Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. I certainly agree that starting a business is fraught with risk, and none of us get it all right the first time. Willing to start today and find resources later.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

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.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Course 145

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kauffman Foundation , the numbers are here to show it. The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2021, from 280 to 360 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

How many entrepreneurs do you know that “almost” made it big? Startups are very risky, and most fail. Surveys show that entrepreneurs are among the happiest people in the world, despite the challenges. Yet it would pay real dividends to know at the start what separates the “also-rans” from the winners.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Customer Custom 95

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2021

New entrepreneurs routinely jump into a startup with a full charge of passion and energy, but often find themselves drained of both after a few months by the workload and challenges. As a result, burnout and loss of passion are consistently listed among the top causes of startup failure, according to many experts. Don’t wait.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Startup Press Study 174

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2020

If you want to make a great first impression on a startup investor or an advisor like me, don’t try to convince me or show me how busy you are. For some reason, too many aspiring entrepreneurs I know seem to focus on “actions” rather than “results.” As an entrepreneur starting a new business, you have a lot to learn.

Product 123

Product Startup Tips Entrepreneur 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2023

If you can’t deal with failure, then the entrepreneur lifestyle is not for you. Don’t believe that urban myth that all you need is a good idea, a little fun work, and the money will start rolling in. A credible failure makes an entrepreneur more investable. Keep the cost of failure survivable.

Entrepreneur 144

Entrepreneur Startup Activity Ideas 144

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 we build it, they will come” is not a viable startup strategy. You enjoy building relationships as well as products.

Entrepreneur 121

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Sample 121

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. Almost anyone can start a company today on a shoestring budget, following these cost-cutting recommendations: Establish a solid legal structure for your business.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2023

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. There is real value in doing the key things yourself, before your startup is even started: Demonstrate thought leadership before selling a product. Craft and hone your elevator pitch early.

Ideas 126

Ideas Startup Social Media Blogging 126

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. In fact, some totally avoid it, assuming their product or solution will speak for itself later.

Product 127

Product Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Technical Review 127

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2021

Innovation is the key to long-term business success, both in startups as well as established organizations. Yet every business and every entrepreneur I know struggles with this challenge, focused on hiring the right people and implementing the right process. Amazon uses this technique internally for all new product design efforts.

Entrepreneur 158

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Design 158

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

More recently, the desire for extra income has become the key driver in new startups, according to the popular press. 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.

Entrepreneur 148

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Course 148

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2022

Successful startups seem to follow similar paths to greatness, and unfortunately all too often that path leads them back down the hill much faster than they went up. Thus it behooves every entrepreneur to start watching these things more carefully from the very start. Product-line expansion.

Startup 142

Startup Web 2.0 IBM IBM 142

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2023

Technology is so key to every business these days that experienced business-smart but non-tech entrepreneurs are feeling deeper and deeper in the hole. Startups succeed most often when the founding partners know how to build and run a business, rather than how to build and run technology.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Technology High Tech Startup 104

Berkonomics

MARCH 24, 2016

Dave’s note: This week we welcome guest author, David Friedman, to tell us about his favorite startup CEO, and his take after interviewing her – asking for her list of attributes for startup success. . I met Kirsten Mangers several years ago after she successfully sold her startup, Webvisible. By David Friedman.

Startup 120

Startup Ideas Incubator Mentor 120

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. All the skills and instincts you needed to get to this level can actually start working against you, and you can fail to scale.

Entrepreneur 169

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Mentor 169

SoCal Tech Calendar

JULY 30, 2020

Monday, August 3, 2020 -- Fixing the Top Fundraising Mistakes Startup Entrepreneurs Make. Join JJ Richa in a fireside chat with Scott Fox, CEO of the OC Startup Council, for a discussion of the top mistakes that early stage entrepreneurs make when pitching their startups for funding. See [link] (more)

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Slides Startup Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always surprised by the fact that some never seem to be able to that first startup going, while many others never seem to stop, starting their second or third initiative before the first one is fully hatched. You can’t win a race that you never start.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. These are the only people likely to believe in newbies, with only minimal product evidence or business experience.

Startup 109

Startup Funding Equity Invest 109

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

A common pain of startups after an exhilarating first surge of early adopters is a long and frustrating plateau of slow growth, where it seems like nothing you do will get your business to profitability. This starts with multiple messages from the top that growth is now the highest job priority, and key to survival.

Startup 134

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Metrics 134

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2021

The message I hear publicly from most entrepreneurs is that you have to think outside the box and take big risks to ever beat the odds and be among the less than ten percent that experience real success. Serious entrepreneurs will privately admit the business is first, and the family second. All risks are not the same.

Entrepreneur 171

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Demand Customer 171

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

As a business advisor, I meet many business professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs who are anxious to be their own boss , or have an innovative idea to start or acquire a new business. Also, initiating a startup is quite different from taking over a thriving business, where the focus is on repeatable processes and quarterly profits.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. There is no crowd of successful entrepreneurs. Successful startups are all about the right people with the right stuff.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Tips Funding Startup 156

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Raising capital for a female-led startup can be very diffiult--which is what Justine Lassoff and Melinda Moore found out when they started their own company, LovingEco, in Los Angeles. We actually started the organization in 2013. What is the most difficult challenge that women entrepreneurs face? What is TuesdayNights?

Help 224

Help Entrepreneur Capital Startup 224

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2020

Thus smart business professionals are rapidly becoming the new entrepreneurs. As a mentor to startups, I see more startups that are really an individual professional, marketing themselves as a consultant or freelancer in this new gig economy. For existing trained professionals, it’s an opportunity to become an entrepreneur.

Startup 164

Startup Social Media Course Entrepreneur 164

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.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Ideas 129

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more. You need both to survive.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Solicit venture capital investors.

Startup 106

Startup Capital Equity Funding 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

Many passionate entrepreneurs fight to add more features into their new products and services, assuming that more function will make the solution more appealing to more customers. In reality, more features will more likely make the product confusing and less usable to all. Broad product offerings require too much infrastructure.

Startup 114

Startup IBM IBM Social Media 114

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2022

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Marketing News Slides 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2022

You have to be extra tough mentally to start a new business venture. He spent many years with the SEALs, but has since started and built six multimillion-dollar business ventures. To be an entrepreneur or a Navy SEAL, you must first have vision, focus, and the courage to step up to lead. Set your targets high.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Training 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2023

Whether you are an entrepreneur managing a startup, or a corporate executive with thousands of employees, it’s hard to ignore the evidence of big value from happy employees. The challenge is to find the best way to keep everyone on your team happy and productive. Focus on achievements leads to better job appreciation.

Product 110

Product News Activity Startup 110

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2022

The way to start is with a sample financial model, available from many sources on the Internet, such as over 200 downloadable free from the Corporate Finance Institute website. For maximum value with the least effort, focus on only the “what ifs” that are the highest priority in your mind for your own startup. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sample Customer 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2023

Entrepreneurs seem more quickly frustrated these days when their “million-dollar idea” doesn’t turn into a sustainable business overnight. So why do entrepreneurs think that building a business is intuitively obvious, and should happen overnight? Even the revered Steve Jobs of Apple didn’t get it all right the first time.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Product Services Ideas 102