Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2020

Most entrepreneurs realize that doubling their revenue each year puts them in a premium category with investors, so that may be your first target. What if your customer acquisition cost assumptions have to change? Investors will test your savvy by asking where your business breaks.

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Startup Pricing Sample Customer 123

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

One or more of the following parameters are viewed by most investors as traction indicators, but good entrepreneurs are often creative and define their own to supplement these: Start with sales to-date for a priced offering. Customer acquisition cost. Market penetration. Average transaction size and revenue per customer.

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Startup Metrics Customer Custom 121

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Most investors won’t touch a first-time entrepreneur at this stage. Ron Conway , of SV Angels, and Reid Hoffman , LinkedIn's founder, are names often mentioned in this category.

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Funding Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding 104

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2009

Helping entrepreneurs succeed. An on-line community for entrepreneurs. Cox Communications - Orange County was recently ranked 2nd amongst Employers Group's, "California's Best Places to Work - 2008" in the Large Companies category. inspired with entrepreneur Aaron Ross at our next meeting, on July 28th in.

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Orange County Southern California Westlake Village 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

RedBeacon went on to sell to HomeDepot in what was considered a very successful acquisition on all sides. But Ethan had left by the time of the acquisition. And I had been telling my partners for a couple of years that I thought Ethan was one of the more talented entrepreneurs I had come across in San Francisco. Nice sweep!

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CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

where entrepreneurs share their stories. 63 Los Angeles Entrepreneurs To Be Proud Of By mario on May 2, 2012 in Features , grid. Free Corporations For First-Time Entrepreneurs. Right now they’re setting up 500 free corporations for first time entrepreneurs. Here are 62 63 Los Angeles entrepreneurs we can be proud of.

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Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

We break it down by a number of vertical categories, including Indulgent--all about food, wine, and alcohol; Active--outdoor athletic endeavors; and Creative, which is arts and crafts. Finally, we have an Eclectic category, which are interesting activities which don't fit into any of those other buckets.

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Startup CTO Coach Activity Software Review 271

socalTECH

JANUARY 9, 2014

All of them offer the same kind of coupon information for a store or category, but many of those sites that show up have very poor results. They made a number of significant acquisitions in that space, My co-founders, Sammer and Chris, worked together at Internet Brands. We have complementary skill sets. READ MORE>>.

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Internet Brands Content Startup Sites 257

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2015

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should select only social media for marketing, or stick with digital media, or just count on traditional media. According to a recent article in Entrepreneur , 94% of small and medium businesses (SMBs) now use social media as a marketing tool, and 81% use it to drive growth.

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Social Media Media Marketing Resource 108

socalTECH

AUGUST 7, 2009

Helping entrepreneurs succeed. An on-line community for entrepreneurs. Cox Communications - Orange County was recently ranked 2nd amongst Employers Group's, "California's Best Places to Work - 2008" in the Large Companies category. Silicon Valley Bank (www.svb.com). Dedicated to our Clients. Need office or Tech Space?

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Orange County Southern California IP 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 28, 2015

The way to start is with a sample financial model, freely available from many sources on the Internet, such as this one from Entrepreneur. Most entrepreneurs realize that doubling their revenue each year puts them in a premium category with investors, so that may be your first target.

Startup 103

Startup Pricing Sample Customer 103

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

My firm, GRP Partners, invested in the company that innovated this entire category – Overture (formerly known as GoTo.com). But of course Google eventually became the massive winner in this category. For starters – the team is exactly what I look for when I’m looking to fund entrepreneurs.

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Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

. “it’s smart to use an impending investment valuation to drive a higher acquisition valuation” I would like to amend her statement slightly to read, “it’s smart to use an impending investment valuation to drive an higher acquisition.” Christin goes on. A nice play if you can make it.”

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Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Ten Tech Entrepreneurs Who Are Putting LA on the Map. Tech startup accelerators dot the landscape, feeding investments into the waiting arms of the nation’s most intelligent and driven entrepreneurs. Miller was even honored as an Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” for 2011. Follow PandoDaily: Search.

Technical Review 75

Technical Review Entrepreneur Riot Games Southern California 75

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2013

Most entrepreneurs struggle with financial projections, not wanting to commit to numbers they can’t deliver, and having no clue what investors might consider reasonable. Most entrepreneurs, with no experience, believe that they can make good money with lower margins than competitors. Gross margins greater than 50%. Marty Zwilling.

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Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2016

Good entrepreneurs are all about managing change, but too many forget that they have to change themselves as their dream evolves from a startup to a scalable business. Many entrepreneurs gave grown to prefer the relative quiet and isolation of their garage, and their ability to set their own schedule.

Social Network 59

Social Network Startup Demand Entrepreneur 59

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

One of the fastest growing startups in Southern California in recent years was Hautelook, which went from just an ideas to a huge, $270M acquisition by Nordstrom only X years later. Hautelook was able to help define--and conquer--the online flash sales category, in record time. Tell us a little bit about your background?

