Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. If you ask them for a reason, most will insist that they couldn’t get funding, or they ran out of money too early. It’s tempting to believe that one more new platform will win for crowd funding or video games, like Indiegogo and Wii.

Entrepreneur 125

Entrepreneur Netflix Social Media Startup 125

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Investors expect this step to be proven successful before funding.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Build your business with minimum outside funding.

Resource 121

Resource Metrics Entrepreneur Customer 121

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg, while still in school, tested the viability of his “ FaceMash ” technology as a business by rolling it out to other students at Harvard as customers. He learned quickly that several pivots were required for business, legal, and customer acceptance reasons. Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Get connected to the right mentors and your business may catapult to the next level. I figured if Matt was on the verge of bankruptcy and one mentor changed his trajectory, what if we had a formalized, community-wide program? He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Great marketing is required to generate revenue and grow every business, especially new businesses which have no brand recognition nor loyal customer base. Yet, as a business consultant, I still find many of you business leaders relying primarily on your technology, word-of-mouth , or location to attract necessary customers.

Marketing 133

Marketing Customer Custom Outsource Development 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2021

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity. Subtraction leads to simplicity, better usability, and easier education of your customers.

Startup 164

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

The lesson of finding help, connections, and even funding where other people may never look is one that makes all the difference in the entrepreneur lifestyle. Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. They can also connect you to area businesses.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. These are the ultimate chess players in the game of business, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. Ultimately, most get the best help from business advisors and mentors. Opportunist.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2023

If you are an introvert like me, this may be difficult, but remember that your business needs collaboration with partners and vendors, as well as good customers. Effective networking can also lead you to great coaches and mentors, as well as business and customer connections. Quickly seek common interests from new relationships.

Networking 104

Networking Mentor Conference Summary 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

As an angel investor and a mentor to entrepreneurs I still see this every day. For success these days, the purpose better focus on people, and solve a real problem for customers. Then you must extend these alliances to vendors, partners, customers, and even competitors (coopetition). Master-mind alliance. Applied faith.

Technical Review 119

Technical Review Ideas Entrepreneur Customer 119

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2022

Be sure to encompass all your constituents, especially including customers. Whole Foods , for example, has built their business with a commitment to natural and organic foods, and have a culture of loyal employees and customers, resulting in 500 stores worldwide. Foster collaboration rather than competition.

Product 109

Product Training Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

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. There is a growing fellowship of special-case start-up programs operated by closely-knit, permanent groups of angel-mentors.

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2022

The result is fewer and fewer new ideas are volunteered by prospective leaders and key team members, and the business suffers from poor customer satisfaction or loss of market share. Find other situations that led to success, or explain why the environment, competition, or opportunity has changed to reduce the risk of failure.

Ideas 116

Ideas Netflix Resource Customer 116

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2020

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. If you ask them for a reason, most will insist that they couldn’t get funding, or they ran out of money too early. It’s tempting to believe that one more new platform will win for crowd funding or video games, like Indiegogo and Wii.

Startup 124

Startup Netflix Social Media Customer 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Build your business with minimum outside funding.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Resource Metrics Customer 129

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. Contrary to popular belief, most investors are not looking for entrepreneurs who are desperate for funding.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

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. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. In addition, creating a business requires leading and interacting with other people, including partners, investors, and customers. You must also learn from your customers. Yes, there are a lot of bridges to cross.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2022

Yet, based on my own years of experience “in the business”, mentoring many entrepreneurs, and following stalwarts like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, even these potentially controversial mindsets ring true to me: All risk isn’t risky. Fire your worst customers. A check in hand means nothing. There’s no such thing as a cold call.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Startup Customer Custom 117

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2020

As an angel investor and a mentor to entrepreneurs I still see this every day. For success these days, the purpose better focus on people, and solve a real problem for customers. Then you must extend these alliances to vendors, partners, customers, and even competitors (coopetition). Master-mind alliance. Applied faith.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Ideas Entrepreneur Customer 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

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. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. Contrary to popular belief, most investors are not looking for entrepreneurs who are desperate for funding.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. It’s your job as a leader to be the model high performer, quantify the team view with metrics, and expand awareness to the best outside competition and new tools.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Tech.Co

APRIL 24, 2018

Being one small company amongst the sea of thousands of startups vying for customers, capital, and talent, the way to get noticed above the crowd, connect with that next big partner, and raise some capital is to throw your hat in the ring to compete at Startup of the Year. A Strong Alumni Network.

Startup 70

Startup Competition Google Capital 70

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Based on my experience as an angel investor and a mentor to dozens of entrepreneurs, having no business plan is the quickest way to define yourself as just a dreamer, or at best a hobbyist. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Marketing, sales, and customer experience. Skip the acronyms and jargon.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Build your business with minimum outside funding.

Startup 115

Startup Resource Metrics Entrepreneur 115

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. In the same year they won Business Insider’s Startup competition. We generally have a policy to only fund entrepreneurs once the first version of a product has shipped or it near to shipping. So I asked Ethan to build his product first and then we would fund.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

All true entrepreneurs operate off a set of tenets that are built into their psyche, or drilled into them from training and mentors. I assert that designers have a lot in common with entrepreneurs, since both must innovate and start a deep understanding of what their customer really wants (“customer-centered”).

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Design Ideas Competition 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2015

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. If you ask them for a reason, most will insist that they couldn’t get funding, or they ran out of money too early. It’s tempting to believe that one more new platform will win for crowd funding or video games, like Indiegogo and Wii.

Startup 105

Startup Netflix Entrepreneur Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2019

Yet, based on my own years of experience “in the business”, mentoring many entrepreneurs, and following stalwarts like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, even these potentially controversial mindsets ring true to me: All risk isn’t risky. Fire your worst customers. A check in hand means nothing. There’s no such thing as a cold call.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Startup Customer Custom 92

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Build your business with minimum outside funding.

Startup 113

Startup Resource Metrics Entrepreneur 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2016

On the other hand, if you can qualify for membership in a top-ranked accelerator , such as 500 Startups , AngelPad or TechStars , you will get a rigorous development program, top-quality professional guidance, and some seed funding to move you ahead of the crowd. Direction, mentoring and resources required. No surprises in this advice.

Incubator 58

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Equity 58

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Build your business with minimum outside funding.

Resource 64

Resource Metrics Entrepreneur Customer 64

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2016

The lesson of finding help, connections, and even funding where other people may never look is one that makes all the difference in the entrepreneur lifestyle. Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. They can also connect you to area businesses.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Capital Class Startup 55