Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2022

One alternative is to become an entrepreneur. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to get satisfaction from this lifestyle. In fact, Mehta focuses on a special class of entrepreneurs that he calls disruptors. Then write them down. Set long-term goals, short-term goals, and micro-goals.

Satisfaction 153

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Writing Startup 153

InfoChachkie

MAY 12, 2014

I recently received an email from a former student in which he described how he was able to secure a lunch meeting with a high-profile entrepreneur who is operating multiple ventures in parallel. When I attended Startup Weekend in Berkeley, I was inspired by parallel entrepreneur Adam Cheyer''s keynote speech. Meeting Adam Cheyer.

Entrepreneur 211

Entrepreneur Santa Barbara Email Startup 211

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2019

Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. People judge you and your company in the first few seconds. A crisis is an event, precipitated by a specific incident, that attracts critical media attention and lasts for a definite period of time.

Press 96

Press Entrepreneur Social Media Training 96

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 5, 2019

Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in San Diego, we're throwing an exclusive PitchFest speed dating event where you will be pitching to over 20 investors one-on-one! At this San Diego Event, we will be showcasing some of the newest early-stage venture funds and angel groups in the San Diego area!

San Diego 100

San Diego Venture Capital Angel Summary 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 7, 2019

Due to the overwhelming demand to pitch at our last event in Orange County, we're throwing an exclusive PitchFest speed dating event where you will be pitching to over 20 investors one-on-one! At this OC Event, we will be showcasing some of the newest early-stage venture funds and angel groups in the San Diego area!

Orange County 100

Orange County Venture Capital Angel Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. The startup was listed in TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2023 too, alongside industry heavyweights like Nvidia and SpaceX.

Startup 210

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 210

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 8, 2015

We come to the end of this cycle of insights with a thought about how you might view your successful exit from the company you have spent so much effort to build. But what most entrepreneurs fail dramatically at is to celebrate the moment. The do as all good entrepreneurs do. Write a book; I did. Take a long breath.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Writing .Net Sales 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

And she didn’t start her company in Northern California. Tracy built her company, Recycled Media , out of necessity. She drove her company to profitability before paying herself a modest salary. She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. She put all of her savings into her company. More on that later.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2017

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. As a startup, you as the entrepreneur are the brand, the brand builder, and the major lead generator.

Company 97

Company Companies Entrepreneur Customer 97

Berkonomics

JANUARY 13, 2022

How might you view your successful exit from the company you have spent so much effort to build? What most entrepreneurs fail dramatically at is to celebrate the moment. Not many founders or entrepreneurs do experience the success of a favorable sale of the business they dreamed would make them rich. Write a book.

Writing 156

Writing Entrepreneur .Net Sales 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2010

I hear many executives and professionals in large corporations talking about their dream of jumping ship, and becoming an entrepreneur. Executives in an enterprise usually don’t write their own memos, contracts, and certainly don’t schedule their own meetings. In a startup, that luxury isn’t possible, so the work suffers.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Company Companies Training 92

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. What is perhaps different from other regions is that we have large indigenous aerospace industry and a big high-tech import/export trade as opposed to a lot of software companies. “There’s something going on in LA.”

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2023

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Many entrepreneurs are finding their “secret sauce” these days by combining a strong purpose with a good business opportunity. Write it down, make it specific, expressive, yet succinct and jargon-free.

Framework 95

Framework Customer Custom Tips 95

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. People judge you and your company in the first few seconds. A crisis is an event, precipitated by a specific incident, that attracts critical media attention and lasts for a definite period of time.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2014

One obvious alternative is to become an entrepreneur. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle. In fact, Mehta focuses on a special class of entrepreneurs that he calls disruptors. Then write them down.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Startup Writing 100

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 25, 2018

If you are an entrepreneur or CEO, surely you’ve thought of how you’ll be remembered by your associates and stakeholders after you move on. And once a month, while watching TV, I spend part of an evening writing personal messages to each birthday employee, recalling an event or complimenting a behavior or success. Be honest now.

Writing 120

Writing Email Examples Entrepreneur 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2020

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Many entrepreneurs are finding their “secret sauce” these days by combining a strong purpose with a good business opportunity. Write it down, make it specific, expressive, yet succinct and jargon-free.

Tips 174

Tips Framework Customer Custom 174

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 23, 2020

There’s also a relatively modest request (of only $4 billion) for funding devoted to pilot projects, startup companies, and public clean technology investment initiatives (like LACI). “ This will also help dealerships increase sales and bring needed sales tax revenues to local and state governments,” Peterson writes.

