Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2015

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Companies can use this strategy to improve their profitability and competitive advantage. Doing good opens the door to a broader customer base.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Pricing 117

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

Our 3rd fund began investing in March 2009 (raised in 2008) and our 4th fund started in April 2012 so this fund will naturally begin investing around March / April 2015. Our investment strategy has always been to do predominantly Series Seed & A round deals, which makes up > 85% of our first investments.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2015

If you sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably already know how to build a business, and even conservative investors won’t worry about the quality of your next business plan. Most investors tend to think of startups without a plan as expensive hobbies. Marty Zwilling ** First published on Entrepreneur.com on 1/16/2015.

Startup 109

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 10, 2015

Every entrepreneur I know can’t find enough hours in a day to do the good things they want, and yet they often find themselves saying yes to new requests. In addition to saying yes too often, some entrepreneurs under pressure say no poorly, by attacking the requestor or by avoiding any definitive response.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Tips Conference 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kaufmann Foundation , the numbers are finally here to show it. The number of startups rose in 2015 for the first time in five years, with the largest year-over-year increase in two decades. Measuring progress with big data and analytics.

Startup 61

Startup Social Media News Tool 61

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

It’s a new age for aspiring entrepreneurs, where anyone with a dream or a hobby should be turning it into a business. The bad news is that many are already doing it, with competition growing, so the longer you wait, the less chance you have of getting there first. Create a business plan online, but don’t wait for funding.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

A popular myth these days is that successful entrepreneurs must attract investors to get their businesses going, when the reality has been that more than 80 percent of new businesses are started and grown with no outside investment at all. Organic growth at this stage may be non-competitive. The need to hire staff immediately.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity Summary 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2015

Creating a successful startup is all about marketing these days, no matter how compelling your solution. What most entrepreneurs fail to appreciate is that even the most basic marketing takes time, money and creativity, and even the best still may not succeed in winning over competitive approaches or the status quo.

Startup 97

Startup Marketing Entrepreneur Social Network 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2016

Entrepreneurs and startups are big believers in innovation, but sometimes they forget that innovation must be continual to assure long-term success, rather than the one big-bang idea that initiated their journey. Catching up later is not a viable strategy for survival. Hire slowly and fire fast. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 58

Startup Organization Demand Customer 58

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2011

Other writers, like Guy Kawasaki, have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent over-enthusiasm or over-confidence that can kill your deal. Gartner says our market will be $50 billion in 2015.” Entrepreneurs who utter this line are kidding themselves.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Funding Innocal Competition 108

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2015

If your startup culture doesn’t include a sense of urgency, your probabilities of long-term success are miniscule. It does mean a proactive and ever-vigilant plan to keep moving forward with the market and stay ahead of competition, even if you must make your own products obsolete. Customers and opportunities don’t wait.

Startup 103

Startup Social Media Customer Custom 103

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2015

Most entrepreneurs I know want to do the right thing for their businesses, as well as themselves, but they are not always sure what that means. This starts with hiring the right people, and giving them the training and support they need on a regular basis. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 9/30/2015.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Training Demand Customer 102

StartUp Beat

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

What do entrepreneurs do when they finally establish their startup? Do they hibernate in their offices, trying to come up with creative solutions? Or do they read up on other success stories for inspiration? Pirate summit also adds a financial incentive of $50,000 to spice up the competition.

Conference 40

Conference Startup Artificial Inteligence Competition 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Every entrepreneur needs a value proposition statement for his or her startup that can hook potential investors and partners in less than a minute -- the short time you might join them in an elevator on the way to their offices. Build up for the punch line at the end. Always start with a hook to get the investor’s attention.

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

We caught up with Fuel50 founder and CEO Anne Fulton to learn more about the startup. Anne Fulton: Fuel50 is a career pathing startup, part of the HR technology landscape. How did you start the company? Anne Fulton: I've always been an organizational psychologist crossed with a serial entrepreneur. What is Fuel50?

Help 100

Help Southern California Startup Technical Review 100

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 25, 2016

It is no secret that the number of private companies with valuations in excess of one billion dollars has skyrocketed since the start of 2014. The duct tape securing the faux unicorns’ horns won’t hold up to the market’s scrutiny forever. Ultimately, a startup’s value is based on what the market will pay.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

" Investors want to buy into an entrepreneur with a startup that can provide evidence of an ability to double customer productivity, at half the cost, with patented technology. Include your sustainable competitive advantage. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 6/17/2015.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2011

These days, I’m hearing more and more about Location-Based Services (LBS) as the next big opportunity for startups. But entrepreneurs need to look more broadly than this to tracking, navigation solutions, safety, security, local business search, and payments. See who checks into your competition. Understand the competition.

