Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2023

Most new business owners I know feel the challenges of not enough time, money, and resources, and see these as problems rather than a competitive advantage. I believe it all starts with you as a leadership role model, and the mindset and expectations you broadcast to your team. Solicit partners with complementary strengths.

Resource 111

Resource Competition Outsource Development Startup 111

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

According to a classic survey conducted by Dimensional Research for Zendesk , 90 percent of respondents asserted that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, and 86 percent admitted buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. Bureaucracy can appear quickly in startups as well as large companies.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Organization Social Media Entrepreneur 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2021

I find that many managers are expected to hire new team members primarily on the basis of technical qualifications and years of experience, rather communication ability, attitude, or previous customer reviews Remember that everyone will interact with customers, due to billing or delivery issues.

Custom 147

Custom Customer Technical Review Metrics 147

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

We’re all socially connected (so great businesses spread faster). The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. 2007 was the watershed year.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Portfolio company support & analysis. Industry reviews. Associates often shadow partners at board meetings so that they can help follow up with the company on important initiatives between board meetings. a top-down view on HR challenges at startups; and, obviously: a great network. Portfolio community building.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

I started my first company in 1999 and was admittedly swept up in all of this: Magazine covers, fancy conferences, artificial valuations and easy money. Between 2006–2008 I sold both companies that I had started and became a VC. Starting in 2009 I began writing checks consistently, year-in and year-out.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

Having great company culture is no longer just an option. In fact, fantastic company culture is almost expected along with other traditional benefits. It has established what the company culture is, and fitting into that culture is the most important thing managers look for when hiring. Warby Parker.

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

Having great company culture is no longer just an option. In fact, fantastic company culture is almost expected along with other traditional benefits. It has established what the company culture is, and fitting into that culture is the most important thing managers look for when hiring. Warby Parker.

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100

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. Direct customer-facing non-technical roles should be the last ones outsourced. with experience.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. This means personally listening, understanding, and responding to your customers’ evolving needs and shifting expectations. Know your customers intimately.

Startup 154

Startup Training Custom Customer 154

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

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

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

We thought today for our interview, that we'd get an update on the angel investment environment here in Southern California from Scott Sangster , the incoming President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Tech Coast Angels , the biggest angel investment group in Southern California. It was actually a really good year last year.

Tech Coast Angels 182

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 182

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Many questioned whether it could survive under the fail whale, inevitable competition from Facebook, founder fighting, fights with 3rd-party developers let alone become a revolutionary business that could make money. Periodically we do portfolio reviews to evaluate whether we have enough diversified risk across the fund. Far from it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2020

For starters Uber itself has had to lay off 27% of its workforce due to the pandemic and has been severely impacted financially from the crisis with no immediate respite in sight. Even more likely is eventual technology disruption where drones deliver foods and make it hard for existing car delivery services to compete.

SaaS 242

SaaS Custom Customer Technical Review 242

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

According to a classic survey conducted by Dimensional Research for Zendesk , 90 percent of respondents asserted that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, and 86 percent admitted buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. Bureaucracy can appear quickly in startups as well as large companies.

Tips 126

Tips Technical Review Organization Social Media 126

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Even top big-company executives are considered high-risk in a startup environment. Things such as driver-less cars and new medicines are far more than a technology challenge. Your startup is in a high-failure-rate business sector.

Invest 98

Invest Sites Technical Review Social Media 98

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

I received a great question via LinkedIn: I'm the founding engineer and working hard to launch my startup. This leads to a set of questions: What is the role of a CTO in the early stages of a company, and does that role change later on as both the company and that individual matures? What are the biggest areas of technical risk?

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 1, 2016

140,000 new startup companies are reportedly launched every day. While the epicenter of tech innovation is undeniably Silicon Valley, a tide of new hubs emerging across the globe are gaining recognition. There are so many startups, and a great demand for talent as a result of this. Our key markets are the U.S.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Startup Incubator Media 40

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

The speaks to the continued confidence in the venture capital markets and as I had predicted some time ago the VC markets right now are a great place to invest – especially relative to other places to put one’s money. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

Companies all around the world use Trello to help manage projects and coordinate team tasks and responsibilities. You can also use Table to provide the big bosses with an overview of progress towards company goals as you can easily collate lots of initiatives in one go. Here's everything you need to know about the new-look Trello.

Software Review 149

Software Review Guide Technical Review Class 149

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. Creativity vs. Chores.

Competition 96

Competition Startup Technical Review IBM 96

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

I believe that over capitalizing companies too early often favors the VC. In the late 90′s I saw a dangerous trend creeping into the startup world, which was that companies were suddenly raising huge amounts of money too early in their existence. Over funding often produces bad behavior in early-stage companies.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Too Techie - Tone down emphasis on the technology underlying your venture; an interested investor will perform tech diligence at the appropriate time. The Company. What does your pain reliever look like, how is it implemented by the customer and what future products do you expect to roll out? Competition.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. Link has a summary of his argument plus a great video). While many tech startups do this intuitively (say, SnapChat thinking it would be much better if our photos out partying disappeared) it still happens. It’s worth a quick read.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Even top big-company executives are considered high-risk in a startup environment. Things such as driver-less cars and new medicines are far more than a technology challenge. Your startup is in a high-failure-rate business sector.

Startup 126

Startup Sites Technical Review Social Media 126

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

Burstly, a Santa Monica based company, provides an open and free ad management platform that helps mobile application developers better monetize their inventory. As I naturally get asked all the time why we invested in Company A or Company B, I thought I’d just put forth my thesis in writing. Enter Burstly.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. There is an inherent value that any company has. Here’s what I mean.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

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. I think as a tech industry we have bred a culture that places more emphasis on product excellence than managing human behavior.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. Nor do they exist in the investors of early-stage companies. Many great ones don’t thrive in the early phase of a company where the sales is more consultative or evangelical. Sure, you need to be competitive on price.

Sales 382

Sales Help Startup Pricing 382

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Skip the fuzzy marketing terms, such as "easier to use," "lower cost" and "disruptive technology." " Investors want to buy into an entrepreneur with a startup that can provide evidence of an ability to double customer productivity, at half the cost, with patented technology.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. Great lifestyle, great cost of living, motivated people and only the crap weather on the negative side. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. Patron Companies.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Most board meetings are administrative updates that accomplish very little other than inform board members about the performance of the company since the last board meeting. If they only ever received updates then don’t expect them to be bought into tough decisions when you inevitably have the board meeting where the news isn’t positive.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

I have been close to the tech & startup sectors for more than 20 years and I can’t think of a period in which I felt more optimistic about the innovation and value creation I see in front of us. Cloud computing and the open source movements have brought down the costs of starting a company by more than 90%.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

But VC is an “illiquid asset&# so funds didn’t disappear quickly - In 2000/01 the stock market quickly adjusted punishing investors in the NASDAQ and in individual public technology stocks. But even great funds that are not in this historic and long-established funds will not find fund raising easy.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2018

According to a classic survey conducted by Dimensional Research for Zendesk , 90 percent of respondents asserted that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, and 86 percent admitted buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. Bureaucracy can appear quickly in startups as well as large companies.

Technical Review 68

Technical Review Organization Entrepreneur Social Media 68