Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Build a prototype product.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Many questioned whether it could survive under the fail whale, inevitable competition from Facebook, founder fighting, fights with 3rd-party developers let alone become a revolutionary business that could make money. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Far from it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.”

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an Angel investor. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.”

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Solution product & technology. Make sure to communicate the relevance of your product / services to market needs.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

The iPad accessory market is extremely competitive. Entrepreneurs like Tim Angel with ZooGue are constantly looking for ways to standout and deliver a product unlike any other in the market. The ZooGue BinderPad is just that type of product. LIKE our Facebook Fan Page (Right over there ———->).

Competition 60

Competition Sales Product Entrepreneur 60

Tech.Co

AUGUST 1, 2017

Once a novelty act reserved for indie band albums and curious art projects, crowdfunding is starting to play a major role in the world of startups and new products. Your campaign page should clearly highlight your track record, what you’ve already put in place to make your vision a reality, and why you are the one with the skills for the job.

Startup 93

Startup Social Media Tips Ideas 93

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2011

Gordon Gould , the co-founder of SmartPants, talks about the company and how it's applying what he learned founding ThisNext and from a long experience in the social media market to the consumer products goods area--what he describes as Brands 2.0. First, talk about what SmartPants Vitamins are? We give it to our own kids.

Web 225

Web Social Media SEO Media 225

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

If you are not in that rare category of known and proven entrepreneurs, you should avoid the following list of my top ten turnoffs that I have personally experienced as an angel investor. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.”

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

socalTECH

MAY 23, 2012

How do a bunch of German moviemakers end up in Los Angeles, running a site helping studios to market and promote their films via their venture backed startup? That's the story we got from Tobi Bauckhage , the co-founder and CEO of Moviepilot (www.moviepilot.com), a German firm which is setting up shop in Los Angeles.

Startup 164

Startup Paramount Netflix Entertainment 164

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Can a startup gain a foothold in the competitive market by designing the right UX and user experience to make a job and career site for everyone? Los Angeles-based Workpop (www.workpop.com) thinks so. If you look at the career sites and pages out there right now, they look like they were built a decade ago. How did you two meet?

Design 174

Design Sites Cornerstone OnDemand Startup 174

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2014

Last year at this time I spoke at VidCon and gave this presentation in which I said YouTube was “the Walmart of Online Video” but I also commented that I felt YouTube was vulnerable to competition because their rev share to MCNs wasn’t high enough to allow MCNs to build a profitable business inside of YouTube.

Invest 291

Invest Content Media Networking 291

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

As a member of the local angel group Selection Committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Solution product & technology. Make sure to communicate the relevance of your product / services to market needs.

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2016

There is a common belief in the angel and venture capital community that you put your money on the best team, rather than the best idea. In my angel investor mode, I often find myself flipping to the “management” section of a business plan, even before I read the solution description and opportunity. Focus on prior results, not titles.

Startup 60

Startup Entrepreneur Software Review Technical Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Solution product & technology. Make sure to communicate the relevance of your product / services to market needs.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

socalTECH

MARCH 22, 2012

Earlier this month, Los Angeles startup Dollar Shave Club (www.dollarshaveclub.com) made a huge splash with its launch of a subscription, monthly delivery service for razor blades. My first job was as a page at NBC, and after that I went and did a year and a half of writing and production at MSNBC with Keith Olbermann and Chuck Scarborough.

Dollar Shave Club 210

Dollar Shave Club Startup Pricing Sample 210

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Every plan must start with the problem you are solving, not a description of your company and product. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Competition and sustainable advantage. Solution and benefits.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

InfoChachkie

JULY 21, 2011

Messenger : Paige Craig, CEO BetterWorks, Angel Investor, former Marine. Play it in the background while you otherwise remain productive (or listen to it while you update your FB page, your call). Play it in the background while you otherwise remain productive (or listen to it while you update your FB page, your call).

Summary 246

Summary Tips Sales Entrepreneur 246

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Every plan must start with the problem you are solving, not a description of your company and product. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Competition and sustainable advantage. Solution and benefits.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. I have always worked on early stage products. Some of the products I’ve helped validate and launch include GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting and AppFolio.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Hamilton Chan is founder of Los Angeles-based PaperLinks (www.paperlinks.com), a new startup which is developing mobile applications which take advantage of QR codes--the 3D barcodes which are cropping up everywhere--to help users marketers go beyond just linking those codes to web pages, but also to power social applications.

