Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

Millennials have come a long way in business since I started writing about them over ten years ago. What they need now is some coaching from more experienced business leaders, to catch up and overcome some unique qualms and challenges. Today they are in every business and will likely comprise 75 percent of the workforce by 2025.

Mentor 134

Mentor Coach Guide Startup 134

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

Millennials have come a long way in business since I started writing about them nearly ten years ago. What they need now is some coaching from more experienced business leaders, to catch up and overcome some unique qualms and challenges. Today they are in every business, and will likely comprise 50 percent of the workforce by 2020.

Tips 127

Tips Mentor Coach Guide 127

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

In addition, the discipline of producing it, like writing a business plan, will help you immensely in understanding the key elements that drive you and your business. I often hear the excuse that writing a book takes precious time away from building and running your business, which you cannot afford.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Starting in 2009 I began writing checks consistently, year-in and year-out. I had realized that I didn’t have it within me to be as good of a player as many of them did but I had the skills to help as mentor, coach, friend, sparing partner and patient capital provider.

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Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

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 divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. The monkey on my back. ” Yup.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

With some coaching and mentoring from other leaders, I was able to do it myself, so I know you can do it too, by committing to the following strategies: Train yourself to always look for positives, not negatives. Write down your top 5 core values and review them often. Never use emotion as a substitute for preparation.

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Coach Training Satisfaction Mentor 137

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2018

In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Get involved in startup-business incubator activities with peers at school.

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Startup Writing Coach Incubator 97

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. I think of VCs as coaches. and I realized that without years of experience it is tough to answer this question. Most VCs are book smart.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Before you start your business, think hard about your vision for fulfillment, and write it down. One of the keys to my own fulfillment has been coaching, mentoring, and give-back of what I have learned along the way. Don’t wait for a crisis to decide what is important. Assess your position and progress on a regular basis.

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Satisfaction Mentor Coach Entrepreneur 173

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

I have found that the process of writing down your idea, with a plan for implementation, and reviewing that plan with a business advisor, will force you to learn and acknowledge the real requirements for implementation. Create a written plan, with target milestones and metrics.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2023

I always struggle with coaching along these lines, so I was pleased to see some excellent guidance on tactics in making decisions in a new book, “ The Leap To Leader ,” by Adam Bryant. The skills and tactics required to be an effective leader are not intuitive and are growing in complexity.

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Help Framework Statistics Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2022

Write down the “ what” of your vision, but let go of “ how” it will be achieved; you can’t control the precise manner, form, or timing. Brian defines an effective Court of Support as one professional coach, one accountability partner, one mentor, and six to nine group members. Look for a mix of talent and balance in your support team.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction Mentor 153

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2016

In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Get involved in startup-business incubator activities with peers at school.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Tips Writing Coach 98

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities. Don’t forget business writing and communication. Get involved in startup-business incubator activities with peers at school.

Writing 111

Writing Coach Incubator Entrepreneur 111

Berkonomics

JUNE 29, 2017

I was so enthusiastic that I coached the entrepreneur to approach his mother, who invested $50,000 under the same terms as my investment. The other investors are probably in the unhappy never land of not being able to see liquidity after a decade and unable to write off the investment as a loss for tax purposes.

Invest 243

Invest Entrepreneur Sales Startup 243

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2018

Millennials have come a long way in business since I started writing about them almost ten years ago. What they need now is some coaching from more experienced business leaders, to catch up and overcome some unique qualms and challenges. Today they are in every business, and will likely comprise 50 percent of the workforce by 2020.

Mentor 60

Mentor Coach Guide Startup 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal. This is when founders need you the most – either are coach, mentor, interviewer, work off-loader or honest-mirror-reflection of reality. If an accelerator is writing you they’re also writing 25 other VCs.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Eric Greenspan

APRIL 11, 2019

Mine is writing this blog post, indirectly. They are coaching our kids in their spare time, or full time, and IMHO, they are standing in the blue circle, maybe a slightly different one, but it’s still in the middle of what matters. Added after posting… My son Jacob just called me while I was writing this post.

Writing 179

Writing Ideas Startup Coach 179

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

25 Years of Writing Code. Adam Sroka, an agile software innovator, is a self-taught programmer with 25 years of writing code and previously combined his coding skills with his knowledge of agile and lean management techniques as a coach and technical trainer. and Schlumberger.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

So part of playing an effective coach is helping the team to see the answer for themselves. In stead of just writing operating and funding advice Fred also talks about industries. When I write about topics that are relevant suddenly anybody with a startup solution in that field will approach us. This works brilliantly.”

