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? It was 1991.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2023

Every startup founder rightfully starts out as the single leader of the startup, but as the business grows, many entrepreneurs struggle with relinquishing any control, or fail to recognize and allow other leaders to emerge. Few things make a difference in a startup like hidden leaders who are focused on results.

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Capital Startup Entrepreneur Customer 107

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

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Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2022

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. High-technology product startups, without customers, don’t make a business. During today’s dynamic customer journey, consumers often find themselves at a point of indecision.

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Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

A common pain of startups after an exhilarating first surge of early adopters is a long and frustrating plateau of slow growth, where it seems like nothing you do will get your business to profitability. This starts with multiple messages from the top that growth is now the highest job priority, and key to survival.

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Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Metrics 134

TechCrunch LA

MAY 3, 2022

” She grew up in Houston and went on to attend Stanford and major in engineering. The company Winters was working for sponsored her MBA to Harvard Business School, and it was there that she came up with the idea for Upgrade. One of Britney Winters’ goals is to “live a less tangled life.” The company, which raised $1.7

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Tool Customer Custom Marketing 179

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

In my experience, the Silicon Valley startup model, focused on disrupting established industries, has treated the USA well and created some great global businesses. It has played almost no role in the emergence of current non-US bred startups, including Alibaba in China, Waze from Israel, Paytm in India, and many more.

Capital 138

Capital Marketing Ideas Venture Capital 138

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2023

A common question I get is “How do I get a bank loan to fund my startup?” The default answer is that it probably won’t happen, because most banks just don’t make bank loans to startups. The failure rate is just too high, and startups typically don’t have the assets or revenue stream to back up the loan.

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Startup Equity Sites Funding 117

TechCrunch LA

MAY 25, 2019

Hello and welcome back to Startups Weekly, a newsletter published every Saturday that dives into the week’s most noteworthy venture deals, fundraises, M&A transactions and trends. Let’s take a quick moment to catch up. Haus, like any good consumer startup in 2019, is shipped directly to your door. Fundraising.

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Startup Venture Capital Newsletter Tips 223

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2021

Today’s customers are overloaded and overwhelmed by too much information, so making a decision is a challenge. You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process.

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Customer Custom Sales Social Media 136

socalTECH

APRIL 23, 2019

Los Angeles-based March Capital is the lead investor in an artificial intelligence startup, which is aiming at improving employee service, as it further continues its theme of investing in big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning startups in the enterprise.

Artificial Inteligence 113

Artificial Inteligence Capital Startup Invest 113

Tech.Co

JANUARY 3, 2022

Well, another year has come and gone, and while we're yet to leave the pandemic behind, it has led to a record number of small businesses starting up. By allowing people to use their own unused capital as loans for the less fortunate, SoLo acts as an intermediary between those who need the money, and those who are willing to lend it.

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Startup Invest FAQ Examples 200

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I spend a lot of time with startups and thus hear many companies talk about their approach to sales and their interactions with customers. From these meetings you can really tell the leaders that care deeply about their customers and those the look down on them. Starting with a positive. You’d be very wrong.

Customer 341

Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2018

This year, we're sponsoring the Recurring Revenue Conference (www.recurringrevenueconference.com), presented by Sutton Capital Partners. What's the biggest lesson you've learned about retaining and keeping your customers using the subscription model? How does customer service tie into all of this?

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Customer Custom Conference Social Media 166

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

I recently sat down with Matt Coffin , the founder of LowerMyBills, which sold for $400 million but was very nearly a bankruptcy only a few years early, and talked “startups.&#. Matt is one of the most transparent, focused & honest startup guys you’ll meet. Or read the quick, informative summary below the image!

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Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

The world keeps changing, and visible business strategies that worked well in the past, including being the premium brand or low price producer, simply don’t get the customer loyalty they once did. Today, customers are looking for real relationships, a memorable shopping experience, and satisfaction of a higher purpose.

Customer 133

Customer Custom Satisfaction Examples 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2023

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. There is real value in doing the key things yourself, before your startup is even started: Demonstrate thought leadership before selling a product. Follow up personally on every new connection.

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Ideas Startup Social Media Blogging 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

Many passionate entrepreneurs fight to add more features into their new products and services, assuming that more function will make the solution more appealing to more customers. Focus is the art of limiting your scope to the key function that really matters for the majority of customers. It’s tough for an elephant to be agile.

