Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2023

Over my many years of mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals, I often hear a desire to start a new business, with a big hesitation while waiting for that perfect idea and perfect alignment of the stars. Most aspiring entrepreneurs don’t have the resources alone to “bootstrap” or fund their new business alone.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2021

Once you are able to achieve some real “traction” with your business (paying customers, revenue stream), it may seem the time to relax a bit, but in fact this is the point where many founders start to flounder. Most founders form very close relationships with the small team that gets the startup off the ground, and that is important.

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TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

Builders VC led the round, which included participation from Celtic, Newfund and Wish co-founder Danny Zhang. Image Credits: Eano CEO and founder Stella Wu / Eano. We love that ethos — it matches with our thinking about backing entrepreneurs who don’t fit into the stereotypical box,” Kim said.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2021, from 280 to 360 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever. The cost of social media done well is low.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2022

As a startup advisor and investor, I’ve met many aspiring entrepreneurs, and I often get asked the question, “I have a great idea for a startup – do you agree that it real potential?” If you are dreaming of an opportunity to get rich quick, the entrepreneur route is not for you. You enjoy building relationships as well as products.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

If you haven’t yet heard about Female Founder Office Hours it is an initiative you should be aware of whether you’re male, female or any other gender identify. Female Founder Office Hours gives founders the mentorship and the role models to see that it is in not only possible but also to have a plan to make it a reality.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Contrary to what you might guess, the highest rate of small business and entrepreneurial growth over the last few years is not Gen-Y upstarts, but Boomers over the age of 50, now called encore entrepreneurs. One new incentive is the falling transaction costs and barriers to entry for entrepreneurs of every age. In the U.S.,

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Nowhere is the politics more difficult than with co-founders, which is why for years I’ve spoken publicly about “ the co-founder mythology.” ” Of course we all go into businesses expecting to be aligned with our co-founders but over time life changes. Equity for the future? We discussed it as a group.

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socalTECH

MAY 25, 2018

One of Southern California's promising startup entrepreneurs, Jason G. Crilly --the co-founder of RYSE UP and co-founder of NearWoo--has passed away, according to friends and families. Mental health of startup founders--once a taboo subject--has been boosted by efforts by such startup community mentors as Brad Feld of Techstars.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

Thus, in my mentoring of potential technical entrepreneurs who have a real passion for their technology, I often recommend that they find a co-founder who can manage the marketing and execution elements of the new venture. I’m a believer in capitalizing on your strengths, and using partners or co-founders to shore up weaknesses.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2022

With the cost of entry at an all-time low, and the odds of success equally low, more and more entrepreneurs are starting multiple companies concurrently. Other prolific entrepreneurs, like Richard Branson and Elon Musk , simply have several startups on the table at any given moment. Many entrepreneurs love investing in other startups.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2023

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and active angel investor, I often get questions about the realism of the Shark Tank TV series, compared to professional investor negotiations. Yet the process is eerily realistic, and every entrepreneur can glean some important lessons. There is no substitute for knowing your business.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Attract a co-founder and key team members. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

Relationships are the key to survival and success for entrepreneurs, and first impressions usually turn into lasting impressions. As an advisor to many early-stage entrepreneurs, I caution them to always be prepared for that chance meeting with a famous investor, a potential partner or an industry guru.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2022

An entrepreneur is literally “one who creates a new business.” In researching this question, I reviewed a classic book by Bryan Mattimore, “ Idea Stormers: How to Lead and Inspire Creative Breakthroughs ,” which details eight attributes of the most creative people, which seem to match the mindsets of some of the best entrepreneurs I know.

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

So, to help other female entrepreneurs, they founded TuesdayNights (www.tuesdaynights.org), a group in LA which helps female entrepreneurs connect with capital and each other to improve their access to capital. What is the most difficult challenge that women entrepreneurs face?

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TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 8, 2020

Watt, who came to MoviePass as an entrepreneur in residence at True Ventures, previously founded the brand and product placement startup NextMedium and also spent time as a board partner at Upfront Ventures. Now, the serial entrepreneur and startup investor is combining his two career paths under the auspices of Share Ventures.

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TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 8, 2019

Just weeks after Canoo took the wraps off of its electric vehicle , the Los Angeles-based startup and co-founder Stefan Krause has been accused of gender and marital discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, and wrongful termination in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. Nine of those became co-founders.