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2019

Based on my own experience in business over the years, and current coaching efforts, I recommend a focus on the following strategies and attributes: Make your customer the center of everything you do. Now customers judge you by your visibility to them at public forums, your writing, videos, and what other public figures say.

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Customer Custom IBM IBM 93

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2019

Write down the “ what” of your vision, but let go of “ how” it will be achieved; you can’t control the precise manner, form, or timing. Brian defines an effective Court of Support as one professional coach, one accountability partner, one mentor, and six to nine group members. Look for a mix of talent and balance in your support team.

Entrepreneur 91

Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction Mentor 91

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

I’ve spent hours this week reading about the firing of the head coach and personnel manager of the football team I support – The Philadelphia Eagles. His name was Chip Kelly and he came off of a very successful stint as the coach of the collegiate Oregon Ducks. This is something I try to coach against.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

"The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. This frugality was evidenced by the fact that everyone at Microsoft, even Gates, flew coach until well into the late 1990s. One Of The Most Important Startup Skills. "The " [Tweet this quote].

Tips 275

Tips Startup IP Santa Barbara 275

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

So I know I’m getting myself into a bit of trouble by writing this. If they’re not running their business then perhaps the wrong person was picked as CEO or perhaps they need more mentorship / coaching to better allocate their time. It’s very common for startup companies to have COO’s. CEO’s run things.

Startup 325

Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

They write into their investment documents that they will occupy a seat on the board for as long as they are invested in the company, thinking of this as a protection for their investment and tool for them to influence growth. All other board functions are secondary. Of course they should not.

Class 179

Class Coach Invest Sales 179

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. Write things down. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. You are most vulnerable right after it has been announced that you won (I will write a separate post on this). Be gracious.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

By the time of my second company MySQL was a much more robust solution and worked well when you had to read a lot of information but was less performant on “write&# activities. As a content management system we had lots of write activities and went with Postgres. Skipping is insidious.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. Write things down. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. You are most vulnerable right after it has been announced that you won (I will write a separate post on this). Be gracious.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Frank Addante

JUNE 25, 2015

Be your best: John Wooden was one of the greatest coaches in American sports history. As head coach at UCLA he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period. My junior high school basketball coach never told us to win a game, and somehow we ended up in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Coach 40

Coach Startup Ideas UCLA 40

Frank Addante

JUNE 25, 2015

Be your best: John Wooden was one of the greatest coaches in American sports history. As head coach at UCLA he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period. My junior high school basketball coach never told us to win a game, and somehow we ended up in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Coach 40

Coach Startup Ideas UCLA 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

He did it yesterday, “Mark, I’m going to write a blog post following on from your VC’s aren’t dumb. He is very pleasant when he calls and writes. When we recommended that Rob get a CEO coach he not only embraced it but craved it and thanked us for suggesting it. .” I know it sounds obvious.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. You’re the coach, mentor, cheerleader. One of the interesting things about being a VC is that you often see companies in transition.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

I plan to write about it early next year when we’re all through. But you realize that you can be more helpful as a coach. And yes, I sleep better at night as a coach. So it is now publicly known that we have closed $150 million in our 4th fund. We have a little more to go until the finish line. And I’m happy as a VC.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2016

For leaders, this is often evident in the willingness to be coached, by outside experts or by your own team. Bill Gates of Microsoft, even late in his career, wasn’t afraid to jump in and write some code to illustrate a point. Challenged by his contemporaries, Edison soberly responded: “I have not failed. Promote resilience.

Examples 76

Examples Startup Coach Patents 76

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

I’ve tried over the years to write many times about the realism of the downsides of being an entrepreneur because there is a complete cognitive dissidence between what you read about yourself in the press and what you feel internally about where you’re at in the journey. Advisors / Coaches / Mentors.

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Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2013

Executives in an enterprise usually don’t write their own memos, contracts, and certainly don’t schedule their own meetings. The reasons for waiting have merit, but they need to be balanced against the non-entrepreneurial habits that every professional picks up in a large corporation. These include: Managers delegate real work.

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Entrepreneur Startup Training Course 95