Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2022

Here are some key insights that I and others have collected for mature company leaders, as well as serial entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, in this new age of rapid market change and harder-to-satisfy customers, you can’t assume that what worked yesterday will work tomorrow. If you like it, so will all your potential customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2020

As I was watching the investor show, Shark Tank , on TV the other night, I was struck by how quickly and how extensively the sharks focused on the background and character of the entrepreneurs, compared to time spent evaluating their products. These can be honed over time, and can’t be easily faked.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

JULY 30, 2020

Monday, August 3, 2020 -- Fixing the Top Fundraising Mistakes Startup Entrepreneurs Make. Join JJ Richa in a fireside chat with Scott Fox, CEO of the OC Startup Council, for a discussion of the top mistakes that early stage entrepreneurs make when pitching their startups for funding. See [link] (more)

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Startup Boost Los Angeles has opened up applications for its Fall 2019 class, according to the group. Startup Boost Los Angeles says its program includes six weekly workshop sessions and one demo night hosted by Google, in Venice. Deadlines for the program close on September 20th.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Each of these can go astray as follows: Your product or service hits unexpected snags.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. But many have no insight or connections to the ethereal angel investment community, which In the U.S. Angels prefer strong teams to big ideas.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2020

For some reason, too many aspiring entrepreneurs I know seem to focus on “actions” rather than “results.” These are not the entrepreneurs that I want to support, since I’m well aware that running a startup is far more complex, albeit more satisfying, than most conventional roles in established enterprises.

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Tech.Co

MAY 18, 2017

Los Angeles, for one, is not only brimming with innovative ideas, it’s also home to a wide range of unique startups that are solving the problems of the world. This is evident from the fact that they are owned and run by EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year award finalists in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Agency.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. For aspiring entrepreneurs, or if your last startup failed, it’s all about standing out above the crowd of others like you, and demonstrating your readiness.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

As an entrepreneur mentor, my mission is to foster the attributes in you as a startup founder that I believe will lead to success. I know from experience that my friends who are angel investors are looking for the same indications, although none of us has a scorecard , or even know exactly what we are looking for.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2020

As an angel investor in startups, I’m a believer that smart investors invest more in you as the entrepreneur than the next billion dollar solution you are pitching. These days, customers expect to hear and see social and environmental value from a new business, rather than just a new technology or profit.

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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. With information overload due to the Internet, you need to find your customers, rather than assume they will find you.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that Venture Capital and Angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Message delivery must be customized for each investor.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 15, 2014

Los Angeles-based CheckAlt , the developer of payment processing technology led by serial entrepreneur Shai Stern, said this week that it has signed on four new credit union customers for its mobile deposit technology. Financial impact of the win was not announced. READ MORE>>.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2013

Was this the latest Chinese product to take off in the US? Tran moved to Los Angeles and started his business in Chinatown with a need he personally had. So he made hand-made batches in a bucket and drove it to customers in his van. He was driven by wanting to provide a great product. Extreme product passion.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. Outside of dreams, there is no real business opportunity without risk.

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TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 19, 2018

million in seed funding to begin building a manufacturing facility and expand its presence in Los Angeles as the city continues to grow as a hub for robotics and automation. . Gross and Barnehama met through a mutual friend in the robotics industry in Los Angeles, the chief executive of Embodied, Paolo Pirjanian, Barnehama wrote in an email.

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SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. Like many product managers, my background is fairly eclectic. That's where I learned I enjoyed interacting with customers and working with development teams to build and launch products. Tell me a bit about your background.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the solution.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

Startup Boost Los Angeles , the early stage startup program which is led in LA by Matt Stoddard, says it has opened up applications for its Spring 2019 program. Startup Boost says it is looking for companies with the right team, a minimum viable product, customer traction, and viable plan for going forward. READ MORE>>.

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TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Microsoft’s venture fund M12, also a new investor, participated in the round alongside Acrew Capital, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Munich Re Ventures, and Israeli entrepreneur Shlomo Kramer, who co-founded security firms Check Point and Imperva. Cyber insurance is changing the way we look at risk.

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Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Certainly, bootstrapping is a preferred method of funding growth if it does not hold back the speed of growth or hobble the quality of product or service to the extent that better-funded competitors can overtake the business. Professional angels: This is the arena where I work and play. There is a lot to say about retaining control.

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socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. I also think there's an interesting opportunity in Los Angeles, as the tech scene continues to develop and mature. I think it's a fantastic program.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

As an Angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Investors and strategic partners look for entrepreneurs who can execute.

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

Los Angeles-based TeleSign , the provider of two-factor, mobile authentication services and software, said today that it has launched a new product, called TeleSign Smart Verify. The new product provides an API to help with end-user verification and two-factor authentication for both online and mobile apps. READ MORE>>.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2023

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. But many have no insight or connections to the ethereal angel investment community, which In the U.S. Angels prefer strong teams to big ideas.

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Berkonomics

JUNE 11, 2015

Our guest insight this week is from Frank Peters, well-known in the angel and in the bicycle worlds for his podcasts and passion. It’s good advice; the theory being that entrepreneurs can discover the flaws in their business models sooner, make course corrections and move in a more favorable direction. – Dave.

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socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2018

As part of the lead in to the conference, and as a part of our sponsor relationship with the conference, we're running a series of interviews with speakers from the conference about their experience in the area of recurring revenues, customer service, and similar topics. We respond very quickly to all of our customers. Kevin Anderson.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

(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. Entrepreneurs make fast decisions and move forward knowing that at best 70% of their decisions are going to be right. This paralyzes most people.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. This early stage is often called basic research , well before any specific commercially viable products might be envisioned. Commercial product prototypes. Expanding the product line.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Turn existing connections into productive relationships.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. This post is for those who want to raise angel money. Product : You should build a product or a prototype.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2022

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. Outside of dreams, there is no real business opportunity without risk.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 153

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

But there are a lot of things that become norms in the VC industry that always drove me crazy from entrepreneur’s side of the table. Translation for any first time entrepreneurs can mean one of: a. As an entrepreneur you’re used to being optimistic and finding a way to make things work despite the odds. I get that.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2015

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. This early stage is often called basic research , well before any specific commercially viable products might be envisioned. Commercial product prototypes. Expanding the product line.

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TechCrunch LA

MARCH 17, 2021

The Los Angeles-based company has a new residential solar plus energy storage program for homeowners in Queens that’s going to be rolled out in partnership with ConEd. It’s a project that will create solar-powered home batteries for eligible ConEd customers.

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TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

The Los Angeles-based app development shop, V/One , is giving away 50,000 free mobile app builds through the rest of April as the company officially launches its platform for would-be, LA-based mobile app moguls. “But, I wasn’t going to let someone tell me I couldn’t be a tech entrepreneur.”

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