Southern California 261

Southern California Los Angeles Rosemead Incubator 261

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2021

In my experience, many entrepreneurs rely too much on the perspective of a trusted advisor, or try to emulate a competitor who is getting attention. The challenge is how to develop that self-leadership in every aspiring entrepreneur and business professional role. Every person and every company needs a set of core values.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Course Satisfaction Guide 132

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 15, 2010

Last night I attended the inaugural Open Angel Forum event started by Jason Calacanis , a fellow LA resident. Jason started the Open Angel Forum in response to his frustration that entrepreneurs were being charged by some angel organizations to present at their events. The event last night in Los Angeles was great.

Angel 254

Angel Startup Tech Coast Angels MyShape 254

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The truth is – there isn’t a “right&# answer so for your company. And these ideas have ways of seeping into board discussions with portfolio companies as in, “have you ever thought about trying A, B or C?&# In my experience, entrepreneurs who are overly paranoid or are information hoarders rarely do well.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2012

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. As a startup, you as the entrepreneur are the brand, the brand builder, and the major lead generator.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Media Customer Custom 126

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Constance Curtis: The list is a modern matchmaking company. The other option in the dating space was to hire a traditional, matchmaking company. We've taken matchmaking onto a mobile application, as a modern matchmaking company. How did you start the company? Before this, I had an event planning company.

Startup 203

Startup Entrepreneur Southern California Netflix 203

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. As a startup, you as the entrepreneur are the brand, the brand builder, and the major lead generator.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Customer Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2012

Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. People judge you and your company in the first few seconds. A crisis is an event, precipitated by a specific incident, that attracts critical media attention and lasts for a definite period of time.

Training 93

Training Media Entrepreneur Social Media 93

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

amSTATZ is an online community that brings fitness professionals, athletes and fitness events together into one place. Founded in the summer of 2011 and their first product out a few weeks ago amSTATS wants to help users to follow fitness events and programs near them and find a great fitness trainer to help them stay fit.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 3, 2018

million to bring to market a service that basically hits pause on the execution of a contract so it can be arbitrated in the event that something goes wrong. The company’s technology works as a middleware including an SDK and a contract notification and monitoring service. Thus, we are dispute process agnostic.”

Software Review 159

Software Review Outsource Development Services Technical Review 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2017

When I hear executives and professionals in larger businesses talking about their dream of going out on their own to start a new company, I always cringe. They and I never realized how hard it is to break the big-company habits and conventions. Professionals get dependent on big company perks. I have been there and done that.

Company 58

Company Companies Startup Training 58

InfoChachkie

JULY 22, 2013

In their new book Startup Life , serial entrepreneur and venture investor Brad Feld, along with his wife Amy Batchelor, describe what has, and has not, worked for them during their 22-year relationship. Brad is in the midst of writing a series of startup-oriented books. I caught up with Brad between promotional events for Startup Life.

Startup 248

Startup Writing Santa Barbara RSS 248

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. File a provisional patent, register a trademark, and reserve your company domain names.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

I saw him on stage at the event talking about how he used social media to engage audiences. I reached out after the event to learn more. After seeing Chamillionaire interact with several entrepreneurs both at events and as an investor I started introducing him to startups in an advisory capacity.

Conference 150

Conference Slides Social Media Summary 150

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2011

Agreements with Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) are like DC Comic’s evil villainess, Poison Ivy. You will no doubt craft agreements with companies of similar or even smaller size to your own. Ever negotiate with lawyers at a huge company? The allure of a company-changing deal with a BDC is strong. Kiss of Death Provisions.

Outsource Development 244

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Resource Press 244

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2013

Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than Angel investors or professional investors (VCs). Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools: Don’t be afraid to ask, carefully.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Ideas 109

Jason Nazar

MARCH 22, 2011

I recently hosted a panel at the Twiistup Conference about LA tech companies. I have some pretty specific thoughts on the differences between companies in the two cities, as I wrote about in my previous post A Tale of Two Tech Cities. Challenge #1 – Tech Companies are Not Typically Started by Technologists.

Company 111

Company Companies Startup Twiistup 111

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

I began our discussion by asking Guy, “Why should entrepreneurs read your latest book, Enchantment?”. The reason why an entrepreneur should be interested in this book is because entrepreneurs have to overcome resistance. An entrepreneur, in particular, has to be likeable and trustworthy AND have a great product.

Santa Barbara 262

Santa Barbara Technical Review Social Media Startup 262

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2016

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Many entrepreneurs are finding their “secret sauce” these days by combining a strong purpose with a good business opportunity. Write it down, make it specific, expressive, yet succinct and jargon-free.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur Framework Customer Custom 54

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than angel investors or professional investors (VCs). Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools: Don’t be afraid to ask, carefully.

Invest 135

Invest Technical Review Startup Ideas 135