Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2013

I’m a big fan of mentoring in business, and have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the process. These days, I seem to often hear from entrepreneurs who are struggling to find a mentor, or complaining about their lack of effectiveness.

Mentor 102

Mentor Startup Coach Entrepreneur 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2012

I’m a big fan of mentoring in business, and have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the process. These days, I seem to often hear from entrepreneurs who are struggling to find a mentor, or complaining about their lack of effectiveness.

Mentor 94

Mentor Coach Entrepreneur Press 94

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2023

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Nothing is more discouraging to aspiring entrepreneurs than the high failure rate. It’s now obvious that there is no market for what I created.”

Startup 135

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 135

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics. What happened? People were building.

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Venture Capital Startup LAMP Marketing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2022

Great entrepreneurs are not just idea people and then managers, they are extraordinary leaders. Yet beyond a list of noble attributes, like vision, courage, and integrity, it’s hard for them to define what separates an ordinary entrepreneur or manager from an extraordinary leader.

Coach 114

Coach Framework Entrepreneur Tool 114

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2015

Entrepreneurship is all about leading – leading customers to a new product or service, leading a startup team to peak performance, and leading a new business to the market opportunity, while providing maximum return to stakeholders. Authentic entrepreneurs lead through the power of personal influence, rather than coercion.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Mentor Coach Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2022

In my experience as an advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs in business, one of the biggest failures I see is a lack of self-leadership. For example, I often hear from aspiring entrepreneurs that “I had that idea first, and he stole it, and is now making money on my idea.” The first challenge is to find your strengths.

Capital 114

Capital Coach Satisfaction Ideas 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

Thus I believe that business leaders and entrepreneurs need to focus first on people leadership, rather than process leadership. Thus I find that the best entrepreneurs and business leaders today are people-centric, but they never forget that efficient repeatable processes are required as the business scales up.

Coach 128

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. More features and inventory added early will be wasted as you will need to pivot to match the real market.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2022

In my work with entrepreneurs, I have concluded that finding and communicating that purpose is often more important than the solution offered. These authors reference real cases and real business leaders, based on their decades of experience in building companies and executive coaching.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Coach Mentor Customer 143

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

If you aren’t yet adapting to the market and your customers, you are falling behind. In other words, change in your business has to become the accepted norm, just like it is in your market. As the entrepreneur, business owner, or leader, your message must never be “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

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Competition Metrics Demand Customer 148

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2023

Every entrepreneur and business executive I know wants to emulate that boss, but most can’t even describe the attributes required. In my opinion, great examples in today’s entrepreneur world include Elon Musk (Tesla), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), and Richard Branson (Virgin Group). Measure by relationships as well as competitiveness.

Oracle 94

Oracle Organization Examples Coach 94

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

Entrepreneurship is all about leading – leading customers to a new product or service, leading a startup team to peak performance, and leading a new business to the market opportunity, while providing maximum return to stakeholders. Authentic entrepreneurs lead through the power of personal influence, rather than coercion.

Entrepreneur 116

Entrepreneur Mentor Coach Customer 116

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2022

During my many years of mentoring professionals and entrepreneurs in business, I more often see people focusing on how to get their ideas heard , than how to promote themselves. Take full advantage of every mentoring and coaching opportunity, and network with peers both inside and outside the company.

Tips 121

Tips Social Media Mentor Technical Review 121

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2017

Thus I believe that business leaders and entrepreneurs need to focus first on people leadership, rather than process leadership. Thus I find that the best entrepreneurs and business leaders today are people-centric, but they never forget that efficient repeatable processes are required as the business scales up.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Coach Organization Mentor 78

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2021

One of the most important skills for every entrepreneur is timely and effective decision making. The best entrepreneurs relish this role, while others struggle mightily and ultimately lose their health and their company. Your job as entrepreneur or executive does not end with picking a solution.

Startup 140

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Coach 140

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. Spend time coaching and mentoring team members. Help them learn more about your vision and future market goals.

