Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen executive summaries of business plans in which the entrepreneur seeks $5,000,000 to build the business. First, few startups can use that much money today with all the virtual services available and increasingly inexpensive methods of development, prototyping and marketing.

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Startup Invest Summary Resource 120

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds.

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Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2020

The name “investment bank” somehow always sounded like a place where I could deposit my investments, and maybe even earn a little interest. Then I learned that these banks really negotiate investments and collect fees on the transactions, sort of like commercial banks do with loans to businesses. Very confusing.

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Invest Entrepreneur Venture Capital Funding 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million-dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). Early or embryonic stage.

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Startup Funding Organization Incubator 122

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. For myself, I'm largely focused on investments in enterprise software, primarily in the areas of application software and intelligence.

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Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

socalTECH

APRIL 24, 2020

Carey tells us a bit about what OC4 is doing, how it invests and works with companies, and also gives startups some advice about how to approach moving forward in light of the pandemic. That naturally puts those early companies at a high risk and disadvantage. I have really been through the life cycles of a company.

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Invest Startup Ideas Examples 124

Berkonomics

APRIL 20, 2023

Starting a company is HARD – in so many ways. Let’s start with a restaurant -not our thing. But… I read several years ago that the average startup restaurant lasts only about a year. Restaurant startups would not top my list. And this includes all businesses, not just startups. And risky too. And the U.S.

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Statistics Startup Study Invest 156

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. Visibility to startup job opportunities and career guidance.

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Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Raising capital for a female-led startup can be very diffiult--which is what Justine Lassoff and Melinda Moore found out when they started their own company, LovingEco, in Los Angeles. We actually started the organization in 2013. What is the most difficult challenge that women entrepreneurs face?

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

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Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Berkonomics

JUNE 29, 2017

If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 23, 2017

LA's technology startup industry has saw a surge in new companies and efforts from its serial entrepreneurs in the last few months. Here's a quick look at just a few of the new companies who are led by serial entrepreneurs from the LA ecosystem. Entering Startup image courtesy Mike @ flickr. Ground Control.

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Entrepreneur Company Companies Technical Review 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. But what IS the right amount of burn for a company?

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Startup Company Companies .Net 383

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 26, 2020

500 Startups is scrapping its cohort model for accelerating companies and moving to a rolling admissions process, the accelerator said during its latest demo day. One of the progenitors of the accelerator model in the US along with Techstars and Y Combinator , 500 has been a cornerstone of the early-stage company building platform.

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Startup Los Angeles Invest Platform 177

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. Almost anyone can start a company today on a shoestring budget, following these cost-cutting recommendations: Establish a solid legal structure for your business.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2023

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. One of these experts, David T. Social-media advertising. Cold calling.

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Marketing Invest Social Media SEM 114

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). I was telling him that it was much easier when I started because there were fewer deals, life was less public and somehow the world seemed to be spinning more slowly.

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Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

socalTECH

DECEMBER 31, 2018

Editor's note: As we head into the new year, we've been featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. Here's Alon Goren , founder of 805 Startups and the Crypto Invest Summit. What was the biggest news for your company in 2018?

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Invest Southern California Startup Incubator 154

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2021

Making the decision to start your own business is a major commitment, with huge implications for skills and lifestyle. These are not valid reasons to start a business. But if you're focused on solving a real problem, believe you can do it better than anyone else, and confident in wearing many hats, you have the right start-up mindset.

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Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Guide 169

Berkonomics

MARCH 25, 2012

For those of us who’ve invested in early stage companies, especially technology startups, we have confronted a universal problem. There are many ways to project the value of a company for purposes of pricing an investment, but all rely upon the revenue and profit projections of the entrepreneur as a starting point.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Solicit venture capital investors.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. A strong team has one or more executives who have run a startup before in the current business domain.

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Invest Sites Technical Review Social Media 98

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? If you’ve taken the roller coaster ride that is a startup – you know what I’m talking about. On Being an Entrepreneur. There is no shame in being an exec at a company or whatever.&#.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 384

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series called “ Start-up Lessons.&#. I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I paid up for the diploma but can’t say that I saw better results. So back to MBAs.

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Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2021

Techstars LA, the startup accelerator headed up by Matt Kozlov, announced its 2021 class this week, drawing an international group of twelve new companies to its startup accelerator in Culver City. Companies this year in the program come from as far as Canada, India, and Ukraine.

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Class Culver City Company Companies 113

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

A new program, run by the Alliance for Southern California Innovation, is looking to connect startups with Series A funding, according to the group. According to the two, the program recruits and selects top SoCal-based startups that have demonstrated clear market traction and provides introductions to leading venture funds.

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Southern California SoCal Funding Startup 197

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She did her first tech startup after the age of 30. And she didn’t start her company in Northern California. Tracy built her company, Recycled Media , out of necessity. She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur.

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Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. With this model, a startup pre-sells their product early, at a cheaper price, in exchange for a pledge. Startup equity model. Product pre-order model. In the U.S.,

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Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

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). In fact, most investors “require” that you already have some investment from friends and family before they will even step up to the plate.

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Invest Technical Review Startup Ideas 135

Berkonomics

MAY 11, 2023

But the most important ones for any size business, including start-ups, is: Do you believe it should be the quality of your management team, or the plan you execute so brilliantly toward your success? Here’s a test: Several weeks ago, we published statistics of start-up and company failures.

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Statistics Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 156

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). Early or embryonic stage.

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2022

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Marketing News Slides 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2021

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. Find and enjoy the company of one or more mentors. Marty Zwilling.

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Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Invest 165

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

More than ever before, people want to buy from, work for, and invest in companies that matter. Your company and team members have to be seen as going above and beyond to solve the problems of internal and external customers. Companies that matter focus beyond the buy/sell transaction view of the world.

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Company Companies Customer Custom 116

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Thus I often recommend that before you kick off your own business, you join another startup or existing business to see how things really work.

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Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

Designed to be a collaborative startup company incubator alongside corporate partners, Launchpad focuses on developing new consumer tech businesses focused on M13’s main investment areas: health, food, transportation, and housing. “ The EIRs will receive a small stipend and equity in the business, Barber said. .

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Startup Incubator Los Angeles IP 178

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. If you have a good idea, but haven’t started yet, only friends, family and fools will likely be interested. This is all about setting a credible current value on your startup -- not future value.

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