Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have enough resources to bootstrap our own startups, so we are completely dependent on investors to help turn great ideas into great businesses. Of course, you need to show how your business will make money and provide an impressive investor return, but that should be only the beginning.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. On the average, the entrepreneurs I know are living on Ramen noodles. I’m not talking about academic classes, because at best these only teach you how to learn. Read entrepreneur stories. Formal learning.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Mentor Case Study 93

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2022

A major chunk of this activity is provided by the newer class of “super angels,” who often look more like micro-VCs, except that they are investing their own money. This helps the startups with the most opportunity move forward quickly to greater success. Super angels have greater scope to match talent with a startup.

Guide 136

Guide Venture Capital Funding Class 136

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2012

These resources are definitely not limited to students, since every university seeks out and needs the real world exposure and experience of entrepreneurs who already are active in the real world marketplace. Take advantage of the tech classes, labs, equipment, and graduate students looking for real world problems to research.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Incubator Mentor Research 92

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I’m very excited to be finally be able to announce that this week we’ve added Sam Rosen to our ranks at GRP Partners in the role of entrepreneurs-in-residence – EIR. We’re excited to continue to grow our investment professional staff and will continue to do so over the course of 2013 & 2014 with our new fund.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2022

If every entrepreneur could predict the future, starting the right new business would be easy. As Boomers migrate to the Sunbelt, and everyone orders more online, I can hardly wait for drones to use the sky to help out. Education: More students and different classes.

Demand 103

Demand Startup Course Summary 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2010

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. On the average, the entrepreneurs I know are broke. I’m not talking about academic classes, because at best these only teach you how to learn. Read entrepreneur stories. Formal learning. It won’t happen.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Startup Mentor Case Study 96

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

Entrepreneurs talk to customers and competitors talk to each other about the new trends and technologies they see. This can help you get in the door when you are ready, and asking questions early will give you insights on investor priorities. Being open is the new business culture around the world.

Marketing 105

Marketing Startup Search Engine Optimization Ideas 105

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. On the one hand, an entrepreneur should not be overly paranoid and should know the ropes that VCs and other professional investors generally will not sign NDAs to see the concept or a prototype--and even if they did, it would not provide much protection.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2012

In what it calls a "video MBA", Santa Monica-based DocStoc has launched a major new feature of the site, aimed at helping small businesses and professionals learn about everything from building a brand, pitching their business plan, running an Adwords campaign, and more. Pricing on the new courses was not announced by the company.

Course 178

Course Santa Monica Sites Pricing 178

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2015

Despite the rush in every academic institution to offer more courses on entrepreneurship, I still haven’t found it to be something you can learn in school. Of course, you can pick up the basic principles this way, but the problem is that the practical rules for success are changing so fast that no academic can keep up.

Startup 103

Startup Case Study Entrepreneur Class 103

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2009

Hint: He was an entrepreneur. The same is true of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is so highly valued in the Western World that some people try to convince themselves that they are an entrepreneur, when in fact they would be better off at a Big Dumb Company (“BDC”). Entrepreneur Does Not Equal Inventor.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Startup 153

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. Just like with entrepreneurs – you know that raising money is just the start.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2020

Entrepreneurs talk to customers and competitors talk to each other about the new trends and technologies they see. This can help you get in the door when you are ready, and asking questions early will give you insights on investor priorities. Being open is the new business culture around the world.

Search Engine Optimization 174

Search Engine Optimization Ideas Custom Startup 174

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

The message of the panel was very clear – “We don’t need your help. And of course he’s right. The video is simply amazing and is a must watch for any investor but I think will be enjoyed by all entrepreneurs, too. you’re not following him?). We want to partner with you to make money.”

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Course Entrepreneur 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

A major chunk of this activity is provided by the newer class of “super angels,” who often look more like micro-VCs, except that they are investing their own money. This helps the startups with the most opportunity move forward quickly to greater success. Super angels have greater scope to match talent with a startup.

Funding 125

Funding Venture Capital Startup Class 125

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

Steve is also a Stanford Professor and noted marketing entrepreneur. Eric (Ries) was a student in one of the very earliest customer development classes at Berkley. Four Steps was essentially my class notes. Large companies write business plans, why of course, that’s the organizing document for a startup.

Startup 229

Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

These resources are definitely not limited to students, since every university seeks out and needs the real world exposure and experience of entrepreneurs who already are active in the real world marketplace. Take advantage of the tech classes, labs, equipment, and graduate students looking for real world problems to research.

Startup 95

Startup Incubator Resource Mentor 95

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

The creators of the renowned StartupWeekend — a place where random ad hoc teams work frantically for 54 hours to build a demo of a new business and then complete for fame and fortune — have picked up where StartupWeekend left off and have birthed a new course for entrepreneurs who need to level up called StartupWeekend Next.

