Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. With a bit of humor, he provides some serious guidelines for struggling career professionals looking to move up, and new entrepreneurs looking to build a company. Anything less makes you non-competitive.

Startup 153

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

Many entrepreneurs I know don’t realize that the language they learned in the corporate world, or even their recent MBA class, won’t get them ahead in the startup world today. As a reality check, try this quick test of your entrepreneur savvy. As a reality check, try this quick test of your entrepreneur savvy. Super-angels.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup Web Equity 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. Unfortunately, in mature companies, a larger and larger percentage of employees forget company survival and customers as the objectives, and focus only on their own personal gain. Optimizing risk, not minimizing it.

Satisfaction 124

Satisfaction Organization Custom Customer 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2011

Making the decision to become an entrepreneur is a major commitment, with huge implications for skills and lifestyle. It helps to work in a similar company before you start your own. Examine the marketplace and your competition. That should indicate that a lot of entrepreneurs get more than they bargained for.

Screening 99

Screening Startup Statistics Guide 99

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

Burstly, a Santa Monica based company, provides an open and free ad management platform that helps mobile application developers better monetize their inventory. As I naturally get asked all the time why we invested in Company A or Company B, I thought I’d just put forth my thesis in writing.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Deal screening. Portfolio company support & analysis. Associates often shadow partners at board meetings so that they can help follow up with the company on important initiatives between board meetings. Ability to source information easily to help build a thesis around companies / industries / competition.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was speaking recently to the team at NuOrder , an LA-based company we’re an investor in about “realism in startups” — an impromptu talk I have given to any of our portfolio companies who ask. I work with two companies that aim to change education but both are indirectly aiming to do so.

Invest 254

Invest Writing Pricing Metrics 254

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. In today’s world, if you don’t have a web site up and running, you will not be perceived as a real company.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Others, like Guy Kawasaki , have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent enhancements or omissions that can kill your deal. Many companies, including Patagonia and Zappos, have used their social focus to enhance their business, but highlight financial return when talking to investors.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Innocal Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. With a bit of humor, he provides some serious guidelines for struggling career professionals looking to move up, and new entrepreneurs looking to build a company. Anything less makes you non-competitive.

Startup 93

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 93

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

AngelList 101 : As you know, AngelList is a platform where angels can invest in semi-screened tech deals. It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. M&A discussions (where your company is buying or being bought). Both are right.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2015

Yet I can’t remember the last time any entrepreneur asked me to assess personal potential, despite the fact that most investors will admit they invest in the person more than the product. It was developed by Joe Abraham , who manages a portfolio of successful high-growth international companies. Specialist.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. an investment in your company. In any event this is a “screening meeting” or as I’ve called on my graphics an “introduction” to the firm.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. Unfortunately, in mature companies, a larger and larger percentage of employees forget company survival and customers as the objectives, and focus only on their own personal gain. Optimizing risk, not minimizing it.

Satisfaction 57

Satisfaction Custom Customer Organization 57

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. Unfortunately, in mature companies, a larger and larger percentage of employees forget company survival and customers as the objectives, and focus only on their own personal gain. Optimizing risk, not minimizing it.

Satisfaction 106

Satisfaction Organization Custom Customer 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2016

Business success is all about having the best team, yet the average entrepreneur has little prior experience with hiring people and building top-notch teams. Most new entrepreneurs assume their passion will attract and motivate the right team members. Failure to include company culture in the hiring criteria.

Organization 57

Organization Entrepreneur Satisfaction Screening 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2010

Other writers, like Guy Kawasaki, have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent over-enthusiasm or over-confidence that can kill your deal. It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath.