Startup 233

Startup Tips Web Platform 233

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2013

Jackson added that the firm was proud of its product, and even uses its own software to manage their capital raised from investors. Earlier, the firm said that FF Angel, Siemer Ventures, 500 Startups , and Peter Thiel (co-founder of PayPal), among others, had invested $1.6 million in the Series A round.

Draper 68

Draper Google Software Engineering Invest 68

SoCal Delicious

MARCH 1, 2010

Los Angeles By: Laura Rich February 26, 2010 It used to be, if you were serious about starting a tech company, you went to Silicon Valley. But lets face it, when you think of Los Angeles, Internet startups are not the first things that spring to mind. Thats not Los Angeles. RSS ); Why You Should Start a Company in.

Los Angeles 50

Los Angeles Company Companies Angel 50

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle , partner at Greycroft Partners , a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. But truthfully both Dana and I are more aligned with the lean startup principles and believe you only go FAT when you’ve really proved out your product / market fit.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Every plan must start with the problem you are solving, not a description of your company and product. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Competition and sustainable advantage. Solution and benefits.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&# Getting a meeting with a prominent angel or VC is difficult enough. The promised to follow up with: calls, using your product, talking to customers or “noodle on things.&# Will they? They just had some time and found your product interesting).

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

This is especially true for companies with expensive and complex products or services that are more consultative in nature, like insurance, financial services, home services, education and travel, etc. At CallWave, Colin was CTO, Jason was CFO and I was in charge of product marketing and customer acquisition. You’re right.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

SoCal Delicious

JANUARY 9, 2014

Having a clear focus means it’s easier to communicate what your product is and who it’s for. By trying to appeal to everyone and adding features left, right and centre, you will actually dilute your message and could end up with a complex, bloated product. Here are two examples. Quote from John Wilshire, Artefact Cards 4.

Startup 78

Startup Design Customer Custom 78

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

It's been awhile since we last caught up with Los Angeles-based Language Weaver (www.languageweaver.com), a venture-backed firm which develops language translation software, so we sat down the other day with Mark Tapling , the President and CEO of the firm, to hear more about where the company is nowadays--plus its strategy for growth and an exit.

Software Review 145

Software Review USC Content Tech Coast Angels 145

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

StartupDemo is an opportunity for early stage startups to showcase their new products and/or services. It is an opportunity to get frank feedback from VCs, angels, peers and the technolust. Mixergy and AsAble are also joining us to bring you an amazing VC/Angel Panel. Adrenaline Fueled Angel. Mark Suster , GRP Partners.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

So, we created a site which not just aggregates, but also organizes activities by type, category--land, sea, air--and things like competition, family, culture, adrenaline--to really narrow down the possibilities for what you're looking for. The automated part, is a customer fills out a form and buys the product through their shopping cart.

Activity 164

Activity Startup Sites Web 164

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2012

A month ago, I participated in my first ever Startup Weekend event in Los Angeles, California in the co-working spaces at Coloft. I faced the same challenge not being able to form a team because most people joined the competition with friends that they had already planned on working with. Again, the answer I got was, “I’m on it.”

Startup 100

Startup Ideas San Diego Mentor 100

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2009

One of the big, open source successes in both Southern California and the software world was Gluecode Software , which was based in Los Angeles and acquired by IBM in 2005. Our open source powers Hadoop, Jetty powers Google--if you look at our community site, the list of products that use use is exhaustive.

IBM 100

IBM IBM Mission Ventures Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2019

Most people will be engaged by a single-page double-sided glossy executive summary, and offer support or the right people to move forward. You really need at least a prototype product or customer to make the video come alive. Prepare a business plan 20-page document. Just talking and waving your arms doesn’t do it.

Ideas 126

Ideas Slides Sample Examples 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Traditionally, business software products have been specialized and focused toward a given task, but I see a trend these days to highly functional “all-in-one” business tools. You will also need business management tools, such as Quickbooks, Zoom, and Hubspot. Consolidated tools tend to be easier to use and cheaper than the old standbys.

Startup 114

Startup Tips Coach Satisfaction 114

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 13, 2010

Simply click on the title of the panel you like and you will be taken to their SXSWi panel picker page. Bootstrapping process, product development, Prototyping. . Have you ever had an idea for a great product, but thought any of the following: "I don't have en. Bootstrapping development, minimum viable product, startups. .

Guide 69

Guide Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur 69

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

With new micro VC entrants into to early-stage investing plus increased competition from angels, incubators and the like – traditional VCs have taken notice. All of this innovation is awesome and there have even been new online tools such as AngelList to help entrepreneurs raise money more easily from angels or early-stage funds.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296