Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2023

Companies like Airbnb, Uber, Zappos, and Whole Foods are setting the example, and leading the way in profitability and purpose. Companies that offer value beyond their product or service, for social and environmental good, are seen as leading the way forward to a shared future abundance. Marty Zwilling

Commerce 109

Commerce Slides Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2022

Here are some key insights that I and others have collected for mature company leaders, as well as serial entrepreneurs. As an angel investor, I expected startups to have a passion for their solution, but also to have done the market research and customer validation to size the real opportunity.

Entrepreneur 144

Entrepreneur Artificial Inteligence Social Media Commerce 144

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2022

It’s enough to drown any business which tries to fight it or ignore it, and it’s an opportunity to ride higher and faster than even the successes of Google and Facebook, for those startups that use it as their driving force. For startups, this is an engagement opportunity worth billions of dollars. The audience is now the actors.

Startup 126

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 126

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. Let me start with the obvious baseline that most people probably know instinctively: Los Angeles is the 3rd largest technology startup ecosystem in the US. “There’s something going on in LA.” LA By The Numbers.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Santa Monica-based e-commerce startup The Honest Company --whose co-founders include subscription e-commerce entrepreneur Brian Lee and celebrity Jessica Alba--said today that it has launched a new line of designer, limited edition products. READ MORE>>.

Design 147

Design Product Company Companies 147

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2012

Pasadena-based Punchcard , the startup headed by Andy Steuer which is developing mobile applications to enable local businesses to run punchcard-based loyalty programs, said today that it has linked with the Pasadena CHamber of COmmerce to enable local Pasadena businesses to use its service. READ MORE>>.

Pasadena 199

Pasadena Commerce Idealab Mobile 199

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

It is no secret that Pinterest and other social commerce sites have begun to dial in the commerce equation. Search Meets Social = Commerce. The Search and Social Commerce toolset helps us get deeper insights and more effectively scale more tailored consumer experiences wherever the searching for and discovering products”.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Commerce Sites Social Network 210

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

The road to becoming an entrepreneur is a journey , and it’s not a short trip. Every entrepreneur starts by accepting the reality that you have a rare mindset of joy of discovery, with an intense curiosity about how certain things or people work, or why a new technology hasn’t yet been accepted.

Entrepreneur 139

Entrepreneur Help Incubator Startup 139

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

And we’re left with a city with idyllic weather, major commerce, the media center of the world, and a great emerging technology scene. We have many seasoned entrepreneurs who have built successful companies here and made a lot of money for investors and themselves. Los Angeles. People either love it our hate it.

Company 290

Company Companies Technology Startup 290

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. Uber and Airbnb are examples of startups that started the sharing movement, but quickly grew to challenge large conglomerates.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Social Media Artificial Inteligence Examples 103

socalTECH

MARCH 22, 2013

Santa Monica-based e-commerce site The Honest Company has launched an iOS application, which run on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The startup--headed by Brian Lee, and co-founded by Jessica Alba--said its new app, HonestBaby, lets parents monitor their child's development, growth, and activity. READ MORE>>.

Company 164

Company Companies Legalzoom Santa Monica 164

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2020

Entrepreneurs who search for real pain points, and build solutions around them, have the best chance of changing the world. As an alternative, if you are an entrepreneur looking for the next big thing, where should you look? That’s the great thing about being an entrepreneur. Some kind of natural or man-made disaster.

Customer 167

Customer Custom Startup Outsource Development 167

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2021

Many budding entrepreneurs struggle mightily with that first step – out of their comfort zone and into the unknown. They keep asking people like me whether the time is right, and the truth is that there’s never an ideal time to start your own business. This is a necessary, but not sufficient reason to start a business now.

Startup 168

Startup Ideas Satisfaction Entrepreneur 168

socalTECH

AUGUST 7, 2014

Los Angeles has been in the midst of a technology boom over the last few years, with many of high profile startups growing in the area. We spoke with Bryce Maddock , founder of TaskUs, about the company and how it has been providing the manpower behind a lot of LA''s technology startups. Who are some of those companies?

Startup 231

Startup Technology Outsource Santa Monica 231

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

In my years of working with entrepreneurs, I have heard many times the promise that their new idea will create the next Amazon or Apple, but I rarely hear the more important promise that the founder will practice all the good habits of winning entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs. We have enough social network startups.

Startup 148

Startup Entrepreneur Social Media Social Network 148

socalTECH

JANUARY 31, 2013

It was standing room only at StartEngine 's Demo Day Wednesday afternoon, held at Santa Monica's Cross Campus , as the startup accelerator launched eight of its latest startups into the world, after a 90 day process of mentoring, honing their business model, and heads down development. Standing room only crowd at StartEngine).

