Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2013

It also chronicles the forces behind the decline of the American city (which has been revived in the past 10-15 years) and the rise of global manufacturing. The company name sounded Chinese – Huy Fong Foods. How much could the new generation of entrepreneurs learn from that? Where was it from? What did it mean?

Entrepreneur 415

Entrepreneur Startup Pricing Product 415

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Someone on Quora recently asked me to answer the following question: Why Do Digital Entrepreneurs Hate MBAs? Tech entrepreneurs' consternation with MBAs does not rise to the level of loathing. As noted in Startup Advice From College Dropouts , successful entrepreneurs are often poor students. Look For MBA Outliers.

Entrepreneur 279

Entrepreneur Technical Review Case Study Class 279

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

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 5, 2015

In his premier film appearance in the blaxploitation send-up “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” Chris Rock inadvertently addresses a key pricing challenge faced by most entrepreneurs. Watch this 93-second clip and see if you can identify the pricing pitfall addressed in this humorous snippet. Price = Value. How Much For A Rib?

Pricing 100

Pricing Product Startup Custom 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2023

His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. His top eight required skill set elements for sales don’t even mention product skills, and match my view of the right skill set for successful entrepreneurs, with only a few priority changes: Creating and sharing a vision. It’s up to you to clear the way.

Startup 154

Startup Sales Entrepreneur Custom 154

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved.

Competition 99

Competition Services Startup Training 99

InfoChachkie

MARCH 2, 2010

In 1976, at the age of 14, I Co-Founded a Sports Memorabilia company with my friend (and future brother-in-law). Over the next six years, we grew the company into a thriving mail-order business, with assets conservatively estimated at approximately $250,000. It was a great time to start a sports memorabilia company.

Pricing 138

Pricing Advertising Marketing Startup 138

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2016

His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. His top eight required skill set elements for sales don’t even mention product skills, and match my view of the right skill set for successful entrepreneurs, with only a few priority changes: Creating and sharing a vision. It’s up to you to clear the way.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Sales Startup Custom 106

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

You will realize much more from the ultimate sale of your business even if at a considerably lower price than if splitting the proceeds with investors. And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup. There is a lot to say about retaining control.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Berkonomics

MARCH 29, 2018

We all have in our past. It was thrilling for these angels to find a young entrepreneur with an idea for a business that seemed so destined for greatness that the angels invested over $1 million on the condition that the group receive two board seats and one observer seat on the start-up’s board. Ever get bad advice? But I digress.

Startup 243

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Angel 243

Berkonomics

APRIL 13, 2017

Conversely, a fast-growing industry lifts most all good participants, making excellent companies excel even more and grow even faster, like a small plane flying at 150 knots with a 75-knot tailwind. Some great ideas just cannot be made into a product at a reasonable enough price to attract customers. How large a total market?

Patents 291

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 291

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs. Leave the world of new computer chips and new drugs to the big companies, and people with deep pockets.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

TechCrunch LA

MAY 12, 2020

The group occupies some familiar spaces for past investments, with a focus on niche social communities, mobile media tools and augmented reality. Mogul Millennial : a media startup sharing professional resources for Black entrepreneurs. Snap investment Hardworkers. Charli Cohen : a “next-gen” streetwear fashion brand.

Invest 237

Invest Startup Artificial Inteligence Class 237

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved.

Startup 154

Startup Training Custom Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps. Leave the world of new computer chips and new drugs to the big companies, and people with deep pockets. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

socalTECH

JUNE 14, 2018

For most consumers with a credit card, many of those cards have a feature called "price protection"--which promises to provide you with cash back if prices drop on an item you've purchased. But, how many people actually bother to submit for those refunds and follow prices after you purchase an item? What's Earny?

Pricing 145

Pricing Startup Email Incubator 145

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2022

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. It happens on the front end for startups to get traction, and then again later for every company as the economy, competition, and culture changes around them. Sherry, Jr., Reinvent the vision for change.

Course 127

Course IBM IBM Social Media 127

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. Typically this means describing interactions with customer groups, real customer feedback, and showing an understanding of price sensitivity, alternatives, and competitive offerings.

