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. Of course, investors still require a profitable business model, and the potential for high returns.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Pricing 117

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

But the reality is that “global warming” massively blunted the effects of winter and my prognosis for VC fundings of entrepreneurs in 2017–2018 is now very sunny indeed. Unless of course something Trump’s our good weather. We will also be publishing the full VC Survey and LP Survey over the course of the next couple of weeks.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Aspiring entrepreneurs often ask me what to do first when starting a business. Instead, entrepreneurs need to focus first on execution disciplines and timing. Your credibility as an entrepreneur is at stake. Entrepreneurs who have no patents, trade secrets or trademarks are usually deemed non-fundable and non-competitive.

Entrepreneur 59

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Ideas 59

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Of course sentiment can swing wildly with new information but I set out to take the pulse of the market as we enter 2016. Don’t be fooled by the slight dip in 2015 – the size of funds & timing of deals in market in any year can skew the data set. And of course all of these factors are related. So what happened?

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Course Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. Just like with entrepreneurs – you know that raising money is just the start. And daunting.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

Of course we fund companies in good markets and bad. To do so we need entrepreneurs who can build companies that scale well in booming markets and also control costs appropriate in correcting markets. We use this try to draw some context that informs our funding decisions.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Marketing Writing 150

socalTECH

JANUARY 5, 2015

We are looking forward to this year''s Silicon Beach Fest 2015 continuing these themes and being bigger, adding more international, biotech, and more. Watch for more in 2015. What technologies are you looking at in 2015? He was named in a recent Forbes article as one of "12 Entrepreneurs That Are Changing LA Forever."

Cornerstone OnDemand 100

Cornerstone OnDemand Belkin Entertainment Newsletter 100

Berkonomics

APRIL 8, 2021

From its start in 2015, the number of registered users has “suddenly” climbed from 45 million in 2017 to a reported 300 million by the end of 2020. It was as much in reaction to my getting blank stares from entrepreneurs when I asked the above question as it was for me to better understand the problem itself. Here is my list.

Sites 156

Sites Product Social Network Press 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2015

Despite the rush in every academic institution to offer more courses on entrepreneurship, I still haven’t found it to be something you can learn in school. Of course, you can pick up the basic principles this way, but the problem is that the practical rules for success are changing so fast that no academic can keep up.

Startup 103

Startup Case Study Entrepreneur Class 103

TechCrunch LA

JULY 21, 2020

But it was in 2015 when she took her family to see the Women’s World Cup in Vancouver that Nortman’s private passion for soccer began to turn into a more public search to bring more attention to the sport — and the women who play it. “I was like… ‘Hey!

Writing 171

Writing Los Angeles Equity Startup 171

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2015

Every entrepreneur I know is dismayed by the number of friends who approach them with a line such as “I have an even better idea that will change the world, and one of these days I’m going to get around to starting my own business.” Focus” is the key to success as an entrepreneur. Irrational fear of failure or embarrassment.

Startup 114

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Knowledge Base 114

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2015

If you find problem-solving to be energizing, you could be the next great entrepreneur. The first challenge for many aspiring entrepreneurs is to put aside their passionate advocacy long enough to acknowledge an existing problem. The best entrepreneurs understand that solving problems is what a business is all about.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics 100

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. In addition to an Undergraduate Certificate, the Program is launching a Master of Technology Management degree in 2015. Don''t go to Wharton or Harvard. Techpreneurs.

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2015

I have met several young people in business recently who believe that they are natural born entrepreneurs, and actually seem to feel that traditional training and experience may be a detriment to their success in this new world. Some people pick this up from experience, and others find classroom courses most helpful in setting the focus.

Paramount 98

Paramount Entrepreneur Training Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2015

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Startup 109

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2015

It seems that everyone I know who works in a corporate environment dreams of escaping to become an entrepreneur, and every entrepreneur wishes he or she had the security of a regular paycheck. As someone who has experience on both sides of this fence, I’m convinced that the move from employee to entrepreneur is far more risky.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Statistics Startup Class 104

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2015

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. Of course, there are thousands of other companies that don’t achieve their minimum goal, requiring all contributions to be returned. Donation good-cause model.

Venture Capital 108

Venture Capital Angel Satisfaction Equity 108

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 7, 2015

One weekend, teams of newly formed entrepreneurs and who knows what products or big ideas can happen? This is a unique opportunity for software engineers, designers, and business-minded entrepreneurs to team up and build several startups in just 54 hours! Participants arrive the evening of Friday, Nov. 13 – Nov.

Santa Clarita 40

Santa Clarita Startup Software Engineering Ideas 40

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2015

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 4/17/2015. What is said in a meeting must stay in the meeting.

