Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She did her first tech startup after the age of 30. And she didn’t start her company in Northern California. She leveraged herself and even sold many of her possessions to get started. She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

I recently wrote a piece for Mashable on how to create a company blog. Since it’s already written (and since I promised not to republish on my blog other than a summary) if you’re interested please have a read over there. Summary notes and then I’ll extend: Should you blog? What should you blog about?

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2021

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. I hope all this seems obvious to you, but I still get a good number of notes from “entrepreneurs” who have been busy inventing things all their life, but can’t find a partner to start their first business, and others trying to find an executive, an investor, or a lawyer.

Entrepreneur 140

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network Mentor 140

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. There is no crowd of successful entrepreneurs. Successful startups are all about the right people with the right stuff. Financial model.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Tips Funding Startup 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2020

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 137

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Education 137

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 26, 2020

500 Startups is scrapping its cohort model for accelerating companies and moving to a rolling admissions process, the accelerator said during its latest demo day. “Demo is changing the way it runs its accelerator to be rolling recruitment,” said Aaron Blumenthal , a 500 Startups venture partner.

Startup 177

Startup Los Angeles Invest Platform 177

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. As You Start to Mature. There are just as many bad entrepreneurs who do bad things.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Of course, you can pick up the basic principles this way, but the problem is that the practical rules for success are changing so fast that no academic can keep up. From a practical standpoint, there are many ways to learn about business change, and the opportunities that may spring up at any moment.

Startup 142

Startup Case Study Course Entrepreneur 142

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series called “ Start-up Lessons.&#. I was reading Chris Dixon’s blog tonight. I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. MBA fine, but not required.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

The time line was in the 1930’s. Not a great time in American history. The teen, we will call him Billy for this blog, often raided the oyster beds South of Oakland. This was a lot of money at the time, and represented many fog filled nights doing dangerous, illegal work. Lessons Learned: Start-ups are not for wimps.

Startup 100

Startup Blogging Activity Entrepreneur 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

The time line was in the 1930’s. Not a great time in American history. The teen, we will call him Billy for this blog, often raided the oyster beds South of Oakland. This was a lot of money at the time, and represented many fog filled nights doing dangerous, illegal work. Lessons Learned: Start-ups are not for wimps.

Startup 100

Startup Blogging Activity Entrepreneur 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. My blog was wiped out.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

She started with a story — a parable — as Jewish people are wont to do. You should be asking yourself … how could two boys go down the chimney and one ended up dirty and the other ended up clean?!’ Learning comes from starting with a point-of-view that says, “I don’t know.”

Entrepreneur 337

Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Startup Venture Capital 337

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

John Lusk, along with his Co-Author Kyle Harrison, leveraged their humble company''s newsletter into The MouseDriver Chronicles , a New York Times bestselling book. 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.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2023

Most of the young entrepreneurs I know are classic proof of the old adage that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a short period, and underestimate what they can do over a long period. A successful startup needs to be a daily task, with consistent focus. Getting started is always a challenge.

Startup 109

Startup Writing Blogging Ideas 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

It’s still popular these days for startup founders to operate in stealth mode, meaning no details about the idea or progress are shared with anyone until the big reveal and rollout. Pivots and corrections are inevitable for startups in this age of rapid change, and the earlier you make them, the quicker you get to success.

Marketing 105

Marketing Startup Search Engine Optimization Ideas 105

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 6, 2012

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.

Entrepreneur 279

Entrepreneur Startup eBook Course 279

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But for some strange reason they make you file your progress on fund raising, which is the widely picked up by the press. But now you know why I’ve had many nights away, many airports and much time on the road. And why I woke up at 4.50am. Many times it’s less.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 8, 2013

I met fellow hustler Brian Curliss about 2 years ago at a Startup Weekend event that I was covering. It came as no surprise whatsoever when I found out that his new company MailLift was called up to the big leagues to join the 500 Startups accelerator. So what is so special about 500 Startups you ask?

Startup 86

Startup CTO Coach Mentor Class 86

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

I’m fully convinced that both inspiration and perspiration are always required in a startup. Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Starting a business may be fun, but it’s not easy.

Startup 160

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 160

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done at the home location, by full-time employees. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. As with real estate, it’s still about location, location, location.

Outsource Development 121

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Summary 121

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

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. This might be a good time to remind you of my disclaimer. For starters, once you announce your competitors instantly will start tracking you.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Everybody has a blog these days and there is much advice to be had. Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Improving startup productivity ?

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2022

It’s enough to drown any business which tries to fight it or ignore it, and it’s an opportunity to ride higher and faster than even the successes of Google and Facebook, for those startups that use it as their driving force. For startups, this is an engagement opportunity worth billions of dollars. Big data:” learning from the flood.

Startup 126

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2020

Although most people believe that being a successful entrepreneur is all about having the right idea, I’m convinced from my years of experience as a startup advisor and investor that’s it’s more about you as a person. If you don’t have a successful prior startup to demonstrate your ability, it’s time to be creative.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Examples Blogging Customer 129

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2011

With as many as 100 million active blogs (web logs) in English alone on the Internet, how can you find and read the ones you need to be a leader in your business domain? Yet we know keeping up with the latest trends and techniques can make all the difference in ensuring that your business stands the test of time.

Blogging 96

Blogging Entrepreneur News Startup 96

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2022

Even young people who start out wanting to be different are called “freaks,” and most are slowly bent back into the norm by the time they “grow up.” Maybe that’s why so many entrepreneurs struggle with building a disruptive new business, where breaks from the norm are the key to success. Start working on your weaknesses.

Framework 139

Framework Startup Entrepreneur Ideas 139

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2013

million new pages added to the Internet every day, the biggest challenge for every entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. I can attest from experience that publishing a regular blog to properly showcase your offering, even before you have it, is a most cost effective approach in time and money.

Blogging 104

Blogging Product Startup Writing 104

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Dave’s note: For the second time, we invite Basil Peters, author of “Early Exits,” back as our guest – to provide more of his insight into the “when” to exit by selling your business. Most entrepreneurs wait too long to start thinking about their exit. By Basil Peters.

Newsletter 120

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Blogging 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. Invest your time in networking online, as well as offline. Every future entrepreneur should start by networking.

Product 127

Product Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Technical Review 127

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

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.

Startup 412

Startup Press Course Entrepreneur 412

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 18, 2012

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.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Startup Conference Santa Barbara 272

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

I made every textbook mistake at my first startup, which is why I believe I was much more effective at my second one. If I can help you avoid some of my first-time mistakes it would be a victory. The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. “ We need to learn from doing, by trial-and-error.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

John Lusk, along with his Co-Author Kyle Harrison, leveraged their humble company''s newsletter into The MouseDriver Chronicles , a New York Times bestselling book. 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.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done by full-time employees, in the office or at home. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. As with real estate, it’s still about location, location, location.

Outsource Development 138

Outsource Development Outsource Summary Training 138

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. If you haven’t spent time over there you should. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity.

Entrepreneur 288

Entrepreneur Startup Slides Seed Funding 288

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. Every entrepreneur, especially an introvert, can benefit from the perspective of another business person, ideally one who has prior experience in the domain you are about to enter.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104