Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Negotiate an advance from a strategic partner or customer. An example would be negotiating free office space by agreeing to support the computer systems for all the other office tenants.

Funding 174

Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

To refresh your memory, angel investors are typically high net worth individuals, accredited by the SEC and willing to invest their own money in a high-potential startup for a share of the ownership. If your target customer is a business, rather than a consumer, I recommend you skip crowdfunding as poorly applicable.

Funding 119

Funding Startup Platform Examples 119

InfoChachkie

MARCH 5, 2012

The money that went into them was usually very inefficiently deployed because it was deployed against infrastructure, it was deployed against a longer arc of build-up and you were into a company a while before you knew whether something was going to work or not. We are actually giving the companies money, rather than taking money from them.

Startup 270

Startup Incubator Doc Mentor 270

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Whether your company is a startup or a mature business, the last thing you need in the office is a toxic work culture. That can’t possibly be healthy for employee morale, productivity, or customer focus. Yet, according to a recent study , more than half of tech employees see their current office culture as toxic.

Technical Review 91

Technical Review Organization Activity .Net 91

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

In my perspective as an advisor and mentor to many entrepreneurs, there are a set of basic strategies that can be applied to every startup to dramatically improve the odds of success, no matter what the business domain. Maybe more important, you need domain knowledge, relationships and lots of potential customers.

Startup 101

Startup Metrics Resource Mentor 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Customer 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2017

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Startup 64

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 64

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2012

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Startup 118

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 118

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

And she didn’t start her company in Northern California. Tracy built her company, Recycled Media , out of necessity. She drove her company to profitability before paying herself a modest salary. She put all of her savings into her company. In one year of Airbnb Tracy netted more than $28,000.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Startup 114

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 114

Jason Nazar

MAY 1, 2016

Customer Acquisition Cost / Cost Per Acquisition . The customer acquisition cost or cost per acquisition is the basic marketing cost to acquire a customer. See what other startup mentors have to say about marketing tactics. d) What percent of your carts/free trials convert into paid customers? Net Promoter Score.

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40

Jason Nazar

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

Customer Acquisition Cost / Cost Per Acquisition . The customer acquisition cost or cost per acquisition is the basic marketing cost to acquire a customer. See what other startup mentors have to say about marketing tactics. d) What percent of your carts/free trials convert into paid customers? Net Promoter Score.

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Negotiate an advance from a strategic partner or customer. An example would be negotiating free office space by agreeing to support the computer systems for all the other office tenants.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Funding 96

Tech Coast Venture Network

APRIL 22, 2010

With rare exception, you will need to finance personally (or with friends and family to the point of revenue and/or significant customer pre-order or commitment). In order to qualify, you have to have high net worth, a strong credit score and significant skin in the game. Remember, help is only a mentor away. Friends and Family.

Startup 124

Startup Tech Coast Angels TCVN Incubator 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Negotiate an advance from a strategic partner or customer. An example would be negotiating free office space by agreeing to support the computer systems for all the other office tenants.

Funding 107

Funding Startup Equity Examples 107

Tech.Co

JULY 24, 2017

Below we’ll outline how to squeeze those last drops of talent out of your own social circles, how to incentivize current employees to lure in potential candidates in their networks, and how to entice “superconnectors” to recruit through their own far-reaching nets. I suggest to customize your pitch for them. Tap Into Your Network.

Networking 82

Networking Startup Software Review Conference 82

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2015

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. In a two-minute video clip, you can introduce yourself, show your passion and the engaging personality you need to win over customers, partners, and employees.

Startup 104

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Slides 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Negotiate an advance from a strategic partner or customer. An example would be negotiating free office space by agreeing to support the computer systems for all the other office tenants.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2018

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. In a two-minute video clip, you can introduce yourself, show your passion and the engaging personality you need to win over customers, partners, and employees.

Startup 65

Startup Entrepreneur Slides Content 65

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2014

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. In a two-minute video clip, you can introduce yourself, show your passion and the engaging personality you need to win over customers, partners, and employees.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Slides 108

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 6, 2012

Developers were allowed to code in any language they were most comfortable with including Objective C, Java, Javascript, HTML, C #, Dot Net, and XNA. There were people walking around the room with orange ties called Senseis that were there specifically to mentor and support developers with programming issues.

Hollywood 82

Hollywood Mobile HTML JavaScript 82

Tech Coast Venture Network

MARCH 9, 2011

“While most angel groups don’t post a list of members, they do publicize the companies they’ve funded on their websites,” says Richard Sudek, a member of Tech Coast Angels , a group in southern California whose members invested about $6.2 “Most have a strong desire to mentor and help build companies.”

Tips 100

Tips Capital Tech Coast Angels Screening 100

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

Working with professional athletes combined with my natural leadership ability and experience in business development makes me uniquely suited to lead a technology company in the health and fitness industry. We have 115 paying customers right now. What they’re doing is less important than what our customers tell us they need.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2013

Most surprisingly, according to a report from the Kauffman Foundation , the highest rate of entrepreneurship in America shifted about three years ago to the 55–64 age group, with people over 55 almost twice as likely to found successful companies than those between 20 and 34. Customer service. Angel investor. Interim executive.

Startup 98

Startup Mentor Demand High Tech 98

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

Most surprisingly, according to a report from the Kauffman Foundation , the highest rate of entrepreneurship in America has already shifted to the 55–64 age group, with people over 55 almost twice as likely to found successful companies than those between 20 and 34. Customer Service. Angel Investor. Retail sales to Gen-X and Gen-Y.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Mentor Demand High Tech 107

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Mike uses his own experience as a recovering workaholic building two multimillion-dollar companies to net out seven steps in his transformation. Only then can you start to adjust your time and your company to let it run without your constant involvement. Identify a single key function to your company’s success.

Resource 60

Resource Examples Design Entrepreneur 60

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2010

In case you think that all of these are employed by big companies, listen to these statistics: According to an article in U.S. How can you beat finding someone who has been there and done that, able to mentor Gen-Y, has lots of connections to people in your industry, and is often willing to work for equity alone? Customer Service.

Mentor 75

Mentor Statistics High Tech Demand 75