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Southern California Startup Customer Custom 200

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2014

Most entrepreneurs struggle with financial projections, not wanting to commit to numbers they can’t deliver, and having no clue what investors might consider reasonable. Most entrepreneurs, with no experience, believe that they can make good money with lower margins than competitors. Gross margins greater than 50%. Marty Zwilling.

Equity 99

Equity Venture Capital Invest Pricing 99

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2013

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should use social media for marketing, digital media, or traditional media. Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. Don’t try to tackle all 20 major categories of digital social media at once.

Social Media 103

Social Media Media Marketing Startup 103

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

This is the fourth article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). But consider periods of time where the average time a company exists before acquisition or IPO is 7-10 years. Part 1 – Access to Great Deal Flow – is here. This is actually the norm.

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Invest Angel Startup Marketing 283

socalTECH

APRIL 2, 2014

Brands across all categories are launching incentives and promotional marketing every day, every hour, every week, every month. What Facebook is saying, is Facebook alone is not going to do it, a brand must own the relationship and make the paid media investment, to drive awareness and acquisition of customers. READ MORE>>.

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Marketing Pasadena Platform Email 196

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2014

They''re starting to look at more advanced conversion funnels, LTV analysis, and we''re seeing an overall maturity of user acquisition techniques by big buyers. One big new category for us is data and targeting. asher delug airpush mobile interview startup entrepreneur' We called 2011 and 2012 the years of shotgun media buying.

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Startup Mobile Advertising Organization 196

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2010

I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs try to do things on the cheap. Google suddenly makes your product category free). - They can fund a deal if necessary and valid at the time you present an acquisition target to them. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Raising Venture Capital Start-up Advice Startup Advice. What to do?

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Startup Venture Capital Capital Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2017

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should select only social media for marketing, or stick with digital media, or just count on traditional media. Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. Focus first on the social media trinity.

Media 59

Media Marketing Social Media Resource 59

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

One or more of the following parameters are viewed by most investors as traction indicators, but good entrepreneurs are often creative and define their own to supplement these: Start with sales to-date for a priced offering. Customer acquisition cost. Marty Zwilling First published on Young Entrepreneur on 02/18/2013.

Startup 106

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 106

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price. This is wrong.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

We are constantly learning, doing research, and networking with other entrepreneurs, and people in our business who are the best at what they do. We have been smart about how to make investments in our business, and when we jump into a new category or vertical. We are students of our company, and of our business, and of our industry.

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Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2017

You have to make sure your cost of acquisition, retention rates, and conversion metrics are all in place. We went a little too fast, and took on too many categories at first. Entrepreneurs are great at coming up with ideas, but it takes a different kind of person to really scale a business quickly. You cannot grow your problems.

Startup 174

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 174

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. We discussed whether investing in the second largest player in a category makes sense given that Groupon is 10x the revenue, 3.5x eCommerce is hot again!

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Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2012

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should use social media for marketing, digital media, or traditional media. Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. None should be considered mutually exclusive to any other.

Media 92

Media Social Media Marketing Resource 92

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

Jody--an experienced entrepreneur who was most recently co-founder of a firm he sold to the Virgin Group, and has been involved with such firms as Lycos, Buydirect.com, and Xoom--told us the story of EcoMom, plus how he connected with McClure on the investment. Jody Sherman: I've been an entrepreneur since I got out of the military.

Software Review 200

Software Review Commerce Startup Sites 200

InfoChachkie

JULY 20, 2015

Six outstanding entrepreneurs have created this sweet flavor of success in one of the most beautiful places on earth – Santa Barbara, California. As Emmy Award winning comedian Bill Grundfest aptly points out in this video , entrepreneurs should seek the intersection of the things they enjoy doing and the tasks which will make them money.

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Santa Barbara Startup Sales Entrepreneur 100

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

That''s relevant, because of our third piece, where we have been hired by traditional media companies, to basically provide them a turnkey, outsources content acquisition team. The same category as Fullscreen and Maker, but, unlike those companies, we''re not rolling up other channels. One of thing we did, is we became a MCN.

Media 235

Media Content Startup IP 235

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

Decreasing Your Customer Acquisition Costs. Ultimately, your overall customer acquisition costs should calculated as an average of a variety of marketing channels. Thus, include these unattributed customers in your overall calculation of customer acquisition costs. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Do you have any advice for emerging entrepreneurs regarding how they can be frugal without compromising their company’s value prop? Yeah, I have made plenty of mistakes in this category in the past. Bootstrapping requires that the entrepreneur go out and talk to their users or clients. John is a CPA and holds an M.B.A.

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Startup Design Mobile Social Network 233

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? This is precisely why large Internet categories often produce “winner takes most” outcomes. Amazon is continuing to grow at such a rapid pace that of course it should take some of today’s profits and reinvest them in growth (or acquisitions).

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227