Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. Entrepreneurs who have been really transformative, like Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, seemed to know how to deal with all the right elements. Look for customer-focused value creation.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Yet I’m still often approached by aspiring entrepreneurs who have neither.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2021

Every entrepreneur realizes that change is now the norm, and they have to adapt their business quickly to survive and prosper. In fact, the best entrepreneurs seem to see breakthrough changes coming even before they really happen, and are able to turn them into huge new opportunities. Technically, this is known as perceptual acuity.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Summary Patents Examples 173

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. Non-specific terms, like better usability and low cost don’t incite customers to action these days. This approach is not convincing.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

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. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Overall I like the principles in the classic book “ Robert’s Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival ,” by Robert F. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Target market. Sales/Marketing.

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2021

When I started mentoring entrepreneurs and startups a few years ago, I anticipated that I would get mostly tough technical questions, but instead I more often hear things like “Where do I start?” It doesn’t matter how good your product or service is if most of your potential customers don’t know about it. The marketplace is a war zone.

Entrepreneur 138

Entrepreneur Activity Guide Patents 138

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2023

Your concept has to be understood by customers and investors in 30 seconds or less, and everyone needs to immediately see how awesome it would be, or that they would be nuts not to have it. I’m looking for the “hook” right up front, or I lose interest quickly, just like every customer and investor these days.

Startup 96

Startup Education Ideas Customer 96

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Overall I like the principles in the classic book “ Robert’s Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival ,” by Robert F. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Coach Metrics Competition 64

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2015

Every entrepreneur and every business needs a strategy to keep them focused. Every business strategy should still be based first on a long-term business vision and goal – referred to by James Collins and Jerry Porras in their classic book “ Built to Last ” as the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). What drives the economic engine?

Customer 102

Customer Custom Organization Course 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Overall I like the principles in the classic book “ Robert’s Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival ,” by Robert F. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Ownership.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2021

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. It’s here that entrepreneurs must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial. That’s a big step from one product for one customer.

Startup 171

Startup Organization Training Entrepreneur 171

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. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need to spread the risk.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Equity 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Yet I’m still often approached by aspiring entrepreneurs who have neither.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

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. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

Your concept has to be understood by customers and investors in 30 seconds or less, and everyone needs to immediately see how awesome it would be, or that they would be nuts not to have it. I’m looking for the “hook” right up front, or I lose interest quickly, just like every customer and investor these days.

Startup 166

Startup Education Ideas Customer 166

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

An excellent example is the initiative by Elon Musk and Tesla Motors a few years ago to give away their battery patents, to infrastructure and competitive car providers, without transactional agreements. FabLab s is an example of a new class of facilities for entrepreneurs to start experimenting early. Not everything will work.

IBM 131

IBM IBM Startup Examples 131

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

That’s why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great “idea” person. Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. You must also learn from your customers. Yes, there are a lot of bridges to cross.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2014

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. The same is true for filing patents, registering trademarks, and filing copyrights. Work out of your home, and keep your own books. Martin Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Commerce 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. Some entrepreneurs seem to think that their product pitch is also their investor pitch. The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten minutes.

Slides 147

Slides Funding Technical Review Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2021

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. The resources are out there to help you, like the book mentioned, this blog, and many more. Use them and win.

Software Review 123

Software Review Seed Funding Funding Startup 123

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe their initial idea and inspiration requires the most important creative thinking. Experienced entrepreneurs will tell you that the initial idea is the easy part, and it’s the later implementation, and the competitive business marketing that are the real creative challenges. Think the unthinkable.

Ideas 109

Ideas Entrepreneur Patents Training 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I find that more and more entrepreneurs avoid using the term “profit” in pitching their new venture. Of course, I understand and don’t condone bad actors who get greedy, and exploit ways to unjustly squeeze customers and employees. Solve a painful problem for customers who have money to spend.

Entrepreneur 58

Entrepreneur Ideas Pricing Customer 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2022

Every entrepreneur and every business needs a strategy to keep them focused. It might be a patented technology, but it could also be the creativity of employees or logistic competencies of the company. These days, you won’t last long as an entrepreneur with one “next big thing.” What can you be the best in the world at?

Organization 118

Organization Course Patents Entrepreneur 118

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2012

When I started mentoring entrepreneurs and startups a few years ago, I anticipated that I would get mostly tough technical questions, but instead I more often hear things like “Where do I start?” It doesn’t matter how good your product or service is if most of your potential customers don’t know about it. The marketplace is a war zone.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Guide 110

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2013

Everyone recognizes a great entrepreneur when they work with one, but most entrepreneurs don’t know what to look for in themselves that will drive that perception by others. The points are great, but can be made even simpler and more actionable by adapting then to the world of the entrepreneur: Demonstrate character.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Examples Ideas 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

I just finished a new book by Stephen J. As a self-made entrepreneur and former chairman of Diamond Resorts International, he asserts that the five biggest companies by market value today, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, aren’t really tech, but hospitality companies. Commit to continuous improvement.

Technical Advisors 82

Technical Advisors Artificial Inteligence Customer Custom 82

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need to spread the risk.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Equity 102

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2018

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. Entrepreneurs who have been really transformative, like Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, seemed to know how to deal with all the right elements. Look for customer-focused value creation.

Guide 95

Guide Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 95

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2012

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. The resources are out there to help you, like the book mentioned, this blog, and many more. Use them and win.

Seed Funding 100

Seed Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Funding 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Every young entrepreneur knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Of course, a real entrepreneur always takes a failure as a milestone on the road to success. How can you improve your odds?

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Statistics 109