Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

I define these products and services as “solutions” (customers buy solutions to a problem), but Guy Kawasaki more generically calls them causes, meaning any new idea, company, or service. Then build a team, build a plan, build a great company, and have fun. The selection is incredibly deep. Intelligence. It looks right. It feels right.

Ideas 155

Ideas Startup Summary Examples 155

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2023

His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Here is my summary of the seven most successful lead-generation vehicles he and I still recommend today, despite the popularity of viral marketing: Search-engine marketing.

Marketing 114

Marketing Invest Social Media SEM 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2020

His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Here is my summary of the seven most successful lead-generation vehicles he and I still recommend today, despite the popularity of viral marketing: Search-engine marketing.

Customer 146

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 146

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

When you raise money from investors you produce information that you are told they want and care about: A fund-raising deck that articulates your company strategy, plans, team, market, competitors and so forth. VCs (and LPs) have a vested interest in having more data, whether they want to invest in your company / firm or not.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

He is the CEO of Hunch , company that I believe is solving a very big problem that I have been telling entrepreneurs needs to be solved for the past 2 years. Chris runs a popular web interview series on TechCrunch so is used to being the guy asking the questions. If you haven’t checked that out you really should. West Coast”).

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 22, 2010

I’ve had a long-standing rule of thumb in product design, which I call “design for the novice, configure for the pro.&# I started saying this back in 2001/02, long before the era of Web 2.0, Fast forward a decade and now I had a startup filled with smart web developers. In summary, 2 quick rules: Do usability testing.

Design 325

Design Startup Web 2.0 Tips 325

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

In today’s world, if you don’t have a web site up and running, you will not be perceived as a real company. Investors routinely go to candidate web sites to get a feel for the tone and scope of the company, as well as its maturity and offerings. Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Yet according to the latest data from Gust (formerly AngelSoft), only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. The Gust Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. should companies do spreadsheets / plan / have a hypothesis for success? how do you handle internal company morale? 9:14 What was the root cause of the failure of your first company?

Social Media 301

Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 30, 2011

They first started in 1994 and are therefore almost as old as the Web itself. I’m sure it probably resonants with how most of you read the web. So I’ve spent the last few years checking out companies that are trying to solve for this problem. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. Banner Ads. Oh, sacred cow.

Advertising 352

Advertising Media Social Media Screening 352

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The first check I wrote was just over 10 years ago into a company called Invoca who just announced a new $56 million in funding led by Scott Hilleboe at HIG Growth Partners. Ownership Matters At Upfront we focus our energy on fewer companies where we take meaningful ownership and we continue to invest throughout the lifecycle of the company.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 18, 2011

What follows is a summary which paraphrases Mark’s responses. I didn’t have that appreciation when I was with companies in Silicon Valley. Both companies (were) high-volume, scalable web infrastructures…that (has been) applied to the technology we are building.”. For his exact quotes, watch the video.

eHarmony 204

eHarmony Media Oracle Commerce 204

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2012

The cost of entry is so low – you can create a web site for almost nothing - and you are on your way to riches with ecommerce, your latest invention, or personal services. Mashable claims there are 150,000 new web sites created per day. Having a web site is necessary, but not sufficient. Content is king of the road. like Google.

Startup 96

Startup Social Media Content Paid Search 96

InfoChachkie

JUNE 2, 2011

The company initially focused on self-serve users who purchased the solution online, competing with the likes of Basecamp and GoPlan. You can watch the video below or watch it on YouTube by clicking here : What follows is a summary which paraphrases the interviewee’s responses. For exact quotes, watch the video.

Newsletter 213

Newsletter Conference Marketing Advertising 213

socalTECH

DECEMBER 10, 2009

One of the industries which has seen a lot of activity lately in Southern California is clean technology, with a large amount of investment activity and new company formation. The web site caters only to people in the green space. So the concept is we're building companies with a very low budget, around $25,000 for each company.

Southern California 193

Southern California Startup eHarmony Sites 193

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? What are related products/companies?

CTO Hire 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Yet according to the latest data from AngelSoft , only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. The AngelSoft Deal Funnel from the last 12 months indicates is that 70% of the interested companies never make it past the initial screening process. are eliminated during due diligence.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? What are related products/companies?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Or, as always, summary notes available below. This time frame – 2005/2006 – web 2.0 But, in fact, I would rather have an executive summary than a pitch deck. And I would rather, even before the executive summary, have something to play with (a demo)…” It falls in the category of show don’t tell. was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

The cost of entry is so low – you can create a web site for almost nothing - and you are on your way to riches with e-commerce, your latest invention, or personal services. Mashable claims there are 150,000 new web sites created per day. Having a web site is necessary, but not sufficient. Content is king of the road.

