Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2014

As our first time covering a 500 Startups demo day , we could only imagine the stratospheric levels of stress our Batch 8 founders must have gone through to get on stage and present their progress from their last four months of startup bootcamp. In true 500 Startups fashion, Demo Day had an almost cathartic feel. ” Demo Day.

Startup 111

Startup Mobile Commerce Education 111

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

This is part of my series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. The best entrepreneurs focus on details.

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire Sales 286

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor).

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Justin Bieber is unbelievably entrepreneurial and most of you will never know it because he serves a target demo that doesn’t include you. To be a great entrepreneur you really do need talent. As you know, Justin’s is 8-15 year-old girls and he built his music & persona around this demo. Bieber & Co.

Entrepreneur 398

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Blogging 398

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. If you haven’t yet finalized the business model, cost projections, and customer segments, you aren’t ready for investors.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Startup Boost Los Angeles says its program includes six weekly workshop sessions and one demo night hosted by Google, in Venice. Matt Stodder, the co-director of the Los Angeles program, says it is seeking companies with the right team, a minimum viable product, customer traction, and viable plan for going forward.

Los Angeles 154

Los Angeles Class Angel Startup 154

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 384

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I’m comfortable with introductions and then getting into the demo.&#. I believe in this so much that, despite my post advising you to be prepared for the *norm* in VC, I wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. Just jump into the demo after intros.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

The program includes six weekly workshop sessions and one demo night hosted by Google in Venice. Startup Boost says it is looking for companies with the right team, a minimum viable product, customer traction, and viable plan for going forward. Applications for the program will close on March 15th.

Los Angeles 124

Los Angeles Angel Startup Venice 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

.&# It was my investment philosophy that observing teams’ performance over time was far more insightful than reacting to how good of a product demo they do, how good they present Powerpoint slides or how great tech blogs say they are. I felt the exact same way when I was an entrepreneur. Lines vs. Dots is all about people.

Entrepreneur 330

Entrepreneur Marketing Venture Capital Hulu 330

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

What I want to hear is an innovative marketing and growth strategy that will set you apart in the minds of investors, as well as customers. Today’s customer is especially attracted to companies like TOMS , who donates a pair of shoes for every pair they sell, or Patagonia, with its support for grassroots environmental groups.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Customer 170

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. I spent time on college campuses.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2012

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. Get a reference customer. Use focus groups.

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Pricing Customer Custom 99

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. I spent time on college campuses.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

InfoChachkie

JULY 4, 2011

The story begins with the unwitting, future customer relaxing and reading the paper. Sam happily agrees, as he knows he will not have to continue selling, once the demo is completed. However, typical of an Optimistically Pessimistic entrepreneur, Sam never loses hope, and does gives up. This is Sam’s cold call. Sam-I-Am.”.

Sales 219

Sales Entrepreneur Startup Product 219

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. If you haven’t yet finalized the business model, cost projections, and customer segments, you aren’t ready for investors.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Packaging, pricing & discounts – In the early days of my first company we always had “list prices&# we quoted to customers and of course we were always willing to negotiate based on who the client was, how important the business was to us, who the competition was and how well the deal was negotiated. I was the laggard.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. 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.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

Xconomy

OCTOBER 24, 2016

A San Diego civil engineer who has developed an alternative technology for automating the measurement of water flow gave the best presentation at EvoNexus Fall Demo Day, an event that drew nearly 400 entrepreneurs, investors, and supporters late Thursday to Qualcomm’s corporate headquarters.

San Diego 40

San Diego Startup Orange County Artificial Inteligence 40

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 176

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Some readers have commented that in today’s world you shouldn’t even need a PowerPoint presentation – in this era you should always just demo your product. I also recently wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. Who are your key customers?

Venture Capital 238

Venture Capital Slides Startup Sales 238

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

We just had the demo day for our third batch of companies. It''s not a three month program, demo day, and folks move out or move on. We take companies all through the year, and have a demo day once a year with the companies who are ready for demo day, where they present, while other might not. That''s the minimum.

Incubator 187

Incubator Southern California Startup Ideas 187

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. If you haven’t yet finalized the business model, cost projections, and customer segments, you aren’t ready for investors.

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. 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.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

As an aspiring entrepreneur, one of the most important things you need is a memorable “ elevator pitch ,” to communicate your startup value proposition and leave a great first impression on friends, investors, employees, and future customers. Customers think about alternatives, and investors worry about competitors.

Sample 127

Sample Summary Startup Slides 127

socalTECH

JUNE 2, 2010

launched earlier this year at DEMO. You go on to our site, create a project telling the world what you need, and what increments you're willing to accept it in, and what you're willing to give back for those increments, and you customize your project with your own branding and everything. What is the idea behind Invested.in?

Sites 237

Sites Startup Invest SoCalTech 237

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2011

Being a good entrepreneur means being able to effectively convince an investor that you have a great idea, persuade partners that your approach is right, and convince potential customers that the solution is right for them. Get help from friends and experts.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Ideas Study Resource 98

socalTECH

JULY 22, 2019

There are lots of resources available to entrepreneurs in the industry, but they are not necessarily that easy to access, whether that's deep insight into how to work with the government or with NASA, or how to work with the big primes, we felt that we could help create that resource. What's your biggest advice for a space entrepreneur?

Southern California 124

Southern California Startup Entrepreneur Los Angeles 124

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 7, 2013

The good news for entrepreneurs is that there have never been more office space options for early stage companies. If you use the mentor-driven model that we pioneered at TechStars, you get entrepreneurs who are deeply connected with the broader entrepreneurial landscape. Many Sizes, Many Fits.

Incubator 238

Incubator Startup News Entrepreneur 238

socalTECH

MAY 23, 2017

Our interview this morning is with Jonathan Zweig , the CEO of Los Angeles-based AppOnboard (www.apponboard.com), which has created software which allows mobile app developers--and in particular, mobile game developers--to create demos of those games which can be played without having to download and install those apps. That's number two.

Startup 113

Startup Southern California UCLA Technical Review 113

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor). Dave’s book and ebook on raising money available on Amazon.com.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to influence journalists, business partners, potential employees, customers and VCs. If you demo your product (which is always great) then tell us part of the story while you’re demo’ing.

Startup 362

Startup Twiistup Slides Screening 362

InfoChachkie

MARCH 25, 2013

Entrepreneurs can draw a number of startup lessons from the manner in which the Beatles' addressed Decca's devastating rejection. Entrepreneurs must know when to listen to their advisors and when to reject errant advice. Lesson - Startups have limited opportunities to secure key customers, investors and employees.

Startup 221

Startup RSS Entrepreneur Satisfaction 221

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. We are experiencing a frenetic time. For investors life is no different.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150