Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that many of you have your most creative ideas for your company’s first big bang , but often get bogged down with details as the company grows. You rely on your team for the continuing creativity required to thrive in a today’s rapidly changing business landscape.

Company 148

Company Companies Ideas Mentor 148

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2022

Since it takes a team of people to build a great company, the challenge is to find that small percentage of innovative people, and then nurture the tendency, rather than stifle it. The story most specifically targets big companies, like Boeing, but the concepts are just as applicable to a startup with one or more employees.

Competition 153

Competition Mentor Ideas Organization 153

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 19, 2010

Thursday, March 25, 2010 -- OCTANe and Cleantech Open: 2010 Competition Breakfast Briefing. Are you an "Ecopreneur" with an early stage clean technology company? Enter the 2010 Cleantech Open Business Competition. See [link] (more).

Competition 100

Competition OCTANE Mentor Resource 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2016

We believe that it is incrementally harder to differentiate on simple Internet products or mobile apps and while great companies are built doing this, our goal as a fund is to try and fund things that can be 100x returns if they work. We’re not Pollyannaish about this. In short, we’re after venture returns.

Company 207

Company Companies CTO Coach Funding 207

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Good hiring, training, and mentoring are the best motivators. Your display of pride in the company and respect for the customer will translate directly into motivation.

Examples 145

Examples Mentor Activity Product 145

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and Kara said “no” because she wanted to start her own company, which she did and I backed. Just as Yves mentored me when I became his co-managing partner in 2011, he didn’t seek to ride off into the sunset either. So What Does All This Mean?

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

These often lead to angel investors and venture capital investments later, or connections to local company venture funds for selected focus and technology areas. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Most schools have a rich pipeline of real-world executive volunteers available for mentoring.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2023

Facilitate coaching and mentoring, inside and outside. Every team member needs stimulation to broaden their horizons, correct weaknesses, and understand competitive strategies. The result is high engagement, and reduced loss of talent to competition. Encourage rotation of high-potential team players around the business.

Coach 117

Coach Mentor Study Activity 117

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Startup 102

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 102

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Workship - Mentor. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be. The trailblazer is not overly competitive, but always is a few steps ahead and enjoys setting an example that you are inspired by, or motivated to follow. Workship - Advocate. Workship - Trailblazer.

Mentor 91

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2021

It’s good for professionals, who get more control, and good for companies, who need more flexible staffing. She speaks from years of experience mentoring and facilitating independent contractors and helping large companies, since well before the term “gig economy” was even coined. Know your competitive value.

Pricing 149

Pricing Mentor Entrepreneur News 149

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 26, 2020

The pair made a mix of early- and late-stage investments in Los Angeles-based companies like LegalZoom, Scopely, Art of Sport, The Honest Company, RingDNA, FocusMotion, DyshApp and Represent. “As a founding partner to [Art of Sport] he was woven into the very fabric of our company and its vision and DNA. .

Venture Capital 359

Venture Capital Los Angeles Legalzoom Calabasas 359

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

By Jim Flowers A few months ago, Marty invited me to comment on business incubation and what a startup company ought to expect from an incubator. There is a growing fellowship of special-case start-up programs operated by closely-knit, permanent groups of angel-mentors. Relationships , I said back then. And I stand by that assertion.

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

The company has since gone public, and is still a market leader. In most companies, maintaining momentum requires the right strategic partners and acquisitions, in lieu of short-term price adjustments and special sales. Utilize outside expertise and mentoring. Track competition to stay ahead of copycats.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors. They provide peer group organizations, usually called incubators, with free resources, practice environments, and outside mentoring that can help you learn and pivot with minimal cost. Initiate networking to find peer partners and investors.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Intellectual property is required for a competitive edge. Even the best college degree is not a substitute.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2022

I call this linear thinking , and it’s a sure way to be ultimately overrun by your competition. One way to do this is to nurture mentoring relationships with experts in other disciplines, as Bill Gates did with Warren Buffet. You need to see these as opportunities for growth and a chance to get ahead of competition.

Competition 139

Competition Examples Customer Custom 139

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2022

I see that model changing today to one of team collaboration and decision making, per companies such as Amazon, Google, and Zoom. Modern companies like Amazon credit much of their growth and success to rewarding of change innovations, including failures. Discourage internal team competition and silos.

Organization 105

Organization Mentor Startup Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2020

Based on my experience and a business advisor and mentor, this is the ideal time to get back to the basics of business leadership and innovation. Be sure to tie changes back to the “why” – customer value, business objectives, and competition. He considers mentoring on of his most critical roles at work.

