Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Personally visit another startup funded by this investor. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 1, 2017

Wednesday, June 7, 2017 -- ACG101's First Annual Emerging Growth Pitch Competition and Showcase. On June 7th, we're showcasing 10 of Los Angeles's finest startups in an event you won't want to miss. See [link] (more)

Competition 100

Competition Los Angeles Entrepreneur Startup 100

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). Overcoming obstacles and learning is one of the biggest inspiration for most entrepreneurs. Celebrate the ability to pay yourself a salary.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Customer Custom 118

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. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Startup team with experience and connections is this domain.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

If you’re an early-stage entrepreneur, technology has served you well. Fortunately, the Startup of the Year program aims to make it easier for founders to connect with resources. BlackTech Week was created in 2014, and in four short years, they’ve gained over 2700 participants, 150 speakers, and 3 pitch competitions.

Startup 141

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 141

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

She was leaving IAC to start a company. Competitive sportswoman. Somehow she was always on a flight up to Seattle or San Francisco. Getting involved with political events and fund raisers. And still able to make it out to LA networking events. She was everything I was looking for in an entrepreneur to back.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

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. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Startup team with experience and connections is this domain.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. Every entrepreneur, especially an introvert, can benefit from the perspective of another business person, ideally one who has prior experience in the domain you are about to enter.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2021

The biggest challenge for every entrepreneur and every startup today is to get noticed and remembered in today’s information overload. The number of entrepreneurs worldwide is huge, starting an estimated 50 million new businesses per year, or 137,000 per day. It’s even acceptable to make up a place with a “what if.”

Startup 125

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 125

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 31, 2014

On Sunday, March 2 nd at USC, these rivals took their battle to a new platform: startups. With the help of co-hosts and partners, including Bruin Entrepreneurs , Start-up UCLA , USC E-Club , Incubatrix, and more, Wowfand was able to put together the first startup rivalry to decide the dominant startup school in Los Angeles.

Startup 101

Startup USC UCLA Southern California 101

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

This can be an advantage to startups who don’t have the resources and brand awareness of mature businesses, if they understand and position themselves to win in the decisive moments of the new customer buying process. Great startups manage to continually improve the relationship through outstanding follow-on support and service.

Customer 124

Customer Custom Startup Course 124

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 11, 2010

This past December I spent a week in Boston to try to get to know some of the local VC’s and entrepreneurs a bit better. I recently wrote a blog post about why I believe that startup teams in close proximity perform better. Entrepreneurs need to share more information with each other.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Incubator Entrepreneur 285

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

Tech Coast Venture Network is rounding up the finest entrepreneurs to compete for $25,000 in cash prize in their Survivor 7 Pitch Competition this Thursday, November 15th. The event will be held in Chapman University and has attracted over 30 companies that have submitted their pitch videos online.

Competition 65

Competition Networking TCVN Southern California 65

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). Many people start companies arse backwards. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. the link is here.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2020

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. This fallacy, often called historical myopia, essentially involves extrapolating only from recent positive events, and ignoring the reality that markets saturate or evaporate. Startups can go down many times faster than they go up.

Startup 124

Startup Netflix Social Media Customer 124

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and Kara said “no” because she wanted to start her own company, which she did and I backed. In any job you either find leadership opportunities for your best people BEFORE they ask or other people start asking them to become leaders somewhere else.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2022

This can be an advantage to startups who don’t have the resources and brand awareness of mature businesses, if they understand and position themselves to win in the decisive moments of the new customer buying process. Great startups manage to continually improve the relationship through outstanding follow-on support and service.

Customer 146

Customer Custom Startup Course 146

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Now in its third year, the Most Fundable Companies competition has grown to over 4,500 companies, and for the first time attracted startups from all 50 U.S. Learn more during the event. Thursday, October 15, 2020 -- Pepperdine Most Fundable Companies Showcase 2020. See [link] (more)

Pepperdine 100

Pepperdine Company Companies Competition 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 15, 2010

Last night I attended the inaugural Open Angel Forum event started by Jason Calacanis , a fellow LA resident. Jason started the Open Angel Forum in response to his frustration that entrepreneurs were being charged by some angel organizations to present at their events. It does not and that’s a good thing.

