Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2022

Many of you don’t like to think of it this way, but penetrating a target market with your startup is a lot like a military invasion. I’ve learned over the years that you need to start with specific goals, a focused strategy , and a motivated and prepared team in order to penetrate competitive defenses.

Marketing 125

Marketing Technical Review Startup Resource 125

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. In fact, if you add the capital flows of the past ten years, there have been just shy of $50 billion in net cash outlays.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venture capital is not an asset class” or “venture capital has performed terribly.” Having worked through the data with Glenn I am even more optimistic about venture capital than I was even a year ago. Thus is a key point.

Venture Capital 362

Venture Capital Capital Startup Writing 362

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2019

Most entrepreneurs are quick to assert to potential investors that their product or solution will kill the competition, but unfortunately your opinion alone is not enough to convince most experienced investors. First of all, you need some convincing market research that your solution addresses a real and growing problem.

Competition 86

Competition Patents Startup Customer 86

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

Traditional marketing may be adequate for linear growth, but it likely won’t catapult you to Amazon’s unicorn status , or make waves in the business world. For example, I usually hear about an aggressive marketing budget, with a plan to penetrate a few big retail chains, and some videos to catch your attention on YouTube.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Customer 170

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2022

Build positive psychological capital to sustain your business. In any business, you need hope, confidence, resilience, and optimism to weather the daily challenges of customers, market changes, and competitors. Today is the age of the entrepreneur, with the cost of entry at an all-time low, and the global market at an all-time high.

Capital 114

Capital Coach Satisfaction Ideas 114

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2019

The company said that its "vibrant yellow color" is what helps it compete with other scooter options available on the market. SUN is led by CEO Kevin Ellyson, and the company says it is advised by Brandon Maier, Founder of WestWave Ventures, and Founding Partner of Quake Capital. SUN did not say how many scooters it has deployed.

Demand 124

Demand Marketing San Diego Los Angeles 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

San Diego-based Qualcomm said Tuesday that it is launching its second annual venture investment competition, the Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition. According to the firm, this year's competition will provide up to $750,000 in seed funding to entrepreneurs working on mobile ventures. READ MORE>>.

Competition 154

Competition Seed Funding Venture Capital San Diego 154

socalTECH

APRIL 9, 2012

Santa Monica-based DogVacay , the online marketplace which helps dog owners connect with pet lovers to help watch their dogs, has some new competition today: Rover.com. DogVacay, which is led by Aaron Hirschhorn, has the backing of such firms as First Round Capital, Science Inc., READ MORE>>.

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Competition Santa Monica Capital Help 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

While you all recognize that reacting to weak market signals is critical to staying in business and staying competitive, I find that many don’t have the skills and focus to trigger change decisions on a timely basis. Make sure you think creatively to add as many new items as you phase out old ones.

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Customer 162

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened? People were building.

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Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

This morning's interview is with Kevin O'Connor , a longtime investor and serial entrepreneur, who is now running venture capital investment firm ScOp Venture Capital. Congrats on the new name for your venture capital firm. It's always hard with venture capital. Tell us a little bit about the firm?

Venture Capital 145

Venture Capital Startup Invest Capital 145

socalTECH

JANUARY 10, 2013

It looks like competition is heating up in the smart parking market--and for local parking technology firm Parkme , which is based in Santa Monica--as yet another company announced Thursday more funding for giving consumers real-time information about available parking spaces. READ MORE>>.

Competition 187

Competition Santa Monica Funding Marketing 187

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2018

Los Angeles-based on-demand scooter rental service Bird will have to compete against both Uber and Lyft in its fight for the San Francisco market. According to The Verge, both companies have applied for electric scooters in San Francisco, and are hoping to operate electric scooters there. READ MORE>>.

Competition 100

Competition Demand Equity Los Angeles 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

With the enormous changes to our economies and financial markets?—?how how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued?

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 -- Social Enterprise Venture Competition. Through the Social Venture Competition, 9 semi-finalist nonprofits competed in a business plan competition, presenting their plans to a panel of business and social investors who provided valuable feedback and coaching to each presenting organization.

Competition 100

Competition Coach Mentor Training 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

In this three-part series I will explore the ways that the Venture Capital industry has changed over the past 5 years that I would argue are a direct result of changes in the software industry, not the other way around. million in team costs to code, launch, manage, market & sell our software. I find this strange. And maddening.

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Venture Capital Software Capital Startup 334

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2011

This is the final part of a 3-part series on the major changes in the structure of the software & the venture capital industries. With more competition in early-stage many VCs are investing smaller amounts at earlier stages. But … Downsizing Venture Capital. The series started here if you want to read from the start.

Venture Capital 289

Venture Capital Capital Cloud Computing Marketing 289

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Los Angeles-based dog sitting marketplace DogVacay has raised $25M more in a Series B1 funding, the company disclosed this morning, as the competition heats up for the "top dog" in the market. The new round was led by Omers Ventures, and also included GSV Capital, Science Inc., READ MORE>>.