Class 98

Class Mentor Startup UCLA 98

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

It turns out it actually takes time to build a high-growth business with differentiated intellectual property and roll out large, enterprise-class marketing solutions. Helping companies get to next financing round successfully: I was just beginning this phase in Sept 2010 and said so. 5 years ago. Since then? None have exited.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

But the reality is that “global warming” massively blunted the effects of winter and my prognosis for VC fundings of entrepreneurs in 2017–2018 is now very sunny indeed. Unless of course something Trump’s our good weather. We will also be publishing the full VC Survey and LP Survey over the course of the next couple of weeks.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 150

socalTECH

APRIL 13, 2021

They are always overlapping, so in essence, we have a freshman and senior class, so teams can collaborate, and get the benefit of the peers before them. Those are faculty members who have a commercialization idea and want help with that. We have two annual cohorts, each of which has a 12 month residency period.

Marina Del Rey 150

Marina Del Rey Startup USC Incubator 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 16, 2019

If every entrepreneur could predict the future, starting the right new business would be easy. As Boomers migrate to the Sunbelt, and everyone orders more online, I can hardly wait for drones to use the sky to help out. Education: More students and different classes.

Demand 83

Demand Startup Course Summary 83

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. Underbelly.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. Of course triangulation is a mathematics term that is used in sailing and other activities to help you better navigate when you don’t have your bearings. Everybody has a blog these days and there is much advice to be had.

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2017

Anna Barber: Before this, I hadn't been involved with Techstars as a mentor, however, I'd been an entrepreneur and mentored at other accelerators. However, I always wanted to get into a broader role in the startup ecosystem, where I could help other entrepreneurs work on their ideas. That's both a challenge and an opportunity.

Startup 100

Startup Claremont Los Angeles Press 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. On the average, the entrepreneurs I know are struggling. I’m not talking about academic classes, because at best these only teach you how to learn. Read entrepreneur stories. Formal learning.

Startup 103

Startup Mentor Case Study Class 103

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

and I thought if we brought the community together for common purpose we could create more of a sense of community to help new entrepreneurs get funded, assemble teams, raise profiles and help with biz dev, product, etc. Between the group of us we were probably helping launch 75-100 companies / year. So we went for it.

Venture Capital 290

Venture Capital Startup Idealab Funding 290

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2017

As an active business advisor and angel investor, I’m convinced that we are rapidly entering a new age of the entrepreneur, and those who are best prepared will be the first to reap some big rewards. I continue to see stories of really young entrepreneurs, and I just met a really impressive one, Neva Lee Recla, at a recent Fast Inc.

Coach 80

Coach Entrepreneur Ideas Class 80

socalTECH

JULY 18, 2013

Arjan Schutte: Our fund has a big mission, to invest in financial technology for the emerging middle class. There are 80 million Americans in this emerging class, who are unbanked and underbanked. We want to give them better financial tools, help them save more money of that not much money they do have, and become upwardly mobile.

Capital 183

Capital Startup Los Angeles Invest 183

socalTECH

OCTOBER 26, 2016

This morning, Techstars (www.techstars.org), the startup accelerator which has had great success in spreading its approach to helping to get startups to the next stage of their life�usually, funding�announced it has opened up its third accelerator in Los Angeles, Techstars LA. The focus is on helping the startup. Startups are hard.

Startup 100

Startup Los Angeles Mentor Class 100

Tech.Co

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

The integration of massively open online courses (MOOCs) makes strategic sense, which is likely why LinkedIn acquired Lynda for $1.5 Indeed, whether you’re a producer, screenwriter, director, actor, cinematographer, editor, art director or composer (or some combination of these) Stage 32 offers classes to meet your specific needs.

Education 82

Education Entertainment Class Manhattan Beach 82

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

To be clear – I’m not saying huge successes make a VC less likely to be helpful to you – I’m just saying it’s not a guaranteed predictor. Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A. Connections?

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2012

World-class education including Caltech, USC and UCLA. Home of JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), which helps put rockets into space. And of course a place of idyllic weather, culture and a lifestyle. ” And of course it’s not a true assessment. This is the list I would start with. North of the 101].

Startup 304

Startup Venture Capital Los Angeles Santa Monica 304

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

A critical stage for most first-time entrepreneurs is getting their idea developed into at least a prototype to validate their technology. Experts are available to help, but fees are high. You need to make an ROI assessment of value versus cost on outside help at this stage. Detailed grant accounting requirements.

Funding 90

Funding Technical Review Startup Research 90

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Of course, nothing is really free in the business world. Here is my summary of some major considerations that every entrepreneur needs to evaluate against the cost and effort to attract equity investors: Completing a grant application is real work. Otherwise find an inexpensive class on grant writing.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

Or if you’re pinched on time the summary is below and the time coding can help you watch a brief snippet on topics that interest you. Oh, and if you didn’t guess, the title, “if you don’t have a discrete hypothesis you are incapable of failing” is, of course, an Eric Ries quote. 00:45 Intro to Eric.

Social Media 301

Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301