Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

There is an old saying in the startup investor community, “Smart investors invest in the team, not the idea.” As an angel investor, I’ve learned to believe in this approach, since I have seen great ideas go astray, due to poor execution and I have seen apparently marginal ideas make millions, managed by a savvy entrepreneur.

Ideas 53

Ideas Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 53

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

The latest investment is being used to finance the acquisition of another company in the space — Appetize, a digital and mobile commerce payments platform for enterprises such as sports and entertainment venues, theme parks and zoos. The acquisition of Appetize extends SpotOn’s reach to the enterprise space in a major way.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

socalTECH

JULY 15, 2019

j2 Global, which owns such brands as IGN, Mashable, PCMag, Everyday Health in the online publishing space as well as eFax, eVoice, and Livedrive in the cloud services space, said it has acquired Idea First Technologies and Highwinds Capital and Cloak Holdings. Financial details of those acquisition were not announced.

Southern California 124

Southern California Company Companies Ideas 124

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 14, 2013

Krishna will share his experience on ”What Makes a Startup Attractive for Acquisition” There will be plenty of FREE Pizza & Drinks ! Topic: What Makes a Startup Attractive for Acquisition. The post TZ Presents: What Makes a Startup Attractive for Acquisition | Chat with Krishna Gupta appeared first on TechZulu.

Acquisition 92

Acquisition Startup Santa Monica UCLA 92

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. Great stuff.

Pricing 150

Pricing Acquisition Customer Custom 150

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. Don’t forget to market yourself before, during, and after your initial idea, through social media, websites, and events.

Outsource Development 154

Outsource Development Social Media Software Review Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Idea management. Build and manage a pipeline of ideas. Set milestones and meet them. Ownership. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Coach 137

Coach Metrics Competition Ideas 137

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 24, 2010

Startups consistently identify more ideas and opportunities than they have the time or resources to pursue, such as potential partnerships, new products, entering emerging markets, etc. Idea Cronyism. This is analogous to a startup CEO selecting which ideas will be considered by a larger group for implementation.

Ideas 187

Ideas Resource Technical Review Startup 187

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2021

This strategy is called “organic growth,” yet it alone may yield only a fraction of the potential you could achieve, unless you add the additional strategies of partnerships and M&A (mergers and acquisitions). Actively pursue mergers and acquisitions. Overreliance on acquisitions drains resources and de-motivates internal teams.

Organization 132

Organization CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 132

TechCrunch LA

JULY 29, 2020

Everyone loved the idea but the actual growth was slower than we needed it to be.” “We got to iterate through every possible idea we had. Literally every idea we had was exhausted… We failed and that’s a bummer, but we got a fair shot,” he said. .”

Invest 263

Invest Services Southern California Ideas 263

socalTECH

OCTOBER 31, 2012

For ThinkNear , it looks like the whole process paid off in less than two years, after the Los Angeles company went from the TechStars accelerator just last June, to a healthy acquisition by TeleNav earlier this month for $22.5M. Congrats on the acquisition! How did the acquisition come about? It was really great.

Startup 225

Startup Acquisition Doc Ideas 225

socalTECH

JUNE 26, 2014

The company--although based in San Mateo--has a number of Southern California ties, including founder Nicholas Woodman, who founded the company at UC San Diego, operations in San Diego (thanks to the acquisition of Cineform), and investors via Steamboat Ventures (the venture arm of Walt Disney). and $24.00 READ MORE>>.

Pricing 157

Pricing Steamboat Ventures San Diego Southern California 157

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested.

Funding 125

Funding Startup Ideas Equity 125

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2014

The firm''s founder, Nicholas Woodman, is a graduate of UC San Diego, and came up with the idea for the company while surfing off of San Diego; the company''s investors also include Steamboat Ventures--the venture arm of Walt Disney--which looks to own something around 3 percent of the company. READ MORE>>.

Southern California 196

Southern California Steamboat Ventures SoCal San Diego 196

socalTECH

OCTOBER 17, 2016

(www.science-inc.com), the startup �studio� led by former MySpace CEO and technology veteran Mike Jones , just saw its third acquisition out of its portfolio this year�the acquisition of FameBit by Google/Youtube. What made these three companies successful acquisitions out of all your companies?

Dollar Shave Club 100

Dollar Shave Club Entrepreneur Startup Google 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

We caught up with co-founder and COO Alexander Israel late yesterday, ahead of the announcement, to have a quick chat with him about the acquisition and his experience--along with co-founder Sam Friedman--of starting up and selling his company. How'd the acquisition come about? The acquisition really has brought things to fruition.

Santa Monica 100

Santa Monica Startup Acquisition Ideas 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Idea management. Build and manage a pipeline of ideas. Set milestones and meet them. Ownership. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

Come up with various ideas. Acquisitions and competitors can often yield startups that took similar approach to how they rolled out, had some success. My suggestion would be to not necessarily target Groupon itself, but more of the competitors and acquisitions. We have some ideas on how we will launch this.