Social Media 93

Social Media Content Startup Web 93

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 6, 2011

DueToDos is a web based business productivity platform that seeks to save you time and increase efficiency whether you’re solo or on a team. The web platform creates an outgoing “to do list” for your emails and it helps you follow up with all the single tasks and items that you send out.

Email 102

Email Platform Web Summary 102

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

YouTube takes too high of a revenue split (45% vs. 30% that Apple and many other distribution companies take – FWIW, YouTube argues this is because their costs are much higher since they host and stream the video). If you’re just a content company your advantages are too small to win on the web. But think of this.

SEM 150

SEM Content Platform Acquisition 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

I’ve seen too many companies go off track by a VC hell bent on the team pursuing the VCs strategy which at times is about chasing the next shiny object. Think of web vs. mobile. I would call their portfolio companies and ask how helpful or not they’ve been. I call them “ VCs Seagulls.” FourSquare.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

Some summary notes are below. Palm (acquired by HP ) – In our interview we talked about how transformational mobile computing is and why it’s different than web computing (e.g. And I made the prediction that within the next 2 years RIM (the parent company of Blackberry) will not be independent. AppDynamics.

Clearstone 236

Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2016

I define these products and services as “solutions” (customers buy solutions to a problem), but Guy Kawasaki more generically calls them causes, meaning any new idea, company, or service. Then build a team, build a plan, build a great company, and have fun. The selection is incredibly deep. Intelligence. It looks right. It feels right.

Customer 60

Customer Custom Ideas Summary 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

The elevator pitch should be the first few paragraphs of your business plan, your executive summary, your investor presentation, and the first page of your web site. You need to effectively communicate how your company is different and why you have an advantage over the competition. A different message everywhere is no message.

Startup 113

Startup Patents Template Competition 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2013

I define these products and services as “solutions” (customers buy solutions to a problem), but Guy Kawasaki more generically calls them causes, meaning any new idea, company, or service. Then build a team, build a plan, build a great company, and have fun. The selection is incredibly deep. Intelligence. It looks right. It feels right.

Funding 91

Funding Ideas Entrepreneur Summary 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2012

Use the Internet and social networking instead of public relations companies and advertising agencies. Try Web-Ex, free teleconferencing, and Skype instead of international travel for client meetings. It makes no sense to rush headlong into a commitment as big as starting a new company without doing your homework on viability first.

Startup 102

Startup Search Engine Optimization SEM Social Network 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2012

I define these products and services as “solutions” (customers buy solutions to a problem), but Guy Kawasaki more generically calls them causes, meaning any new idea, company, or service. Then build a team, build a plan, build a great company, and have fun. The selection is incredibly deep. Intelligence. It looks right. It feels right.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Tips Ideas Product 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2018

His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Here is my summary of the seven most successful lead-generation vehicles he and I still recommend today, despite the popularity of viral marketing: Search-engine marketing.

Social Media 55

Social Media SEM Startup Advertising 55

InfoChachkie

JUNE 9, 2011

Prior to Ranker, Clark founded four other successful companies, including eCrush, which he sold to the Hearst Corporation in 2007. What follows is a summary which paraphrases Clark’s responses. Clark Benson is the Founder and CEO of Ranker.com. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for.

Google 264

Google Organic Search Sites Startup 264

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. an investment in your company. No VC spends more time evaluating your company unless they know that they at least have some interest.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

The elevator pitch should be the first few paragraphs of your business plan, your executive summary, your investor presentation, and the first page of your web site. Who is behind the company? You need to effectively communicate how your company is different and why you have an advantage over the competition.

Startup 93

Startup Competition Summary Patents 93

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2014

His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Here is my summary of the seven most successful lead-generation vehicles he recommends today: Search-engine marketing.

Startup 99

Startup Social Media SEM Advertising 99

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2010

90% of all users will never contribute anything to your company. And more embarassingly to me Garindra Prahandono gave me this link to an article written by the guru of web design, Jakob Nielsen about the 1/9/90 rule written back in 2006. Most UGC sites try to spend time converting lurkers to contributors. Don’t.

Technical Review 294

Technical Review Writing Content Sites 294

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2016

His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Here is my summary of the seven most successful lead-generation vehicles he and I still recommend today, despite the popularity of viral marketing: Search-engine marketing.

Customer 60

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 60

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2011

I define these products and services as “solutions” (customers buy solutions to a problem), but Guy Kawasaki more generically calls them causes, meaning any new idea, company, or service. Then build a team, build a plan, build a great company, and have fun. The selection is incredibly deep. Intelligence. It looks right. It feels right.

Ideas 91

Ideas Summary Examples Entrepreneur 91