Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2023

Listen to your team, mentors, and customers to recognize real successes and failures, and surround yourself with people who can fill in the gaps. You can't control government spending, for example, or global politics. Allocate your time and resources to customer expectations and competitor challenges.

Mentor 104

Mentor Startup Coach Satisfaction 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Thomas Edison is a classic example. You will learn to recognize that some friends and colleagues are always downers, and get their satisfaction from snuffing out your aspirations through negative thinking. A first step is empowering yourself to achieve success and feel satisfaction from doing your job.

Startup 122

Startup Satisfaction Summary Coach 122

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

Yet I find, as a mentor and outside consultant, that many of you focus only on working conditions and compensation as the key factors determining team engagement , health, and productivity. Occupational satisfaction. You need team members who understand and share these values, if you want commitment and accountability from them.

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Mentor Social Media Customer 141

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2022

One of the dysfunctions I often see in my coaching and mentoring work with small businesses is team member burnout. Burnout occurs for many when your job demands are too many, the hours are too long, and the resources to handle them are too few. Organization acts without fairness and respect.

Coach 120

Coach Organization Demand Resource 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2022

The result is fewer and fewer new ideas are volunteered by prospective leaders and key team members, and the business suffers from poor customer satisfaction or loss of market share. Your challenge is to show examples of forward-thinking companies that are ahead by doing things differently.

Ideas 116

Ideas Netflix Resource Customer 116

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. For example, I believe Bill Gates would have failed without his partners Steve Ballmer and Paul Allen.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2021

For example, most people thought Twitter was a total snoozer, when Jack Dorsey was looking for funding, especially with MySpace already owning that territory. That takes focus, resolve, resources, and problem solving to make it happen. You can learn to be an entrepreneur by working in a startup, talking to peers, and mentoring.

Entrepreneur 171

Entrepreneur Ideas Examples Satisfaction 171

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Many entrepreneurs I have mentored make big mistakes in this area, by hiring low-cost friends and family, with minimal skills or training, and expecting them to have the same work ethic , passion, and business knowledge as the founder. In addition, you can reduce to soft costs of mentoring, relationship building, and socializing.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2019

Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. After some review of available resources, I’m convinced that problem solving is a learnable trait, rather than just a birthright. A good alternative is to enlist the help of a business mentor you can trust.

Mentor 85

Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review Summary 85

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

Increase you focus on coaching, training, and mentoring. Every one of you entrepreneurs should recognize the stage in your business where your greatest satisfaction can come, not from more growth, but from the opportunity to share what you have learned with those who follow, and may carry your legacy forward.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2015

Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. After some review of available resources, I’m convinced that problem solving is a learnable trait, rather than just a birthright. A good alternative is to enlist the help of a business mentor you can trust.

Mentor 105

Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review Satisfaction 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

For example, I knew Bill Gates back in the early startup days of Microsoft. I see this happening all the time, and in reality it may be a necessary stage, while funding and other resources are in short supply. Lead and mentor team members to run all business areas. Build a lean team to complement your strengths.

Company 99

Company Companies Technical Review Startup 99

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 28, 2014

Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. After some review of available resources, I’m convinced that problem solving is a learnable trait, rather than just a birthright. A good alternative is to enlist the help of a business mentor you can trust.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Mentor Technical Review Satisfaction 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2019

For example, as a software executive, I once had a talented engineer working for me who was always helping others, to the extent that he consistently missed his own project deadlines, and was ruining his health through lack of sleep. Offer one-minute mentoring up front, and stick to it. It’s time to stop jeopardizing your own future.

Help 94

Help Software Review Startup Examples 94

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2016

For example, in the entrepreneur world there are people like Elon Musk , who has demonstrated not only innovative ideas, but also impressive results in SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and Hyperloop. We all know examples on a smaller scale in every organization. We all know examples on a smaller scale in every organization.

Resource 62

Resource Entrepreneur Examples Satisfaction 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2018

For example, according to recent research from Bain & Company , Apple, Netflix, Google, and Dell employees are 40 percent more productive than the average, even though they are no smarter or more experienced. No one can be a top performer without the resources necessary to get the job done.

Technical Review 51

Technical Review Startup Training Netflix 51

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2015

As an advisor and mentor to startups, I try to make sure entrepreneurs understand both the pros and cons of an IPO as an exit strategy. Facebook, for example, ended up raising almost $16 billion through its IPO. Many of these may still fail spectacularly, such as Webvan and Pets.com. Public expectation of growth every quarter.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Report Statistics 98

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2015

For example, hydrogen-fueled engines were invented over a century ago, with a continuing promise of breathing air and exhaling pure water vapor and having over 200 companies active in the hydrogen sector today. It’s a clear example of how one plus one can equal three. Keep up on business issues as diligently as on technology issues.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Product Activity Technology 54

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2017

In reality, business success and satisfaction is about doing the right things at the right time, which requires leadership and coaching. For example, he says that he has never yet worked with someone who succeeded because they had a well-honed set of strong weaknesses. But coaching doesn’t always work the way you expect.

Coach 57

Coach Training Summary Tool 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Unfortunately, with limited resources, this isn’t possible, and it frustrates customers and the team. For example, Mark McClain, cofounder and CEO of SailPoint Technologies , created an employee growth culture resulting in growth of forty percent a year, with more than $100 million in revenues. Utilize outside expertise and mentoring.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

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.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur Software Review 149

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. The best way to start is to enable employee decision making on customer satisfaction issues.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

For example, Elon Musk, while being a highly respected and successful entrepreneur for years, still readily admits to regular 100-hour work weeks, no social life, and sleeping under his desk all too often in the Tesla factory. For example, I once worked for a company whose core competency was computer hardware. Some are just stuck.

Resource 60

Resource Examples Design Entrepreneur 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2010

For a startup or small business executive serving as mentor, the proverbial “win-win” is created as they benefit from an injection of essential bandwidth, youthful energy, and technical expertise. Satisfaction vs. Stress. Startups are typically project oriented, and the intern is expected (and expects!) to pull their weight.

Competition 96

Competition Startup Technical Review IBM 96