Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2019

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. Hire the right team.

Organization 128

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

Of course, every risk level can be mitigated by a good plan that addresses the issue, offers a credible action plan, and will convince you, as well as investors and customers, that what looks like a risk to many is actually a sustainable competitive advantage for your startup. Your startup is in a high-failure-rate business sector.

Invest 98

Invest Sites Technical Review Social Media 98

socalTECH

APRIL 1, 2019

The hypothesis was, companies are in an extremely competitive environment, and it doesn't matter what company or industry they are in, it's been one of the most competitive environments we've seen in a long time. That competitiveness is driving companies to make better decisions.

Startup 113

Startup Culver City Competition Customer 113

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. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Far from it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2018

However, the company's technology team, Walmart Labs (www.walmartlabs.com)--which said this month that it is planning on major growth in San Diego is responsible for the company's key supply chain technology, online e-commerce site, and much more. What exactly does Walmart Labs work on in San Diego?

San Diego 100

San Diego Southern California Technology Artificial Inteligence 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2018

However, the company's technology team, Walmart Labs (www.walmartlabs.com)--which said this month that it is planning on major growth in San Diego is responsible for the company's key supply chain technology, online e-commerce site, and much more. What exactly does Walmart Labs work on in San Diego?

San Diego 100

San Diego Southern California Technology Artificial Inteligence 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). BuildOnline (the company I founded) has just announcement plans to be more aggressive in growing in the US. Let me not bury the lede.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. However, I advocate a more nuanced approach for early-stage startup teams” 1.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Of course, every risk level can be mitigated by a good plan that addresses the issue, offers a credible action plan, and will convince you, as well as investors and customers, that what looks like a risk to many is actually a sustainable competitive advantage for your startup. Your startup is in a high-failure-rate business sector.

Startup 126

Startup Sites Technical Review Social Media 126

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

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2014

How do you bring an outside perspective and a startup''s nimble perspective to your products, if you''re a big, established company? Are developers willing to invest their time and energy in building solutions around your products, company, or organization? It was a great event, and candidly, it exceeded our expectations.

Edmunds 172

Edmunds Southern California Ideas Startup 172

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

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

In today’s world of growing competition and customer evolution , holding your own, and growing to the next level is a constant challenge that can never be ignored. Even companies with long-established and well-respected brands, such as Apple and Amazon, can’t afford to rest on their laurels. Building a business is not a solo act.

Ideas 77

Ideas Customer Custom Competition 77

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 31, 2014

The competition started early February with a voting and crowdfunding portion as several teams from both schools gathered votes from fans on the host crowdfunding platform. Votes came from both the teams’ network as well as natural visitors to the website. At the end of the event, the judges crowned the winners.

Startup 101

Startup USC UCLA Southern California 101

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. There are so many more brands and competition. The problem is that there's no access.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Services Sales Customer 124

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

We caught up with Lee Essner , the President of Jukin Media, to learn more about how the company thinks it has figured out how to make a business round viral videos. We have a team of people and technology which scours the Internet, and looks for videos we like and think would be a perfect fit for our Youtube channels.

Media 235

Media Content Startup IP 235

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. Hire the right team.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Pricing 117

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2019

Most trend watchers agree that it is time for a revolutionary new category of medicine treatment devices and customized healthcare solutions. They expect to be wowed by the product as well as the relationship with you and your team. In fact, customer experience can be a greater competitive advantage than your product.

Startup 91

Startup Customer Custom Examples 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

For example, I recently picked up my phone to call a well-advertised local company for a TV repair. If you are in that category, you should take a hard look at a new book, “ Nincompoopery: Why Your Customers Hate You--and How to Fix It ” by John R Brandt, who has some real insight on this problem.

Customer 83

Customer Custom Demand Examples 83

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

Death By Competitive Analysis - Steve Blank , March 1, 2010 Trading emails with a startup CEO building an iPhone app, I asked him why potential customers would buy his product. In response he sent me a competitive analysis. It looked like every competitive analysis I had done for 20 years, (ok maybe better.)