Mentor 108

Mentor Social Media Coach Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2013

Great entrepreneurs are not just idea people and then managers, they are extraordinary leaders. Yet beyond a list of noble attributes, like vision, courage, and integrity, it’s hard for them to define what separates an ordinary entrepreneur or manager from an extraordinary leader.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Coach Framework Tool 101

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2015

If an entrepreneur can’t build a culture of excitement and commitment at a startup, the chances of long-term success are negligible. As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked what you can do to build the right culture. Mentoring and training programs need to be put in place early. Every investor knows this.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Training 102

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2021

As an advisor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that many assume that their passion and their innovative solution will define them as a leader, and customers, as well as team members, will follow them to the ends of the earth, assuring business success. Online it may be time to take a formal position via blogs and interviews.

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Mentor IBM IBM Social Media 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2014

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. More features and inventory added early will be wasted as you will need to pivot to match the real market.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Resource Training Product 115

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2019

Great entrepreneurs are not just idea people and then managers, they are extraordinary leaders. Yet beyond a list of noble attributes, like vision, courage, and integrity, it’s hard for them to define what separates an ordinary entrepreneur or manager from an extraordinary leader.

Coach 96

Coach Framework Entrepreneur Tool 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2015

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. All this made more sense to me as Dini defined the types of entrepreneurs into four categories.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Slides News Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2014

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. A recent book, “ Hunting in a Farmer''s World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. All this made more sense to me as Dini defined the types of entrepreneurs into four categories.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup News Slides 109

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

With Startup Boost, we had dozens of investors, service providers, successful entrepreneurs, and major industry leaders (including Microsoft, Google, Softbank, REME, and TechStars) coalesce around our initiative to help early stage companies get to the next level. Yet they turned-out each and every week of our six-week programs.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

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. Entrepreneurs are typically focused on the big picture – creating a vision, purpose, and a long-term strategy.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

Every entrepreneur and business leader I know realizes that it takes a dedicated team to build and run a successful business, and nurturing that team is one of your most important priorities. In my experience, a healthy team is a prerequisite for a thriving business, innovation to meet market needs, and high customer loyalty.

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Mentor Social Media Customer 141

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2015

Most entrepreneurs I know want to do the right thing for their businesses, as well as themselves, but they are not always sure what that means. The good news is that none of these need be mutually exclusive, according to recent studies of market trends. Be a coach, rather than a dictator.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Training Demand Customer 102

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2010

It was difficult to make the transition to a “top down&# thinker but as a senior executive – and as an entrepreneur – you’re far less effective without this skill in your arsenal. The wisest mentor I ever had was Ameet Shah , my partner on several projects. He coached me that I had to start with the answers.

Entrepreneur 372

Entrepreneur Startup Design Framework 372

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

As a long-time business advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs, I consistently find that the most thriving businesses are people-centric, and those team members create the best processes, rather than the other way around. You need their full support in today’s rapidly changing market.

Satisfaction 154

Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Many entrepreneurs still believe they need a traditional multi-level organization to handle growth and scaling, so they start hiring career managers to populate it. By hiring contract experts, less oversight and coaching is needed. This lets you evolve your strategy with the market.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2017

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. All this made more sense to me as Dini defined the types of entrepreneurs into four categories.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 54

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2020

Every entrepreneur and business executive I know wants to emulate that boss, but most can’t even describe the attributes required. In my opinion, great examples in today’s entrepreneur world include Elon Musk (Tesla), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), and Richard Branson (Virgin Group). Measure by relationships as well as competitiveness.

Oracle 124

Oracle Organization Examples Coach 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2015

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring. For one-on-one coaching from the startup founder, I call this approach five-minute mentoring.

Product 99

Product Mentor Startup Technical Review 99

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2012

Women entrepreneurs are starting small businesses at approximately twice the national average for all startups. As a result, there have also been many new resources and mentors popping up specifically aimed at women. But a key problem the authors found even among the best women entrepreneurs was trying to do too much at once.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Lancaster Startup Mentor 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

That’s why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great “idea” person. His challenge is to focus on one market, with a specific design, cost, and price. Only a great team, and listening to customers, will allow you to adjust as you learn more, or the market changes.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Tech.Co

MARCH 5, 2015

Susan is a startup coach and the founder of Givelocity, a social network for giving that offers a new spin on crowdfunding for good. A serial entrepreneur, Susan has a record of building value and community across several genre-defining companies. She’s also an advisor, mentor and investor in several startups.

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Santa Barbara Startup Mentor Social Network 70