Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

More entrepreneurs want to be socially responsible these days, but fear a negative impact on profits, growth, and the ability to find an investor. I believe this option will continue to spread to other companies, states and countries. Socially responsible products typically sell at a premium price.

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socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2016

In the world of on-demand driving�such as driving for Uber and Lyft--one of the biggest costs for drivers it the cost of owning, maintaning, fueling, and cleaning their vehicles. We spoke with Michael Brylawski , the CEO of the company, to talk about the company--plus how it is hiring and expanding here in Los Angeles.

Demand 100

Demand Los Angeles Inglewood Pricing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2022

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Doing business is a human process.

Organization 143

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 143

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2015

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Doing business is a human process.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Pricing 117

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

We are pleased to host Basil Peters, perhaps the best known name in the world of early stage company exits. His groundbreaking book, “Early Exits” has become a textbook for angel groups and entrepreneurs throughout the world. Email readers, continue here…] How Long Does It Take to Sell a Company? By Basil Peters.

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Pricing Demand Marketing Email 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Most entrepreneurs looking for an investor can tell you how much money they need, but few have given much thought to what they are willing to give up for it. For later investments, the price is equity, with a percentage of the owner stock to be assigned to the investor. Numbers in the 20 percent to 30 percent range are common.

Demand 105

Demand Startup Equity Invest 105

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

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. Handled appropriately, these questions provide investors a window into an entrepreneurs’ soul, which minimizes the chances of a future misalignment.

Entrepreneur 253

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 253

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2023

His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. His top eight required skill set elements for sales don’t even mention product skills, and match my view of the right skill set for successful entrepreneurs, with only a few priority changes: Creating and sharing a vision. It’s up to you to clear the way.

Startup 154

Startup Sales Entrepreneur Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2022

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. If you want to drive up the demand for your core product, one smart tactic is to drive down the price of all complementary products.

Develop 138

Develop Development Platform Mobile 138

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

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Venture capitalists sometimes make an error in directing their portfolio company CEOs to push resources to the limit and scale the business to immense size quickly, all to seize market share. It was true for Amazon and other visionary companies that grabbed market share during the early Internet era. But beware.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Social Media Invest Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved.

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Competition Services Startup Training 99

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2016

His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. His top eight required skill set elements for sales don’t even mention product skills, and match my view of the right skill set for successful entrepreneurs, with only a few priority changes: Creating and sharing a vision. It’s up to you to clear the way.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Sales Startup Customer 106

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2022

As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to set the culture you need for a thriving business, as well as thriving employees, customers, partners, and vendors. He is the Founder of the very successful Container Store , while still making Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list for seventeen consecutive years.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Nail the go-to-market strategy.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

TechCrunch LA

MAY 19, 2020

These are companies like the recent Y Combinator graduates Homestead and Rent the Backyard and United Dwelling, which has just raised $10 million in funding from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Alpha Edison. The company uses a local nonprofit organization called Chrysalis to build its units. The Culver City, Calif.-based

Los Angeles 191

Los Angeles Startup Culver City .Net 191

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

In the creation of a young company, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. So, it is important for the entrepreneur to identify, address and mitigate each of these in order to increase valuation and decrease the risk of ultimate loss of the business. Why five risks? Fourth: Financial risk. .

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Nail the go-to-market strategy.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Customer 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2020

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.

Pricing 123

Pricing Cloud Computing Customer Custom 123

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 23, 2020

There’s also a relatively modest request (of only $4 billion) for funding devoted to pilot projects, startup companies, and public clean technology investment initiatives (like LACI). Revenues for these companies have dropped precipitously as consumer-facing demand has fallen off a cliff.

Southern California 261

Southern California Los Angeles Rosemead Incubator 261

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2019

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Doing business is a human process.

Organization 128

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 128

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2014

As a startup advisor, I see many aspiring entrepreneurs whose primary motivation seems to be to work part time, or get rich quick, or avoid anyone else telling them what to do. Yet, for those with more realistic expectations and the right motivation, the entrepreneur lifestyle can be the dream life you envisioned. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2022

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. It happens on the front end for startups to get traction, and then again later for every company as the economy, competition, and culture changes around them. Reinvent the vision for change.

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Course IBM IBM Social Media 127

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. Typically this means describing interactions with customer groups, real customer feedback, and showing an understanding of price sensitivity, alternatives, and competitive offerings.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 29, 2012

However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. Handled appropriately, these questions provide investors a window into an entrepreneurs’ soul, which minimizes the chances of a future misalignment.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 145

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

Yesterday I saw a Tweet from Chris Sacca fly by that prompted me to want to write a blog post helping entrepreneurs understand why they should push back against VCs asking for “super pro-rata” rights. Obviously the situation is very different in companies where the company isn’t “killing it.”

Entrepreneur 310

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Writing Invest 310

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In my experience as an angel investor for new startups, I’m always surprised by how many entrepreneurs are looking for funding without outside advisors. An experienced Board can give them credibility, as well as advice on the many pitfalls of starting a new company. The cost of a co-founder is usually fifty percent of your equity.

Startup 142

Startup Technical Review Equity Entrepreneur 142

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Topics we covered: B2B Companies You haven’t seen the full extent to how the correction is going to affect you. In a bear market executives are paid to: consolidate the number of contracts and renegotiate prices. Other companies have only seen a slight decline and may be expecting demand to return to normalcy later in the year.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 12, 2022

We gained sort of a cult following because we had healthy meals at an accessible price point.”. Deerman had watched other meal delivery companies, like Munchery and Sprig , close years earlier and had gotten creative with the company’s business model as a result. On days when we did the ‘Positive Popups,’ people loved it.

Invest 175

Invest Los Angeles Startup Funding 175

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2011

Agreements with Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) are like DC Comic’s evil villainess, Poison Ivy. You will no doubt craft agreements with companies of similar or even smaller size to your own. Ever negotiate with lawyers at a huge company? The allure of a company-changing deal with a BDC is strong. Kiss of Death Provisions.

Outsource Development 244

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Resource Press 244

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago. They present a convincing story that every entrepreneur has the same potential, but most get sidetracked and bogged down by their technology, competitors, and internal organization.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

socalTECH

APRIL 19, 2011

Los Angeles-based Goldstar , the half price ticketing and event promotion service, has tapped Matt Coffin , Sean Moriarty , and Neil Patrick Harris as advisors, the company said Tuesday. The company offers up half-price tickets and other promotions on events, helping venues to fill up seats and get the word out about upcoming events.

CitySearch 170

CitySearch Ticketmaster Pricing Demand 170

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. The startup was listed in TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2023 too, alongside industry heavyweights like Nvidia and SpaceX.

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