Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Entrepreneurs have no trouble focusing on how to build a product, and the good ones know how to find and nurture those first critical customers. As the end of the year approaches, it’s a good time for every startup to assess the metrics, technology, and platforms they’re using to manage the business. Operating productivity.

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Metrics Technical Review Sales Custom 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

As is often said if you don’t get at least a few fellow VCs (and entrepreneurs) scratching their heads you may not be funding ideas with enough upside. This was certainly the case when I invested in a small YouTube video production company called Maker Studios that recently sold to Disney for just shy of $1 billion.

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Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 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. Yes, there is the mythical company you all heard about that walked into Sequoia and had a term sheet 24 hours later. If you haven’t spent time over there you should.

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InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As noted in Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Pitch Their Ideas To Venture Capitalists , most sophisticated investors place their bets on people rather than opportunities.

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Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

On a regular basis, I am approached by entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like a recent BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this NY Times article. With bootstrapping, no business plan is expected by anyone.

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Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2015

Great technology leads to innovative solutions that are possible, but not necessarily great businesses. For example, hydrogen-fueled engines were invented over a century ago, with a continuing promise of breathing air and exhaling pure water vapor and having over 200 companies active in the hydrogen sector today.

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Technical Review Product Activity Technology 54

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2015

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Professional investors and advisors, on the other hand, usually refuse to sign these agreements today due to the risk of litigation and administrative workload, and will walk away.

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Ideas Technical Review Patents Entrepreneur 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2016

Investors have also learned not to invest in ideas but only in entrepreneurs and teams who can deliver solutions. Companies that do this best become market leaders. , AltaVista, InfoSeek and others), but according to Investopedia , Google was the first to really monetize search. billion in 2015. But Google is not unique.

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Ideas Technical Review Google Startup 59

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Ten Tech Entrepreneurs Who Are Putting LA on the Map. ” Residents of Northern California (everyone north of Bakersfield) don’t understand how we do it, constantly touting Palo Alto’s tech scene. Cornerstone has been recognized as one of the nation’s fastest growing companies by Deloitte, Inc.

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Technical Review Entrepreneur Riot Games Southern California 75

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2015

A great example was when Eric Schmidt, with years of experience at Sun Microsystems and Novell, joined forces with Sergey Brin and Larry Page at Google. Many of the entrepreneurs I meet prefer to focus on the technology, so they desperately need a people-oriented partner for balance. Able to help, rather than be a helper.

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Technical Review Startup Examples Google 103

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

There were tons of young entrepreneurs showing their latest Web 2.0 Ajax was the new buzzword and many companies went overboard. People mistook extra doses of Ajax for a successful product. and the subsequent acquisition sprees of companies like Google, Yahoo! Cisco and others went out to fill out their Web 2.0

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Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group.

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Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Few investors these days have the time or patience to read a full business plan, so a better way to catch their eye is with a tightly written and well formatted two-page executive summary. Skip the fuzzy marketing terms, such as "easier to use," "lower cost" and "disruptive technology."

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Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

One of the things I discuss the most with the portfolio companies I’m involved with is that “you manage what you measure.”. Make them widely available inside the company and share your most important goals with your board. My experience has proven that even some well known companies are under-whelming in this department.

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Metrics Startup SEO Custom 346

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

We will be announcing the StartupDemo companies very soon. We give a huge Thank You to the following sponsors: Demand Media is a leading online media company that informs, entertains and connects millions of people every day. TCA is a not-for-profit organization. Together they do amazing things. Want to Sponsor? to 11:00 p.m.

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Technical Review Software Review Santa Monica Tech Coast Angels 58

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. There was no viral social networking products back then like Twitter where people could easily discover your content. My blog was wiped out. Thus begins the venture capital dance.

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Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 6, 2011

Company : FindTheBest. We all make important, complicated decisions in our life and having accurate, objective data about our choices allow us to find and compare products that meet our needs. With that said, what books, blogs or other resources do you recommend for emerging entrepreneurs? free weekly Infochachkie articles! “We

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Entrepreneur Competition Software Review Course 232

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 28, 2012

He kicked off the fest with his opening keynote, saying LA is a unique city of mash-ups, where tech, startups and entertainment – plus creativity, cultures, and passion – mix with successful results. Panels were based at hubs including Leadership, Branding / Advertising, Social Media, Entrepreneurs, Community and more.

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Hollywood Technical Review Startup Rustic Canyon 67

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.

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Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Statistics 243

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Yet according to the latest data from Gust (formerly AngelSoft), only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. The Gust Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process. Build a prototype product.

