Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

The road to becoming an entrepreneur is a journey , and it’s not a short trip. Every entrepreneur starts by accepting the reality that you have a rare mindset of joy of discovery, with an intense curiosity about how certain things or people work, or why a new technology hasn’t yet been accepted.

Entrepreneur 139

Entrepreneur Help Incubator Startup 139

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2013

Every entrepreneur tries to maximize his startup growth by building and selling more product and services for the widest geographic area that he can support. Many entrepreneurs are paranoid about the partnership approach, and think that M&A is only an alternative for large companies who are flush with cash. Partial acquisition.

Acquisition 88

Acquisition CTO Hire Startup Outsource Development 88

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

This insight follows closely the conclusions from the previous declaration, that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

Resource 149

Resource Startup Invest Entrepreneur 149

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2020

Every entrepreneur I know finds it a challenge to balance the joys of entrepreneurship against a set of frustrations they never anticipated. The norm for entrepreneurs is to be optimistic on revenue projections, and miserly on funding needs.

Entrepreneur 122

Entrepreneur Startup Course Examples 122

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

How should you become the best marketer you can be, even if you are a first-time entrepreneur or a seasoned CEO? Create, change, throw out, tweak or put more resources behind those efforts or campaigns that are working. Focus upon you as marketing genius. Let’s focus not upon the process of marketing and positioning, but on you.

Marketing 156

Marketing Metrics Education Resource 156

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

In many instances, investors simply do not have the patience to wait for an entrepreneur to sufficiently clean up their deal once a significant issue is identified during the due diligence process. Savvy entrepreneurs resolve potentially problematic issues on their own terms, before they begin raising capital. Frictionless Fundraising.

Technical Review 264

Technical Review Entrepreneur IP RSS 264

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2020

Every aspiring entrepreneur I know is talking about the fact that there are over 2,000 billionaires in the world today, and how their innovative idea could make them one of the next ones. Becoming an entrepreneur is actually a commitment to a new lifestyle, certainly very exciting, but also facing many unknowns and risks.

Outsource Development 154

Outsource Development Social Media Software Review Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2023

Entrepreneurs seem to have blinders on when looking at competitors. By sharing and learning in non-competing areas, they can focus their limited resources on solidifying their core competencies, and expanding their unique segment of the market. Let market response dictate a later split, merger, or acquisition.

Startup 105

Startup Outsource Competition Entrepreneur 105

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Despite a valiant effort, we only briefly succeeded in putting IBM in the personal computer business, but our efforts changed my view of entrepreneurs forever. No consideration can be given to experience running a startup, breadth of skills, or even thinking like an entrepreneur.

IBM 85

IBM IBM Entrepreneur Technical Review 85

Berkonomics

MAY 27, 2021

They protect the company by overseeing the expenditure of company money for expansion, acquisitions, purchases of large assets, hiring of senior management and more. Often, a board meeting is entirely devoted to issues of growth, with members chiming in to help the CEO with marketing issues or customer acquisition.

Resource 156

Resource Acquisition Class Help 156

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. Key resources. Entrepreneurs who can’t communicate specific activities are not ready for funding. No startup or entrepreneur is an island. Key partners.

Funding 133

Funding Activity Customer Custom 133

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. People are your best innovation resource. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply. No risk, no innovation. Ownership. Value creation.

Coach 137

Coach Metrics Competition Ideas 137

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. Just like a seasoned stock investor would never put all his investible resources into a single stock, don’t put all your money into startups. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Invest 89

Invest Entrepreneur Startup Equity 89

Berkonomics

JUNE 29, 2017

If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

Invest 243

Invest Entrepreneur Sales Startup 243

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2014

I’m convinced that’s why most mature companies are slowing down or buying their innovation through acquisition, rather than building it. True entrepreneurs, like backpackers, are ready to explore new terrain, more open to new possibilities, and don’t get stuck in yesterday’s practices.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction Ideas 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2015

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. The road to business success is filled with challenges and frustrations that most aspiring entrepreneurs never even imagined.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2010

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. This initial focus is usually driven by limited financial and people resources, as well as the bandwidth of the executive team. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. Marty Zwilling.

