Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. If you ask for more money than your company is now worth, no investor will bite.

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Funding Startup Equity Invest 121

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Even entrepreneurs that already sold on SaaS should stake note of new research from the SalientGroup : SaaS gets funded - Nearly 50% of SaaS-based startups are getting successfully funded—a rate of funding success no other sector can match. Traditionally, companies have been building their own portal. is du jour. Time to market.

SaaS 100

SaaS Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction 100

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

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I don’t think it takes book smart people to build great companies – sometimes it’s a hindrance. If you haven’t spent time over there you should.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Customer 306

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2021

If you define your self-worth as an entrepreneur by how busy you are, it’s time to find another lifestyle. For survival, entrepreneurs need to be all about accomplishing results that matter for themselves, their team, and their customers. We all know people who are extraordinarily busy, but never seem to accomplish anything.

Framework 153

Framework Product Entrepreneur Social Media 153

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

I’d like to do a few posts on what life looks like on the way up and perhaps how to keep your head on straight and avoid drinking your own Kool Aid because as I often advise entrepreneurs on irrational exuberance, “ In a strong wind even turkeys can fly.” And it’s when mediocre companies get pulverized.”

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2022

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and a technologist, I’m happy to report that the tide may be turning, and we are experiencing a new era of opportunity for entrepreneurs, and a new appreciation of the power of the digital world. In his classic book, “ Digital Context 2.0: Norton, Ph.D., Is your business ready to ride the wave?

Social Media 107

Social Media Tool Google Yahoo 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2015

If you define your self-worth as an entrepreneur by how busy you are, it’s time to find another lifestyle. For survival, entrepreneurs need to be all about accomplishing results that matter for themselves, their team, and their customers. We all know people who are extraordinarily busy, but never seem to accomplish anything.

Product 111

Product Entrepreneur Framework Social Media 111

socalTECH

APRIL 18, 2017

Ahead of the Recurring Revenue Conference ([link] which we are helping to sponsor next week, we are chatting with a few companies in the recurring revenue area space. We are also launching beverages and coffee, two new categories, next month. The problem is that there's no access. There's no access, for two reasons.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Services Sales Customer 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2016

As an angel investor in early-stage startups, I’ve long noticed my peers apparent bias toward the strength and character of the founding entrepreneurs, often overriding a strong solution to a painful problem with a big opportunity. The scope of the positive leadership views included human nature, organization life, and personal purpose.

Mentor 55

Mentor Ideas Entrepreneur Study 55

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2018

Just ask former big brand companies, like Blockbuster, Kodak, Lehman Brothers, and Sears, what happened to them. Rather than enhancing the offering you have, develop and offer new products that capitalize on the customers that you already know well. Redefine your product to reach a new category.

Examples 99

Examples IP Acquisition Social Media 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. If you ask for more money than your company is now worth, no investor will bite.

Startup 135

Startup Equity Invest Funding 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2016

If you define your self-worth as an entrepreneur by how busy you are, it’s time to find another lifestyle. For survival, entrepreneurs need to be all about accomplishing results that matter for themselves, their team, and their customers. We all know people who are extraordinarily busy, but never seem to accomplish anything.

Product 60

Product Entrepreneur Framework Social Media 60

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

Loo--who was the very first employee at ServiceNow--explains what that means, and why companies use the startup's software. The company is all about data solutions which combine meaningful application frameworks together. I have been in IT service management for over 30 years, at companies even before ServiceNow.

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Customer Custom 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven''t earned a dime of revenue. However, this town is also full of very profitable, growing, and revenue generating companies-- which have for the most part been below the radar.

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? You probably follow some high-profile entrepreneurs on Instagram and Twitter and see conference pictures of them in Davos, Mexico, Monaco or wherever.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2014

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Craft your culture into an actionable plan.

Startup 91

Startup Organization Pricing Customer 91

socalTECH

JUNE 30, 2016

Phil Hui-Bon-Hoa , the CEO of El Segundo-based Kaleo (www.kaleo.com), is a serial entrepreneur who has previously built and sold four companies, including one acquired by IFILM, and another by Sun Microsystems. We're trying to save companies money, and increase the productivity of employees. How did the company start?

El Segundo 169

El Segundo Southern California Startup CTO Hire 169

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2017

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Craft your culture into an actionable plan.

