Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2014

But I continue to learn that there are a host of other factors, maybe not even related to you or your business, that could keep you from getting the funding that you need. Almost 80% of the funding handed out in the US consistently comes from these three locations. Whites and Asians lead the race. Experience does count.

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Funding Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup 108

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. One of the most important aims of a fund-raising process is to keep similar firms at the same stage of your process. Why 8–10 and not just 3–4?

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InfoChachkie

MAY 26, 2016

Should millennial entrepreneurs go to college? If you believe the mythology surrounding the handful of entrepreneurs who did not obtain a degree, you may think that the path to entrepreneurial success is enhanced by avoiding college. I asked them to devise reasons an entrepreneur should remain in college.

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InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

MBA’s are an easy target for entrepreneurs’ scorn. I too have taken shots at MBA’s, describing why they are not typically well suited for startup life in Why Entrepreneurs Hate (Most) MBAs. Their venture fund will focus on startups founded by Wharton, Stanford and Harvard students and alumni. “When M.B.A.’s

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll ever get I’m about to offer you some fund-raising advice that flies directly in the face of what most conventional wisdom will tell you. Let me start out with my premise: “Data rooms are where fund-raising processes go to die.” I have to back up and give you more context.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2015

If you need funding for these early stage activities, I have some suggestions on better strategies to follow. Applied research is still primarily scientific study, seeking to solve practical problems, but doesn’t yet focus on a commercial product. Thus the best entrepreneur strategy for funding is to build solutions, not technology.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

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InfoChachkie

JUNE 2, 2016

Are you an entrepreneur that is thinking about dropping out of college? However, as made clear in Should Millennial Entrepreneurs Skip College? What differentiates this small minority of entrepreneurs who are better off dropping out of school (or never enrolling) and running their startups full time? Are You LeBrone?

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socalTECH

MAY 25, 2016

Santa Monica-based March Capital Partners (www.marchcp.com) has just announced a brand new, $240M venture investment fund, led by longtime venture investing veterans Jim Armstrong, Sumant Mandal, Gregory Milken and Jamie Montgomery. What is the investment focus for this fund? It's all about the entrepreneur.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

If you need funding for these early stage activities, I have some suggestions on better strategies to follow. Applied research is still primarily scientific study, seeking to solve practical problems, but doesn’t yet focus on a commercial product. Thus the best entrepreneur strategy for funding is to build solutions, not technology.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2023

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in anticipating change today. Either they are never really ready to commit, study an opportunity until it has passed, or fail with tools and techniques from a bygone business era.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2018

As an advisor to new business owners, and an occasional angel investor, I see new business proposals daily, many seeking investors to fund early research and development (R&D) of a new product idea. Funding new product research and development is just too risky, with a large time delay before any return is likely.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2017

More recently, the desire for extra income has become the key driver in new startups, according to a 2015 study. Being called a lifestyle entrepreneur should be a point of pride, not an insult. Of course, even lifestyle entrepreneurs want to be happy, and want their business to be “successful.” According to William R.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2017

Most people agree that entrepreneurs have to think differently and take risks to have much chance of building a successful business. In the classic book “ The Entrepreneur Mind ,” from serial entrepreneur Kevin D. Johnson, he outlines 100 essential beliefs, insights, and habits of serious entrepreneurs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2013

Yet, many entrepreneurs are the happiest people I know. He defines the five key ingredients of happiness that every potential and existing entrepreneur, including Mark Zuckerberg (and every non-entrepreneur), should evaluate relative to their own situation: Happy relationships. Are you a satisfied entrepreneur?

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

Most people agree that entrepreneurs have to think differently and take risks to have much chance of building a successful business. In his book from a while back “ The Entrepreneur Mind ,” by serial entrepreneur Kevin D. Johnson, he outlines 100 essential beliefs, insights, and habits of serious entrepreneurs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2015

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in founding a startup today. Either they are never really ready to start, study an opportunity until it has passed, or fail with tools and techniques from a bygone business era.

Entrepreneur 102

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Very few people fund individuals. In most cases if you can’t get a prototype done you’re probably not an entrepreneur. If you can’t get product released and validated then do user studies. Surround yourself with great advisors or other entrepreneurs. Team: You need a team. That’s OK.

