Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam , led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry , announced a $10 million round of financing. Here I make the case that entrepreneurs must stay focused on the prize, not the doubters. Entrepreneurs. ” **.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

It’s only 12 minutes long and if you’re a first-time entrepreneur (or second time, frankly) I encourage you to watch it if for nothing else than to get a sense that your struggles are universal. Startups are filled with enormously talented people – often product people & engineers. We learn from losses.

Startup 412

Startup Press Course Entrepreneur 412

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. In reality, many entrepreneurs are their own worst enemy, trying to do everything, working inefficiently, and imagining things that need doing which will never happen.

Tips 107

Tips Entrepreneur Startup Mentor 107

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Yet I can assure you that people who are paranoid, or want to avoid all risks, won’t be happy as entrepreneurs, so it’s all about balancing the risk-reward scale.

Ideas 159

Ideas Tips Technical Review Patents 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more. You need both to survive.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 18, 2012

As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, serial entrepreneur and noted venture capitalist Mark Suster recently shared his advice with a large crowd of emerging entrepreneurs. Mark is a Partner at GRP Partners and authors one of the most widely read startup blogs, BothSidesOfTheTable. I started at 31.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Startup Conference Santa Barbara 272

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

Thursday night was the unveiling of the newest batch of Launchpad LA companies. The VC’s & executives were then asked to make “commitments&# (in writing) to 3-5 of the companies that they felt they could make some sort of contribution to. Have a look at the companies below.

Company 276

Company Companies Startup Southern California 276

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

socalTECH

OCTOBER 10, 2013

In what is a fairly unusual move, last week, Tradesparq (www.tradesparq.com), a Chinese startup in the area of B2B trade information, said it was planning on setting up its operations here in Southern California, as part of an expansion and scaling of the company. How long has company been around? What is Tradesparq?

Southern California 170

Southern California Startup SoCal CTO Hire 170

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

John Lusk, along with his Co-Author Kyle Harrison, leveraged their humble company''s newsletter into The MouseDriver Chronicles , a New York Times bestselling book. Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2014

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. For aspiring entrepreneurs, or if your last startup failed, it’s all about standing out above the crowd of others like you.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Slides 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2015

As the number of sites on the Internet floats around one billion, the challenge with every new startup is to be found and stand out. Blogging is one of the best ways to do this and build a brand, even before you have a product or service. A great solution is necessary, but not sufficient, to build a great startup.

Blogging 110

Blogging Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media 110

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2021

For today's interview, we sat down to catch up with Jon Waterman, the founder and CEO of Ad.net, to understand what the company's business is nowadays, how the company has evolved over the years, and how the company has adjusted to life during a pandemic. A little history, we launched our product years ago, Search IQ.

Advertising 203

Advertising Startup Google Commerce 203

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2015

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. There is no crowd of successful entrepreneurs. Successful startups are all about the right people with the right stuff. Financial model.

Startup 104

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Slides 104

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. 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.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2022

One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. In reality, many entrepreneurs are their own worst enemy, trying to do everything, working inefficiently, and imagining things that need doing which will never happen.

Startup 123

Startup Tips Entrepreneur Mentor 123

Berkonomics

JUNE 1, 2023

Leaders and companies that innovate new products, services and methods of delivery are the ones that stand out in a crowded business world, especially when attempting to gain recognition among the throngs of competitors visible on the web. Innovation does not always equal invention. My experience describing innovation.

Artificial Inteligence 156

Artificial Inteligence UCLA Web Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2023

Entrepreneurs have always believed that their product or service must show real value to customers, but today the smart ones are even able to make their marketing valuable. The days are gone when marketing was all “pushing product.” Make your content answer some unmet customer need or question without pushing a product.

Content 104

Content Custom Customer Marketing 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2021

If you are a young startup founder, how do you find that CEO or other executive for your “dream team” to close on funding or complement your skills to kick start your company? A great hire can make a company, but a single bad one can break it. Most founders are product guys. But in fact, that’s just the beginning.

Startup 163

Startup eHarmony Networking Guide 163

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

I have been watching ProductPlan for several years, as the founders are both friends and pillars of the Santa Barbara Startup Community. Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2019

Every startup founder knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Even then, it struggled through the 80’s and 90’s, until the advent of the iMac and consumer products. This company was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994. Then you’ll give up way too soon. In April, 1996, Yahoo!

Startup 111

Startup Yahoo IBM IBM 111

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.”. It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. Commitment & urgency are key drivers of success in startup businesses.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Custom 346

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 1, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. I was reading one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs, VentureHacks, this weekend and noticed that they are running a long piece on how to pick a co-founder. I recommend that you start a company by yourself and own 100% of it.

Startup 289

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Sales 289

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Although the exact sequence of events is a bit unclear, it appears that Hacker News user "lukethomas"(who is unaffiliated with Divshot) was prompted to create the Hacker News post after reading a tweet about the initiation of the company's private beta. Be Yourself - Represent yourself, not the company in your comments. Engagement.

News 198

News Sites Startup RSS 198

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

“Hi [entrepreneur], I hope all is well. I’m an investor at [Big Name, Large Fund VC] and recently came across [Your Company]. It's big, well known & we've invested in all of these really cool companies]. I know the firm well and I know the entrepreneur & his business well. What fits your schedule?

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Yet I can assure you that people who are paranoid, or want to avoid all risks, won’t be happy as entrepreneurs, so it’s all about balancing the risk-reward scale.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Ideas Sample 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

Many entrepreneurs still dream of “going public,” making billions of dollars, and playing with the big boys. Even though the Initial Public Offering (IPO) alternative for a successful startup seems to be coming back into vogue, it is still extremely rare. companies made the IPO transition in 2009, out of thousands of startups.

Startup 94

Startup Entrepreneur Report Summary 94

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2021

Every startup founder knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Even then, it struggled through the 80’s and 90’s, until the advent of the iMac and consumer products. This company was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994. Then you’ll give up way too soon. In April, 1996, Yahoo!

Yahoo 127

Yahoo IBM IBM Startup 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Social media is so pervasive in today’s world that every entrepreneur believes instinctively that they know how to use it for their startup. Startups should begin by selecting just a few of the vast array of social media offerings out there, and customize based on results. Top social networks are Facebook (1.2 billion users).

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Startup Tips 108

Tech.Co

AUGUST 16, 2017

Finding potential customers continues to be a huge challenge not only for established marketing and sales teams but also for startup executives and solo entrepreneurs. Here are some of our top recommendations to get you started: Email Finder Tool – Voila Norbert. Enter the person’s name and company domain.

Tool 79

Tool Startup Help Template 79

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2009

This is part of my series on How to Raise VC but could equally be filed under Startup Advice more generally. I recently got a phone call from an entrepreneur whom I respect and who runs a company that I hope will do great things one day. He started the call by telling me he had exciting news. PR is subtle.

Venture Capital 291

Venture Capital Press News Startup 291

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.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2020

Entrepreneurs have always believed that their product or service must show real value to customers, but today the smart ones are even able to make their marketing valuable. The days are gone when marketing was all “pushing product.” Make your content answer some unmet customer need or question without pushing a product.

Custom 127

Custom Customer Marketing Content 127

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

We caught up with Rachel recently to hear more about the company. What''s the story behind the company? I was running the largest deals in the media and entertainment video area across many different Google products. How is your company funded, and where are you now? How did you end up in Los Angeles?

Google 233

Google Content Startup Venice 233