Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2022

One of the things I’ve learned over my years as a business mentor and investor is that life isn’t fair when it comes to succeeding in business. I see a good discussion of the relevant strengths and issues in a new book, “ The Unfair Advantage ,” by Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba. Intelligence and insight: book and street smarts.

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Help Mentor Paramount Technical Review 130

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. A great business plan doesn’t have to be a book in length, with extensive financial statements.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2012

I’m a big fan of mentoring in business, and have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the process. These days, I seem to often hear from entrepreneurs who are struggling to find a mentor, or complaining about their lack of effectiveness. When you meet with a mentor, you should lead the discussion.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Every new business dreams of growing from a startup to a global market leader in a few years, like Amazon.com, but that goal is elusive. As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago.

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Marketing Technical Review Custom Customer 123

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2017

Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. For example, I remember a classic book by Penina Rybak, “ The NICE Reboot ,” that does a great job of outlining problem solving steps, honed from working with special needs youngsters.

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Satisfaction Marketing Mentor Entrepreneur 53

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2021

The issue in these cases was usually not the technology per se, but the bigger business picture of marketable prices, ease of use, and support infrastructures. The best entrepreneurs have the best “little black book” of expert contacts. Even the best have mentors they really use. Networking requires sharing as well as taking.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2021

Some get stuck in a rut and get run over by competitors with new technology, like Eastman Kodak, and others get pushed into a crisis, like Apple did, before they reinvent themselves into a new market. In his classic book “ Invent, Reinvent, Thrive ,” Lloyd E. Find mentors who have the skills you lack.

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Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Custom 167

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

Some get stuck in a rut and get run over by competitors with new technology, like Eastman Kodak, and others get pushed into a crisis, like Apple did, before they reinvent themselves into a new market. In his recent book “ Invent, Reinvent, Thrive ,” Lloyd E. Find mentors who have the skills you lack.

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Technical Review Marketing Mentor Entrepreneur 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2021

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. A great business plan doesn’t have to be a book in length, with extensive financial statements.

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Sample Writing Mentor Content 137

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

Thus, in my mentoring of potential technical entrepreneurs who have a real passion for their technology, I often recommend that they find a co-founder who can manage the marketing and execution elements of the new venture. If tracking the market and reality checking are not your thing, you may need a partner who can fill that gap.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. A few years ago, I first saw an interesting step in that direction via the classic book “ Entrepreneurial DNA ,” by Joe Abraham , with his assessment web site. Some just want to change the world and make it a better place.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2023

If you are one of these, you may be missing win-win opportunities to incrementally expand existing markets, create new ones enabled by new technologies, or do good for society in this new age. I found many non-disruption recommendations in the new book, “ Beyond Disruption ,” by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 3, 2022

I was pleased to see these personal branding messages highlighted and confirmed in a new book, “ The New Brand You ,” by branding guru Catherine Kaputa. For example, with a strong background in traditional marketing, you may reposition yourself as a digital marketing expert, with a much better opportunity. Don’t be too humble.

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Social Media Summary Startup Mentor 125

socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Los Angeles-based Laudville , a startup developing an online platform to help users share entertainment like movies, books, TV, and music with friends, has added Gene Chuang to its board of advisors, according to the firm. Search Marketing, YP.com/AT&T Interactive and Chegg. Chuang is also a mentor at Muckerlab.

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Oversee.net Chief Technology Officer Entertainment Yahoo 190

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2021

Every entrepreneur with a new technology tells me that his innovation will be industry-disrupting, meaning that it will render the existing technology obsolete, and create a new market. Entrepreneurs tend to look for big changes and big markets when seeking disruptive opportunities, when the opposite may be more effective.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Ironically, as a startup investor and mentor, I have seen too many failures caused by just the opposite – too much money spent too soon, taking time to get product perfection, and assuming customers will wait. It allows them turn resource constraints into stunning new businesses. Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2015

Every entrepreneur with a new technology tells me that his innovation will be industry-disrupting, meaning that it will render the existing technology obsolete, and create a new market. Entrepreneurs tend to look for big changes and big markets when seeking disruptive opportunities, when the opposite may be more effective.

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Marketing Technical Review Entrepreneur Custom 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. This fallacy, often called historical myopia, essentially involves extrapolating only from recent positive events, and ignoring the reality that markets saturate or evaporate. Failing to adapt to tectonic shifts in the market.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. Pivot early, as required, to tune your features and marketing to meet the market and technical realities.

