SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. Tell me a bit about your background. Like many product managers, my background is fairly eclectic. That's where I learned I enjoyed interacting with customers and working with development teams to build and launch products.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2017

I’m not talking about someone who has an occasional bad day, but rather people who when asked, “How are things?” Ask a mentor for support. Choose a friend or mentor (not your spouse) whom you trust to tell you the truth, and ask for help. Focus on identifying strengths, and capitalizing on them. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 61

Startup Product Mentor Satisfaction 61

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. 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.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

I’m not talking about someone who has an occasional bad day, but rather people who when asked, “How are things?” Ask a mentor for support. Choose a friend or mentor (not your spouse) whom you trust to tell you the truth, and ask for help. Focus on identifying strengths, and capitalizing on them. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 129

Startup Mentor Satisfaction Writing 129

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

People can build great ecommerce sites with free tools, smartphone apps in their spare time and use crowdfunding to bypass the dreaded angel funding and venture capital penalties. Based on my own experience mentoring real entrepreneurs and likely candidates, there are at least eight categories of non-starters.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Knowledge Base 153

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

I’ve always wondered if there was some way that I could quickly deduce a new entrepreneur’s “sweet spot,” and optimize my mentoring to those strengths and weaknesses, maybe similar to the Myers-Briggs type indicator for business professionals. Ultimately, most get the best help from business advisors and mentors.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

For example, I’m an introverted product guy who doesn’t care so much about building the personnel relationships needed to keep a motivated team. I have found that even the biggest brand leaders, including Bill Gates of Microsoft, and Mark Zuckerberg of Twitter, find time to spend with their mentors and peers.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Customer Custom 133

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

To learn more about how women are looking to change the investment climate--and get involved in investing themselves--we caught up with one of the Pipeline Fellowship''s local mentors, the CEO of Beyond Capital Fund (www.beyondcapitalfund.org), Eva Helene Yazhari , who is here in Los Angeles.

Angel 276

Angel Invest Mentor Technical Review 276

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2022

Many of you business leaders I work with, and entrepreneurs I mentor, have a great strategy and an innovative solution , but struggle with building and motivating the team necessary to run your business. Becoming a totally connected business leader is a very different challenge from building a product, or defining a good strategy.

Mentor 108

Mentor Social Media Coach Customer 108

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2011

Those programs--epitomized by YCombinator in the Bay Area, and TechStars in Boulder, Colorado--attract newly minted entrepreneurs with a mixture of cash and mentoring, and a program which rapidly takes ideas and turns them into viable, executing businesses. Those mentors are not just Bruce and I, although we are full time on this.

Startup 221

Startup Mentor Southern California Incubator 221

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. On sales I often talk about “ Why Buy Anything, Why Buy Now, Why Buy Me ” as a tool to think about a sales process. On marketing I talk about “ Arming & Aiming ” 4.

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

Tech Coast Venture Network

MARCH 9, 2011

Last year, venture capitalists and angels who co-invested with them placed $7 billion into seed and early-stage deals, an 11 percent increase from 2009, according to the most recent PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report. “Most have a strong desire to mentor and help build companies.”

Tips 100

Tips Capital Tech Coast Angels Screening 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

To give visibility to these companies to: Sources of funding (angels / VCs), business development partners, mentors who have themselves built successful companies, the press and potential employees to hire. One senior mentor to Launchpad LA recently said, “I got more out of Launchpad LA than I even put in.

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 29, 2011

I guess no one told him about the medical startups that were purchased by Medtronic, Linvatec, Storz, Mentor, etc., End result, the company’s product timeline has been pushed back substantially and the company’s morale is at an all-time low. all of which continue to thrive in Santa Barbara to this day. Thanks Mr. Big Firm VC.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Capital Funding Technical Review 233

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I remain a huge supporter and am very proud of our accomplishments and hugely optimistic about our future. Working with early-stage teams : coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, rolling up sleeves: 9/10. 5 years ago.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2016

We caught up with Omkar Kulkarni , Director of the new accelerator, to hear more about what the accelerator is looking for, and how it hopes to help promising startups. Both sets of mentors re really united to help drive the pace of growth of these startups, must faster than they might have grown traditionally.

Mentor 100

Mentor Startup Coach Ideas 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2016

We caught up with Omkar Kulkarni , Director of the new accelerator, to hear more about what the accelerator is looking for, and how it hopes to help promising startups. Both sets of mentors re really united to help drive the pace of growth of these startups, must faster than they might have grown traditionally.

