Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cashflow personally every day. Martin Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 9/26/2014.

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Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2014

Thus entrepreneurs began building prototypes and designing new products without the traditional huge investment. The movement has spread across the country and across the globe, spawning innovative products such as the MakerBot Digitizer and all the things you can download from Thingiverse.com. Have you tried it yet?

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2014

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market-research data. These are also important for your product positioning in the competitor section of your business plan.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Statistics Research 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2014

Technology is so key to every business these days that experienced business-smart but non-tech entrepreneurs are falling deeper and deeper in the hole. Only one component of running a business is managing technology, but it is a critical component, so no entrepreneur can afford to ignore it or totally delegate it. Are you there?

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High Tech Entrepreneur Startup Social Media 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2022

I have added my own insights, based on my experience advising and working with entrepreneurs and startups: Pay for results, rather than pay for work. Reward shorter hours of high productivity. Peer pressure keeps productivity standards high. Encourage people to work where and when they are most productive. In the U.S.,

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Case Study Platform Yahoo Social Media 125

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

The company is initially launching its product in California. He later was President and CEO of San Diego's Zurple, which was sold to Constellation Software in 2014, and was most recently serving as Entrepreneur In Residence in Seattle-based venture accelerator Pioneer Square Labs. READ MORE>>.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

“I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs. ” So it’s now March 2014 – 5 years since I started investing. At a minimum, I’m glad to have the “exit question” off my back in 2014. This is what I wrote on that Quora answer from Sept 2010. None have exited.

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Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2022

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and a technologist, I’m happy to report that the tide may be turning, and we are experiencing a new era of opportunity for entrepreneurs, and a new appreciation of the power of the digital world. Apple gets great marks for consumer productivity, Walmart for brand data, and Fidelity for finance data.

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Social Media Tool Google Yahoo 107

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2018

We sat down with Kelly ahead of the announcement to chat about the new fund, why they think military veterans are particularly well suited as startup entrepreneurs, why the two went from organizing individual deals for funding to a formal fund, and more. We deployed a little over $10 million from the syndicate since 2014.

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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?” If you have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I encourage you to think seriously about each of these, before you zero-in on one or two, and get totally discouraged if those don’t work for you.

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

Venice-based Snapchat 's newest product--Snap-recording sunglasses--is the result of the work of another, Los Angeles startup--Vergence Labs--which was quietly acquired by Snapchat back in 2014. Business Insider tells the story of Vergence Labs , founded by Erick Miller and Jonathan Rodriguez, and their roots at UCLA and Stanford.

Snapchat 100

Snapchat UCLA Venice Startup 100

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 18, 2019

The serial entrepreneur had been in discussions with Pearson for the better part of a year to acquire the company’s VR and AR assets. Based in Los Angeles, GIGXR now owns flagship products including HoloPatient and HoloHuman, mixed reality training programs for medical schools that operate on the new Hololens 2 headset.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2014

According to the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index® for the First Quarter 2014, the Q1 increase marks seven consecutive quarters of positive sentiment among Silicon Valley venture capitalists. Other common previous roles were executives in Sales, Marketing, and Product Management, all suggesting that VCs back experience.

Funding 108

Funding Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Startup productivity is embodied in key ratios, including low cost of customer acquisition, high retention and high revenue per employee. Martin Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 8/1/2014. entrepreneur revenue startup user count' High customer loyalty and high team passion.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

I have added my own insights, based on my experience advising and working with entrepreneurs and startups: Pay for results, rather than pay for work. Reward shorter hours of high productivity. Peer pressure keeps productivity standards high. Encourage people to work where and when they are most productive. In the U.S.,

Competition 127

Competition Case Study Platform Yahoo 127

Berkonomics

MARCH 2, 2017

As an early stage investor, the first test for me is whether “my” entrepreneur is flexible in both the plan and execution of his or her vision (since from experience almost everything about a business plan changes over time), and whether s/he, no matter what age or experience, is coachable. Doctoral theses have been written on this subject.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and a technologist, I’m happy to report that the tide may be turning, and we are experiencing a new era of opportunity for entrepreneurs, and a new appreciation of the power of the digital world. Apple gets great marks for consumer productivity, Walmart for brand data, and Fidelity for finance data.

Social Media 131

Social Media Startup Tool Google 131

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Maybe they might be using a platform like Shopify to sell their products and power their website, and they might use Facebook for advertising, and maybe they're using paid search with Google. The company got acquired by FD in 2014, and over the next two or three years, a lot of people just left the business.

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 3, 2022

After all, Glossier’s founder and CEO Emily Weiss is very, very far from the first entrepreneur to profit off of our desire to look good. Like with many consumer brands geared toward women, we buy in not just because of the marketing, but because of the product itself. And who cares?