Acquisition 85

Acquisition Startup Organization Competition 85

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2015

The visibility of Google, Facebook and a few others continues to propagate the myth that the ultimate objective of every entrepreneur should be to take their startups public via an initial public offering at the earliest opportunity. Even with private equity and private acquisition transactions, control stays internal to the principals.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Report Statistics 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. People are your best innovation resource. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply. No risk, no innovation. Ownership. Value creation.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Coach Metrics Competition 64

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 4, 2014

Thompson''s jaded take on the travel industry, I wondered if there was a travel company that bucked his stereotypes and properly balanced making bold destinations accessible while respecting the unspoiled resources and culture that made the locales interesting in the first place. Then we started advertising and getting media attention.

Entrepreneur 187

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Resource 187

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Greathouse: Your collective experiences have clearly made bootstrapping a viable option for you, more so than might be the case for a typical, younger entrepreneur who needs more direction, doesn’t have cash discipline, etc. I think in the end it’s helped us build a better product because we are resource-constrained. I’ve been there.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2022

I’m convinced that’s why most mature companies are slowing down or buying their innovation through acquisition, rather than building it. True entrepreneurs, like backpackers, are ready to explore new terrain, more open to new possibilities, and don’t get stuck in yesterday’s practices.

Competition 102

Competition Company Companies Startup 102

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive. Serving a growing customer base – with a great customer experience – requires more time and dedicated resources.

Startup 106

Startup Pricing Cloud Computing Customer 106

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. I once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

Many entrepreneurs I know are confused by the definition and need for an Advisory Board versus a Board of Directors. Shultz provides a set of considerations that I recommend to every entrepreneur for deciding when and how to create the board that has the most value to a specific CEO and a specific business.

Allegis 139

Allegis Startup Acquisition Entrepreneur 139

socalTECH

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Among the announcements at the demo day were the funding of smartphone toy company SnowShoe , and an acquisition of Smart Toy , a developer of an interactive toy. Disney offered up up to $120K in investment capital, access to entrepreneurs and executives at Disney, and other resources to its startups. in its seed funding round.

Class 185

Class Startup Seed Funding Entertainment 185

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2012

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. This initial focus is usually driven by limited financial and people resources, as well as the bandwidth of the executive team. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early.

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Competition 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

This can be an advantage to startups who don’t have the resources and brand awareness of mature businesses, if they understand and position themselves to win in the decisive moments of the new customer buying process. This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up. Marty Zwilling.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Unfortunately, with limited resources, this isn’t possible, and it frustrates customers and the team. 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. Focus first on finding more of the right customers.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

Based on my own years of experience in startups and big business, and more recently as an angel investor, I often cringe when I see one of you entrepreneurs missing a cue that I have seen work for many before you. A passionate entrepreneur I met a while back had found that a certain algae could be grown cheaply, and could end world hunger.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2015

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. Just like a seasoned stock investor would never put all his investible resources into a single stock, don’t put all your money into startups. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Invest Incubator 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2020

Entrepreneurs seem to have blinders on when looking at competitors. By sharing and learning in non-competing areas, they can focus their limited resources on solidifying their core competencies, and expanding their unique segment of the market. Let market response dictate a later split, merger, or acquisition.

Startup 126

Startup Outsource Competition Acquisition 126

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2009

Hint: He was an entrepreneur. The same is true of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is so highly valued in the Western World that some people try to convince themselves that they are an entrepreneur, when in fact they would be better off at a Big Dumb Company (“BDC”). Entrepreneur Does Not Equal Inventor.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Startup 153

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2015

I’m convinced that’s why most mature companies are slowing down or buying their innovation through acquisition, rather than building it. True entrepreneurs, like backpackers, are ready to explore new terrain, more open to new possibilities, and don’t get stuck in yesterday’s practices.

Entrepreneur 59

Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction Ideas 59

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2021

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs and occasional angel investor, I often see and hear innovative product pitches that sound exciting, but are missing one or more of the key business elements that investors deem critical for funding consideration. Quantify your value proposition for customers.

Funding 132

Funding Template Resource Competition 132

Berkonomics

AUGUST 7, 2014

How should you become the best marketer you can be, even if you are a first time entrepreneur or a seasoned CEO? Create, change, throw out, tweak or put more resources behind those efforts or campaigns that are working. Let’s focus not upon the process of marketing and positioning, but on you. There’s an answer for that.

Marketing 176

Marketing Metrics Education Resource 176

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

Startup productivity is embodied in key ratios, including low cost of customer acquisition, high retention and high revenue per employee. First movers in a new space need users more than revenue to maintain market share, so investment pitches need to highlight this priority in requests for funding resources.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Organization Invest Customer 98