Mentor 100

Mentor Startup Coach Ideas 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

We continue to have a steady stream of industry and thought leaders raising their hands to be mentors for our upcoming cohorts. I continue to be intensely interested in the growing integration of AI across multiple products and industries, from simple applications on up to highly sophisticated software and services.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

Based on my recent experience as an angel investor, and advisor to new business owners, I now recommend that all entrepreneurs, especially introverts, learn and practice the discipline they need to build and nurture relationships with key constituents through the following activities: Formalize a mentoring relationship with someone you trust.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

One of the questions we discussed is, “How much capital should a startup raise?” ” Fred & I are both in agreement that there is a tension between capital constraints and creativity. We also spoke about what it takes to be an effective board member. I promise it’s worth watching.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

I first met Greg about 4 years ago or so. He shared tons of information about how how they were using marketing to quantitatively make marketing decisions at HauteLook and acquire customers for prices that were far cheaper than similar companies. Natural mentors – a desire to help. So we talked about his joining.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2019

As an advisor to technical entrepreneurs, the most common mistake I see is the “If we build it, they will come” approach with no sales plan, under the assumption that the technology is so spectacular that customers will buy the product. Hone in and capitalize on your best assets. Eliminate the fuzzy hype words from your message.

Mentor 90

Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2010

According to Lehmbeck, in an interview with socalTECH, the company's software takes key specifications from products such as televisions and other consumer electronics, and applies them to ads automatically, so that instead of just advertising a big screen television an ad might contain key terms and information about those products.

Yahoo 145

Yahoo Paid Search GRP Partners SoCalTech 145

Frank Addante

OCTOBER 12, 2021

I’m super excited about it — but I don’t know — I’ll let you know when I figure that out.”. Well, after months of soul searching and talking to 100 people (one of my key rules before starting any business or product) — I figured it out! I’m super excited about it! We call it TinkerBarn Ventures. In a big way!

Startup 105

Startup Case Study Ideas Invest 105

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

I’ve written a few posts about boards recently as part of a series on the subject. I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic. In the Early Days. As You Start to Mature.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

In other news we announced the closing of $61 million in funding at Maker Studios , which I’ll talk publicly about soon. It was a software platform for allowing advertisers to purchase brand integration (product placements) as a standardized unit through a marketplace. I wrote about that decision here. What does that mean?

Invest 340

Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

I have talked about this publicly a great deal – how I prefer “missionaries” over “mercenaries.” The confidence, energy, passion and humor that are hallmarks of Jonathan became muted in the pressures of needing to show financial successes to match one’s enormous product vision and ambitions.

Startup 303

Startup Technical Review Product Blogging 303

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs like you that I have met in my role as a business advisor are really product creators versus business creators, convinced that a great product will generate a great business. In most businesses, this means selling something, and proving that your product or service has value.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 13, 2012

Running that effort is Kevin Hell , the founder of DivX, who we caught up with to learn more about EvoNexus and how the group is trying to help grow technology startups in San Dieog. We'd love to learn about EvoNexus and what you are doing - can you talk about the program a little bit? It's a unique, community supported model.

Incubator 212

Incubator San Diego Technical Review Development Team Review 212

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2019

People can build great ecommerce sites with free tools, smartphone apps in their spare time and use crowdfunding to bypass the dreaded angel funding and venture capital penalties. Based on my own experience mentoring real entrepreneurs and likely candidates, there are at least eight categories of non-starters.

Startup 126

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Knowledge Base 126

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). It means avoiding drinking too much at cocktail parties with other tech people and bragging about your plans.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that many of you have your most creative ideas for your company’s first big bang , but often get bogged down with details as the company grows. When Yvon Chouinard founded Patagonia with creative outdoor products, he pitched also a purpose of helping the environment.

Company 148

Company Companies Ideas Mentor 148

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

It’s a great one about entrepreneurship, friendship and the collaborative economy that is helping families in need across the world. I had known about DogVacay since its inception. ” I wrote about this movement in the link to the left and also published this widely read presentation on the topic. That’s a fact.

Venture Capital 344

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review San Diego 344

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

Are users willing to check into local businesses with another, mobile check-in product? We caught up with co-founder Michael Wong , who told us about how the company is looking to change the model for local check-ins, and also help businesses with getting the word out about their services. What is MergeLocal?

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

We then spoke about startups. What I’ve learned about Sequoia is that when you’re straightforward about the facts they just try to help. He grew up in Connecticut attended Yale undergrad and worked for IBM after graduation doing M&A, strategy and venture capital. Nothing but value add. They look at data.

Startup 286

Startup Venture Capital Web Ideas 286

socalTECH

AUGUST 25, 2015

How did the idea to launch your own accelerator come about? Those companies wanted to partner with us, and to put commercial arrangements in place with the Dodgers, to better validate their product and why they were building what they were to solve industry issues.

Startup 100

Startup Invest Resource Entertainment 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

One of the interesting things about being a VC is that you often see companies in transition. In a VC business when you raise additional capital you need to “level up” and act the round you are. In some cases this is about getting routine tasks off of the founders plates. Act your stage.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381