Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. What is perhaps different from other regions is that we have large indigenous aerospace industry and a big high-tech import/export trade as opposed to a lot of software companies. “There’s something going on in LA.”

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2014

According to several recent reports , job satisfaction for employees is at an all-time low. One obvious alternative is to become an entrepreneur. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle. Then write them down. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Startup Writing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. People judge you and your company in the first few seconds. Marty Zwilling.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I use George Bush vs. Al Gore as allegory and I’ve been using it with entrepreneurs for years to sink in a simple point about how to communicate with the market. This does not mean you shouldn’t solve big, complex problems or write complex code. Most Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs I know are more like Al Gore.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

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

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

Recognizing the tens of billions of dollars that the Southern Californian region leaves on the table, because it hasn’t taken its rightful place in the American technology industry, a new group called the Alliance for Southern California Innovation has just released a report to analyze how SoCal can work to assume its pole position.

Southern California 224

Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 224

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. What makes their story more remarkable, in the age of 20-something billionaires, is that both of the company’s founders are in their 50’s.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

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. I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. But succinctly this press places a marker in the ground for your company.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2012

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. People judge you and your company in the first few seconds. Marty Zwilling.

Training 93

Training Media Entrepreneur Social Media 93

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2009

“You are forty, out of a job, a newlywed, your wife is expecting a baby, you don’t own your own home, you have no specialized qualifications, the only company you ever launched went bankrupt and you have just been sentenced to one year in jail.”. Hint: He was an entrepreneur. A Writer Is Someone Who Writes.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Startup 153

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

As of today, I will have published an article here for entrepreneurs and startups every day for the last 1001 days, since I started Startup Professionals Musings near the close of 2008. Here are ten key messages that I would like to leave you with: I continue to gain respect for entrepreneurs. I’m sure you know what I mean.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Startup Blogging Social Media 96

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

I have blogged about some of the downside consequences of the changes and the private information I have says the consequences are much worse than is reported in the press since few people publicly talk about. We led an investment round in a company a while ago in which we wrote a seven-figure check and have taken a board seat.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

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

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

I’m sitting at my computer now at 9.00pm writing this – which is an hour earlier than I normally write (there are about 8 women at my kitchen table having a book club (aka excuse to drink wine & gossip so I’m locked in another room writing. It sure wasn’t when I was a first-time entrepreneur.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches?

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

How to Interpret Analyst Reports. The stats are often quoted from the latest reports. I’m writing this post to make sure you’re all on that same playing field. I had reports from Gartner Group, Yankee Group, IDC, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and a couple of others. Stats sell. What are you on about?

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. A deep dive into the Foundry Group investment philosophy including an interesting discussion of their investing Themes. “… our lens is: Internet Software Companies anywhere in the U.S. Or, as always, summary notes available below. Is that when it became big? was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

I get paid (well) for interesting people to come in and tell me how they want to change the world – Being an entrepreneur is like having blinders on. At least for the best entrepreneurs. Some people do the conference circuit too much, get involved in lots of side projects and attend every entrepreneur dinner. I love it.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2018

I was recently with an entrepreneur and talking with him about his fund raising process. Some started asking him for very specific analyses to be completed on his data and wanted his company to crunch the numbers. link] Another entrepreneur was recently in my office. This is part of a series I’ve been writing on fund raising.

Funding 217

Funding Newsletter Venture Capital Email 217

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2015

According to several reliable reports , job satisfaction for employees is at an all-time low. One obvious alternative is to become an entrepreneur. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle. Then write them down.

Satisfaction 57

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Writing Startup 57

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2017

of all Statistics are Made Up ” My summary is an example I use often: when I consumed reports from Goldman Sachs about the future predictions of mobile phone penetration for a report I was working on for a client I would call the analyst to ask how she calculated her data because I wanted to be sure of my conclusions.

Venture Capital 182

Venture Capital Statistics Writing Report 182

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

This has led VC & entrepreneur bloggers alike to similar conclusions: start raising capital early and be careful about having too high of a burn rate because that lessens the amount of runway you have until you need more cash. But the hardest question to actually answer is, “What is the right burn rate for your company?”

