Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2020

You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition's, and why it will succeed. Show focus and your understanding that your company is something more than just a good idea. A winning product or service. Be concise as well as complete.

Technical Advisors 162

Technical Advisors Tips Startup Equity 162

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The trusted leader. The sales professional.

Technical Advisors 105

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Startup High Tech 105

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2007

I generally am working as an acting CTO for about 3-4 start-ups or other companies at any one time. I also found this interesting graphic of the changing needs around the CTO role in different size/type companies that somewhat echoes my experience. Basically, the role is to support both the business strategy and technical strategy.

Startup 231

Startup CTO Hire Technical Advisors Technical Review 231

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The trusted leader. The sales professional.

Technical Advisors 57

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 57

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 2, 2013

I've had several Startup CTO Consulting sessions recently where it became apparent that the Founder needed help with the business and product as much or more than the technology. Then we discussed how they could go about finding this startup business advisor. These are not mutually exclusive and good mentors and advisors get into both.

CTO Coach 259

CTO Coach Mentor Startup Technical Advisors 259

socalTECH

OCTOBER 24, 2011

First and foremost, we're focused on making companies become successful. If you're familiar with YCombinator or TechStars, you know that companies also get access to a deep network of top tier mentors and advisors, who help them with a variety of things, such as product marketing, go-to-market, and funding.

Technical Advisors 176

Technical Advisors Startup Southern California Los Angeles 176

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

In my business of mentoring new entrepreneurs and advising small company owners, I recognize that most don’t start as experienced leaders, and most don’t realize that people leadership is a primary key to their future success. Building a business is not a one-person job, and leading by edict rarely works today.

Develop 124

Develop Development Technical Advisors Satisfaction 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2018

Most of the entrepreneurs I advise today are ready to declare success when they get that first surge of traction with a real customer. In fact, this is where your startup has to move from an initial project to a complex product business. Evolving from an initial solution to a product line for growth.

Technical Advisors 83

Technical Advisors Tool Software Product 83

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

As a self-made entrepreneur and former chairman of Diamond Resorts International, he asserts that the five biggest companies by market value today, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, aren’t really tech, but hospitality companies. Improve the whole customer experience, as well as the product.

Technical Advisors 82

Technical Advisors Artificial Inteligence Customer Custom 82

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition''s, and why it will succeed. Show focus and your understanding that your company is something more than just a good idea. A winning product or service. Be concise as well as complete.

Technical Advisors 75

Technical Advisors Entrepreneur Equity Ideas 75

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

Len Short is truly an online marketing pioneer, heading up marketing at Charles Schwab, AOL and then (PRODUCT)RED. Before his career moved online, Len worked on major marketing campaigns for credit card companies and rolled out MCI’s highly successful “Friends and Family” marketing campaign.

Google 220

Google Technical Advisors Technical Review Equity 220

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2019

Steve Jobs started his technical career creating circuit boards at Atari, before joining Steve Wozniak to build personal computers in his garage. Get out of dead-end jobs, and don’t be afraid to move on to a new company if the current one is not healthy. Highlight your productivity and efficiency rather than workload.

Technical Advisors 75

Technical Advisors Startup Satisfaction Customer 75

Eric Greenspan

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Real quickly, most companies that offer credit card processing are a middle-man (most banks are middle-man). In most cases these viewings are done by potential customers who are checking on your company’s rating. We also want you to use and understand this valuable product so that you may attract and retain customers.

Santa Barbara 265

Santa Barbara Technical Advisors Email Technical Review 265

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). The truth is – there isn’t a “right&# answer so for your company. Most people totally advise against stealth. You need some guidelines to make decisions.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2018

While spending years in a big company as an employee and an executive, I heard many people talking about jumping the corporate ship, dreaming of being an entrepreneur, and totally in charge of their own destiny. I’m not saying success is rare, but the list of famous entrepreneurs who started their career in a big company is small.

Startup 52

Startup Technical Advisors Entrepreneur IBM 52

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 28, 2012

For those who haven’t heard of what Startup Weekend is all about, it’s building a company on STEROIDS! From visualization to conception, and actually taking the product to market, a company usually takes about 1-2 years to create. Once the pitches were done we were given a cup and paper with our company name on it.

Startup 99

Startup Technical Advisors Ideas USC 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition's, and why it will succeed. Show focus and your understanding that your company is something more than just a good idea. A winning product or service. Be concise as well as complete.

