Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2021

Of course experience is the best teacher, but you need to get the job to get the experience. Invest in career coaching. A qualified career coach can help you get totally clear on your objectives, differentiate you from the competition, market you effectively, get the offer, and negotiate the best compensation.

Tips 168

Tips Startup Coach Networking 168

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Of course you need to discount any investor competitive positioning, but local investment group leaders will quickly tell you the strengths and terms of active investors in your area. Another approach is to ask the investor for references, where their involvement has made a real difference, leading to success.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Funding Innocal Offshore 124

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

The reason for this is that the executives who founded the company have so much tacit knowledge of how to position their product relative to the competition that they can easily win campaigns when they’re involved. So I often work with teams to get them to codify the key things they do well that the competition does not.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A. Connections?

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

Many of us learned about substitute products in undergrad economics courses. Of course branding is many things and this post doesn’t attempt a master class. We of course all instinctively know when we see a brand that is well established what it stands for?—?Warby Here are some ideas of what I believe matters.

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

Where your competitor isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. The information exchange from day-to-day interactions of engineers and marketers will drive you enhance your own processes to be more competitive. Benchmark your practices against a true peer.

Startup 59

Startup Outsource Competition Acquisition 59

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2015

None should be considered competitive mutually exclusive to any other. Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. Of course, more resources are “better” for marketing, but re-allocating existing resources can be equally effective.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Marketing Resource 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Of course you need to discount any investor competitive positioning, but local investment group leaders will quickly tell you the strengths and terms of active investors in your area. Another approach is to ask the investor for references, where their involvement has made a real difference, leading to success.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2014

Where your competitor isn''t really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. The information exchange from day-to-day interactions of engineers and marketers will drive you enhance your own processes to be more competitive. Benchmark your practices against a true peer.

Startup 97

Startup Entrepreneur Outsource Competition 97

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2017

None should be considered competitive mutually exclusive to any other. Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. Of course, more resources are “better” for marketing, but re-allocating existing resources can be equally effective.

Media 59

Media Marketing Social Media Resource 59

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2016

Where your competitor isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. The information exchange from day-to-day interactions of engineers and marketers will drive you enhance your own processes to be more competitive. Benchmark your practices against a true peer.

Startup 55

Startup Outsource Competition Entrepreneur 55

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2016

Of course you need to discount any investor competitive positioning, but local investment group leaders will quickly tell you the strengths and terms of active investors in your area. Another approach is to ask the investor for references, where their involvement has made a real difference, leading to success.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 63

socalTECH

JANUARY 26, 2010

Russell Stern: Most semiconductor companies have to have to do board designs anyway, for reference designs, and to further qualify them, certify them, and get them through agency approvals. We're testing right now with three of the four OEM guys, and hoping to make some announcements over the course of this year. Russell Stern: Yes.

Networking 124

Networking Startup Design Customer 124

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2010

He was also often referred to as a “hotdog” for his self-promotional antics and lackadaisical on-field play. Hands-on management of these teammates is a worthwhile investment, as they have the ability to eventually enhance their productivity to a high-performing level. John is a CPA and holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School.

Statistics 212

Statistics Press Product Startup 212

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2013

Of course experience is the best teacher, but you need to get the job to get the experience. Invest in career coaching. A qualified career coach can help you get totally clear on your objectives, differentiate you from the competition, market you effectively, get the offer, and negotiate the best compensation.

Startup 89

Startup Coach Entrepreneur Networking 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2012

If your "competitor" isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. They may have the finances you need and are ready to invest in a business area they know. Of course, for a strategic alliance to work, you must take precautions. Cross endorsement.

Company 96

Company Companies Startup Examples 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2011

Of course experience is the best teacher, but you need to get the job to get the experience. Invest in career coaching. A qualified career coach can help you get totally clear on your objectives, differentiate you from the competition, market you effectively, get the offer, and negotiate the best compensation.

Startup 94

Startup Coach Entrepreneur Networking 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2011

If your "competitor" isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. They may have the finances you need and are ready to invest in a business area they know. Of course, for a strategic alliance to work, you must take precautions. Cross endorsement.

