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“he quit his job and threw himself into a start-up company, which has him on the road in constantly changing environments. ” This sentiment is probably familiar to many entrepreneurs and it must certainly resonates with anybody who suspects he or she has ADD. .” Then she bought me a book that changed my life.
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? If you’ve taken the roller coaster ride that is a startup – you know what I’m talking about. On Being an Entrepreneur. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. Long hours.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. This morning I was reading my social media and came across an article that Christine Tsai had posted on Facebook. I moved back to the US and after a stint in Palo Alto moved to LA where I started to notice Cholula sauce at some of the best Mexican restaurants I visited.
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 wanted to also post the series here to have it as a resource on my blog for future entrepreneurs who stop by. If you haven’t spent time over there you should.
I made every textbook mistake at my first startup, which is why I believe I was much more effective at my second one. The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. I actually like finding entrepreneurs who are more circumspect, less braggadocios and generally more planned about their actions.
As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, Jason Nazar, Co-Founder and CEO of Docstoc , recently shared ten lessons that emerging entrepreneurs can learn from superheroes. Jason’s inspiration for this 6 ½ minute talk was a blog entry he wrote in 2008, which went viral within the startup community.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. I use George Bush vs. Al Gore as allegory and I’ve been using it with entrepreneurs for years to sink in a simple point about how to communicate with the market. Most Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs I know are more like Al Gore. It is election season.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. I was initially skeptical, but it was a pure delight for me from start to finish. For the same reason I loved the much more flawed story of Anvil , who interestingly came from Toronto, about 100 miles away from where Justin Bieber grew up. It all has to start from talent.
It’s only 12 minutes long and if you’re a first-time entrepreneur (or second time, frankly) I encourage you to watch it if for nothing else than to get a sense that your struggles are universal. Startups are filled with enormously talented people – often product people & engineers. I prefer realism in startups.
But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? People often ask me why I started blogging. It really started simply enough. Or “I’m a new entrepreneur, why would I offer advice on how to run a startup?&#. By definition, you read blogs.
Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. For starters, once you announce your competitors instantly will start tracking you. But I wouldn’t delay too long or unnecessarily.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Someone on Quora recently asked me to answer the following question: Why Do Digital Entrepreneurs Hate MBAs? Tech entrepreneurs' consternation with MBAs does not rise to the level of loathing. Startups Need Execution, Not Administration.
A version of this article previously appeared on Inc. If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly Infochachkie articles! Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. From 35 To 500 Readers.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Think the next big startup can’t come from Dallas, TX? Think again.
As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, serial entrepreneur and noted venture capitalist Mark Suster recently shared his advice with a large crowd of emerging entrepreneurs. Mark is a Partner at GRP Partners and authors one of the most widely read startup blogs, BothSidesOfTheTable. I started at 31.
"I started the site when I was 19. free weekly Infochachkie articles! Ignorance is not bliss in business, but it does allow entrepreneurs to face the unknown with a measure of confidence. Ignorance is not bliss in business, but it does allow entrepreneurs to face the unknown with a measure of confidence.
I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. What makes up revenue?
Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam , led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry , announced a $10 million round of financing. Here I make the case that entrepreneurs must stay focused on the prize, not the doubters. Entrepreneurs. ” **. It can be one of the strongest motivators.
This article originally ran on TechCrunch. tl;dr version: If you’re an entrepreneur or VC or will be working in this industry - buy this. When I first started as a startup CEO in 1999 there were no guides on raising venture capital. I was significantly wiser by 2005 when I started my second company.
A version of this article previously appeared in The Wall Street Journal. A startup''s marketing launch strategy should resemble an inverse funnel. It also facilitates determining your proper product and market fit before your startup is under a white-hot media spotlight. Public relations at a startup is a sales process.
One of the most frequent questions entrepreneurs ask about when they raise a little bit of money or are getting close to launching their first product is whether they should hire a PR firm. In a startup this is a mistake. In this instance I typically recommend that startups NOT hire a big, well-known PR firm.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. 2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. I acknowledged this in the article.
This article originally appeared on Inc.com. Like most startupentrepreneurs, when I began my first company in 1999 I had no formal sales experience. This is a very important to do when you first start a company. I’m going to set up the framework today and in future posts I’ll drill down into each area.