Startup 150

Startup Software Review Competition SoCal 150

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. Every company needs this focus to attract the best minds and loyalty in both categories. Hire the right team.

Startup 59

Startup Organization Pricing Customer 59

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

When I built my first company starting in 1999 it cost $2.5 million in team costs to code, launch, manage, market & sell our software. Platform cloud players like Salesforce.com provide compute resources so that third parties can build applications that integrate with its core product. That little online book company.

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Software Capital Startup 334

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

I was pretty skeptical about the firm at first, but then I started talking with folks and getting to know the team, and saw how much revenue they were driving, and decided to make the leap. My team based in Glendale is probably 300, and we have another office in Sunnyvale, another in San Francisco, and other people in St.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. There are many investors who are not looking to build enormous businesses who value the fact that you can run a business profitably). Being profitable certainly makes your company more sustainable in difficult times.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

I was pretty skeptical about the firm at first, but then I started talking with folks and getting to know the team, and saw how much revenue they were driving, and decided to make the leap. My team based in Glendale is probably 300, and we have another office in Sunnyvale, another in San Francisco, and other people in St.

Technical Review 211

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 211

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. Every company needs this focus to attract the best minds and loyalty in both categories. Hire the right team.

Startup 91

Startup Organization Pricing Customer 91

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Of course, every risk level can be mitigated by a good plan that addresses the issue, offers a credible action plan, and will convince you, as well as investors and customers, that what looks like a risk to many is actually a sustainable competitive advantage for your startup. Your startup is in a high-failure-rate business sector.

Sites 81

Sites Technical Review Social Media Entrepreneur 81

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2016

Of course, every risk level can be mitigated by a good plan that addresses the issue, offers a credible action plan, and will convince you, as well as investors and customers, that what looks like a risk to many is actually a sustainable competitive advantage for your startup. Your startup is in a high-failure-rate business sector.

Startup 104

Startup Entrepreneur Sites Technical Review 104

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

It’s always fun debating companies with Dana because she’s always so knowledgeable on deals – particularly those in the digital media, ad-tech and eCommerce spaces. Of course none of these funds (my own included) want to be lumped into just one category because we all move across the spectrum. Time will tell. OTHER DEALS: 1.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

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? Train all the time.

Startup 101

Startup Training Study Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

The challenge is to transform and hardwire your entire team to think in these terms, rather than the default focus on distinct towers of product quality, closing the sale, or fixing a complaint. Michelli, with inspiring stories on how one well-known company, Mercedes-Benz, made the transition and is profiting as a result.

Customer 56

Customer Custom Startup Competition 56

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? Train all the time.

Training 109

Training Startup Study Customer 109

socalTECH

DECEMBER 7, 2016

I built my own company around marketing services, and have been around business development, marketing, custom service, and sales, and also on the consumer side of technology, a little bit a mix of the two. We worked on Beatshare at Chapman, where there was a business plan competition, which we won. That's how Barry came in.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels CTO Coach Startup Pasadena Angels 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

What I want to talk about today is one of the insider baseball discussions of our industry this past week: The odd fact of the $500 million financing round completed just before the company sold for a B. Let’s say your company is currently valued at $15 million. Was this a good thing? Christin goes on. You are not Instagram.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

It turns out that to build a successful company you ultimately need this strange thing called “revenue” that people don’t just hand you: You need to earn it. Most of this advice boils down to an argument in favor of basic planning before starting a company or raising money. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2014

Of course, every risk level can be mitigated by a good plan that addresses the issue, offers a credible action plan, and will convince you, as well as investors and customers, that what looks like a risk to many is actually a sustainable competitive advantage for your startup. Your startup is in a high-failure-rate business sector.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Sites Technical Review Social Media 101

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

At the tender age of 15, Tanz teamed up with his friend Michael Schneider (the CEO of MobileRoadie ), to create the design firm Fluid Design. The old media companies were resistant to change. We had just raised a few million dollars at that point so we needed to build something bigger.”. Photos…the final frontier. Much bigger.

Advertising 98

Advertising Santa Monica Startup Content 98