Mentor 122

Mentor Ideas Competition Examples 122

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2023

They need incentives to investigate market trends and competitive actions, as well as continuous communication of the bigger picture of the business and current objectives. It doesn’t take a huge marketing budget to provide public recognition in team meetings for individual initiatives that can benefit the company. Give credit.

Startup 95

Startup Coach Mentor Social Media 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2022

One of the things I’ve learned over my years as a business mentor and investor is that life isn’t fair when it comes to succeeding in business. Use friends and mentors with extensive experience to gauge both. The key is to keep learning, from mentors, books, and online. The more you have, the greater your potential.

Help 130

Help Mentor Paramount Technical Review 130

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. He brings over 25 years of experience with Silicon Valley leadership companies in highlighting winners and losers.

Coach 96

Coach Ideas Mentor Organization 96

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2021

In these days of rapid change, the pandemic, and worldwide competition, you need to make sure your entire team is customer-focused, innovative, and always looking around the corner for the next big thing. Recent articles report that companies where everyone is focused on the big picture can increase their returns by up to 400 percent.

Coach 174

Coach Activity Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2020

Workship - Mentor. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be. The trailblazer is not overly competitive, but always is a few steps ahead and enjoys setting an example that you are inspired by, or motivated to follow. Workship - Advocate. Workship - Trailblazer.

Mentor 135

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 135

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2020

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Good hiring, training, and mentoring are the best motivators. Your display of pride in the company and respect for the customer will translate directly into motivation.

Product 129

Product Examples Mentor Activity 129

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2021

By definition, all of you entrepreneurs are leaders, by taking the initiative to start a new company. Johnson accepted full company accountability on Twitter for a racial profiling incident at a Starbucks in Philadelphia. His Virgin Group today consists of over 400 companies. Create innovative change from existing resources.

Coach 162

Coach Startup Resource Competition 162

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

These often lead to angel investors and venture capital investments later, or connections to local company venture funds for selected focus and technology areas. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Most schools have a rich pipeline of real-world executive volunteers available for mentoring.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2021

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Sample 137

Sample Writing Mentor Content 137

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Leaders need to share their values and goals, as well as challenges, to get effective assistance and buy-in from team members delivering the company image.

Coach 128

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Implicit in effective marketing of yourself and your solution are a set of skills that every professional needs and can develop over time in business, whether their focus is on career advancement, or starting your own company. They mentor each other, and seek out experts in domains outside their current expertise and experience.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2019

Since it takes a team of people to build a great company, the challenge is to find that small percentage of innovative people, and then nurture the tendency, rather than stifle it. The story most specifically targets big companies, like Boeing, but the concepts are just as applicable to a startup with one or more employees.

Mentor 101

Mentor Competition Ideas Organization 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2023

Most companies I work with, like yours, are still reeling from the effects of COVID-19, the rise of inflation, and talent shortages. They are rightly thinking about a strategy to be better prepared for future challenges , recognizing that more are coming in this age of accelerating change and global competition.

Training 86

Training Resource Competition Satisfaction 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2010

Quite possibly your perception is the young adult working dutifully in the company mailroom. Due in large part to the current economy and an ultra-competitive job market, a Gen-Y entrepreneurial tsunami is already upon us. More and more, they choose to intern at a dynamic small company or startup. Confidence vs. Questions.

Competition 96

Competition Startup Technical Review IBM 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2021

Over the years I have spent mentoring entrepreneurs and startups, I often notice the similarities between successful professionals managing their careers and successful entrepreneurs building a business. Regularly assess and refine your competitive advantage. Those are the risks every business jumps to take.

Startup 143

Startup Entrepreneur Demand Competition 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. Perhaps the most famous bubble for startups was the dot.com craze that crashed 20 years ago, where the highest valuations were given to companies with massive user growth, but minimal revenue or profit.

Entrepreneur 125

Entrepreneur Netflix Social Media Startup 125

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Many entrepreneurs I have mentored make big mistakes in this area, by hiring low-cost friends and family, with minimal skills or training, and expecting them to have the same work ethic , passion, and business knowledge as the founder. Customers won’t know that vendors are not employees of your company.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2021

With real-time online reviews and feedback via the Internet, and instant relationships via social media, a voice from the top that is inconsistent with what is heard from the firing line defines a dysfunctional and noncompetitive company for today’s customer. Thus team makeup is the critical success factor.

Class 155

Class Develop Development Startup 155