Innocal 96

Innocal Entrepreneur Competition IBM 96

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Yet according to the latest data from Gust (formerly AngelSoft), only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. The Gust Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

I know that they really impacted an entire cohort of startups because every company that was coming to pitch me businesses was (is) saying, “I’m a ‘mobile first’ company.” The power of large screen real estate. Here’s my view: I support a “mobile first” strategy for many companies.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Yet according to the latest data from AngelSoft , only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. The AngelSoft Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process. Define some intellectual property.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. But succinctly this press places a marker in the ground for your company. But in 2013 it can also simply be, “Company X raises $2.2

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

We were talking about a company, Factual (disclosure my firm is an investor), which was founded by one of LA’s most talented Internet entrepreneurs, Gil Elbaz , who as co-founder of Applied Semantics (purchased by pre-IPO Google for $102 million and now Google AdSense) is responsible for a large portion of the Internet’s monetization.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

By Jim Flowers A few months ago, Marty invited me to comment on business incubation and what a startup company ought to expect from an incubator. At VT KnowledgeWorks we screen prospective clients for their Market opportunity, for the Magic that they offer to their prospective customers, and for the Moxie displayed by the start-up team.

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. He started targeting the ad by location and interest, and the number of potential people he was reaching began decreasing on screen (Facebook tells you dynamically). In many of them I get asked similar questions, including the inevitable “what makes a great entrepreneur?” You Can’t Sign This Deal.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

socalTECH

AUGUST 24, 2009

We spoke with the firm's CEO and co-founder, John Hanna : How'd you end up starting the company, and what is FunnelSource all about? John Hanna: I'm from the Bay Area, and spent twenty years working for multiple, venture backed companies. I needed a change, and wanted to start a new company, and came to L.A.

Oracle 145

Oracle Sales Startup Screening 145

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was an angel investor in his company, made a bunch of calls on his behalf and then I personally sent it out on AngelList. I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

Bijan Sabet – investor & board member in some small companies you might have heard of like Twitter, Tumblr, Boxee & OMGPOP – took issue with the whole notion that you even need a Powerpoint deck anymore. First, if it’s an early stage company, I don’t need to see a powerpoint deck. I funded them 8 weeks later.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . 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. They’re competitive.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 22, 2014

Through simple design, extensive sensing mechanism research, and behavioral science principles, Moving Analytics is carving out its own innovative niche in a heavily competitive space by providing a simple solution for highly sedentary people. How is Movn different than your competition? It is built out of 5 years of research at USC.

USC 104

USC Southern California Activity Study 104

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . 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. They’re competitive.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

The founders felt that having a legitimate site for content would discourage Silicon Valley VC’s from funding entrepreneurs to create the next big TV killer. Once this new service became popular then the media companies could control the rules of distribution & advertising. So it is quite lofty to compare hulu with OPEC.

Hulu 292

Hulu Technical Review Content Advertising 292

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 21, 2014

All of the LA Hacks sponsors were displayed around the outer ring of the stadium and the students were greeted by a large glowing LA Hacks logo on the big screens. Sam Altman , President of Y-Combinator, spoke about the reasons to start a company and how to best optimize as a student to create successful companies in the future.

UCLA 108

UCLA Los Angeles Snapchat USC 108

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

There are now a second generation of entrepreneurs and companies that have learned from their last successes and are producing great new companies like TopSpin Media , Sometrics and GumGum. Twiistup 6 featured 12 showoff companies as the opening act of a 2-day conference.

Twiistup 228

Twiistup SoCal Southern California Yammer 228

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 5, 2015

In his premier film appearance in the blaxploitation send-up “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” Chris Rock inadvertently addresses a key pricing challenge faced by most entrepreneurs. A recurring entrepreneurial challenge is to determine the optimal price of a new product, especially absent a directly competitive alternative.

Pricing 100

Pricing Product Startup Custom 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

The partner you saw is probably sitting on 5-6 boards which means he or she will be busy helping existing portfolio companies. They have probably seen 4-5 new companies this week minimum. This is not unlike a major biz dev deal you’re trying to sign or a big sales campaign into the VP of a major company.

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

When I counsel startup entrepreneurs I give them my blunt dose of reality, “If you can’t easily identify target leads who have a problem you can solve then hang up your cleats – you’re not going to succeed.” Assume competition and assume within the buying organization you have enemies. We are hands on.

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I’ve raised money as a “hot company” and I’ve raised capital when no one would return my phone calls. I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. Why buy now? Tell a friend!

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366