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Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. More recently, the concepts have been applied to the general business management context, in a classic book by Certified Turnaround Professional, Thomas H. Bottlenecks to team productivity.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

You can review all the specifics of this approach in the classic book by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom, appropriately titled “ Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation ,” but I will net it out here. Nail the go-to-market strategy.

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Technical Review Custom Customer Entrepreneur 143

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2019

Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. For example, I remember a classic book by Penina Rybak, “ The NICE Reboot ,” that does a great job of outlining problem solving steps, honed from working with special needs youngsters.

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Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review Summary 85

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

Huddlewoo a live video platform set to launch early 2013 to give people the ability to access extraordinary people for one-on-one conversations and mentoring. A graduate of Ohio Northern University , Ferres built a digital marketing agency called BounceFire , which was acquired in May 2011 by a company in Phoenix, AZ.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2023

I’m fully convinced that success is all about you rather than the market. In this context, I was impressed with the insights provided in a new book, “ Stay Sane In An Insane World ,” by peak performance coach Greg Harden. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Become the very best friend to yourself always.

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Mentor Startup Coach Satisfaction 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2021

The importance and reality of this need has been detailed well in the classic book, “ State of Readiness ,” by Joseph F. The best leaders are mentors to their team, and they are stewards of a company’s assets and vision. Your task is follow-up in support, mentoring, and setting goals. Communicate the vision, then execute.

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Tips Startup Mentor Press 170

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Be a dreamer first, but a realist on marketplace risk.

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Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2023

Anyone can build a new web site, or publish a smartphone app for a few thousand dollars, but getting market penetration requires a lot more. That’s why the classic book, “ The Leader’s Mindset: How to Win In The Age Of Disruption ,” resonated strongly with me. Take a hard look at SpaceX or HyperLoop. Marty Zwilling

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

They rarely highlight their marketing and relationship skills , even though, in my experience, these are more often the key to success in business than product skills. In addition to listening, they spent much of their time communicating their vision and marketing themselves to everyone they encountered.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2022

These challenges, with recommendations for addressing them, were detailed nicely for me in the classic book, “ The Boomerang Principle ,” by Lee Caraher, who has built several companies, and has helped many others manage Millennials, reduce turnover, and improve satisfaction and the return hire rate.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

In my role as a mentor to entrepreneurs and an angel investor, I find that too many are stuck in this myth that a good pitch, and good marketing content, should consist of more product features, and more hype on customer benefits. With the current data overload, we remember someone who does more than inform us.

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Marketing Startup Social Media Content 69

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2022

I found real insights into this strategy, along with specific sources of purpose inspiration in a new book, “ Leading With Heart ,” by John Baird and Edward Sullivan. I offer here their summary of purposes and inspirations that have motivated existing business leaders, with insights from my own mentoring and coaching experience.

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Technical Review Coach Mentor Custom 143

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

And we wanted a head of global marketing. He had an idea for a startup that would help consumers better book service jobs and would take on Service Magic, which he believed had a business model that could be disrupted. I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. The company was called Red Beacon.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

Yet I find, as a mentor and outside consultant, that many of you focus only on working conditions and compensation as the key factors determining team engagement , health, and productivity. Thus I was pleased to see a much more complete and broader perspective of employee support recommendations in a new book, “ Employees First! ”

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Technical Review Mentor Social Media Custom 141

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

That’s why I was pleased to see the balance on people versus process in a classic book on how to fix your organization, “ The Diamond Process ,” by Mike Diamond and Christopher Harding. Today’s pace of change in the market and in technology is unprecedented. Priority is placed on employee mentoring and coaching.

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Coach Mentor Organization Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2021

Ironically, as a startup investor and mentor, I have seen too many failures caused by just the opposite – too much money spent too soon, taking time to get product perfection, and assuming customers will wait. It allows them turn resource constraints into stunning new businesses. Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity.

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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?” If you don’t market your business, you won’t have one. Marketing and advertising are business realties. The marketplace is a war zone.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2022

I learned some good lessons along these lines from the classic book “ The Way of the SEAL ,” by Mark Divine. Offense, for entrepreneurs, means leading with a new business model, new marketing, and new technology. Leverage the resources of mentors, investors, and peers. Never be thrown off-guard by chaotic conditions.

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