Product 99

Product Mentor Startup Technical Review 99

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. The entrepreneur needs to show a strategy for such an event, and a projected value and return to the investor.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

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. Too many entrepreneurs still think plans are for investors, and investors are required to build a startup. Many entrepreneurs today build and maintain their own websites, with powerful tools such as Shopify.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

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. We have some announcements set for 2015. By 2011 the market had started to change dramatically. So we went for it.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2015

Of course, that has be a repeatable event, with enough revenue to sustain the business. So what should an entrepreneur do to convince themselves, as well as potential investors, that they have a viable business model before it is totally proven? Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 4/10/2015.

Startup 107

Startup Sales Customer Custom 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Of course, nothing is really free in the business world. Here is my summary of some major considerations that every entrepreneur needs to evaluate against the cost and effort to attract equity investors: Completing a grant application is real work. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 6/3/2015.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2015

Entrepreneurs often ask me why investors expect financial projections for a new startup even before the product is built and while the market is still being defined. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 8/28/2015. You shouldn’t invest in an undefined business.

Startup 107

Startup Equity Invest Acquisition 107

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Based on my experience advising entrepreneurs, I’m convinced that success is often more a mindset than a specific set of skills or intelligence. Of course, that mindset has to translate into a set of specific actions that other people recognize as going above and beyond the fixed mindset. Most experts call this a growth mindset.

Startup 55

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Customer 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2015

While you are doing all this work, of course, you need deep pockets to fund all your efforts, content and growing website hosting fees. This model, called pay per click (PPC), is the one most commonly offered to entrepreneurs. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 7/1/2015.

Advertising 99

Advertising PPC CPC Sites 99

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

Entrepreneurs could learn about loneliness of success: nobody talks about. Mark Suster (@msuster) July 19, 2015. Of course that’s true. The Yo-Yo Life of a Tech Entrepreneur. But needed to be seen. And the immediate reaction was obvious – that failure can be pretty lonely, too. Entrepreneurshit.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

These days, with the many Internet articles and new courses available, most new professionals readily cross the gap from lack of business knowledge to knowing, but many never make it over the knowing versus doing gap. Marty Zwilling First published on IvyExec.com on 9/25/2015. What gets measured gets done.

Develop 103

Develop Development Coach Metrics 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

The number of startups rose in 2015 for the first time in five years, with the largest year-over-year increase in two decades. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

Startup 61

Startup Social Media News Tool 61

socalTECH

JANUARY 8, 2020

Curtis is the former publisher of the Robb Report, which he sold back in 2015, and has a long history of operating media companies that have published such titles as Home Office Computing, Home Theater, Mobile Computing, Worth, and many others. That, of course, is what you're selling to your advertisers.

Media 150

Media Report Advertising Content 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

And here’s an important point that I think modern entrepreneurs often forget: Investors are “co-owners” of your business. You may have raised money across multiple rounds of investors from 3-4 different VCs and of course most of them would like board seats or at a minimum board observer rights.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Eric Greenspan

JANUARY 24, 2016

I was cool with this and we agreed that I would handle the site build out, site management, all customer facing responsibilities, all sales, marketing and operational aspects of the business except for our accounting of course. Seth was responsible for content and our bookkeeping. His content flowed, but his schedule was challenging.

Content 100

Content Blogging Burbank Course 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

Fred has of course been a public mentor to us all with his market-defining terminology that he popularized including “freemium” and “mobile first.” My initial blogging inspiration was actually Brad Feld because as an entrepreneur I always wanted to work with Brad after reading his advice on term sheets and the like.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

I taught a somewhat crazy course about writing and deploying a scalable website in Ruby on Rails and deploying it in EC2. When you began your teaching career, did you plan on eventually being an entrepreneur? What guidance can you give to anyone in a financially safe career who longs for the exciting life of an entrepreneur?

Cloud Computing 188

Cloud Computing Santa Barbara EC2 Startup 188

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

But of course all of these things are intertwined. We try to hire people who we believe will be upfront and respectful of entrepreneurs and know that it’s far easier to judge ones decisions on the outside than it actually is to have to make the tough decisions inside of a startup every day. Know what you believe is important.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Xconomy

AUGUST 12, 2016

Xconomy spoke with Jacks and CEO and longtime tech entrepreneur Bill Haney about the venture, a cancer immunotherapy startup that is relying on funding from family offices—among them the Disney family—rather than venture firms. —Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB ) disclosed the name for its coming hemophilia-focused spinoff: Bioverativ.

Google 40

Google Technical Review News Research 40