Competition 166

Competition Venture Capital Startup Capital 166

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

And while the grocery delivery market has become increasingly competitive, Hall argued that Good Eggs stands out thanks to the quality and breadth of its products — 70% of its products are locally sourced, and it often delivers them within 48 hours of harvesting. That’s a meaningful increase in our addressable market.”

Southern California 318

Southern California Orange County San Diego Commerce 318

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 10, 2021

Previous backers include Sequoia Capital, SilverLake, Dragoneer and Ant Group, among others. and plans to use its new capital in part to continue to grow there and globally. Overall, Klarna is live in 20 markets, has more than 90 million global active users and more than 2 million transactions a day conducted on its platform.

Los Angeles 266

Los Angeles Funding CIO Marketing 266

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

Serial entrepreneur, venture investor and startup accelerator pioneer Brad Feld has notoriously mocked traditional marketing throughout his career. If you have amazing products, the marketing of those products is trivial. If you have $hitty products, the marketing is impossible. Trada – Guerilla Marketing In Action.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2018

The only “sustainable competitive advantage” in business is self-awareness. Here are some key points for benchmarking your own sense of self, and the self-awareness of those around you, with a bit of guidance on how to get to the next level and capitalize on it: At a peak or valley, you are not your greatest self.

Competition 81

Competition Startup Examples Coach 81

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2021

Two startups won a total of $25,000 in prizes last week at the Sunstone Innovations Challenge at CSULB, a startup pitch competition involving student teams from CSU Long Beach.

Long Beach 113

Long Beach Seed Funding Startup Competition 113

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Most of the venture capital firms covered in TechCrunch and other tech publications compete for a spot on the cap table of the hottest Bay Area, New York or Los Angeles companies of the moment. Since Revolution launched in 2005, venture capital activity in underrepresented markets has grown significantly.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding Activity 211

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

Just ask the people of Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Iowa, Princeton, Dallas or countless other cities that don’t have enough venture capital. If you don’t live in a major VC zone, I have some tips for how to make it easier to raise Venture Capital. For starters I’d try to raise my initial capital locally.

Venture Capital 365

Venture Capital Marketing Santa Barbara Startup 365

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2018

Since I am a techie at heart, I always get excited when founders pitch their new innovation as “disruptive,” meaning that it is so unique that it will create a new market and disrupt the existing value network, displacing established products and markets. Find a way to highlight elements of social responsibility.

Marketing 89

Marketing Technology Customer Custom 89

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2015

They don’t realize that knocking competitors is assessed as a weakness and denying that you have any competition suggests there is no market for your solution. Position your solution as broadening the market, not killing a competitor. Quantify your value over current market alternatives.

Capital 63

Capital Competition Case Study Patents 63

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2012

Porter proposed his Five Forces framework for analyzing the competitive environment which I think makes even more sense today. Every existing business, as well as every startup, needs to reassess their product or service in the context of these five forces: Intensity of competitive rivalry. Way back in 1979, Michael E.

Competition 94

Competition Startup Pricing Framework 94

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2019

Santa Monica-based Super League Gaming , which operates its own e-sports competition site and community, is headed for the public markets, hoping to raise as much as $31.36M for the company, according to a regulatory filing by the firm. Super League Gaming is led by President and CEO Ann Hand. READ MORE>>.

Santa Monica 113

Santa Monica .Net Competition Sales 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

It is simply the most important way to proactively control your career development and how the market perceives you. It will affect your ability to get the right jobs and promotions as well as your ability to attract talent and capital. That was fine with me – the market is the market. That was the market.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

One of the least understood parts of the venture capital industry and venture capital firms is how investment decisions actually get made. I want to fail because I backed an extraordinary entrepreneur with a super-ambitious project and we were just wrong about market timing, customer adoption, competition, regulation or similar.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Startup Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2023

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. Ideas have to be implemented well to change a market, or the world. Find enough venturesome capital. But unfortunately, most of these ideas fail at the execution level, or are not truly innovative.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 101

TechCrunch LA

MAY 29, 2019

This is like talking about the NBA and the value of its sponsorships and broadcast rights as if that is the entirety of the basketball market in the US. Starting at 21, I worked at a venture capital firm called IncWell based in Birmingham, Michigan then joined a startup called Rocket Fiber. Eric P: What then drove you to found PlayVS?

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Startup Coach Competition Los Angeles 204

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Small Business Grants to Apply For Today If your business doesn't have enough capital to take on future debts or has a unique specialism or back story that could catch the eye of grantors, it might be a good idea to apply for a grant. It's competitive though – last year 18,000 applicants competed for only 12 slots.

Technical Review 194

Technical Review Software Review Startup Competition 194

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

For a new business, you can provide unique ingredients, but the preparation steps in your business plan must follow a tried and true recipe for startup success: Identify a market with a real need. You need a good cook, good marketing, and first-class service. investors invest in people, not ideas) Effective and timely go-to-market.

Startup 112

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 112

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

Too many startups rush into battle early, assuming any progress will somehow give them the competitive advantage. Lining up your resources is critical, but so is time to market. Capitalize on strengths and shore up weak points. Prepare thoroughly and strike fast. ready-aim-aim-aim-aim-aim.). Marty Zwilling.

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Startup Resource Entrepreneur Training 146