Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There are many things a VC is looking for in reviewing your business plan but beyond things the like the quality of revenue, margins, OPEX and CAPEX there’s a really simple rule I call, “Cash In, Cash Out, Milestones Achieved.” Every VC wants to fund a deal that seems to have too much demand. Let me check my plan.”

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Demand 247

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 21, 2019

The entrepreneurial mindset is a function of motivation, priorities, and risk versus reward, all of which you set or enable by your leadership and example. This is the platitude of an obsolete corporate culture where you had to “pay your dues” in menial jobs before adding creativity or making decisions. Marty Zwilling.

Training 88

Training Sales Entrepreneur Technical Review 88

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. How long does it take me to pay back my original customer acquisition costs? and we were met with weak demand, slow growth and high costs.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. When they look at buying your company they often think in terms of “how long will it take until I earn back the profits to pay for my acquisition price?” For example, look at the following graph.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

You can review all the specifics of this approach in a book by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom, appropriately titled “ Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur''s Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation ,” but I will net it out here. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Customer 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2017

You can review all the specifics of this approach in the classic book by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom, appropriately titled “ Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation ,” but I will net it out here. Nail the solution. Process myth: Why building a product leads to failure.

Startup 64

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 64

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2012

You can review all the specifics of this approach in a recent book by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom, appropriately titled “ Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation ,” but I will net it out here. Nail the solution. Process myth: Why building a product leads to failure.

Startup 118

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2017

The entrepreneurial mindset is a function of motivation, priorities, and risk versus reward, all of which you set or enable by your leadership and example. This is the platitude of an obsolete corporate culture where you had to “pay your dues” in menial jobs before adding creativity or making decisions. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 69

Entrepreneur Startup Training Sales 69

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2014

The entrepreneurial mindset is a function of motivation, priorities, and risk versus reward, all of which you set or enable by your leadership and example. This is the platitude of an obsolete corporate culture where you had to “pay your dues” in menial jobs before adding creativity or making decisions. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 105

Startup Training Sales Entrepreneur 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

You can review all the specifics of this approach in a new book by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom, appropriately titled “ Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation ,” but I will net it out here. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.

Startup 114

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 114

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

BDCs often ask to “private label” or “white label” a smaller company’s technology. This generally involves the BDC selling the startup’s technology under the BDC’s brand. Do not allow your adVenture’s technology to be buried in the bowels of another company’s product, without reasonable attribution. Do Not Give up Branding.

Outsource Development 170

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 170

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

The entrepreneurial mindset is a function of motivation, priorities, and risk versus reward, all of which you set or enable by your leadership and example. This is the platitude of an obsolete corporate culture where you had to “pay your dues” in menial jobs before adding creativity or making decisions. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Training Sales Technical Review 97

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

BDCs often ask to “private label” or “white label” a smaller company’s technology. This generally involves the BDC selling the startup’s technology under the BDC’s brand. Do not allow your adVenture’s technology to be buried in the bowels of another company’s product, without reasonable attribution. Do Not Give up Branding.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 124

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. Yet I can’t help thinking there are many predictable failures that come from a lack of basic planning.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

The entrepreneurial mindset is a function of motivation, priorities, and risk versus reward, all of which you set or enable by your leadership and example. This is the platitude of an obsolete corporate culture where you had to “pay your dues” in menial jobs before adding creativity or making decisions. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Training Sales 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

New entrepreneurs, especially technical ones, are excited by early adopters, and tend to focus on their feedback, which will always suggest more product features and options. Ongoing momentum requires a move to mainstream, or even late adopters, who demand simplicity in your base function. Focus on the mainstream customer majority.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

Yet, despite his exceptional courtroom theatrics, you would be foolhardy to hire good old Johnnie to review your software cross-licensing agreement. Once you draft the straightforward text, sans the legal mumbo-jumbo, ask your lawyer to review the text to ensure your layman descriptions do not result in an unintended interpretation.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2022

Most of their new claims to innovation are acquired through mergers and acquisitions from the entrepreneurial pipeline. Internal corporate processes thwart innovation due to inherent inefficiencies of scale, high overhead, and the risk of impact on the corporate bottom line. Existing technologies have been “commoditized” globally.

Startup 126

Startup Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Offshore 126

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

For example, even though we were leading an entrepreneurial effort within IBM, we found it a challenge to deal with the inbred mainframe culture, reverence for process, and accounting practices of a large company. The culture of a large technology company is to rely on internal development or large, stable, and proven external vendors.

IBM 85

IBM IBM Entrepreneur Technical Review 85

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

Value is created through diligent hard work. Once you prove that a substantial number of people are willing to pay more for your solution than it costs you to provide it, you can then consider licensing your underlying technology. Commercializing an idea involves defining and validating an economically viable value proposition.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

Most of their new claims to innovation are acquired through mergers and acquisitions from the entrepreneurial pipeline. Internal corporate processes thwart innovation due to inherent inefficiencies of scale, high overhead, and the risk of impact on the corporate bottom line. Existing technologies have been “commoditized” globally.

Entrepreneur 87

Entrepreneur Offshore Technical Review Outsource 87

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

Most of their new claims to innovation are acquired through mergers and acquisitions from the entrepreneurial pipeline. Internal corporate processes thwart innovation due to inherent inefficiencies of scale, high overhead, and the risk of impact on the corporate bottom line. Existing technologies have been “commoditized” globally.

Startup 102

Startup Entrepreneur Offshore Technical Review 102

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2013

Most of their new claims to innovation are acquired through mergers and acquisitions from the entrepreneurial pipeline. Internal corporate processes thwart innovation due to inherent inefficiencies of scale, high overhead, and the risk of impact on the corporate bottom line. Existing technologies have been “commoditized” globally.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Offshore Startup Technical Review 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Most of their new claims to innovation are acquired through mergers and acquisitions from the entrepreneurial pipeline. Internal corporate processes thwart innovation due to inherent inefficiencies of scale, high overhead, and the risk of impact on the corporate bottom line. Existing technologies have been “commoditized” globally.

Offshore 55

Offshore Technical Review Entrepreneur Outsource 55

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

As an entrepreneur and startup investor, I have helped create companies which achieved two IPOs which collectively raised over $100 million, as well as two acquisitions which totaled $385 million. Fallacy: AdVentures tend to evolve once you begin speaking with pesky customers and demanding partners. 3) Attempt To License An Idea.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

One example is driving, which has an actual physiological reason it makes you creative. I want to know how many people, their level of tech sophistication, their age and their interests. I know this sounds abstract so let me give you an example from this week. Solitude & creativity go hand-in-hand. So I thought I would.

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356