Startup 113

Startup Custom Customer Technical Review 113

InfoChachkie

MARCH 16, 2010

Even the eccentric King of Pop communicated the price he was willing to pay. However, in many cases, acquiring companies behave in a less rational manner than Mr. Jackson. Citrix politely approached us, told us they had an interest in acquiring our company and then asked us, “How much?”. What is that price?”.

Company 160

Company Companies Pricing Santa Barbara 160

InfoChachkie

MAY 19, 2011

As noted in parts I and II of this series, agreements with Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) can be alluring and potentially fatal. This series describes how entrepreneurs can craft company-changing agreements with BDCs, while avoiding Kiss of Death contract provisions. Agree to Bundling Without a Minimum Price.

Outsource Development 193

Outsource Development IP Technical Review Entrepreneur 193

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Yet as a business advisor I am convinced that making the jump from a startup to a the next unicorn takes a different mindset, and actions most entrepreneurs are reluctant to face. In my experience, less than half of founding entrepreneurs even aspire to stay and scale their company.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

A startup leader's primary responsibility is to maximize the return to its stakeholders, which include the company's global and local neighbors, employees, suppliers, customers and investors. Angry people are usually inspired to act against your company's interests. Be boring in public. Association Guilt. Reactive Politics.

Entrepreneur 203

Entrepreneur Email Sales RSS 203

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2013

Well, the venture capital industry has changed a lot in the past 20 years … and we have too. Wouldn’t we be a bit hypocritical if we talked with entrepreneurs about innovation and change but we weren’t willing to take it on ourselves? We also saw that the same types of entrepreneurs were repeatedly getting funded.

Funding 343

Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was speaking recently to the team at NuOrder , an LA-based company we’re an investor in about “realism in startups” — an impromptu talk I have given to any of our portfolio companies who ask. I work with two companies that aim to change education but both are indirectly aiming to do so.

Invest 254

Invest Writing Pricing Metrics 254

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs. Leave the world of new computer chips and new drugs to the big companies, and people with deep pockets. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I spend a lot of time with startups and thus hear many companies talk about their approach to sales and their interactions with customers. Who else is going to tell a VC if he got a bad reference from an entrepreneur or fellow VC? Similarly I see entrepreneurs on Twitter who constantly take pot shots at VC as an industry.

Custom 341

Custom Customer Venture Capital Software Review 341

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago. They present a convincing story that every entrepreneur has the same potential, but most get sidetracked and bogged down by their technology, competitors, and internal organization.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Custom Customer 123

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 4, 2014

In fact, for the past 27-years, he has specialized in bringing exotic travel destinations to those of us who are healthy and active but whose competitive sporting days are long behind us. My research led me to Wildland Adventures, one of the pioneering companies in the ecotravel space. Ever fantasized about climbing Mt. but we don''t.

Entrepreneur 187

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Resource 187

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Editor's note: All this week, and into the start of next year, we'll be featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. Nearly every day our 50+ LPs are creating real and measurable value for our early stage healthcare companies. Thats an easy one.

Pasadena 124

Pasadena Startup Southern California Santa Monica 124

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Market risk is constant and should be of greatest concern to any executive or entrepreneur. Email readers, continue here…] Too often the person you call your chief financial officer is trained in accounting, which is primarily a process of looking backward over events in the past. Will the marketplace accept your product?

Competition 156

Competition Marketing Class Product 156

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. You can be pissed off, but I don’t set prices. That’s stupid.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Talk and time are cheap, but they need to understand that investors judge past results as a good indicator of future expectations. milestones entrepreneur startup funding business'

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. So here is what I have been telling entrepreneurs privately for the past 6 months. The fact that today’s Internet bubble does not represent all companies does not disprove its existence. I believe that.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

.” In the article I discussed the downside of raising capital at a too high of a price and referred people to a previous article I had written encouraging founders to raise “ At the Top end of Normal ” as opposed to stratospheric prices. First, a down round sends a signal that something is wrong with your company.

Pricing 302

Pricing Seed Funding Invest Venture Capital 302

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. All of these are competitors in terms of speed, price, or luxury. No investor wants to be tied to a “one-trick pony.”

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Just because you are an entrepreneur, or work in a startup, you can’t ignore the rules of building and maintaining relationships. One of the prices that you pay for being a CEO is giving up a lot of the social relationships within the company. You cannot compromise what is right for the company just to be liked.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network Mentor 104