Startup 90

Startup Examples Customer Custom 90

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you don’t follow the image reference above or the tag line, “ You don’t need double talk; you need Bob Loblaw “ (try saying it out loud) , and if you care! Oh, they didn’t cover that in your Stanford CS course? When we invest they are often the company counsel so we see them at board meetings.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

It included one firm who I asked not to call Salesforce.com as a reference (they were our largest pilot customer) and in their kindness they called Marc Benioff (the CEO) and asked his opinion. Dare I steer off the course from the tried-and-true PowerPoint ritual? Page 3: Competition. We have invested heavily in this.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. Today’s higher education is responding by making more courses online and available to people outside of physical boundaries.

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2018

There is an old management saying, “measure twice, cut once” which refers to the benefit of doing some planning. The next pass is the “competitive pass”?—?have have they invested in somebody that is very similar to my business? If you sell glasses and they’ve investing in Warby Parker, you’re wasting your time.

Funding 215

Funding Startup Venture Capital News 215

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

If you are charged for every nanosecond you spend with your lawyer, consider finding one who is willing to “invest” more aggressively in your success. The reference may be well-intentioned, but the lawyer’s allegiance may be divided between the investor and you. Some companies use lawsuits as an arrow in their competitive quiver.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

Of course much of it is conflicting. And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. Partners make investment decisions. ” In VC terms that means the key questions you need to answer are, is this investor: Geographically focused and have they invested in my geography before? Meet in person.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

AeA Los Angeles Council

JULY 7, 2008

This 15-20 year prospecting, as a general rule, requires a long-term investment strategy by the government. One, the Executive Office of the President (EOP) has an office called the Office of Science and Technology Policy, or OSTP, which heads up the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) ( [link] ).

Education 45

Education Technical Review Research Web 2.0 45

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

So why else would they invest if not as an option to re-up in the next round? These are all dumb reason to invest – of course. So let’s consider a bad (but likely) scenario where either you don’t hit your targets, the market sours or competition is kicking your butt making it hard to fund raise.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Startup Invest Pricing 314

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 12, 2016

Why Invest? And while my relationship with Chuck was critical to my investment, so too was the leadership of Trevor Templar , the Chief Revenue Officer. In all my time investing I have never seen such a senior revenue officer join a company at this stage. Why Invest? This is the area where Tact has crushed it.

Software 105

Software Mobile Artificial Inteligence Oracle 105

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

While I do fill that role at the moment, I'm a little hesitant to refer to myself as a CTO as we still haven't launched a product, acquired a single user, or turned or a penny in profit. How do we need to structure the systems to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition? What are the biggest areas of technical risk?

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

We were trying to optimize around a few criteria: price, size of round, number of syndicate partners and, of course, terms. Don’t over shop – If the deal you’re involved with involves raising venture capital or selling your company you naturally want some competition. If they want reference calls be ballsy. Yes, this was stupid.

Venture Capital 301

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Technical Advisors 301

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

The best proof of a soft circle is whether an angel will email someone else (refer another investor) and start off that email with “I’m investing in…”. The team, of course, is just as important as the product or idea. As an angel, do you reserve money for follow-on investments? How investors’ risk differ (0:22:45).

Angel 302

Angel Startup Ideas .Net 302

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Today I’m announcing that GRP Partners is doubling down on the Twitter ecosystem by investing in DataSift , a company who provides a real-time data platform and tools to third-party developers and corporations. Some will cite my investment two years ago in social-media advertising company Ad.ly So with DataSift I’m doubling down.

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

I refer back to the classic book, “ A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide ,” by Jamey Stegmaier, one of the biggest thought leaders on crowdfunding, and who has also run several successful Kickstarter projects, that together have raised many millions of dollars. billion globally by 2030, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Startup revenues come later.

Startup 100

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

I refer back to the classic book, “ A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide ,” by Jamey Stegmaier, one of the biggest thought leaders on crowdfunding, and who has also run several successful Kickstarter projects, that together have raised many millions of dollars. Don’t assume that any money collected from a winning campaign will go into your pocket.

Startup 151

Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Graphs - Chris Dixon , July 22, 2010 It has become customary to use “ graph &# to refer to the underlying data structures at social networks like Facebook. Computer scientists call the study of graphs “ network theory ,&# but on the web the word “network&# is used to refer to the websites themselves). Make it unique.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

Some, of course, agree with me that BuzzFeed has been and continues to be the gold standard innovator in digital media to emulate. But I knew I had to look for investments in “software meets X (often known as Vertical Software solutions)” rather than necessarily horizontal enterprise software applications. Others are skeptical, “Ha!

Buzzfeed 210

Buzzfeed Media Content News 210