Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

A continuing question I hear from young entrepreneurs is whether a university degree is important to startup success, or just a distraction in achieving their purpose in the world. Both provide entrepreneurial “head start” programs for aspiring entrepreneurs, free legal guidance, and access to experienced staff members.

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Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Funding and rollout stage.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Satisfaction 108

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds. 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.

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Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2021

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. The road to business success is filled with challenges and frustrations that most aspiring entrepreneurs never even imagined.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 174

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 17, 2020

While the business didn’t work out, it put the budding young entrepreneur (and college dropout) on a path that would lead him to launch the Los Angeles-based startup Bambee , a company that lets small businesses give their employees access to the same kinds of human resources services that large companies have.

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Services Resource Santa Monica Los Angeles 281

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2021

As an angel investor to startups, I’m still surprised to find entrepreneurs who expect investors to give them money, and assume no strings attached. If the entrepreneur wants total control of their own venture, with no one looking over their shoulder, they should work within the limits of their own resources, a process called bootstrapping.

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Funding Startup Entrepreneur Report 173

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

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Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2021

Some aspiring entrepreneurs are so desperate for funding, or naïve, that they ignore the obvious signs of scams and rip-offs on the Internet, praying for a windfall. No real investor or venture capital firm asks for money from the company they are intending to invest in. Phantom fund investors. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 148

Technical Review Tips Funding Startup 148

Berkonomics

APRIL 12, 2018

Small companies most often scrape by with borrowed or invested funds, doing everything possible to grow and prosper with limited resources. So, it is like a punch in the gut when an employee makes a claim against the company for a perceived or actual but unintentional violation of a law or regulation.

Entrepreneur 226

Entrepreneur Class Resource Email 226

Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2012

Sara focuses upon another side of small business financing not typically considered in the angel and venture world, financing from sources for companies that will probably never be attractive to those niches. . You have enough in savings to get started, but how and where do you go to find additional funding sources?

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Funding Entrepreneur Startup Invest 192

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2021

In the eyes of investors like me, to be an entrepreneur, it’s not enough to create an innovative solution – you need to convince me that you can build a profitable business. An example would be the now popular notion of consumers sharing underused resources, such as ride sharing (Uber) incenting the businesses of home sharing (Airbnb).

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Funding Startup Ideas Resource 152

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps. Leave the world of new computer chips and new drugs to the big companies, and people with deep pockets. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. an investment in your company. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. This is where most founders err.

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Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2013

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Funding Incubator Startup 102

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Venture Capital is a tricky industry. Far from it.

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Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Berkonomics

JANUARY 25, 2024

Entrepreneurs will have a relative willing to devote time, a school friend with business experience, professionals who charge for the service, investors with a reason to promote your success and more. We had no term for such work in those days and created the phrase “resource capitalist” to describe the person and process.

Coach 156

Coach Organization Resource Equity 156

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.

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Entrepreneur Help Incubator Startup 139

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2021

An underutilized, but valuable resource, every startup should investigate is a formal or informal connection to your alma mater, including any local university. Here is a short list of the areas where you should be able to find help, whether you are a student or an independent entrepreneur: Exploring hot ideas. Early-stage funding.

Incubator 172

Incubator Mentor Class Resource 172

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

As we turn our ideas for the future into the latest startups and companies of today, there’s always a need for resources to help guide one through the process of it all. As that idea grows into a business there may come a time where the need for outside funding in necessary to further grow and scale.

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Resource Guide Entrepreneur Examples 86

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. Startups simply don’t have the resources to keep ahead of large competitors who see initial traction and go after it.

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Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Each of these activities should have associated costs and resource requirements.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. I got started in investment banking, focused on helping medical companies buy technology companies, and then later in the enterprise space and in the cloud.

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

This insight follows closely the conclusions from the previous declaration, that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

Resource 149

Resource Startup Invest Entrepreneur 149

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs. Leave the world of new computer chips and new drugs to the big companies, and people with deep pockets. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Many entrepreneurs struggle with their setbacks.

Entrepreneur 288

Entrepreneur Startup Slides Seed Funding 288

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. Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. Find technical and legal guidance and advisors.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.

Funding 94

Funding Startup Organization Incubator 94

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019

university, the California Institute of Technology has received a massive, $750M pledge from entrepreneurs Stewart and Lynda Resnick, to go to environmental sustainability research. Part of the funds will go towards the construction of a new, 75,000-square-foot building which will be named the Resnick Sustainability Resource Center.

CalTech 113

CalTech Research Press Resource 113

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2021

Think of startups and early stage businesses whose entrepreneurs you know. We should think of the creation and growth of a high valued company as the sum of three parts, with three distinct classes of participants helping to make real value out of a raw start-up. One: The entrepreneur. Two: Co-management. Reward for early risk.

Startup 240

Startup Equity Statistics Entrepreneur 240

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2016

Today's contribution is from Lawrence Ng , serial entrepreneur who, last year, founded OnRamp Fund , a $10 million incubator that invests in early stage startups. It solidified our ability to launch new technology using resources both here and abroad. The Fund has expertise in technology development and data management.

Funding 113

Funding Southern California Incubator Startup 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2012

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.

Resource 94

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 94

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

But there are a lot of things that become norms in the VC industry that always drove me crazy from entrepreneur’s side of the table. Translation for any first time entrepreneurs can mean one of: a. So he left and focused on starting companies. In an entrepreneur I need to see the anti VC character. They still do.

Entrepreneur 297

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Java 297

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

Some aspiring entrepreneurs are so desperate for funding, or naïve, that they ignore the obvious signs of scams and rip-offs on the Internet, praying for a windfall. No real investor or venture capital firm asks for money from the company they are intending to invest in. Phantom fund investors. Ignore these.

Entrepreneur 80

Entrepreneur Technical Review Funding Email 80

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2021

Every entrepreneur tries to maximize his startup growth by building and selling more product and services for the widest geographic area that he can support. Many entrepreneurs are paranoid about the partnership approach, and think that M&A is only an alternative for large companies who are flush with cash.

Organization 132

Organization CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 132

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

Startup 106

Startup Capital Equity Funding 106