Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2021

Innovation is the key to long-term business success, both in startups as well as established organizations. Yet every business and every entrepreneur I know struggles with this challenge, focused on hiring the right people and implementing the right process. Pick an impossible target and get mad about it.

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Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 15, 2018

As I look back over more than fifty years as an entrepreneur, I can think of the financial focus of my three entrepreneurial businesses as a prime driver in my life during the early stage of each. And yet, as I recall the greatest thrills, the memorable events, the best of memories, almost none are about the money.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

One of the vivid memories I have from being a startup CEO is the feeling that most people in your company have a look in their eyes that like they can do your job as well as you. Most companies that are scaling have CFOs, heads of HR or talent. The “doers” in your organization. How hard could it be? Startup life.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Access to intellectual property and current research.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Now, I’m pretty on the record that being an entrepreneur is about being great at The Do. But trust me when I say that my observations across many startups (and other companies, frankly) is that not enough time goes into thinking. I’ve talked in the past about how I manage my own creative process.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2023

Technology is so key to every business these days that experienced business-smart but non-tech entrepreneurs are feeling deeper and deeper in the hole. Only one component of running a business is managing technology, but it is a critical component, so no entrepreneur can afford to ignore it or totally delegate it.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2022

It’s a special mix of entrepreneur and company, regular in every respect except for having the courage and foresight to make an idea happen that was supposed to be impossible. As an entrepreneur in a startup, how do you know if you have this potential, and what are the steps to get from an innovation to a revolution?

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Entrepreneur Technology Examples Ideas 136

Berkonomics

JANUARY 25, 2024

Everyone, even seasoned CEO’s can use a good coach who knows how to bring out the best in a person, is knowledgeable about the business process, and who has an extended list of relationships to call upon to fill needs that become obvious in the coaching process. Business coaches come in all sizes and shapes.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. By definition?—?I’m dot-com bonanza. Seed has become an option factory for many.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2020

As an angel investor in startups, I’m a believer that smart investors invest more in you as the entrepreneur than the next billion dollar solution you are pitching. In my experience, building a business is more about getting results than having the right dream, or the right technical skills.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. That is what business leadership is all about. Unfortunately, in mature companies, a larger and larger percentage of employees forget company survival and customers as the objectives, and focus only on their own personal gain.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2022

New entrepreneurs tend to focus only on getting the product right, and assume that the right culture and ethics will come later simply by hiring good people. This myth ignores the complexity surrounding ethical decision making, particularly within business organizations. Ethical decisions are seldom simple. The reality is different.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. This commitment to hire people who think like entrepreneurs, or instill an “owner’s mindset” in every employee, should be a high priority in every business. Employees will care only about work they create.”

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

When someone asks me for the best way to fund a startup, I always say bootstrap it, meaning fund it yourself and grow organically. I grew to appreciate this approach much more when I interviewed a popular serial entrepreneur, Rich Christiansen a while back, who has done almost 30 businesses wholly by bootstrapping. Marty Zwilling.

Organization 111

Organization Startup Summary Entrepreneur 111

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 12, 2011

As I look back over more than fifty years as an entrepreneur, I can think of the financial focus of my three entrepreneurial businesses as a prime driver in my life during the early stage of each. And yet, as I recall the greatest thrills, the memorable events, the best of memories, almost none are about the money.

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Coach Organization Invest Sales 216

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2021

In the last few years, I’ve heard more and more about a new type of small business, called a “micro-business” (or micro-enterprise). Dal LaMagna, in his humorous classic “ Raising Eyebrows: A Failed Entrepreneur Finally Gets It Right ,” leads with the foundational principle of micro-businesses, which is to start small. Keep it simple.

Entrepreneur 121

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socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2018

Richard recently published a new book, The Soul Of A Deal , talking about his experience with deal making and interviewing such others as J.J.Abrams, Deepak Chopra, Peter Guber, Reid Hoffman, Penn Jillette and many others on their own experiences. We caught up with Richard to learn more about the book and deal making.

Startup 147

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Jason Nazar

JULY 1, 2016

Entrepreneurs often lament big companies, but most of us hope we’ll create just that. It’s hard to fully appreciate the complexity of keeping an organization with thousands of employees moving forward. Along the way many big companies lose much of the grit and guts that made them so successful in the first place.

