Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2023

They fail to realize that the considerations are quite different for each, which can make or break their investment efforts, and ultimately their startup. The amounts from angels start as low as $25K, while minimum venture capital amounts usually start in the $2M range. How big is your startup opportunity?

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. It’s no fun for either side.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Don’t waste your resources on the wrong ones.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Do you need a board when you first start you company? If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards.

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socalTECH

JULY 17, 2019

Thinkful , a New York company, says it has started accepting applications from people in Los Angeles for its "living stipend" program, which pays students $1500 a month to pay for things like rent, gas, and food while they take the company's technology training--in exchange for a portion of their salaries when they graduate. READ MORE>>.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. To legally facilitate startups who want to give top priority to socially conscious solutions, thirty-five states, starting with Maryland way back in 2010, have passed legislation allowing incorporation as a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp).

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2019

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. Carpenter, Gary F. Gebhardt, and John F. Sherry, Jr.,

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Tech.Co

JUNE 28, 2021

Startup tech businesses used to land on the scene with big ideas about how their tech could change the world. However, in recent years, there have been precious few startups with such grand ambitions from an early stage. But the trend for world-changing mission statements is waning in the startup sphere.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2012

Santa Monica-based Demand Media (www.demandmedia.com) has seen its share of ups and downs as one of the highest visibility technology and media companies to come out of Southern California's technology ecosystem in recent years. What is Demand Media doing nowadays? Our whole goal is to create content for real life.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. In reality, crowdfunding has become a major startup funding vehicle, expected to reach $3.62

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TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

Of course, Just is not the first company to offer personalized auto insurance. And there’s also Root Insurance , an Ohio-based car insurance startup that uses smartpho ne technology to understand individual driver behavior. But of course, it has far fewer customers and is only serving one market. Image Credits: Just Insure.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2023

Entrepreneurs who experience success with their first startup are often amazed to realize that the risks and fears of doing it right the second time go up, rather than down. Encores are tough, especially in the high-risk world of startups, yet every entrepreneur I know can’t wait to start over and do it again.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2021

Based on my experience as a business advisor, I’m convinced that most startup investors invest in the entrepreneur, as much as a solution or product. Of course, this passion must be backed up by documented evidence and logical arguments, not just loud talking and arm waving. Innovate to meet future demands you foresee.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Due to the pervasive Internet, the scope of most successful startup teams today has become global. You need a faster and more flexible on-demand hiring strategy, based on the current gig-economy of remote freelancers, contract personnel, and specialists. Focus on a very flat organization, with minimal hierarchy.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2020

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. Startups with no exit planned will minimize investor returns. Most entrepreneurs like the startup role, but not the big-company role. Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. I just finished a new book for entrepreneurs, “ Secrets to a Successful Startup ,” by Trevor Blake, which makes the same points, based on his own real-life experience with three successful startups.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2022

In all cases, the transformation starts with placing leaders with a purpose at the core, hiring talent with a purpose at the frontier, and then building and extending the culture of purpose both inside and outside the organization. Customer loyalty and trust go up for companies with a purpose culture.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Startups need to build a large passionate group of fans before the campaign. Startup revenues come later.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2021

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. High-performing startups today are the ones that use every resource at their disposal. I recommend three or five members to start (an uneven number prevents tie votes).

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2020

Of course, most of you expect that raising money will be difficult, as well as staving off competitors, and handling that occasional toxic customer. What you don’t expect is to feel out of control , or to always be fighting the many demands for your time. In a startup, this can be a team member, investor, or even a vendor.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2022

If every entrepreneur could predict the future, starting the right new business would be easy. That means that starting soon, our doctors, hospitals, eldercare, hospice and even death care systems are going to face unprecedented demand. Autos for drivers: Waning market demand. Technology won’t solve this one.

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Demand Startup Course Summary 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 16, 2021

A few years ago I was intimately involved with a promising startup that taught me about this issue. It’s not a disease, but it can kill your startup. In the beginning, we all found our startup founder to be dynamic, driven, and decisive. Of course, no situation is this simple. It could save your startup!

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InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 6, 2012

Jason’s inspiration for this 6 ½ minute talk was a blog entry he wrote in 2008, which went viral within the startup community. To this end, Jason and his DocStoc team have created a compelling online course entitled, 21 Critical Lessons for Entrepreneurs. Superheroes Never Give Up. You can check out Jason’s original entry HERE.

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Entrepreneur Startup eBook Course 279

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup.

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TechCrunch LA

JULY 2, 2020

From larger fund investors like Mark Suster and Kara Nortman at Upfront Ventures to Dana Settle at Greycroft Partners; to early-stage investors like Will Hsu at Mucker Capital; TX Zhuo at Fika Ventures, the responses were generally upbeat about the future opportunities for Los Angeles startups.

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InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

According to a recent Forbes article , UC Santa Barbara''s Technology Management Program offers students a superior startup education over the University of Pennsylvania (home of Wharton), as well Harvard, Northwestern and even its acclaimed southern neighbor, the University of Southern California. Organic Academia. Techpreneurs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2020

Entrepreneurs who experience success with their first startup are often amazed to realize that the risks and fears of doing it right the second time go up, rather than down. Encores are tough, especially in the high-risk world of startups, yet every entrepreneur I know can’t wait to start over and do it again.

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Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Ideas 129

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

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Tech.Co

JUNE 22, 2018

Tech startups are always looking to capitalize on the next big thing. And every year, the startup ecosystem is slightly different. Entrepreneurs preparing to launch a startup in 2019 should be aware of the latest trends that will guide their successes or failures. Voice AI Is Trending Up. Why Tech Startups Care.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2022

We all have to communicate and collaborate with other people at work, but most of us start out instinctively trying to maintain an emotional distance from others in the work environment. So recently I started looking for some expert guidance on the pros and cons on this issue. Of course, all these things can happen in any workship.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. What makes up revenue?

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

One of the big decisions every aspiring entrepreneur has to make is when to quit your current job to devote yourself fulltime to your new startup. Others wait until the new business starts to generate revenue and profit before making the move. In my experience as a startup advisor, I find the minimum time to revenue is at least a year.

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socalTECH

JUNE 19, 2019

Once you've exhausted looking online for tips, Los Angeles-based ProGuides (www.proguides.com) offers up professional, instructional content to help you improve your skills at such popular titles as League of Legends, Hearthstone, and Fortnite. How did you start the company? The best way to think about it, is as a learning platform.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2022

Of course, don’t forget to continually interact with your best existing customers, to find areas where you can increase customer value and squeeze out additional growth for your business. Start today with new customer acquisition efforts. Operational costs escalate as your business scales up.

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Marketing Pricing Startup Customer 110

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 25, 2020

Another on-demand transport app is making a move into payments to expand the existing relationship with its customers (and subsequent margins that it makes from serving them). After scanning the code, you enter the amount you are charging and swipe up to complete the purchase.). The challenge in the U.S.,

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I even prefer to fund entrepreneurs who have experience some level of set-backs in their careers or startups because I think it brings a humility to decision-making that I find healthy. You also ran the risk that if you hired employees quickly and then demand wasn’t as strong as expected it was incredibility hard to fire people.

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