Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Here is my list of top ten action items to best prepare you for success in achieving a funding event with Angels: Incorporate the business now. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.”

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2012

According to a recent MIT study , only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 94

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2013

Competitive risk. Even in an open space, you need intellectual property, like patents, to keep potential competitors from overrunning you. On the Internet, I would add new social networking sites, and new matchmaking sites. Think seriously about the number and clout of your competitors. Operational risk. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 104

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Yet according to the latest data from Gust (formerly AngelSoft), only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.” Line up an experienced team.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

He’d been working at a well-funded startup for about a year and had come to terms with the fact that the startup was really a pretty dumb idea. Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups - Steve Blank , May 27, 2010 Startups need to have a great lawyer, accountant, patent attorney, etc. I Be specific. It's a great talk. they released a new 2.0

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2012

Competitive risk. Even in an open space, you need intellectual property, like patents, to keep potential competitors from overrunning you. On the Internet, I would add new social networking sites, and new matchmaking sites. Think seriously about the number and clout of your competitors. Operational risk.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Examples Social Network Marketing 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Competitive risk. Even in an open space, you need intellectual property, like patents, to keep potential competitors from overrunning you. On the Internet, I would add new social networking sites, and new matchmaking sites. Think seriously about the number and clout of your competitors. Operational risk. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 89

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 89

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Every investor expects to see some traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

There was no viral social networking products back then like Twitter where people could easily discover your content. I had intended to talk about how bad the process could become, not to name-and-shame anybody (and The Funded was not yet around). Page 3: Competition. Tempus Fugit. Page 4: Business Model.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2021

Here are six key reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. It’s hard to invent and patent more “scientific” methods on how to match people.

Sites 134

Sites Social Network Competition Networking 134

socalTECH

DECEMBER 3, 2008

The firm's technology--which creates a 3D, virtual avatar from digital photos--was originally developed at the University of Southern California for the CIA, and was spun out into a venture funded company targeting the consumer market. For those not familiar with BigStage, tell us what the company is doing with your avatar technology?

Entertainment 100

Entertainment Clearstone Venture Capital Media 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2013

Here are six key reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. It’s hard to invent and patent more “scientific” methods on how to match people.

Sites 86

Sites Social Network Networking Patents 86

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2011

Here are six key reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. It’s hard to invent and patent more “scientific” methods on how to match people.

Sites 91

Sites Social Network Competition Patents 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2010

So please don’t send me any more business plans along these lines, looking for investor funding, with no marketing budget, and promising huge returns. Here are a few of the reasons, from a business perspective: Direct competition is huge. It’s hard to invent and patent more “scientific” methods on how to match people.

Sites 49

Sites Social Network Statistics Patents 49

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2013

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. Your funding request will likely go into the circular file. No need to risk my own funds. We have no competitors.”

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network IBM 111

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. Your funding request will likely go into the circular file. No need to risk my own funds. We have no competitors.”

Startup 95

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2011

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. Your funding request will likely go into the circular file. No need to risk my own funds. We have no competitors.”

Startup 98

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2010

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. Your funding request will likely go into the circular file. No need to risk my own funds.” We have no competitors.”

Startup 52

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 52