Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Of course, as you work with contract players, explore the potential for a long-term relationship, and wait until your organization matures to pursue career positions. Many entrepreneurs still believe they need a traditional multi-level organization to handle growth and scaling, so they start hiring career managers to populate it.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed. She took an operating role helping run Citysearch and Urbanspoon. Leadership is about recognizing your next generation of talent and helping lift them up. I’m only 52!

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Anyone who works with entrepreneurs will tell you that all are different. These are the ultimate chess players in the game of business, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. The Opportunist is the speculative part of the entrepreneur in all of us. But none have any lock on success. Opportunist.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Berkonomics

MAY 11, 2023

Email readers, continue here…] That reality is a tough one for the professional investor, almost as tough as for those entrepreneurs who lose their businesses. Of course, you could be the exception. None of this is to say that an inexperienced entrepreneur cannot lead a great new business. And it’s a tough test at that.

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Statistics Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 156

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We have global opportunities from these trends but of course also big challenges. Of course we can’t. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. What we promise to entrepreneurs is that if we’re in for $3–4 million and things are going well but you just need more time to prove out your business?—?at

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Asking someone to be your mentor is not a sign of weakness, and most mentors love to help.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

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. A narrow scope doesn’t help your case either. Prior recognition and visibility in the target market is invaluable from a competitive perspective.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2019

Traditionally, the majority of entrepreneurs have been logical thinkers, problem solvers, with full attention to details. Of course, the best solution would be a new wave of so-called whole-brain thinkers, but this term is usually reserved for Einstein and Picasso, and no entrepreneurs that I can name.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Tips Guide Social Media 96

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. A narrow scope doesn’t help your case either. Prior recognition and visibility in the target market is invaluable from a competitive perspective.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Startup 102

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 102

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

This conversation seems to come up very frequently these days both with portfolio companies and with entrepreneurs just looking for mentorship. I like to tell entrepreneurs that the “fairway&# of fund raising is 25-33% per round. Only … ONLY … if there’s a sense of competition on the deal.

Help 303

Help Startup Competition Framework 303

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2022

Traditionally, the majority of entrepreneurs have been logical thinkers, problem solvers, with full attention to details. Of course, the best solution would be a new wave of so-called whole-brain thinkers, but this term is usually reserved for Einstein and Picasso, and no entrepreneurs that I can name.

Guide 137

Guide Entrepreneur Social Media Ideas 137

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2013

Many believe that entrepreneurs are born, not made. While I agree that successful company builders usually have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, a good education helps polish that apple. Of course, there's no law saying you have to go to college to start a business. An MBA is helpful, but not required.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Course Education 105

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2022

Most of the entrepreneurs I have met are smart, but many are not always wise. Of course, experience is the ultimate teacher of the differences between smart and wise. But none of us can afford to make that many mistakes, so it helps to understand the basic principles that are key to making wise, as well as smart, decisions.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Course 117

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2023

In the same way, great entrepreneurs and company leaders should no longer rely on faceless and nameless processes to drive business strategy and innovation to stay competitive. Here is my adaptation of his engagement principles for all the aspiring entrepreneurs I advise: Learn to adopt an outsider’s perspective.

Customer 140

Customer Custom Social Media Metrics 140

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2023

I recommend that every entrepreneur and small business investigate and implement as many as possible of his seven new business force multipliers that I will paraphrase here: Information sharing through social media networks. Of course, the concept of force multiplication goes far beyond your startup networks.

Social Media 106

Social Media Software Review Course Networking 106

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. Of course, this kind of leadership has a big risk, since you have no one to blame if you get it wrong. It can help you be right when, without expert help, you might fail.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Course Satisfaction Guide 132

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

It’s a jungle fight for survival out there for aspiring entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics. I support being socially and environmentally conscious, but you can’t help anyone else if you don’t eat. Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. Treasure – Most entrepreneurs assume that treasure means funding.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup News Framework 105

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

The bad news is that it’s still a jungle fight for survival for entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics, with over 80 percent not having access to bank loans or venture capital. I support being socially and environmentally conscious, but you can’t help anyone else if you don’t eat. If you want to survive. If you want to be feared.