Article first published as Why A Prominent Start-up Executive Wants You to Get Fired and Fail on Technorati. Kim Kovaks, Founder and CEO OptionEase , recently spoke to a class of emerging entrepreneurs at UC Santa Barbara. free weekly Infochachkie articles! There are a lot of things that entrepreneurs need to do.
One of the hardest things for most entrepreneurs to know is how hard to push in situations where people tell you “no.” ” But then again most entrepreneurs fail. I often describe “chutzpah” as being able to skate right up to the line of acceptability without crossing over it.
In August 2004, FastCompany published an article titled, Inside The Mind Of Jeff Bezos , written by Alan Deutschman. Although the article is informative, it is the accompanying sidebar that has remained with me over the succeeding years. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly Infochachkie articles!
Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. start-ups are overvalued.
So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. free weekly Infochachkie articles! Everything Is A Remix – Including Your Startup. Everything Is A Remix – Including Your Startup. Nobody starts out original. emphasis added).
This article originally appeared on Silicon Alley Insider. Equally, I encouraged entrepreneurs to spend time getting to know their future VCs early because getting a feel for your chemistry is far more important than how the VC is ranked in some survey. I felt the exact same way when I was an entrepreneur. Market Opportunity.
Article first published as Eleven Startup Tips From Mark Cuban on Technorati. Mark Cuban is a lifelong serial entrepreneur, launching his startup career with a variety of teenage schemes, including buying and selling collectable stamps to pay for college. free weekly Infochachkie articles! Mark’s Startup Tips.
According to a January 2012 article in Forbes Magazine , nearly 16% of the 400 most affluent Americans do not have a college degree. For many entrepreneurs, college has little appeal. I generally encourage my UC Santa Barbara students to complete their formal education before joining or creating a startup. Look around.
As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. Hopefully this article and the accompanying six-minute video will help you avoid learning these mission-critical lessons the hard way. Public relations at a startup is a sales process. Attempt To License An Idea.
Easy To Start, Hard To Control. A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. His talk was entertaining and informative and contained a number of witty entrepreneurial insights, such as: "Startups are like high school. If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly Infochachkie articles!
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. If you haven't already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly Infochachkie articles! Some of the most common include: Junked-up Capital Table – A hodgepodge of small investors who may cause potential headaches for management and/or institutional investors.
Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. start-ups are overvalued.
free weekly Infochachkie articles! Expansion League Teams In The Startup World. In the past year, the number of startup accelerators and incubators across the US has grown faster than expansion league baseball. But it’s people that tend to be entrepreneurs who are early on their company and entrepreneurial arc.
Note: This is the third installment in the Startup Team Building series. free weekly Infochachkie articles! Reasonable people will attempt to make the best of the status quo – unreasonable entrepreneurs with the proper dose of Confidence, Courage and Conviction will shape the status quo to facilitate your adVenture’s ultimate success.
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Want to be an entrepreneur? In addition, Entrepreneur Magazine recently included UCSB in its Top 50 Schools For VC Backed Entrepreneurs at number 37. If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly JohnGreathouse.com articles!
This article initially appeared on TechCrunch - with a minor update highlighted in red below. My initial reaction to Adeo when we spoke was that while it may have solved some issues (debt versus equity) it didn’t solve the ones that I’ve been warning entrepreneurs about most loudly. I just want into the hottest deals.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. I recently received an email from a former student in which he described how he was able to secure a lunch meeting with a high-profile entrepreneur who is operating multiple ventures in parallel. After I commented on his speech, we started a short conversation.
A version of this article previously appeared in The Wall Street Journal. The good news for entrepreneurs is that there have never been more office space options for early stage companies. If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly JohnGreathouse.com articles! Parsing The Confusion.
One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. The Basics The starting point — the 101 — is knowing the difference between gross burn and net burn. You start from the basics, which is if you raise $2.5
If you don’t already read Chris’s blog you should – it’s very well written, often takes a strong POV and speaks from an entrepreneur’s perspective but with a huge knowledge of the technology investors as well. As per Chris’s article, Techies will use your product. He is both.
This article initially appeared on TechCrunch. The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. I believe it’s flawed. We only want software revenue.”
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