Technical Advisors 80

Technical Advisors Startup Equity Ideas 80

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2011

Here are a few examples from my personal experience: You need to translate/localize your products. I was once asked by a top executive of a major software company why we were not selling more products in Finland. Thus, we did not translate the product and sales remained at an insignificant level. Local laws prevail.

Startup 90

Startup Technical Advisors Sales Examples 90

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2009

I often have career discussions with entrepreneurs – both young and more mature – whether they should join company “X&# or not. If you’re thinking about joining as the director of marketing, product management manager, senior architect, international business development lead, etc. Let’s face it.

Startup 418

Startup Technical Advisors Venture Capital Santa Monica 418

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 19, 2009

I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. He would have found somebody technical and inspired that individual to work for equity or deferred payment.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Tech.Co

MAY 22, 2018

Try to compile all the different types of questions you could be asked about your business, like technical details, financial assumptions and projections, marketing, IP, etc., I would advise trying not to get into an argument with an investor. Founders are understandably very passionate about their product and startup.

Tips 70

Tips Help Slides Technical Review 70

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

Of course you could start your own company. As I talked about in “ Is it Time to Learn or Time to Earn ” – overwhelmingly the best economics go to those that start successful companies. Of course I’m not suggesting people shouldn’t start a company. For many people that’s the right answer.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2010

As a follow-on to that article, here are a few examples from my personal experience: You need to translate/localize your products. I was once asked by a division manager of a major software company why we were not selling more products in Finland. Therefore Brazil made it difficult to import products from abroad.

Technical Advisors 48

Technical Advisors Sales Startup Coach 48

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

Such attorneys can also add tremendous value in your negotiations with Big Dumb Companies (BDCs), as they can ensure that you focus on the deal points that are of most significance to a small entity. Your lawyer is a trusted advisor, but in the end, you run your business, your lawyer does not.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

Xconomy

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Each company is investing untold billions of dollars in developing AI technologies, betting on a future defined by computer systems that can perceive, reason, advise, and decide. Microsoft, meanwhile, announced a new 5,000-person group Thursday dedicated to the development of AI technologies and products that use them.

Artificial Inteligence 40

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Technical Advisors Research 40

SoCal CTO

MARCH 4, 2010

I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. There’s a funny phenomenon where often the best sounding technical people are often the worst developers.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Technical Advisors CTO Coach Startup 170

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Based on my experience advising new entrepreneurs as well as more mature businesses, I recommend the following strategies for building business momentum, while still optimizing the limited resources of every small business: Find more customers that like what you do best. The company has since gone public, and is still a market leader.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 10, 2012

Effects Artist and Technical Director, Dreamworks AnimationJason hails from Kentucky, where his parents met at a Renaissance Faire, hooked up at the Wicca Coven, and raised him at sci-fi conventions. Bushnell has started more than twenty companies and is one of the founding fathers of the video game industry. 12pm: BODY.

Technical Advisors 89

Technical Advisors Design Education Study 89

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

In the Beginning … This is a very important post to me because I find myself giving this advice all the time and if you don’t follow the basic advice here you can cause yourself much heartache down the line – even if your company ultimately becomes über successful. It’s hard enough to build a successful company.

Startup 365

Startup Technical Advisors IP Ideas 365

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2020

Most small businesses I advise still rely on traditional advertising models, assuming they can create enough media “noise” to get customers attention and sway them. For example, the company GoPro makes cameras, yet now rarely ever talks about cameras in its marketing. Converse on topics of purpose, not just products or service.

Marketing 130

Marketing Technical Advisors Social Media Media 130

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

Under Process, Over Deliver So, you need to develop a product? ▼ 2006 (20) ► December (2) Just Say What it Is 12 Proven Guidelines for Rapid Product Development. Web Development & Marketing Technology) Exit: evolved into L90 (next company) Lesson: What you dont know cant stop you. StrongMail Systems, Inc.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40

Frank Addante

MAY 15, 2006

Under Process, Over Deliver So, you need to develop a product? ▼ 2006 (20) ► December (2) Just Say What it Is 12 Proven Guidelines for Rapid Product Development. Web Development & Marketing Technology) Exit: evolved into L90 (next company) Lesson: What you dont know cant stop you. Internet advertising is good.

Advertising 40

Advertising Startup Chief Technology Officer Technical Review 40

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 5, 2010

The CEO weighs in with his perspectives, the head of product management disputes his conclusions and the marketing VP has a different take. The sales rep that brings back news from the front line that is shared with the office adds to our collective knowledge about customer needs, product design flaws or partnership opportunities.

Technical Advisors 335

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Offshore Startup 335