Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2018

New technology markets and paradigm shifts have traditionally been bad bets when seeking investors, since these were known to take decades to develop, and cost lots of money. For example, consider how many years it took for the market to move from radio to television, or fully accept personal computers on every desktop.

Marketing 92

Marketing Demand Examples Social Media 92

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

One of the big differences between an entrepreneur and an employee of a big business is that employees tend to have a very narrow focus on their job, while entrepreneurs have to keep the broader focus on business. entrepreneurs consistently claim to be happier , and have a higher net worth than employees. In fact, U.S.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Customer Custom 93

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. Source: runwayml.com In June, Runway raised $141 million in funding, nudging its market valuation to an envy-inducing $1.5

Startup 210

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 210

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Phoenix communities are celebrating because JPMorgan Chase has made several local charitable investments to support underserved entrepreneurs and small businesses with the goal of creating jobs and spark a growing economy. Supporting underserved entrepreneurs and small businesses helps revitalize communities and creates jobs,” Tripp said.

Invest 70

Invest Entrepreneur News Tips 70

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

If you’re an early-stage entrepreneur, technology has served you well. BlackTech Week was created in 2014, and in four short years, they’ve gained over 2700 participants, 150 speakers, and 3 pitch competitions. Watch our video series at SXSW 2018 with The Case Foundation. BlackTech Week (Miami, FL).

Startup 140

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 140

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 3, 2022

Glossier affirmed our inherent beauty, then reminded us that we can be even more beautiful if we buy their “Boy Brow” pomade, which sold one tube every 32 seconds by 2018. billion company in the brutally competitive beauty industry, especially one with such broad appeal. That Cloud Paint is pretty magical, if we’re being honest.

Startup 280

Startup Netflix Los Angeles Innocal 280

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2018

Most aspiring entrepreneurs are convinced that their idea and passion are so great that failure is not a possibility. If there is no competition, there is likely not a market. Every potentially successful product has competition, or an alternative, or customers with no interest in change.

Startup 99

Startup Competition Examples Ideas 99

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2018

In this age of constant market evolution and new technology, there is no such thing as a static business that is self-sustaining. Rather than rely only on linear thinking, the best entrepreneurs are always looking to offer in parallel a more dramatic new alternative. Populating new domains to sustain your market.

Examples 99

Examples IP Acquisition Social Media 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2020

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. According to Tim Cook at Apple, there were over 20 million registered developers in 2018.

Mobile 126

Mobile Develop Development Platform 126

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2019

Luke Fox: It has been deployed in a pilot program for 12 months, all during 2018, in a wide variety of different environments around the world. Even though in the cell phone market there are lots of different phones that manufacturers make, if you look at the communications technology, its pretty much very, very similar.

Startup 187

Startup Technical Review Technology Competition 187

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2018

Most entrepreneurs see their new venture as a fun adventure, until the pressures of a cash flow crisis, or a manufacturing quality problem, or a major customer satisfaction problem hits. Here are the top approaches I recommend, and the entrepreneur mindsets that I see in survivors: Evaluate new competitive threats as new opportunities.

Startup 82

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Mentor 82

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2018

One of the biggest challenges I have as an advisor to tech entrepreneurs is to convince you that marketing is required for your product, no matter how great it is, just to get it found with today’s information overload. A comparable problem is to get entrepreneurs to market themselves, for the same reason.

News 91

News Startup Education Training 91

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2018

In this era of rapid market and technological change, I know I have to challenge my small business advisory clients to keep innovating and stay ahead of the game. They have the courage to make bold decisions, often contrary to conventional market research and linear thinking. Create and maintain a sense of urgency for the future.

Metrics 58

Metrics IBM IBM Competition 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2018

The stalwarts should be making the big leaps to be competitive, rather than the other way around. The results in a dilution of their focus, doing many things poorly, and losing sight of key markets and key competitors. Leverage seismic shifts in the market or economy. Acquire and cultivate new knowledge disciplines.

Startup 59

Startup Competition IBM IBM 59

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

Now is the time to be an entrepreneur and create a business from your passion. On the other hand, everyone is doing it, so that means more competition, and the market and technology are changing faster than ever before. A local pilot is a necessary move to test your manufacturing, operational, and marketing assumptions.

Funding 73

Funding Social Media Slides Platform 73

socalTECH

MARCH 13, 2020

Dmitri Leonov: We built a distribution business for equipment for the spa industry, and have had 10,000 client over that time, but in the last few years, we've really focused on talking to spa customers about their needs in the market. Our cost is very low, which allows us a key, competitive advantage. Do users buy or rent these?

Template 124

Template Beverly Hills Startup SEM 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

Continuing to micromanage both as your business grows is the downfall of many entrepreneurs. For example, in the sales silo of my former organization, it was common to point to marketing or development as the source of a sales issue, but communication across to these organizations took forever, and agreeing on a common solution was difficult.

