Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. His top eight required skill set elements for sales don’t even mention product skills, and match my view of the right skill set for successful entrepreneurs, with only a few priority changes: Creating and sharing a vision. It’s up to you to clear the way.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Startup Sales Customer 134

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Although Elon Musk doesn’t talk about it very much, he owns over 350 patents through Tesla, just one of his many companies.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2019

The challenge is to adequately define leadership in terms of everyday activities. Most entrepreneurs believe they are leaders, even though the feedback I get from their team and partners may indicate otherwise. Thus I’m always looking for more practical guidance on the right activities to be perceived as a business leader.

Activity 92

Activity Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 92

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2012

Manhattan Beach-based CapLinked , the online service which helps startups manage their fundraising efforts, share due diligence documents, and find investors, said this week that it has launched a new activity tracker on the site.

Activity 133

Activity Manhattan Beach Sites Startup 133

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2020

In fact, even within Fortune 100 companies, almost 90 percent have encountered growth stalls or flirted with failure, or worse, in the last 50 years. No company can afford to lose the agility, flexibility, and innovation of a startup. Companies follow each other rather than the market. Change is hard.

Startup 128

Startup Company Companies Statistics 128

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2016

Long before author Stephen King sold over 350 million books, he was a budding entrepreneur. Activities Vs. Results. Unlike entrepreneurs, whose survival is similarly based on their ability deliver value to their customers, politicians and big company executives routinely confuse activities with results.

Activity 100

Activity Startup Sales Santa Barbara 100

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 15, 2022

It is natural for executives and entrepreneurs with lots on their plate and little extra time – to just keep up the same activities that have made the company a success. Keep on doing what works and that grows the company (rinse and repeat) and actively work on the rest? Innovation should be a goal….

Activity 156

Activity Email Customer Custom 156

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor).

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

InfoChachkie

JUNE 17, 2014

One of the parameters by which authenticity is measured is the activity level of one''s followers. Unfortunately, authenticity matters online, due to the nefarious activities of certain status seeking individuals who manipulate their social media standing by purchasing fake followers. I''d rather have a more active group.".

Activity 174

Activity Social Media Startup Mentor 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

The realm of an entrepreneur is all about change, but in my experience as a mentor to business founders, I hear too much about incremental change, and not enough about revolutionary change. Today every small business can look big, via a modern website, visibility on social media, and taking an active role in popular causes.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Social Media Artificial Inteligence Examples 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2020

Every new entrepreneur has to initiate the right actions to be perceived as a leader in their chosen business domain by their team and by their customers, or the road to success and satisfaction will be lost along the way. No entrepreneur can build a business alone. Constantly strengthening your network of relationships.

Entrepreneur 125

Entrepreneur Training Resource Customer 125

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Good entrepreneurs are wrong often.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2016

As a small business and startup advisor, I find that entrepreneurs often love to talk about their latest idea, but not their execution. For example, Elon Musk is recognized as a visionary entrepreneur, but his fortune and his impact has come from the great companies he has built, including SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and PayPal.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics Ideas 106

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

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. The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities.

Funding 133

Funding Activity Customer Custom 133

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 21, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. If you haven’t spent time over there you should.

Entrepreneur 290

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 290

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2019

When you have been on the startup firing line, you quickly learn that any insight from experts and entrepreneurs who have been there before you can make the difference between failure and success. Yet, many new entrepreneurs brazenly assume they are bulletproof, and march blindly into the fray. Keep moving forward.

Entrepreneur 88

Entrepreneur Summary Activity Resource 88

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

In my years of mentoring entrepreneurs, a problem I have seen too often is low self-esteem, and over-compensating through arrogance and ego. These entrepreneurs find it hard to respect customers or team members, and their ventures usually fail. Free up your energy to be spent on more productive activities, and learn from past efforts.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction Competition 98

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. What is perhaps different from other regions is that we have large indigenous aerospace industry and a big high-tech import/export trade as opposed to a lot of software companies. “There’s something going on in LA.”