Angel 254

Angel Startup Tech Coast Angels MyShape 254

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2022

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. But chronic stress and distress results in overreaction to non-life-threatening events.

Startup 118

Startup Case Study Competition Entrepreneur 118

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2015

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active Angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. Outside of dreams, there is no real business opportunity without risk.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Startup Marketing Customer 103

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. Outside of dreams, there is no real business opportunity without risk.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 107

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 7, 2013

The EA Conference annual fast pitch competition offers aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their business idea in 90 seconds or less to a panel of judges, providing high exposure to the investment and Venture Capitalist community. Robert Jadon, Director of Startup UCLA. William Hsu, co-founder of MuckerLab.

Competition 82

Competition UCLA Entrepreneur Conference 82

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 28, 2012

Most of the time the advice you are looking for is from a successful entrepreneurs who might be so busy to be reached. The starup offers online entrepreneurial networking opportunities by introducing professionals with expertise (Advisors) to those seeking business advice (Entrepreneurs). Which startups or entrepreneurs have signed up?

Entrepreneur 89

Entrepreneur Startup Paramount Social Media 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2022

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. But not every entrepreneur has to be a visionary. Radiate charisma.

Ideas 149

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 149

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2020

We all face pressure in our lives, but there’s nothing like that of an entrepreneur facing customer crises and the competitive challenges of a new business. Don’t believe the myth that all you have to do to get rich is bring up an ecommerce website, and the money rolls in while you sleep. Reframe from anxiety to taking control.

Startup 134

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Press 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

The recent pandemic was a strong signal for change, and I see most of you entrepreneurs and business owners responding to the business changes required and new opportunities presented. It may be time to start your own home delivery service, or subscription offering, or time to acquire a struggling competitor to scale your business.

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Customer 162

SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 2, 2019

The New Venture Fair (NVF) is a valuable part of Cal Lutheran's entrepreneur education experience, in which student teams share their innovative startup projects in a competitive environment. The NVF is a dynamic and exciting evening where the community gets its first look at Cal Lutheran's exceptional student entrepreneurs.

Education 100

Education Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

No business or startup wants to be the next Myspace, or even the next RIM (BlackBerry), where changes in the marketplace were subtle. For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Examples 93

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Since 2006, the Startup of the Year competition has been showcasing early-stage startups in a way that only we can. Our excitement and zeal for these budding entrepreneurs is unparalleled across the industry, as is evident from the success the companies involved have experienced. The Mission. The Prizes. The Requirements.

Startup 71

Startup Competition Resource Networking 71

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2021

To build a startup, entrepreneurs need a laser focus on providing an innovative solution to a real problem. Most entrepreneurs dream of achieving the exponential expansion of a Google or Amazon, but few investor pitches I see outline any strategy beyond simple marketing to make this happen. Diamandis and Steven Kotler.

Search Engine Optimization 158

Search Engine Optimization Artificial Inteligence Organization Social Media 158

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 13, 2012

Successful Olympic athletes share a number of common qualities with entrepreneurs; including boundless energy, uncompromising tenacity and a willingness to innovate. However, at most startups, competitive advantages are derived from a combination of invention and innovation, as described more fully in Inventor Or Innovator – Which Are You?

Startup 198

Startup Competition Activity Class 198

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. The Alliance is following the classic start-up trajectory: transition from the big idea to your beachhead product offering.

SoCal 140

SoCal Southern California Startup Venture Capital 140

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. But chronic stress and distress results in overreaction to non life-threatening events.

Startup 106

Startup Case Study Entrepreneur Competition 106

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2014

If you are one of the many people still searching for that job lost during or after the recent depression, or about to dump the loser of a job you have now, you should be working on starting your own business, in parallel with looking for that ideal job. Also, for most of us, not having done it before, we have no idea where or how to start.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network Ideas 102