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. People judge you and your company in the first few seconds. Marty Zwilling.

Press 105

Press Social Media Startup Training 105

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 16, 2011

After 4 years of retail she went to “the other side of the business&# working for a clothing brand where she sold apparel to department stores and other companies. I think this video should serve as an inspiration to any young aspiring female entrepreneur (and male!) Not enough entrepreneurs dedicate enough of their day to this.

Startup 311

Startup Sales Venture Capital Entrepreneur 311

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 30, 2012

Months of submissions and the amazing help from our judges , the Spotlight is shinning down on awesome companies that were born right out of Southern California. And now without further ado I present the Spotlight: LA Tech Winter Companies: Spotlight Companies. We write and create our own content for the game.

CalTech 91

CalTech Company Companies Idealab 91

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2017

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. People judge you and your company in the first few seconds. Marty Zwilling.

Media 55

Media Social Media Startup Training 55

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 11, 2012

Tech Reporters: These individuals will write and edit informative and practical articles on a range of topics including Startups/Entrepreneurs, Gadgets, Mobile Tech, Tech in Entertainment, Gaming, Apps & Software, productivity, and cover breaking tech news. Will also report on local tech events in their respected area.

Technical Review 71

Technical Review Software Review Writing News 71

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 9, 2012

As Seth Epstein makes clear in this talk , entrepreneurs constantly experience breakdowns, followed by breakthroughs. A common theme among successful entrepreneurs is that making money is not a primary motivator. Great entrepreneurs (as well as successful venture capitalists) are intellectually curious. " [Tweet this quote].

Tips 277

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Entertainment 277

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

A good early-stage CEO needs to be accessible, to be accountable for producing results and should be establishing the cultural norms of the company through direct leadership at all levels. But issues do arise as your company grows. I see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact).

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

PerfectForms is a platform for business users to create web applications, to provide visibility to processes, and to report on information collected. The really important distinction is that non-technical business people can build, deploy, integrate, and create reports on these applications to help them run their business.

Startup 150

Startup San Diego Entrepreneur Tool 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 26, 2011

I have often said that what separates real entrepreneurs from pundits and bystanders is a bias towards getting things done versus over analyzing things. It’s the hardest thing to teach people who come out of big companies, out of conservative jobs. The startup entrepreneur knows that they’re going to be wrong often. Hire Slowly?

Startup 335

Startup Technical Review Framework Entrepreneur 335

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

Among those funds is TYLT Lab (www.tyltlab.com), which recently announced a new, $20M early stage investment fund specifically focused on companies here. We''ve also had a pretty wide range of check writing in terms of amount. We''re pretty agnostic in terms of the kind of company, and historically we''ve been all over the place.

Seed Funding 220

Seed Funding Santa Monica Funding Startup 220

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

I recommend that you start by writing down the attributes you would want people to think about when they think about your brand. Whatever you’re trying to brand – your company, your community or yourself – this is the first exercise I would recommend that you start with. This is the list I would start with.

Startup 304

Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles Woodland Hills 304

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2017

An informal writing style is generally recommended. You can repurpose your posts into articles, books and reports. Finally, if you don’t have the time, energy, or skills to write a blog, it may be a good investment to hire a ghost writer, or hand the job over to your marketing executive. Add outgoing links.

Blogging 69

Blogging Search Engine Optimization Web Writing 69

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2014

Report within the organizational structure. In the past, consultants were taught to report only to the top executive, and to assume leadership rights in the organization. Dress to fit into the company culture, no more, no less. Speak to people, rather than write a document every time you want a change. Produce results.

Startup 102

Startup Slides Email Customer 102

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Another fine line companies are skating is with how much user information they make publicly available. ” If you’re on the wrong side of this line you are risking the reputation of your company. Would it be okay to publish which companies I’m reading about for homework on an investment? Of course not.

Blogging 328

Blogging Content Press Startup 328

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2014

Whether you’re considering hiring a new employee or as an investor whether you’re looking to do a background check on the founders of a company. I like to get a mix of people who have reported to the candidate, whom the candidate has reported to (2x) and peers. My friend Jason Hirschhorn Tweeted about this today.

Startup 302

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Report 302