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 384

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Many entrepreneurs struggle with their setbacks.

Entrepreneur 288

Entrepreneur Startup Slides Seed Funding 288

socalTECH

OCTOBER 20, 2017

Los Angeles and San Diego are among the metro areas with the highest startup activity, based on a new report from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Kauffman Foundation says its 2017 Startup Activity Index is an index measure of a broad range of startup activity in the United States across national, state, and metropolitan-area levels.

San Diego 113

San Diego Los Angeles Report Angel 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

Who are the top tech companies to work for in Los Angeles? Despite a huge number of companies, we found there are a number which. Despite a huge number of companies, we found there are a number which. Demand Media consistently popped up near number one in the list of "companies to work for" from our readers. Demand Media.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Company Companies Southern California 279

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Fortunately, most deal breakers can be avoided, with a bit of pro-active thought and deft execution. 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. Breaking The Deal Breakers.

Technical Review 264

Technical Review Entrepreneur IP RSS 264

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels. Invite the investor to dinner or fun-related activity.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

So, as marketers test out social sites, measuring engagement KPIs and re-evaluating attribution are important to gauge the success of these activities.". Wilson: "I feel that it’s very challenging for a company that has a great core product to expand into other areas. Image: Wikipedia. Share and Enjoy.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Commerce Sites Social Network 210

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 8, 2012

The following guest post is from Laurie Barkman, Marketing Lead at The Resumator , a SaaS applicant tracking system and hiring platform trusted by many of the fastest-growing companies in the world, including: Pinterest, Tumblr, Hootsuite, Klout, Posterous, Bitly, Atari and Mashable. A key to business success is agility. Confidence.

Entrepreneur 191

Entrepreneur RSS Conference Training 191

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2011

I think it takes a few more steps to “activate” the checklist and fruitfully engage in the activities that lead to leadership success. Through such efforts, entrepreneurs who actively pursue feedback from their team and their customers are on the road to success. Endure extremely stressful leadership moments.

Activity 94

Activity Study Mentor Coach 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2017

What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. This commitment to hire people who think like entrepreneurs, or instill an “owner’s mindset” in every employee, should be a high priority in every business. Employees will lose focus on their work.”

Entrepreneur 69

Entrepreneur Startup Training Sales 69

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2015

Fredi''s email is worth reading, as it reinforces how lucky American entrepreneurs truly are. However, from an entrepreneur''s viewpoint, the philosophical distance can be measured in light years. There have been many examples of Spain''s anti-entrepreneurial efforts, including forbidding Airbnb and Uber activities.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Santa Barbara Venture Capital 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). After we sold it to that public company, I founded HashtagOne. What's the theme of your investments?

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2016

Contrary to what you might guess, the highest rate of entrepreneurial growth over the last few years is not Gen-Y upstarts, but Boomers over the age of 50, now called encore entrepreneurs. In the Kauffman Foundation Survey of nearly 5,000 companies that began in 2004, nearly two-thirds of the founders are now between the ages of 35 and 54.

Entrepreneur 75

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Technical Support 75

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Each of these activities should have associated costs and resource requirements.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2022

What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. This commitment to hire people who think like entrepreneurs, or instill an “owner’s mindset” in every employee, should be a high priority in every business. Employees will lose focus on their work.”

Startup 134

Startup Training Sales Entrepreneur 134

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Each of these activities should have associated costs and resource requirements.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

I was shocked to read an old Gallup study that indicates only 13 percent of employees worldwide are actively engaged at work, and more recent data shows only a small change in the right direction. Find ways to recharge your emotional batteries, through supportive relationships and community activities.

Examples 145

Examples Mentor Activity Product 145

Berkonomics

MAY 13, 2021

Several years ago, I wrote a book entitled, Extending the Runway , using parallels to piloting a plane to equate to the process of creating and building a small company, making maximum use of resources to get to and beyond breakeven. The five resources boards and investors can add to a company. It is worth revisiting the most.

Resource 156

Resource Coach Activity Invest 156