Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

Most business advisors I know will say that writing a business plan is the first step to starting your own business, but I believe that a better first step is to do a self-analysis of your real drivers, strengths, and assumptions before committing to this lifestyle. You can’t really succeed in life if you are not happy.

Social Media 105

Social Media Writing Ideas Resource 105

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2022

Every entrepreneur assumes their product or service is so great that “word-of-mouth” will carry the day for them. Even great products need great marketing “content” to fuel the ascent of their online message. Your content must continue to deliver new ideas. Then write it down. Educational. Easy to digest.

Content 146

Content Newsletter Competition Writing 146

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

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. The biggest roadblock is that startup founders already have too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, courting investors, etc. Find potential partners.

Blogging 93

Blogging Invest Startup Writing 93

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 16, 2013

Turn on your phone and look at the productivity folder. Something to write your notes, another to set reminders, and one that does both. You’ll be more productive within three weeks time. You get the idea. We discuss productivity, emails, communication, and the dynamics of the team. We’ve been there.

Product 99

Product Ideas Email Organization 99

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2016

Not since the initial popularity of Twitter in 2007 has a product so befuddled people. I remember the same disdain from people when I started blogging or using Twitter. A bit like a blog that is put out regularly but not overly edited or self-conscious about word choices or typos. I LOVE writing. Why would a VC do that?

Snapchat 200

Snapchat Blogging Venture Capital Writing 200

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2009

Turns out everybody likes to produce content and take part in the “conversation.&# Massive uptake of user-generated content including blogs (e.g. People rightly recognize that comments on blogs are just a form of a stream and thus the growth of open commenting platforms like Disqus and IntenseDebate. Then came blogs.

Ideas 286

Ideas Advertising Google Technical Review 286

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2014

This blog started from a series of conversations I found myself having over and over again with founders and eventually decided I should just start writing them.It When second place isn’t good enough because we live in winner-take-most markets. The desire to be better than anybody else in one’s field.

Competition 394

Competition Startup Writing Marketing 394

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). My general rule is that it’s good to be stealth in the early days while you’re building your product and testing your market. You need some guidelines to make decisions.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

As a new business advisor and occasional investor, I get approached regularly by people who have a dream or a new business idea, and are looking for support and money to make it a reality. Thus, I’m more impressed with entrepreneurs who ask me to review their implementation plan, rather than listen again to their idea.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2014

I can attest from experience that publishing a regular blog to properly showcase your brand value, even before you have it, is a most cost effective approach in time and money. The biggest excuse most startup founders mention is too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, investors, etc. Populate your team.

Startup 101

Startup Blogging Writing Google 101

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

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. Putting their expensive educations to good use, they aptly named their novelty product a "MouseDriver". blogging, in a sense. From 35 To 500 Readers. every three weeks.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches? I am a VC.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

companies should… focus on building amazing products. If you have amazing products, the marketing of those products is trivial. If you have $hitty products, the marketing is impossible. Instead of focusing on marketing as an activity… integrate it into (your) products.”. Brad Feld, Managing Director, Foundry Group.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

This is a post I’ve been dying to write for 18 months. I invested in LA-based Gogii , one of the fastest growing, most exciting mobile social networking companies you’ve never heard of and maker of a product called textPlus. And if you are – what on earth are you reading such a boring blog as this?!?

Gogii 310

Gogii Invest Blogging Startup 310

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

People cite sources like this Inc.com article “ 5 Reasons Why You Don't Need a Business Plan ,” or my own blog discussion on this subject, “ Situations Where A Business Plan Does Not Add Value.” Pitch your company, not your product. Written business plan. Make yourself unforgettable, in a good way.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Tips Funding Startup 156

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” I hear tons of ideas for early-stage apps. I love this product & the community I’ve formed there.

Snapchat 214

Snapchat Invest Technical Review Dollar Shave Club 214

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

By definition, you read blogs. But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about.

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 22, 2011

I began publishing my blog in 2008. I was hesitant to use my own name, as I did not want my blog to be perceived as a self-promotional vanity project. In addition, my role as Partner at Rincon Venture Partners provided me with a business reason to invest additional time and effort into my humble blog. Ideas Are Worthless.

Newsletter 205

Newsletter Blogging Santa Barbara Content 205

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2019

Everyone assumes their product or service is so great that “word-of-mouth” will carry the day for them. Even great products need great marketing “content” to fuel the ascent of their online message. Your content must continue to deliver new ideas. If you want to connect with customers, put aside your writing formalities.

