi is widely considered the best football coach of all time, and ultimately may be the greatest coach in the history of all sports. How can today’s entrepreneurs leverage the teachings of Vince Lombardi to identify talent that will drive the company to success? It has a price.

Coach 160

Coach Tips Competition Pricing 160

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

That’s why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great “idea” person. His challenge is to focus on one market, with a specific design, cost, and price. Expand your own learning and knowledge by helping others. For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

He had an idea for a startup that would help consumers better book service jobs and would take on Service Magic, which he believed had a business model that could be disrupted. I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it. The company was called Red Beacon.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Hire more help than helpers.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs. But the people whom I consider best in this industry are quite helpful indeed. And Coach Campbell.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

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

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Hire more help than helpers.

Startup 108

Startup Sales Metrics Entrepreneur 108

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Richard White, author of The Entrepreneur’s Manual , surveyed a number of venture capitalists, asking them to identify the characteristics of successful, serial entrepreneurs. In fact, several of the venture capitalists pointed out that successful entrepreneurs often have to be encouraged to spend more aggressively.

Startup 221

Startup Pricing Entrepreneur Email 221

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

My very first investment as a professional angel was in a small startup where the entrepreneur’s vision fueled my imagination in the audio market niche where I had run a business in an earlier life. I was so enthusiastic that I coached the entrepreneur to approach his mother, who invested $50,000 under the same terms as my investment.

Resource 149

Resource Startup Invest Entrepreneur 149

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2011

Well, Los Angeles-based KarmaGoat (www.karmagoat.com) has figured out a way to help people get rid of those unwanted items they have--and provide those proceeds to charity. Our marketplace is organized like a used item marketplace, like Amazon or eBay, or Craiglist, in that a seller lists an item, picks a cause, and sets a price.

UCLA 256

UCLA Startup Ideas Help 256

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and Founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Hire more help than helpers.

Sales 96

Sales Metrics Startup Entrepreneur 96

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

Entrepreneurs could learn about loneliness of success: nobody talks about. I have written some posts in the past that may be helpful. The Yo-Yo Life of a Tech Entrepreneur. How to separate what you read in the press from your reality on the ground and the surrounding yourself with support systems to help.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

They’re essential in helping us get our jobs done because they specialize in something we do not. Yet a critical mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is that they hand over too much control to their third-parties. I obviously preferred the lowest price and I wanted the latest move-in date. Recruiters. You name it.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Hire more help than helpers.

Startup 56

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 56

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2014

By the way, I also strongly advise that entrepreneurs reference VCs. In this instance my personal style is to have entrepreneurs in whom I’m considering investing to call my good references and those where we have gone through some tough times so in that sense I end up in the 0.05% but I tell entrepreneurs I’m doing this and why.

Startup 302

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Report 302

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2013

One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. For startups, this means knowing where you need help and where you need helpers, and hiring carefully. Train all the time. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 101

Startup Training Study Customer 101

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2010

The group--which was started by Richard Koffler and John Morris , two well known investors in Los Angeles--has been trying to help connect CEOs with interesting university and other technology projects. That's why we're hoping that bringing domain expertise and an industry network will help facilitate that process.

Networking 215

Networking Research Startup USC 215

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s why I believe executive coaches are so important for startups who have the financial resources to afford them. If you give up after this you’re not an entrepreneur. It’s hard to be open with your co-founders without somebody helping to broker the conversation.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

You should already have a good feel for the customer pain, how you solve it, how your product differs from competitors and what the acceptable price points for your product should be. As they become more senior they take on management responsibilities such as planning, forecasting, pipeline reviews, coaching staff, etc.

Sales 346

Sales Startup Technical Review Customer 346

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. We helped the write out their requirements for a system.

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. We helped the write out their requirements for a system.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2012

One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. For startups, this means knowing where you need help and where you need helpers, and hiring carefully. Train all the time.

Training 109

Training Startup Study Customer 109

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

We try to hire deeply analytical associates to can help companies problem solve and who make us better investors. So we like to behave like we don’t know any better than you – we can just bring an outside perspective to help spar you and make you a better decision-maker through the process. That’s healthy.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 20, 2013

But Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich used his many years of experience to deliberate a plan that was well executed and surprised even the experts in the game, leading the underdog team to a Game 7 against the defending champions. Heat coach, Eric Spoelstra adapted to what the Spurs were doing because their initial game plan was not working.

Startup 94

Startup CTO Coach Coach Study 94

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 24, 2011

There has recently been a common theme among the entrepreneurs I have interviewed and the conferences I have attended: despite the relatively weak state of the world economy, now is a great time to create a high-tech startup. As noted in Now Is Never Too Early , successful entrepreneurs are not inclined to wait. Christy was correct.

Company 257

Company Companies Startup Study 257

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

It designs its own glasses, and sells directly to customers, cutting out the middleman and keeping prices low. Customers loyal to Southwest often point to happy and friendly employees who try hard to help. Solid benefits such as these help a culture, but are not the sole instigator of successful culture.

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

It designs its own glasses, and sells directly to customers, cutting out the middleman and keeping prices low. Customers loyal to Southwest often point to happy and friendly employees who try hard to help. Solid benefits such as these help a culture, but are not the sole instigator of successful culture.

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100