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TechCrunch LA

JUNE 10, 2020

In response to VCs’ sudden rush to invest in more Black founders , Black venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have penned a bunch of advice on the best way to tap into talent. Among the strategies? Team up with Black firms already doing the work.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. For seed stage funding, entrepreneurs should be looking to friends and family, crowd funding, and relevant institutions.

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Peter Adderton , the founder of Boost Mobile , the prepaid cell phone provider now owned by Sprint , is looking to buy back the company for up to $2 billion, according to reports.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2011

I covered what I call “the co-founder mythology.&# Either you’re not technical and you think you need a technical co-founder or vice-versa. It is increasingly popular to have “founder dating&# or “startup weekend hackathons&# of some variety or the other. Hire your co-founder. Vested over 4 years.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2022

Every new entrepreneur has to initiate the right actions to be perceived as a leader in their chosen business domain by their team and by their customers, or the road to success and satisfaction will be lost along the way. No entrepreneur can build a business alone. Constantly strengthening your network of relationships.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 29, 2020

This week, Los Angeles-based Crosscut Ventures announced a brand new effort to provide health and wellness to the founders of companies it invests in, helping those founders with well being, mental health, stress management, coaching, and leadership development. Brian Garrett: We're launching a founder health and wellness program.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

I hear too often from business owners and entrepreneurs that they are bombarded by so many requests and problems, that they have trouble sorting out the daily crises from opportunities with a major payback for the business. Every business owner and entrepreneur has to be the role model for trust, a good moral compass, and ethics.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 23, 2017

Thursday, October 26, 2017 -- Successful Entrepreneur Panel. Join TCVN for our October event featuring a panel of 4 successful entrepreneurs. See [link] (more)

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2023

As an angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Investors and strategic partners look for entrepreneurs who can execute.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2014

This blog started from a series of conversations I found myself having over and over again with founders and eventually decided I should just start writing them.It I see founders who think they can be at every conference, advise multiple companies, do side investments in angel deals, leave the office at 6pm and have a balance life.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2021

The ultimate compliment that any entrepreneur can get is that they can “see around corners.” Great entrepreneurs seem to all exhibit a common set of attributes which go well beyond the basic skills required to be an entrepreneur: “Larger than life” personality and presence. We can all point to the casualties from that approach.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

APRIL 4, 2018

Friday, April 6, 2018 -- International Entrepreneur Rule. Why it matters: 51 percent of our nation's $ 1 billion + VC backed companies have at least one immigrant founder. This shows the importance of immigrant entrepreneurs to the US economy. What is it? Why does it matter? And where does it stand? MAKE IN LA AND LUMA LAUNCH.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 16, 2018

One of the best things about working at Silicon Valley Bank in Los Angeles is the access to amazing founders and companies. This blog post highlights a trend I'm seeing here in Los Angeles: Established mobile gaming founders are leveraging their deep mobile expertise, including performance marketing, into new non-gaming verticals.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2022

Some people are not cut out to be entrepreneurs. I’ve hit this before, but I still hear from too many unhappy entrepreneurs. I’ve hit this before, but I still hear from too many unhappy entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs do not function well in traditional organizations and do not like being in the conventional management hierarchy.

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socalTECH

MAY 16, 2019

For our interview this morning, we caught up with Isaac Garcia , a serial entrepreneur who previously founded and sold his last company, Central Desktop, and now is working on a new startup, Sales Insider. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs? So did you run into issues with that as a founder?

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Most entrepreneurs relish being their own boss, but find the transition to “ownership thinking” to be more difficult than anticipated. Incidentally, if you never thought of yourself as being an A-Player employee, you probably will struggle even more in the competitive entrepreneur world.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

JANUARY 24, 2018

Thursday, January 25, 2018 -- TCVN Workshop: Dysfunctional Teams and Founder Disputes. Fact: 62% of startup failures stem from founder or team conflicts. Learn what you can do to not fall into the same trap from an extraordinary panel of successful serial entrepreneurs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2021

Some people even believe that entrepreneurs must be born with the right genes, and no element of education is relevant. In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities.

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InfoChachkie

MARCH 9, 2019

Even when it was published on Netflix, I had no desire to see The Founder movie, as it was clear from the film’s preview that it was yet another, “businessperson gone bad” film. Michael Bloomberg, American Entrepreneur and Politician. When an entrepreneur selects a venture, the idea should be all consuming.

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