Startup 112

Startup News Framework Outsource 112

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

Creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Most entrepreneurs start from a base of one or two co-founders, and their vision and focus is on developing an innovative solution, rather than developing people. Measure and measure again, and be quick to course correct.

Organization 108

Organization Startup Satisfaction Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have enough resources to bootstrap our own startups, so we are completely dependent on investors to help turn great ideas into great businesses. Of course, you need to show how your business will make money and provide an impressive investor return, but that should be only the beginning.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2022

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. In all cases, it’s more effective and less painful to do it as a planned process, rather than a crash course in survival. Reinvent the vision for change.

Course 127

Course IBM IBM Social Media 127

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2011

Many believe that entrepreneurs are born, not made. While I agree that successful company builders usually have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, a good education helps polish that apple. Of course, there's no law saying you have to go to college to start a business. An MBA is helpful, but not required.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Course Education 105

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2019, from 280 out of 100,000 to 310 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2021

It takes much the same preparation to make you the best entrepreneur, or the best job candidate. Of course experience is the best teacher, but you need to get the job to get the experience. This is a good way to get practical job experience, help people, and to meet other professionals who may be able to recommend you.

Tips 168

Tips Startup Coach Networking 168

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. Social proof can be helpful. AngelList Syndicate leads don’t take any fees on the investment, which should help with returns. They will have to help get the next round done.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

I have no incentive to do so other than to help those reading the WSJ piece better understand how I believe most insiders think. As an entrepreneur I never really knew what to make of VC return data. Here’s what I know: Most entrepreneurs I know would love to work with A16Z. Do they win competitive deals? Absolutely.

Venture Capital 264

Venture Capital Invest Funding Competition 264

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

I was the original investor and helped to grow GameSpy Industries, attracted to the fledgling company because of its million users each month, even though at the time there was no monetization to the traffic. And the numbers were staggering. Microsoft paid $9.00 per registered user for Hotmail. AOL paid $40.00

Metrics 296

Metrics Sites Advertising Web 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

As a long-time business advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs, I consistently find that the most thriving businesses are people-centric, and those team members create the best processes, rather than the other way around. People-centric leaders realize that the right motivated and accountable people are their real competitive advantage.

Satisfaction 154

Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2021

I often wonder whether you as the entrepreneur have worked as hard on your pricing strategy as you have on your innovative solution. If your innovation is real, it brings added value to the table, so most customers, especially early ones, are willing to pay a premium over competitive products.

Pricing 145

Pricing Startup Competition Examples 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2021

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Sample 137

Sample Writing Mentor Content 137

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. Hopefully this article and the accompanying six-minute video will help you avoid learning these mission-critical lessons the hard way. What matters is how effectively you change course after each mishap.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Most entrepreneurs start from a base of one or two co-founders, and their vision and focus is on developing an innovative solution, rather than developing people. Measure and measure again, and be quick to course correct.

Organization 160

Organization Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction 160

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2014

Traditionally, the majority of entrepreneurs have been logical thinkers, problem solvers, and pay attention to details. Of course, the best solution would be a new wave of so-called whole-brain thinkers, but this term is usually reserved for Einstein and Picasso, and no entrepreneurs that I can name. Keep it simple and focused.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Guide Social Media Ideas 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs I know are just waiting for that unique idea to strike them that will kickstart their new venture, put them in control of their lifestyle, achieve financial independence, and maybe even change the world. Of course, if you wait for the perfect time, you may never start. Timing is critical for every startup.

Startup 159

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Equity 159

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2023

In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. But how does any entrepreneur know which ideas to implement, and which ones are best left behind? Find a recognized billion dollar and growing market. Martin Zwilling

Ideas 106

Ideas Technical Review Patents Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. Data, however, removes guesswork, biases, and anecdotal reasoning that can throw decision efforts off course.

Tool 121

Tool Statistics Entrepreneur Metrics 121