Startup 256

Startup Commerce Santa Monica Mentor 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2014

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. Almost anyone can start a company today on a shoestring budget, following these cost-cutting recommendations: Establish a solid legal structure for your business.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Commerce 104

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

MBA programs don’t teach people how to create companies … our position is that we hire someone in spite of an MBA, not because of one.” MBA’s are an easy target for entrepreneurs’ scorn. My contrarian nature sparked, I began researching MBA led startups. . “As much as possible, avoid hiring MBA’s.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Allegis Startup Competition 113

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Set expectations accordingly.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Set expectations accordingly.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 7, 2018

If investors at some of the biggest technology companies are right, the next big restaurant chain could have no kitchens of its own. ” Collins’ company just raised $10 million in a funding round led by GV , the investment arm of Google parent company, Alphabet. The Battle Is For The Customer Interface.

Startup 279

Startup Los Angeles Demand Pasadena 279

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. To sustain long-term growth, every company needs to build a repeatable process for innovation and finding new opportunities before their core business growth disappears.

Startup 106

Startup Pricing Cloud Computing Customer 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2015

In my years of working with entrepreneurs, I have heard many times the promise that their new idea will create the next Amazon or Apple, but I rarely hear the more important promise that the founder will practice all the good habits of winning entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs. We have enough social network startups.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Social Network 117

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2020

Technology is so key to every business these days that experienced business-smart but non-tech entrepreneurs are feeling deeper and deeper in the hole. Startups succeed most often when the founding partners know how to build and run a business, rather than how to build and run technology.

Competition 174

Competition High Tech Startup Social Media 174

Tech.Co

MAY 18, 2017

While the Bay Area hold the title of most prolific startup ecosystem , there’s no denying that California is a veritable gold mine of entrepreneurial talent. Los Angeles, for one, is not only brimming with innovative ideas, it’s also home to a wide range of unique startups that are solving the problems of the world.

Los Angeles 220

Los Angeles Angel Startup Outsource Development 220

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Yellow , the accelerator program launched by Snap in 2018, has selected ten companies to join its latest cohort. The new batch of startups coming from across the U.S. The new batch of startups coming from across the U.S. The list of new companies include: Brightly — an Oakland, Calif.-based Wabisabi Design, Inc.

Artificial Inteligence 331

Artificial Inteligence Social Network Los Angeles Snapchat 331

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

Thursday night was the unveiling of the newest batch of Launchpad LA companies. The VC’s & executives were then asked to make “commitments&# (in writing) to 3-5 of the companies that they felt they could make some sort of contribution to. Have a look at the companies below.

Company 276

Company Companies Startup Southern California 276

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Set expectations accordingly.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

socalTECH

OCTOBER 17, 2016

www.science-inc.com), the startup �studio� led by former MySpace CEO and technology veteran Mike Jones , just saw its third acquisition out of its portfolio this year�the acquisition of FameBit by Google/Youtube. What made these three companies successful acquisitions out of all your companies? Los Angeles-based Science Inc.

Dollar Shave Club 100

Dollar Shave Club Entrepreneur Startup Google 100

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 13, 2017

2016 was a good year to be a tech startup in LA, and, with the $25 billion planned public offering for the city’s startup darling, Snap Inc., coming up, the future’s so bright entrepreneurs might want to wear… Spectacles.

Dollar Shave Club 80

Dollar Shave Club Los Angeles Company Companies 80

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Editor's note: All this week, and into the start of next year, we'll be featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. If there are burnout or communication problems on a founding team those problems can hijack a company's progress.

Startup 124

Startup Press Commerce Southern California 124

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

We spoke with CEO and co-founder Dan LeBlanc , a veteran of ProFlowers and FTD, on how he started the company and he problem the startup is solving for direct to consumer brands. What does your startup do? A lot of those brands, on the e-commerce side, are becoming more data driven. founded in summer of 2017.

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2021

Of course, it helps to pick a business model that minimizes these costs, such as e-commerce to minimize initial staff and facilities, or professional services, where you are the initial product. Assess your resource potential before you start. Start networking for funding before the crisis. Everyone wins with this approach.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Customer Custom 161

Tech.Co

JULY 12, 2017

What you might not realize is that the adorable droid was the brain child of Sphero, a robotics and digital technology company and an alumni to the Disney Accelerator program. This corporate partnership has proven well for these startups in helping them launch their products and services into another galaxy.

Artificial Inteligence 109

Artificial Inteligence Startup Entertainment Press 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according the Crunchbase. The cost of entry for tech startups continues to go down. Super angels have greater scope to match talent with a startup.

Funding 125

Funding Venture Capital Startup Class 125