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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.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. If you care about accessing customers, reaching an audience, communicating your vision, influencing people in your industry, marketing your services or just plain engaging in a dialog with others in your industry a blog is a great way to achieve this.

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Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 23, 2019

It’s a problem that serial entrepreneur Josh Bruno has seen first hand. And it’s why he has launched a new company called Path , which pitches access to specialized substance addiction treatment professionals as an employee health benefit, to do something about it. ” The Los Angeles-based company has raised $5.35

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Help Los Angeles Networking Coach 129

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

We’ve worried together about the moral obligation implicit in taking such investments from people so close, even with their promise never to expect a return. And we’ve spoken openly about your fear that you must succeed and perhaps even cover any losses – even without a formal promise or requirement to do so.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 19, 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 started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Much is also about luck and timing.

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Entrepreneur Startup Slides Seed Funding 288

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2022

Entrepreneurs are usually highly creative and innovative, but many innovative people are not entrepreneurs. 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. They often ask “Why?”

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

More entrepreneurs want to be socially responsible these days, but fear a negative impact on profits, growth, and the ability to find an investor. I believe this option will continue to spread to other companies, states and countries. Employees tend to stay longer with the organization, reducing the costs of recruitment and retraining.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2023

I believe these principles, paraphrased here, should be adopted by every entrepreneur struggling to accomplish innovation in a startup in any market: Innovation can come from anywhere in the organization. Startup leadership and survival is all about execution. That’s the win-win equation we are all looking for.

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Artificial Inteligence Google Startup Organization 114

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2019

Every mature company I know is looking for more innovation from within. They are painfully aware that tenure on the list of S&P companies is shrinking – from thirty-three years back in 1964, down to twenty-four in 2016, and predicted to be just twelve by 2027. Intrapreneurs have to always think like entrepreneurs.

Company 93

Company Companies Software Review IBM 93

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 26, 2013

When the venture was unable to initially meet its grandiose expectations, the market crucified the company. Stealth mode” occurs when an organization intentionally flies under the radar, obscuring its true purpose and shunning public exposure. As such, entrepreneurs should not attempt to validate their assumptions.

Marketing 247

Marketing Entrepreneur Journal Media 247

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2022

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. Every company needs this focus to attract the best minds and loyalty in both categories. Craft your culture into an actionable plan.

Organization 143

Organization Startup Pricing Custom 143

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2021

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. It’s here that entrepreneurs must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial. Organize your work before you begin. Planning has priority over doing.

Startup 171

Startup Organization Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2019

New entrepreneurs tend to focus only on getting the product right, and assume that the right culture and ethics will come later simply by hiring good people. This myth ignores the complexity surrounding ethical decision making, particularly within business organizations. Ethical decisions are seldom simple. The reality is different.

Software Review 77

Software Review Summary Examples Offshore 77

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2023

The reigning theory in business has long been that “alpha” leaders make the best entrepreneurs. Encourage team-members to play to their own strengths so that the entire team and organization leads the competition. Instead of knives-out competition, these companies thrive by building a successful community with shared values.

Organization 113

Organization Competition Entrepreneur Writing 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2022

In fact, Conscious Capitalism companies, for example, historically have outperformed the S&P 500 index by a factor of ten. I especially like Cushman’s outline of the ten principles which distinguish the organization and operation of an open business from the more traditional closed model. Shared decision process (transparency).

Organization 126

Organization Social Media Examples Custom 126

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

When do you sell your company? Those of us in the business of calculating (guessing) this mythical peak in value often make the same mistake as our entrepreneurs. Companies sometime run out of cash in the midst of their increasing success, and often find that sources of loans or investment are not freely flowing at the moment of need.

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Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

There is a lot to say about retaining control. However, most often, these funds are solicited by a well-meaning entrepreneur from investors who are not qualified as accredited investors under the law (currently requiring a proved income of $200,000 a year or $1 million in net worth for an individual investor).

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2015

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. Every company needs this focus to attract the best minds and loyalty in both categories. Craft your culture into an actionable plan.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Pricing 117

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

One of the big differences between an entrepreneur and an employee of a big business is that employees tend to have a very narrow focus on their job, while entrepreneurs have to keep the broader focus on business. entrepreneurs consistently claim to be happier , and have a higher net worth than employees. In fact, U.S.

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