Startup 301

Startup Examples Acquisition Ideas 301

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. The best sale or acquisition is a gradual one, where the acquirer gets to know you through formal and informal relationships. Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur.

Startup 99

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 99

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. This may also be the moment when you get your first big acquisition offer, rather than a clone appearing.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Customer Custom 118

socalTECH

JULY 7, 2014

Disney is providing $120,000 in investment capital to startups to help them develop their ideas, and also provide mentoring from Disney executives.

Class 173

Class Entertainment Venture Capital Mentor 173

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2023

Here are eight key points that I believe should be taken from the show by every startup founder looking for investors in real life, across the range of venture capitalists, angel investors, or even friends and family: You will be judged first as a person, then by your idea. Investors invest in people, more than ideas.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Customer 111

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

The company''s founder--UC San Diego grad Nicholas Woodman--came up with the idea for the company''s cameras while surfing the waves off San Diego. gopro camera action sports merger acquisition exit steamboat ventures' READ MORE>>.

Steamboat Ventures 164

Steamboat Ventures San Diego Technical Review Southern California 164

socalTECH

APRIL 1, 2013

But, the whole idea of an artificial nose is not, ">as the Washington Post points out. Technology from the California Insitute of Technology--and commercialized by startup Cyrano Sciences before its acquisition in 2004--focused on connecting the world of computers and electronics into the world of smell.

Google 147

Google Acquisition Ideas Technology 147

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. Having a great idea in the wrong place won’t get you the funding you need, the experienced domain experts you want, or the pilot market results you need for survival.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested.

Startup 148

Startup Ideas Equity Invest 148

socalTECH

JULY 11, 2012

What does the landscape of social media marketing look like, in the wake of Salesforce.com's acquisition of Buddy Media? In the age where digital startups can open with little-to-no cash, and balloon from nothing more than an idea to millions of users overnight, the question becomes whether acquisition as a strategy helps or hurts a product.

Social Media 140

Social Media Startup Media Acquisition 140

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

Where''d the idea for the company come from? However, the pull of this new idea became too strong, so we set out to start the company. He had approached me with this idea when I had just joined Bill Gross at Idealab and was starting Ubermedia. Girish pitched me on the idea for Thrively, and I loved the idea.

Help 252

Help Idealab Activity Startup 252

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. This may also be the moment when you get your first big acquisition offer, rather than a clone appearing.

Satisfaction 174

Satisfaction Customer Custom Outsource 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2021

Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. The best sale or acquisition is a gradual one, where the acquirer gets to know you through formal and informal relationships. Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur.

Startup 173

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 173

socalTECH

MARCH 8, 2013

What's the idea behind the incubator? So, I set out a little bit in an ad-hoc way starting companies as ideas came to me. We are the founders of these companies, and the ideas come from our own team. We've got a very strong team of general partners, and increasingly we're getting ideas from our major partners.

Incubator 208

Incubator Startup CTO Hire Ideas 208

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 4, 2020

We also shared a passion for seeing others launch new ideas and grow them. To build trust in e-commerce with the greater public, his company came up with innovative ideas and fostered new customer behaviors. Envision, create, and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you.”. ?

Commerce 207

Commerce Statistics Customer Custom 207

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

In my efforts of assist aspiring business owners like you, I find that too many see it as a short sprint to get over that one hurdle, like finding that innovative idea, or attracting an investor. The road to becoming an entrepreneur is a journey , and it’s not a short trip. The shift – break away from dreaming to action.

Entrepreneur 139

Entrepreneur Help Incubator Startup 139

socalTECH

APRIL 1, 2013

But, the whole idea of an artificial nose is not, as the Washington Post points out. Technology from the California Insitute of Technology--and commercialized by startup Cyrano Sciences before its acquisition in 2004--focused on connecting the world of computers and electronics into the world of smell.

Google 113

Google Acquisition Ideas Technology 113

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2019

In January, Los Angeles-based Pluto TV (www.pluto.tv) was acquired by Viacom for $340M, one of the largest acquisition deals so far in the region this year. Pluto TV was one of those ideas I had when I was sitting with my daughter, looking for YouTube videos for her. That's the idea that sparked Pluto TV.

Startup 124

Startup Content Demand Netflix 124

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. Mergers and acquisitions also require new skills. Needed help can be your biggest burden.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 19, 2019

Popular messaging app Kik is, indeed, “here to stay” following an acquisition by the Los Angeles-based multimedia holding company, MediaLab. MediaLab said it has “some ideas” for developing Kik going forwards, including making the app faster and reducing the amount of unwanted messages and spam bots.

Social Network 153

Social Network Los Angeles Social Media Blogging 153