Startup 114

Startup IBM IBM Social Media 114

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Cybersecurity insurance startup At-Bay has raised $34 million in its Series C round, the company announced Tuesday. The round was led by Qumra Capital, a new investor. The company differentiates itself from the pack by monitoring the perimeter of its customers’ networks and alerting them to security risks or vulnerabilities.

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Startup Demand Los Angeles Customer 288

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Do you need a board when you first start you company? If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards.

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Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 28, 2022

With over 305 million start-ups being created every year globally, standing out from the crowd is a huge challenge. We've scoured the startup scene to find out which budding businesses have made big waves in 2022 — and whose growth is showing no signs of slowing down. Sign up to Tech.co's weekly newsletter today.

Startup 118

Startup Artificial Inteligence Platform Newsletter 118

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

After a decade on the job I’ve started to speak more openly when newer industry colleagues now ask me what I’ve learned. We then help surround founders with other talent who want to join important causes but don’t have the startup idea themselves. Fundamentally venture capital is about human capital.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 150

TechCrunch LA

MAY 19, 2018

In startup-land, however, the presumptions about where housing demand is going looks a bit different. Seeking roommates and venture capital. A Crunchbase News analysis of residential-focused real estate startups uncovered a raft of companies with a shared and temporary housing focus that have raised funding in the past year or so.

Startup 272

Startup Los Angeles Demand Social Network 272

socalTECH

AUGUST 24, 2017

Los Angeles-based March Capital appears to be having a busy investment week this week, and has led an $30M, Series B funding in Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Descartes Labs , a developer of software used for satellite imagery analysis. The round also included a customer, Cargill. READ MORE>>.

Capital 150

Capital Funding Startup Los Angeles 150

Berkonomics

JANUARY 12, 2023

Management undertakes a simple exercise of calculating the increased profitability of shutting down all R&D, sales and subordinate operations, and universally notes with shock the high net profit that results – from shutting down all operations except customer service to recurring customers (as in software support operations.).

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Sales Customer Custom SaaS 296

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2022

Sometimes the hesitation I see is not just the qualms of starting and growing a business, but an actual inability to think big, chase dreams, or build a support community around you. Good brainstorming requires you to assemble a half-dozen of the right people who are not afraid to speak up and participate. No idea should go unspoken.

Startup 142

Startup Ideas Satisfaction Social Media 142

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entrée for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Yet you may not be so sure where to start, and how to put it all together. Don’t be afraid to test your ultimate entree on customers.

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

socalTECH

MARCH 4, 2016

Uber and Capital One said today that they are offering up four, free rides to each of its customers in Los Angeles through UberPOOL, starting today and running through Sunday, March 6th.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Capital Los Angeles 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. The average amount per startup has been $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment.

Startup 109

Startup Funding Equity Invest 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Startup 148

Startup Ideas Equity Invest 148

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2023

Both authors are recipients of numerous academic and management awards for leadership thinking, and I will summarize here their key strategy insights, combined with my own experiences: Lead with a focus on finding customer value. I encourage you to dream big, but start small, and size these opportunities.

Capital 142

Capital Netflix Resource Customer 142

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2020

Los Angeles-based March Capital Partners is the lead investor in a big, $32M funding round for ActionIQ , a startup which provides personalization software to enterprise customers. As part of the funding, March Capital's Meredith Finn, a Partner at the firm, will join ActionIQ's board. READ MORE>>.

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Capital Invest Software Los Angeles 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kauffman Foundation , the numbers are here to show it. Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan. Per the words of an old country song, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” If you are losing money on every unit, it’s hard to make it up in volume. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Customer personalities define customer experience, and sets what they love, and what they hate. Display real customer value feedback versus value claims.

Customer 158

Customer Custom Social Media Satisfaction 158

Tech Coast Venture Network

APRIL 22, 2010

Virgina Lorimor There are several options for financing a start-up business that tend to follow a natural course in a business’ development: Personal Investment. This is where all entrepreneurs have to start. Angel Investors & Venture Capital. Tags: Funding General financing funding startup.

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Startup Tech Coast Angels TCVN Incubator 124