Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2021

Over my years as an advisor to new businesses and startups, I have learned that the only certainty that I can offer entrepreneurs is the fact they will face many uncertainties. So my first advice is that if you can’t handle uncertainty, don’t even start down that road. Don’t be afraid to deliver fair, tough coaching.

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TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

When the Los Angeles-based startup Maslo launched its first product in early 2018 , the company was focused on a direct-to-consumer tool designed to encourage mindfulness and self-awareness through a machine learning enabled avatar that would respond to individual’s inputs. Image courtesy of Maslo.

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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. You need a good cook, good marketing, and first-class service.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2023

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. The wealth of online education offerings is a great start, but is not enough.

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Startup Boost Los Angeles has opened up applications for its Fall 2019 class, according to the group. The programs--which does not charge fees or take equity from companies in its program--says it is seeking nine early stage startups to take part in its eight-week program, designed to help early stage startups.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2022

Instead of sizing up new opportunities and actively courting every new customer, you start worrying about cutting costs, repeatable processes , and overtaking known competitors. As a consultant, I hate to see you lose that startup focus on innovation, change, and customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2022

The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. In business, entrepreneurs hunt for new innovative solutions to problems, new ways of beating competitors, new markets, and new customers. These are the ultimate hunters.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 2, 2014

Many startups these days are started by young, technical or product founders who are in the idealistic phase of their lives and careers. And it’s why many early-stage companies blow up. It’s why I called out the importance of “executive coaches” in this post.

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Tech.Co

JUNE 29, 2021

You know what a startup is, right? Or at least you have an idea of what a startup is like to work in? That is, of course, until the small, ambitious startup is acquired by a larger, more traditional company in its sector, or the small startup goes public with angry shareholders and regulators asking difficult questions.

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TechCrunch LA

MAY 29, 2019

This is like talking about the NBA and the value of its sponsorships and broadcast rights as if that is the entirety of the basketball market in the US. Los Angeles-based PlayVS (pronounced “play versus”) wants to become the dominant platform for amateur esports, starting at the high school level. Delane P. :

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

Marketing is everything these days. You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entree 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. You need a good cook, good marketing, and first-class service.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

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. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. In the startup world, this is often seen as a lack of focus.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community. There was no monetary reward for those who participated (and Startup Boost does not take fees or equity from the companies that we help). What was the biggest lesson you learned this year?

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TechCrunch LA

MARCH 29, 2021

This round values the startup, which was founded in January 2020, at $11 million post-money. Powering up. It was here that she spotted a gap in the EV charging market. Can solid state batteries power up for the next generation of EVs? ” In January 2020, Terry quit her job and started ChargerHelp.

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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. Either could improve the statistic that half of startups fail within the first five years. So why do most startups fail?

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

As an advisor to many startups today, I still see that most of you entrepreneurs see yourselves as the sole driver of your new solution, and the key driver of your new business. We all need to be humble and recognize that what we need to know about technology and the market changes daily. Be the model of customer focus for the team.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2023

Many business leaders today, including Howard Schultz , didn’t start the businesses they are now known for, but worked their way up the corporate ranks with ownership thinking. You must focus on nurturing a culture of working together, continuous learning, and constant change to keep up with new customer and market changes.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

I made many classic first-time mistakes which serves both as my warning signal of which teams to avoid funding (if I perceive they will make critical mistakes often led by hubris) and also as my source for coaching others. Startups are filled with enormously talented people – often product people & engineers.

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TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 5, 2021

The global meat substitute market was valued at $4.51 billion two years ago and is expected to double by 2027, attracting startups, like alternative meat food tech company AKUA , that aim to solidify a prominent place in the up-and-coming industry. AKUA co-founder and CEO Courtney Boyd Myers.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

In a VC business when you raise additional capital you need to “level up” and act the round you are. I’d say 20% of startups I see level-up early after their A round. What they do with the money is add more engineers and maybe hiring a marketing person. Act your stage. Objection Handling training.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

Marketing is everything these days. You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Give yourself the “So-what?”

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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.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

It’s very common for startup companies to have COO’s. But … Startups don’t need – shouldn’t have – COOs. I have this conversation with every startup that comes to see me and has a CEO & a COO. I think usually a COO title at a startup is an ego thing. CEO’s run things.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

Marketing is everything these days. You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late.

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Technical Review Tips Marketing Entrepreneur 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

Marketing is everything these days. You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late.

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SoCal CTO

MAY 13, 2014

A large part of this conversation is what kinds of advisors startups should be looking for. A little while ago, I suggested that Every Web/Mobile Startup Should Have a Technical Advisor. We both felt that most startups are not taking a very systematic approach to defining with they need in terms of advisors. Connected Advisors?

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Due to the pervasive Internet, the scope of most successful startup teams today has become global. According to recent reports , these come from all the way up and down the age and experience spectrum, including up to ninety percent of the current Baby Boomers, as well as Millennials.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. If you’re interested in recruiting sales people, I wrote on the topic of startup sales people: who to hire & when – understanding the roles of Journeymen, Mavericks & Superstars.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2018

As the rate of change continues to increase in business and technology, the more I’m convinced that marketing is the primary key to success for a new venture. Yet I find that many technical founders don’t feel they need it at all, or at best point to one person on the team who is marketing.

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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 see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact). You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Let me start with the news that I’m excited to share with you. Thus began my marketing campaign. Startup CEO experience (Founded P.S. XO along with my good friend Soleil Moon Frye. She is a coach and mentor to team members. She rolls up her sleeves and helps get tasks done rather than just directing people.

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Tech.Co

DECEMBER 13, 2017

VentureWell, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that supports science and technology entrepreneurs, has selected a medical simulation startup founded by University of Maine students to receive funding and training. Read about more emerging startups in the Maine ecosystem on TechCo . The teams will attend three-day workshops in Boston.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2021

As a startup investor, I view any evidence of a victim mentality as the kiss of death. In reality, the picture is a bit larger than this, as outlined in the classic book “ Leading with GRIT ,” by Laurie Sudbrink, a well-known business leadership coach and speaker. Accountability starts by acknowledging reality.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

Always use multiple methods, including verbal and written, for defining an assignment, including accountability, with checkpoints and follow-up from you along the way. Make sure that metrics and goals are set up front, and not modified as the project progresses. Provide assessments based wholly on facts.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2020

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. Either could improve the statistic that half of startups fail within the first five years. So why do most startups fail?

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Entrepreneur Startup Course Statistics 121

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. Be proactive rather than reactive to market change. Initiate regular iterative change experiments.

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