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InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2015

After studying at UC Santa Barbara''s entrepreneurial program , he returned to Spain, excited to start a venture and make a positive impact on his homeland. Fredi''s email is worth reading, as it reinforces how lucky American entrepreneurs truly are. A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Fredi''s Plea.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

According to a classic Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with a majority of new ventures that don't attract investors failing within the first three years. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Investors expect this step to be proven successful before funding.

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Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2022

Yet, many entrepreneurs are the happiest people I know. Tracy defines the five key ingredients of happiness that every potential and existing entrepreneur, including Mark Zuckerberg (and every non-entrepreneur), should evaluate relative to their own situation: Happy relationships. Are you a satisfied entrepreneur?

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs I know are just waiting for that unique idea to strike them that will kickstart their new venture, put them in control of their lifestyle, achieve financial independence, and maybe even change the world. Your legacy may be that of a serial entrepreneur, or an industry giant and world-wide leader.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2013

Most people agree that entrepreneurs have to think differently and take risks to have much chance of building a successful business. In his new book “ The Entrepreneur Mind ,” by serial entrepreneur Kevin D. Johnson, he outlines 100 essential beliefs, insights, and habits of serious entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Custom Customer 105

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2017

Yet, many entrepreneurs are the happiest people I know. Tracy defines the five key ingredients of happiness that every potential and existing entrepreneur, including Mark Zuckerberg (and every non-entrepreneur), should evaluate relative to their own situation: Happy relationships. Are you a satisfied entrepreneur?

Content 58

Content Entrepreneur Study Funding 58

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2015

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, or an existing business, and haven’t yet sized any of these opportunities, you may be already late to the game. Idling capacity is a notion that was first systematically studied and measured in the context of industrial processes. There is value in the “idling capacity” of all assets.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe their initial idea and inspiration requires the most important creative thinking. Experienced entrepreneurs will tell you that the initial idea is the easy part, and it’s the later implementation, and the competitive business marketing that are the real creative challenges.

Ideas 171

Ideas Patents Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. Entrepreneurs who have been really transformative, like Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, seemed to know how to deal with all the right elements. Seek innovation that begets invention. Failure is an option.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

On a regular basis, I am approached by entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like a recent BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this NY Times article. You need funding, and plan to get it from friends and family.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans take too much time, are inaccurate, and rarely add value. Most of these scenarios involve attracting outside investors, strategic partners, or key team members: You are the team and you don’t need outside funding.

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Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2012

Yet, many entrepreneurs are the happiest people I know. He defines the five key ingredients of happiness that every potential and existing entrepreneur, including Bill Gates (and every non-entrepreneur), should evaluate relative to their own situation: Happy relationships. Are you a satisfied entrepreneur?

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Satisfaction Entrepreneur Study Content 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2013

Entrepreneurs need to listen to constructive criticism, but ignore negative vibes and complainers at all costs. If you are a complainer, and you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur, think again. The world of an entrepreneur is tough, unpredictable, and fraught with risk. entrepreneur startup self-aware positive business'

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

As of today, I will have published an article here for entrepreneurs and startups every day for the last 1001 days, since I started Startup Professionals Musings near the close of 2008. Here are ten key messages that I would like to leave you with: I continue to gain respect for entrepreneurs. I’m sure you know what I mean.

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Xconomy

APRIL 11, 2017

All three were former Laguna Pharmaceuticals executives who spent the past 16 months scouting for Frazier as entrepreneurs-in-residence. As part of the financing, Kalamazoo-based Octeta Therapeutics has been rechristened Cirius Therapeutics, and three San Diego-based biotech executives are stepping into key executive roles.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. I once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich.

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Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2016

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in anticipating change today. Either they are never really ready to commit, study an opportunity until it has passed, or fail with tools and techniques from a bygone business era.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund As I outlined last week, trophy angel investors are always looking for trophy entrepreneurs. In many areas, not enough entrepreneurs meet the criteria, so it’s still a buyer’s market. It consists of eight major criteria, which we call the “Eight P’s for Successful Funding”.

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