Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

As a business advisor and investor in new startups, I see how difficult it is to make any process work, no matter how well designed, if the team is dysfunctional. Effective communication in a rapidly changing environment must be two-way and continuous, from all levels of the organization. Of course, some balance is required.

Coach 128

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2022

The largest and most successful businesses of the past have been traditionally driven by autocratic and powerful leaders who managed a highly structured organization of subordinates. Discourage internal team competition and silos. If they see you as the competition or the enemy, you will never get winning results.

Organization 105

Organization Mentor Startup Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2023

They know these exceptional leaders seem to have a way of finding and enticing the best people into the organization, getting exceptional performance out of them, and fast-tracking their careers both inside and outside the organization. Measure by relationships as well as competitiveness. Always searching for new talent sources.

Oracle 94

Oracle Organization Examples Coach 94

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. My first startup was no different. ” So I did want any rational person who wants to improve does – I hired a coach. This is why I tell startups that most seasoned sales execs aren’t right for startups.

Sales 382

Sales Help Startup Pricing 382

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2022

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. A good fight in business is called healthy competition. Check all your emotions at the gate.

Startup 118

Startup Case Study Competition Entrepreneur 118

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic&# organizations and to some extent that should be true. I never built a Google-sized business but I did build an organization from scratch that grew to 120 employees in 5 countries before we sold it. I’m not a big believer in too much hierarchy.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Editor's note: All this week, and into the start of next year, we'll be featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. What was the biggest news for your organization in 2018? You'll be able to browse all of those contributions here.

Startup 124

Startup Press Commerce Southern California 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2023

Every business organization, large or small, has a variety of individual and team member types that factor into your ability to innovate and change the business to meet evolving customer needs and competition. As a result, these people often end up disheartened. Coach: force for stability and mentoring.

Coach 96

Coach Ideas Mentor Organization 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2021

They are quick to claim the credit for things in their domain that work, but also quick to disclaim responsibility for problems that keep popping up. Perhaps you need to do more to be a role model for accountability , and provide more coaching on exactly what it means. Follow up with credit to others and lessons learned.

Training 173

Training Examples Startup Social Media 173

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2023

One of the biggest challenges in changing your lifestyle from an employee to starting your own business, is focusing on the right ownership elements, versus having a boss who sets the business goals, and provides performance feedback. In startups, I see technical entrepreneurs who build things just because they can. Marty Zwilling

Entrepreneur 85

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 85

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. A good fight in business is called healthy competition. Check all your emotions at the gate.

Startup 106

Startup Case Study Entrepreneur Competition 106

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2020

They know these exceptional leaders seem to have a way of finding and enticing the best people into the organization, getting exceptional performance out of them, and fast-tracking their careers both inside and outside the organization. Measure by relationships as well as competitiveness. Always searching for new talent sources.

Oracle 124

Oracle Organization Examples Coach 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

One of the biggest challenges in changing your lifestyle from an employee to starting your own business, is focusing on the right ownership elements, versus having a boss who sets the business goals, and provides performance feedback. In startups, I see technical entrepreneurs who build things just because they can. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 159

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 159

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2019

As a business advisor and investor in new startups, I see how difficult it is to make any process work, no matter how well designed, if the team is dysfunctional. Effective communication in a rapidly changing environment must be two-way and continuous, from all levels of the organization. Of course, some balance is required.

Coach 94

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2022

Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself and courteously explain to bosses or colleagues why certain requests or expectations may be unreasonable. After having assessed your environment, start healthy networking activities, such as lunch, with important people in your professional network on a weekly basis.

Class 148

Class Activity Coach Satisfaction 148

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2019

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. A good fight in business is called healthy competition. Check all your emotions at the gate.

Startup 93

Startup Case Study Competition Entrepreneur 93

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2022

In my experience, the right team culture is critical to every business and startup success, so every business leader wants to know how to create it. I believe you must start by being a role model for strong personal values and purpose, as well as empathy for others, sustainable energy, and self-awareness.

Product 109

Product Training Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2013

One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. Design your organization for what it needs to win. Training is coaching, rather than criticizing, to improve the outcome next time.