Startup 59

Startup Organization Pricing Customer 59

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer. Decreasing Your Customer Acquisition Costs. This is equivalent to being handed a free customer for every ten customers you acquire.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

InfoChachkie

JULY 26, 2010

Entrepreneurs can emulate de la Guerra’s strategy and make their adVenture appear far larger than reality and thus increasing its influence and market reach while discouraging competitive threats by creating an industry alliance. Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) are surprisingly compliant when they are presented with a “Program”.

Entrepreneur 168

Entrepreneur Santa Barbara Startup Conference 168

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

A theme I often hear from the entrepreneurs and startups I advise is that once they see that first surge of traction from customers, they can relax and enjoy life for a change. Even companies with long-established and well-respected brands, such as Apple and Amazon, can’t afford to rest on their laurels.

Ideas 77

Ideas Customer Custom Competition 77

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2018

As the Global Customer Growth Evangelist at Salesforce, with implementation roles at many other companies, she makes a host of relevant observations for every business owner. These days, customers remember the total experience with a company longer than they remember the price they paid.

Examples 67

Examples Customer Custom Software Review 67

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Even when your new product or solution fills a real customer need, and has a positive value proposition, many new venture founders are surprised and frustrated to find that excited customers are hard to find and growth is slow. Customer buying decision process is multi-level or complex.

Product 86

Product Marketing Education Examples 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2015

Yet I can’t remember the last time any entrepreneur asked me to assess personal potential, despite the fact that most investors will admit they invest in the person more than the product. It was developed by Joe Abraham , who manages a portfolio of successful high-growth international companies. Opportunist. Specialist.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know. Thank you. (if 1:00 – 3:40).

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2015

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. On the other hand, venture capital organizations typically look for needs that exceed $2 million. If you ask for more money than your company is now worth, no investor will bite.

Help 104

Help Startup Equity Entrepreneur 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2013

One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. Why not learn what you can from companies like Apple, who are leading the way with great growth and a great culture?

Startup 101

Startup Training Study Customer 101

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

By now we all know that the largest part of the online spend has been SEM (search engine marketing) where people buy CPC (cost per click) links to display alongside the “organic&# search results in the search engine. But of course Google eventually became the massive winner in this category. Thus, we click!

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. We are experiencing a frenetic time. “Yeah, we think about going every year.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

InfoChachkie

APRIL 9, 2012

These entrepreneurs do not risk everything, work outrageous hours and put themselves under extreme pressure because they want to. If it were a decision to be an entrepreneur, then most right-minded individuals would decide to turn back when they encountered the first inevitable startup crises. Entrepreneurs want to matter.

Startup 243

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Statistics 243

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

where entrepreneurs share their stories. 63 Los Angeles Entrepreneurs To Be Proud Of By mario on May 2, 2012 in Features , grid. Free Corporations For First-Time Entrepreneurs. Right now they’re setting up 500 free corporations for first time entrepreneurs. Here are 62 63 Los Angeles entrepreneurs we can be proud of.

Los Angeles 78

Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2012

One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. Why not learn what you can from companies like Apple, who are leading the way with great growth and a great culture?

Training 109

Training Startup Study Customer 109

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

We caught up with EcoMom CEO Jody Sherman , to learn more about the company. Jody--an experienced entrepreneur who was most recently co-founder of a firm he sold to the Virgin Group, and has been involved with such firms as Lycos, Buydirect.com, and Xoom--told us the story of EcoMom, plus how he connected with McClure on the investment.

Software Review 200

Software Review Commerce Startup Sites 200

socalTECH

JUNE 27, 2011

Scott Saunders, the CEO and co-founder, of the company is hoping to change that, by providing tools to consumers to help pay off their debt and achieve their life goals. I built up the company, the Walz Group, with partners. 500 company. The company is doing great, and now has more than $30 million in revenues.

Startup 197

Startup Ideas Southern California Social Network 197

InfoChachkie

APRIL 21, 2011

I = Technical Customer Calls. J = External Technical Company Voice. For instance, in the above chart, sitting in on “Technical Customer Calls,” was highly rated by the Founder, but deemed by the Core Team to be a duty that the CTO could effectively delegate. A = Product Strategy. L = Internally Communicating Roadmap.

Technical Review 182

Technical Review Software Review Startup Outsource 182

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2013

Most entrepreneurs struggle with financial projections, not wanting to commit to numbers they can’t deliver, and having no clue what investors might consider reasonable. Most entrepreneurs, with no experience, believe that they can make good money with lower margins than competitors. But don’t go crazy with this number. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 97

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Venture Capital 97