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Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 24, 2011

We all make important, complicated decisions in our life and having accurate, objective data about our choices allow us to find and compare products that meet our needs. With that said, what books, blogs or other resources do you recommend for emerging entrepreneurs? 10) Kevin, why does the world need FindTheBest (FTB)? . “We

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Blogging Entrepreneur Software Review Course 219

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2012

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. Some entrepreneurs seem to think that their product pitch is also their investor pitch.

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Tips Slides Technical Review Startup 97

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

It’s as good as it gets in personal productivity / life reflection. I know that would be surprising to many readers since keeping a blog somehow convinces people that I’m a time management or productivity ninja. That’s why productivity wasn’t tough for me as a CEO. I’m not. I couldn’t.

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Slides Email Entrepreneur Startup 374

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Yet according to the latest data from AngelSoft , only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. The AngelSoft Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process. are eliminated during due diligence.

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Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund As I outlined last week, trophy angel investors are always looking for trophy entrepreneurs. In many areas, not enough entrepreneurs meet the criteria, so it’s still a buyer’s market. There is no product idea good enough to overcome bad partners. By Joseph A. Proposition.

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Funding Startup Entrepreneur Activity 106

Xconomy

AUGUST 12, 2016

government’s Precision Medicine Initiative is an ambitious effort to collect the genomic data of 1 million Americans, and tech giant Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG ) is deeply involved. Alex Lash examined the company’s role, via its biotech subsidiary Verily Life Sciences, in the massive project. —The U.S. —David H.

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Google Technical Review News Research 40

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

We will be bringing you some of the hottest startups around to give you a quick rundown about their companies and get to know the entrepreneur behind those companies. StartupDemo is an opportunity for early stage startups to showcase their new products and/or services. Be sure to tune in at 5:30pm PT. The Startups.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

Fortunately I was mostly a technology consultant, which meant that I coded computers, designed databases and planned system integration projects. But all of the data projections were so different so I decided to call some of the research companies and ask how they derived their data. It was originally COBOL and DB2 – so what?

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 11, 2012

Facebook just hit 1 billion active users globally and that was great but a new social payment application is set to make Facebook users across the world get more from their connections and even allowing companies to sell or receive payments from their pages. As we know, developers always give their product a code name.

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Software Review Social Network Platform Technical Review 92

socalTECH

DECEMBER 19, 2011

The passion of the company has remained consistent, although the manner in how we do that has evolved. Our goal, from the outset, since 2006 when we put the company together, was to bring together the extraordinary content on the Internet, whether that is a website, games, or videos for kids. It goes both ways. Cliff Boro: Yes.

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Content Startup Web Technical Review 165

SoCal Delicious

OCTOBER 8, 2012

Loading… Tech. COMPANY FB COMPANY|FB. COMPANY GOOG COMPANY|GOOG. COMPANY YHOO COMPANY|YHOO. COMPANY MSFT COMPANY|MSFT. COMPANY TSLA COMPANY|TSLA. Financial News. Professor Journal. SmartMoney. Student Journal. Virtual Stock Exchange. WSJ Classifieds. WSJ Classroom.

Los Angeles 44

Los Angeles Software Review Technical Review Journal 44

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 17, 2012

We wanted the name to also reflect what the company is about – Profile – was an important word for us – as people create profiles on the site – then it was finding possible domain names that would work. We have many people on the team who have been with us from day one – at all levels in the company.

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Advertising Services Social Network Startup 79

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

We've basically taken advantage of all the new technology out there--especially, the web-based service model. For parents, if you're interested in how your kids are doing, you can find out what their schedule is like, what homework is due when, what their grades are, and how they are progressing, plus you can communicate with their teachers.

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Education Startup Course Tool 124

SoCal Delicious

JANUARY 9, 2014

I’m hoping this will help to save entrepreneurs time in their hunt for success, whilst adding some more meaning to their businesses. Having a clear focus means it’s easier to communicate what your product is and who it’s for. Here are two examples. People who focus exclusively on efforts that matter, succeed. It’s that simple.”

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 12, 2008

Matthew Graczyk is founder of angel-backed Zubican (www.zubican.com)--saw a problem, which was the difficulty of finding suppliers for products for businesses--and decided to solve the problem, with a site specifically targeted at helping B2B buyers and sellers connect. What's your background, and how did you decide to start the company?

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SEO Advertising Gogii Tech Coast Angels 100

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%.

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Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2016

The reality is that entrepreneurs usually don’t have the money or time for executive recruiters to do the filtering and selection for them. Next comes the more arduous process of reviewing every applicant, looking for key attributes including the following. For new businesses, communication inside and outside the company is critical.

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