Sales 69

Sales Organization Entrepreneur Examples 69

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

I’m still amazed at how many technical entrepreneurs don’t have a business pitch, and offer me their product pitch or product spec instead. Here are the unique business elements that I expect to hear as a potential investor: Target market size and growth projections. Solo entrepreneurs have a hard time finding an investor.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

As a self-made entrepreneur and former chairman of Diamond Resorts International, he asserts that the five biggest companies by market value today, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, aren’t really tech, but hospitality companies. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 10/22/2018.

Technical Advisors 82

Technical Advisors Artificial Inteligence Customer Custom 82

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. While 2018 was all about better understanding the SoCal opportunity, 2019 was about honing our focus and defining our core programs.

SoCal 140

SoCal Southern California Startup Venture Capital 140

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2018

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs and business owners, I rarely find someone who doesn’t proclaim that the business world is changing rapidly, with new technology, new customer expectations, and new cultures. It takes a well-rounded and motivated team to run a competitive business today.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Customer Custom Startup 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2018

If you want your company and team members to be seen as going above and beyond the competition, you need to include an element that adds social value or sustainability for the greater community. Make sure you select a mission that adds shared value and provides a competitive edge, as well as playing to your strengths and interests.

Startup 58

Startup Customer Custom Competition 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2018

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors.

Incubator 87

Incubator Startup Resource Seed Funding 87

socalTECH

DECEMBER 21, 2017

We expect in 2018, we will have as much as 150 million Euros, or around $180M US. The fund has been about two years of development with Peter Warnoe, who is a serial entrepreneur who is very famous in the Nordics. Lars Tvede has written fifteen books on entrepreneurship, is a serial entrepreneur himself, and has been uber-succcessful.

Southern California 133

Southern California Startup Venture Capital Invest 133

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2018

According to Investor's Business Daily , even though IPOs in 2018 through July were up nearly 39 percent from last year, the total of 115 companies so far is still nowhere near the rate required to match the yearly total of 486 hit way back in 1999. Market volatility usually hits public companies first.

Acquisition 51

Acquisition Study Marketing Startup 51

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

Our perspectives on the topic wax and wane with market cycles. Here’s what I believe, but won’t claim to “know” because every time I think I know something the market seems to do something entirely different. And if you’re lucky and hit product/market fit straight out of the gate – awesome.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

The market is changing so fast these days, and if you are not planning a solution today for tomorrow’s customers, you may be setting yourself up for failure and don’t even realize it. I often hear entrepreneurs who seem to rely wholly on their own passion, and the view of a few friends.

Customer 57

Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 57

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2018

Unfortunately, most of the entrepreneurs who contact me for guidance only seem to work on strategic issues when they are in a crisis, such as losing a major distributor or being swamped with customer complaints. I recommend that every entrepreneur and business owner carve out some time every week for proactively work on strategy.

Tips 51

Tips Metrics Sample Statistics 51

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2018

Allen Kamrava: It's technology which is a true alternative to the insurance market, the first ever. However, in 2018, there's now technology to overcome the issues with payment processing, and to build a new system. If you look at the cash market for healthcare, you'll see that costs are 60 to 90 percent lower than the insurance side.

Technology 165

Technology Startup West Los Angeles Platform 165

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2018

Instant global communication now makes it easy to reach new markets without rethinking your entire product strategy. The work required here is a full analysis of the best markets to pursue, based on future growth projections of your customer segment, as well as those to avoid. Find ways to work with your competition.

Examples 67

Examples Customer Custom Software Review 67

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2018

Without profit, there is no longevity to any business, so I’m always surprised when sincere young entrepreneurs avoid using the term, as if “profit” is a bad word. Every entrepreneur, and every investor, needs targets and a conviction that your business will be sustainable, and will provide a return-on-investment (ROI) to all constituents.

Customer 19

Customer Custom Acquisition Entrepreneur 19

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2018

Since I am a techie at heart, I always get excited when founders pitch their new innovation as “disruptive,” meaning that it is so unique that it will create a new market and disrupt the existing value network, displacing established products and markets. These didn’t happen by following the conventional paths of entrepreneurism.

Marketing 89

Marketing Technology Customer Custom 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

From my consulting with entrepreneurs in Europe and other countries, I’m convinced that we all could benefit from adapting to meet their environments. I second his list of top innovation challenges and strategies to capitalize on untapped global startup opportunities: Create new markets rather than disrupt existing ones.

Capital 138

Capital Marketing Ideas Venture Capital 138

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2020

From my consulting with entrepreneurs in Europe and other countries, I’m convinced that we all could benefit from adapting to meet their environments. I second his list of top innovation challenges and strategies to capitalize on untapped global startup opportunities: Create new markets rather than disrupt existing ones.

Ideas 124

Ideas Venture Capital Software Review Technical Review 124