Services 91

Services Startup Competition Entertainment 91

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. Investors are business experts, while the entrepreneur is more likely the product expert. Investors are business experts, while the entrepreneur is more likely the product expert.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor over funding until we get huge payouts and ring the bell for more funding until we attract every non-VC on the planet to invest in startups until it crashes and we start the cycle all over again none the wiser. the more money you give a startup the faster they grow.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2018

San Diego-based uCast Global (www.ucastglobal.com), backed by Gary Winnick, is looking to tackle that entire area of content distribution, and is led by startup veteran Dr. Kanaan Jemili. We caught up with Kanaan to learn more about uCast Global. Weve also developed technology that allows them to get a really easy start.

Content 113

Content Startup Mobile Platform 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2015

After working with dozens of entrepreneurs, I’m still amazed that some seem to be able to do the job easily and effectively, always in control, while others always seem to be struggling, out-of-control, and fighting the latest crisis. In that context, entrepreneurs should carefully review the points made by Denny F.

Startup 61

Startup Entrepreneur Training News 61

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 12, 2017

Hunt Transport which makes the ecosystem ripe for startups to thrive. In this interview with #StartupsEverywhere , I talk withMichael Iseman, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Startup Junkie, about the mentorship pool, knowledge transfer, the latest happening in the ecosystem and the energy of this community within the region.

Entrepreneur 70

Entrepreneur Startup News High Tech 70

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

Entrepreneurs need to look more broadly into the business-to-business (B2B) space for more lucrative opportunities. If your B2B contacts are frequenting other non-competitive local businesses, LBS data could point you to more lucrative business partnerships. See who checks into your competition. Track the competition.

Competition 84

Competition Entertainment Advertising Social Media 84

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2015

Building a successful startup is not a job for the Lone Ranger. Every entrepreneur must effectively collaborate with many people, including internal team members, partners, customers, and investors. While effective collaboration is easier said than done, it’s the backbone for any startup that wants to get their product off the ground.

Startup 58

Startup Entrepreneur Product Guide 58

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2016

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to decrease, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. That’s down from 69 in the first five months of 2015, and 115 over the same five-month period in 2014, according to Barrons. Analysts want escalating profits.

Company 55

Company Companies Acquisition Entrepreneur 55

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

They suffered in trying to live up to public perceptions and the demands to continue their successes. Entrepreneurs could learn about loneliness of success: nobody talks about. Mark Suster (@msuster) July 19, 2015. The road is littered with startups that shined bright before burning out. But needed to be seen.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2016

Career growth in today’s fast moving environment requires all the skills that we normally ascribe only to entrepreneurs -- ability to adapt, change, be innovative, resilient and stay in constant learning mode. For entrepreneurs, change is the door to opportunity, so be proactive and make it happen.

Satisfaction 56

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Competition Organization 56

socalTECH

JUNE 4, 2014

We sat down with Lina Chen and Naomi Ladizinsky , co-founders of Nix Hydra, to learn more about their hit game, Egg Baby, the perils of trying to get funding as female entrepreneurs, and what they''re working on next. How did the company start? There are not many women-led gaming startups, was it difficult to start and get this funded?

Software Review 113

Software Review Startup Mobile HTML 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2015

As an angel investor, I hear many entrepreneurs making negative comments about competitors or asserting they don’t have any competitors. They don’t realize that knocking competitors is assessed as a weakness and denying that you have any competition suggests there is no market for your solution. It’s always smart to take the high road.

Capital 63

Capital Competition Case Study Patents 63

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2015

One of the most popular and least successful models I see in new business plans for startups is the so-called Facebook model, providing free services to users while collecting revenue from ads to offset costs and grow the business. This model, called pay per click (PPC), is the one most commonly offered to entrepreneurs.

Advertising 99

Advertising PPC CPC Sites 99

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

Having time to think about “leadership” at most startups feels like a luxury. The reality of most startups is about survival. If people don’t know the mission there is no way to achieve the objective and you end up with a team pulling in 100 different directions – even if only by small amounts.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2012

But entrepreneurs need to look more broadly into the B2B space for more lucrative opportunities. If your B2B contacts are frequenting other non-competitive local businesses, LBS data could point you to more lucrative business partnerships. See who checks into your competition. Understand the competition. Lead generation.

Services 82

Services Competition Mobile Entertainment 82

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

Twilio has now raised around $235 million, including a July 2015 round totaling $130 million. In the startup world, the former happens when a VC makes a bad investment, and the latter occurs when they miss a great opportunity. Yet most VC's bury their failures under six feet of denial. Unicornless. Tech Diligence - Consider The Source.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization. Most are sitting on large portfolios of private companies that are raising money now or will need to do so in the future and they know that they’re up against some headwinds.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 3, 2015

Scott Belsky (@scottbelsky) April 29, 2015. It spoke to me because it so resonates with my nearly daily advice to entrepreneurs and VCs alike. I went as far as to call it the best Tweet of 2015 so far because it encapsulated my advice so succinctly. The same is true at startups. You’re a startup, not GE.

Startup 150

Startup Venture Capital Invest Framework 150