Customer 93

Customer Custom Marketing Tips 93

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

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. Putting their expensive educations to good use, they aptly named their novelty product a "MouseDriver". blogging, in a sense. From 35 To 500 Readers. every three weeks.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

The final clip is Fred & I talking about whether “the best product wins” and my assertion that the bias in today’s Silicon Valley dominated tech world there is probably too much emphasis on tech at the expense of how to sell, implement and service customers. Blogging is like Venus Fly Paper. Again, Fred.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2012

As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to start selling yourself and your idea. How about talking to some real customers to see if they are as excited about your idea as you are? People forget your early mistakes if they haven’t bought your product yet. Comment on other people’s blogs, as well as writing your own.

Startup 96

Startup Writing Newsletter Blogging 96

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

The news blogs will cover the what, how and how much but I want to focus on the “why” and try to be instructive of what I think makes for a great A-round startup. How does one come up with the right idea to start a company? How does one come up with the right idea to start a company?

Design 150

Design Ideas Startup Writing 150

socalTECH

APRIL 14, 2011

First of all, what's the idea behind StockTwits, for people who haven't used the service? Howard Lindzon: StockTwits is a verticalized community for people to share stock ideas and market ideas, 24/7. Through Howards investment in betaworks, he also owns early shares in Twitter. Only a dummy would do it again.

Ideas 248

Ideas Web Startup Content 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2018

I suggest that the following key reasons from Glei for how the habit of frequency fosters both productivity and innovation in general, apply especially well to an entrepreneur starting a new business: Frequency makes starting easier. Frequency fosters productivity. Getting started is always a challenge. Frequency nurtures frequency.

Startup 57

Startup Writing Blogging Entrepreneur 57

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2020

In our personal lives we’re having to change our routines and figure out how to remain productive?—?often often with other people sharing our homes who have their own ideas of how to use our collective space and time. You need to consider: Has demand for my product fundamentally changed in ways that will persist? What do we eat?

Demand 215

Demand Guide Customer Custom 215

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

When I sit down to write every week I never really imagine what is going to end up resonating the most with people but it seems I’ve most often been defined by my post that I Invest in Lines, not Dots. I became aware of Sam several years ago as I started noticing his name repeated in the comments section of my blog.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

The idea came from having been recently married herself and seeing how expensive it can be to buy a new wedding dress. So Tracy began keeping a blog about … (what else?) Instead of doing guest posts on TechCrunch or speaking at startup conferences, Tracy became a regular contributor on wedding and women’s lifestyle blogs.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

” Part of the beauty of blogging that in two sittings Fred was able to influence what was built over the next 12 months. I loved the idea of “mobile first” but something always bothered me. I’ve wanted to write a blog post called “Mobile Second” for a long time to make this point more forcefully.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 15, 2014

” I have been weighing in slowly on the topic over the past few weeks on Twitter but have avoided writing a blog post about it until now. I first discovered him or her as a commenter on Fred Wilson’s blog. There are many things I am – but different than what I say on this blog is not one of them!

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Blogging Examples Startup 329

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 30, 2013

I started out this year writing about how much I hate December. “You’d imagine your favorite founder, VC, blogger, political figure, billionaire, whatever has a stress free life pontificating about how to build the next really cool, society-altering product or changing a city, state or country. How to say it? Mutter those words.

Blogging 400

Blogging Startup Ideas Press 400

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 7, 2011

As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to start selling yourself and your idea. How about talking to some real customers to see if they are as excited about your idea as you are? People forget your early mistakes if they haven’t bought your product yet. Comment on other people’s blogs, as well as writing your own.

Startup 92

Startup Writing Newsletter Blogging 92

SoCal CTO

MARCH 18, 2010

What are some of the top things you've published online, e.g., blog posts? Vince: In addition to my management writing I’ve interview many CEOs and innovators. I’d love to get your thoughts at some point about writing for these publications vs. on your own blog.

Startup 225

Startup Los Angeles Social Network Twiistup 225

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

In writing anything positive about any of the companies I’m not suggesting that it means that I prefer them to any of their competitors. Also, some of the deals I write about I have actually seen as part of their fund raising process. Finally, a lot of people asking me about typos on my blog. 2.2mm in Series A.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

There is a battle between entrepreneurs who try to change the world and solve a meaningful problem and those who write take-down pieces with no apparent personal benefit other than attention. Who in the auto industry believed Tesla, a totally electric car, was a good idea? ” **. Now they are partners. I’d love even 0.5%

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. It’s why super smart people shouldn’t hate on the idea of simplifying if it provides a tool for the masses.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2013

I suggest that the following key reasons from Glei for how the habit of frequency fosters both productivity and innovation in general, apply especially well to an entrepreneur starting a new business: Frequency makes starting easier. Frequency fosters productivity. Getting started is always a challenge. Frequency nurtures frequency.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Blogging 100