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Startup Netflix Los Angeles Innocal 280

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

Helen Lee: Christina and I started the company back in 2014. We launched in December of 2014. We had our Joan of Arc moment in Decembre of 2014, and therefore called the company JOANY. met Alex Isold at Techstars, he took a look at our product, and had all kinds of feedback, which was awesome.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2016

We believe that it is incrementally harder to differentiate on simple Internet products or mobile apps and while great companies are built doing this, our goal as a fund is to try and fund things that can be 100x returns if they work. We’re not Pollyannaish about this. In short, we’re after venture returns.

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Company Companies CTO Coach Funding 207

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 10, 2017

The company, which started in 2014, now has over 40 employees. Our product was built specifically for the mid market, and we've been riding the wave of IT budgets, which are starting to open up, and companies are really quickly signing up because this is a big pain point, from their perspective. We have a product that people love.

Startup 124

Startup Cornerstone OnDemand Software Review Woodland Hills 124

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam , led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry , announced a $10 million round of financing. Here I make the case that entrepreneurs must stay focused on the prize, not the doubters. Entrepreneurs. ” **. It can be one of the strongest motivators.

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Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

Want to be an entrepreneur? In addition, Entrepreneur Magazine recently included UCSB in its Top 50 Schools For VC Backed Entrepreneurs at number 37. This allowed the curriculum to efficiently find its product / market fit. A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Don''t go to Wharton or Harvard.

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Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

A large bank started using us, with 18,000 employees in Australia, and the next thing we new we were delivering the product to the the U.S. That was in 2014, and that was our pivot moment. Anne Fulton: I've always been an organizational psychologist crossed with a serial entrepreneur. It all happened in 2014, really fast.

Help 100

Help Southern California Startup Technical Review 100

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 4, 2013

Redg Snodgrass co-founder Stained Glass Labs said the firm wants to focus on the world of Wearable Technology plus innovative consumer products beyond GLASS. The space will be that platform for entrepreneurs in the wearable industry to engage, learn and connect with the global Wearable Technology ecosystem.

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Incubator Conference Platform Entertainment 82

socalTECH

JUNE 3, 2019

For this morning's interview, with caught up with serial entrepreneur James Citron , the founder of Pledgeling (www.pledgeling.com), a startup which enables any business to help connect their business with social causes. As a serial entrepreneur, oftentimes I wasn't around. What is Pledgeling? A few things happened to me personally.

Technical Review 113

Technical Review Software Review Mogreet Platform 113

socalTECH

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Nelson Paez : For the past four years, Dreamhammer has been developing a software product called BALLISTA, which is what we refer to as a drone operating system. We knew there would be a need in the commercial market, and prepared for it by building a viable, commercial-off-the-shelf product. Where are you now with your product?

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Startup Software Southern California Santa Monica 183

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements about them to their own team, investors and even to customers. As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition.

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Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 107

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2019

We were building about 300 to 400 products a year for other people, including tons of apps, for tons of startups, and were managing tens of millions of marketing spend for those clients every month. When we first launched in 2014, we found the average person might watch 1.2 We were still building the product and marketing it.

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Startup Content Demand Netflix 124

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I’m very excited to be finally be able to announce that this week we’ve added Sam Rosen to our ranks at GRP Partners in the role of entrepreneurs-in-residence – EIR. We’re excited to continue to grow our investment professional staff and will continue to do so over the course of 2013 & 2014 with our new fund.

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Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Created in 2014 and acquired by Dentsu in 2019, MuteSix was recommended to TechCrunch by Rhoda Ullmann, VP Consumer at Sense, a Boston-based startup building a home energy monitor. DTC entrepreneurs are more focused on immediate impact, because if they’re not selling product, there’s no large brand propping them up.

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Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

and I thought if we brought the community together for common purpose we could create more of a sense of community to help new entrepreneurs get funded, assemble teams, raise profiles and help with biz dev, product, etc. But by 2014 much had started to change. By 2011 the market had started to change dramatically. See point one!

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Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Great networking skills, which are critical when you want to be about to reference entrepreneurs & concepts and bounce your ideas off of other people in the industry. He was also an undergraduate of the one place that I think is cranking out some of the best young entrepreneurs and investors these days – Wharton.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

Of course these are great places to network with other investors, meet great entrepreneurs and keep your connections strong with senior execs at larger companies like Yahoo!, Products that ship late and place entire companies under serious stress. And 2: I’m dubious of entrepreneurs who key buyer value is highest price.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2015

According to Urban Dictionary , hype is “a clever marketing strategy where a product is advertised as the thing everyone must have, to the point where people begin to feel they need to consume it.” Early hype actually should precede the final product, and consists of proof-of-concept stories, media events and industry exposure.

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