Startup 101

Startup Training Study Customer 101

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about “ the politics of startups ” in which I asserted that all companies have politics, which in its purest sense is just about understanding human psychology. A co-founder who started by working hard but gets sucked into the tech party circuit and has more interest in socialize than building cool s**t.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

In big business, as well as startups, I have found that your effectiveness can be highly correlated to your ability to build and maintain people relationships, often more so than hard work, or how many hours you give. It works at all levels inside an organization, as well as outside the company. A good coach is not a critic.

Tips 95

Tips Mentor Coach Activity 95

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

So do you think the environment still tough for startups? Investors are very focused on diligence, on business models that make sense, and those companies that have a definite competitive advantage and defensibility to what they're doing. Mike Napoli: It's quality versus quantity. Interestnig. Mike Napoli: Obviously, it's still tough.

Tech Coast Angels 231

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 231

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

We caught up with Fuel50 founder and CEO Anne Fulton to learn more about the startup. Anne Fulton: Fuel50 is a career pathing startup, part of the HR technology landscape. You can find a mentor, a coach, a project, or experience, to help you prepare for the role you are looking for. How did you start the company?

Help 100

Help Southern California Startup Technical Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2017

As a business advisor and investor in new startups, I see how difficult it is to make any process work, no matter how well designed, if the team is dysfunctional. Effective communication in a rapidly changing environment must be two-way and continuous, from all levels of the organization. Of course, some balance is required.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Coach Organization Mentor 78

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2021

Your goal must be to make every aspect of a customer interaction a joy to both you and them, starting from the shopping experience, to the sales close, to delivery and service. At every Ritz-Carlton , for example, employees are authorized to spend up to $2,000 per guest to solve any guest issue and make the stay positively memorable.

Customer 114

Customer Custom Satisfaction Metrics 114

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2017

Most business leaders today realize that smart management of scarce resources is the key to competitive success. Leaders who are able to optimize these find multipliers of 20 percent up to nine times the average productivity. Don’t allow key people to be pushed down and lost in the organization.

Product 58

Product Startup Guide Framework 58

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2015

The truth is that if you examines the most successful organizations and people in the world you’ll find similar cultures to those outlines in the article. All of them are up-or-out and they are rigorously capitalistic and at times that may even mean unfair because by definition people make subjective determinations of ones skills.

Startup 150

Startup Demand Organization Social Network 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2017

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. A good fight in business is called healthy competition. Check all your emotions at the gate.

Startup 63

Startup Case Study Entrepreneur Competition 63

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2013

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can and will trip up even the best, often at the cost of a good night’s sleep. A good fight in business is called healthy competition. Check all your emotions at the gate.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Case Study Competition 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2011

This one focuses on the generic attributes, as well as specific processes, which add up to the ethically right thing for most businesses. Doing the right thing for the business starts with defining core values. Align the organization to your values and goals. Shedd, “ Build a Better B2B Business.” Create winning teamwork.

Startup 91

Startup Coach Satisfaction Customer 91

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. In the end it will be up to you to figure out what to do. Most VCs are book smart.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2019

While starting a new business always involves tackling many new challenges, I’ve personally found myself reluctant to ask for help. I found some good guidance on this subject in a new book, “ The Leader You Want To Be ,” by Amy Jen Su, a managing partner in an executive coaching and leadership development firm.

Help 123

Help Entrepreneur Course IBM 123

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

While the culture that works for one company might not work for another , you can learn a lot from companies who are doing it right, and get started on company culture hacks of your own. It starts with a cultural fit interview, which carries half the weight of whether the candidate is hired. What does that culture look like?

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

While the culture that works for one company might not work for another , you can learn a lot from companies who are doing it right, and get started on company culture hacks of your own. It starts with a cultural fit interview, which carries half the weight of whether the candidate is hired. What does that culture look like?

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

Having time to think about “leadership” at most startups feels like a luxury. The reality of most startups is about survival. If people don’t know the mission there is no way to achieve the objective and you end up with a team pulling in 100 different directions – even if only by small amounts.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. My first startup was no different. I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. Startups are the art of the possible.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2012

Continuous innovation is required to survive in all businesses, beginning with a startup, and increasing in importance as your business matures. In a startup, that needs to be the founder or CEO, and that person has to be regularly and personally involved. Innovation needs ownership, a champion and team leader within the organization.

Coach 98

Coach Ideas IP Sales 98