Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2020

Business success is all about having the best team, yet the average entrepreneur has little prior experience with hiring people and building top-notch teams. Most new entrepreneurs assume their passion will attract and motivate the right team members. Hiring before organizational structure is defined. Quick to hire and slow to fire.

Organization 135

Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Screening 135

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2011

Other writers, like Guy Kawasaki, have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent over-enthusiasm or over-confidence that can kill your deal. It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Funding Innocal Competition 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2020

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. Time is money, and may be your primary competitive advantage.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

Many entrepreneurs I know don’t realize that the language they learned in the corporate world, or even their recent MBA class, won’t get them ahead in the startup world today. As a reality check, try this quick test of your entrepreneur savvy. As a reality check, try this quick test of your entrepreneur savvy. Startup pivot.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup Web Equity 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2011

Making the decision to become an entrepreneur is a major commitment, with huge implications for skills and lifestyle. You will be controlled by your customers, investors, lenders – and you are personally responsible for answering to all of them, all of the time. Examine the marketplace and your competition. Marty Zwilling.

Screening 99

Screening Startup Statistics Guide 99

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. Unfortunately, in mature companies, a larger and larger percentage of employees forget company survival and customers as the objectives, and focus only on their own personal gain. That is what business leadership is all about.

Satisfaction 57

Satisfaction Customer Custom Organization 57

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. Remember to aim the content of both of these at investors, not customers. Build a prototype product.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. With a bit of humor, he provides some serious guidelines for struggling career professionals looking to move up, and new entrepreneurs looking to build a company. Peers and customers alike still expect responsiveness.

Startup 93

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 93

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Others, like Guy Kawasaki , have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent enhancements or omissions that can kill your deal. Lead with your intent to offer the solution free to customers. Of course, customers love free, but investors hate it. Skip the hype.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Innocal Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2015

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. Time is money, and may be your primary competitive advantage.

Ideas 107

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Tool 107

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. Unfortunately, in mature companies, a larger and larger percentage of employees forget company survival and customers as the objectives, and focus only on their own personal gain. That is what business leadership is all about.

Satisfaction 106

Satisfaction Organization Customer Custom 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2015

Yet I can’t remember the last time any entrepreneur asked me to assess personal potential, despite the fact that most investors will admit they invest in the person more than the product. These people are the ultimate chess players in the game of startups, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. Specialist.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106

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. A recurring entrepreneurial challenge is to determine the optimal price of a new product, especially absent a directly competitive alternative. Price = Value.

Pricing 100

Pricing Product Startup Customer 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2016

Business success is all about having the best team, yet the average entrepreneur has little prior experience with hiring people and building top-notch teams. Most new entrepreneurs assume their passion will attract and motivate the right team members. Hiring before organizational structure is defined. Quick to hire and slow to fire.

Organization 57

Organization Entrepreneur Satisfaction Screening 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2014

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. Time is money, and may be your primary competitive advantage.

Outsource Development 105

Outsource Development Startup Ideas Tool 105

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. So while you get the benefits of recruiting, being on VC radars and customer legitimacy there are also downsides. Should I Bundle it With More Juicy News?

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

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. That’s why this item is so important, and is probably the biggest stumbling block I see in getting through the initial angel screening. Close at least one initial customer.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2018

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. Time is money, and may be your primary competitive advantage.

Ideas 53

Ideas Outsource Development Tool Outsource 53

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

As a VC I of course want you to come see only me because that means I have no competition and have time to properly get to know you. In any event this is a “screening meeting” or as I’ve called on my graphics an “introduction” to the firm. Remember, I was an entrepreneur for 10 years before a VC).

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2010

Other writers, like Guy Kawasaki, have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent over-enthusiasm or over-confidence that can kill your deal. It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath.

Innocal 96

Innocal Entrepreneur Competition IBM 96

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 22, 2014

Through simple design, extensive sensing mechanism research, and behavioral science principles, Moving Analytics is carving out its own innovative niche in a heavily competitive space by providing a simple solution for highly sedentary people. How is Movn different than your competition? This was run out of USC? It was really fast.

USC 104

USC Southern California Activity Study 104

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

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. That’s why this item is so important, and is probably the biggest stumbling block I see in getting through the initial angel screening. Close at least one initial customer.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

The first of question is about qualifying your potential customers aka leads. When I counsel startup entrepreneurs I give them my blunt dose of reality, “If you can’t easily identify target leads who have a problem you can solve then hang up your cleats – you’re not going to succeed.” Why Buy Anything ?

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. They’re deep into Customer Development ,” he said. You could just outspend. The Holy Grail of.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

socalTECH

AUGUST 24, 2009

One of the startup areas where we've been seeing renewed activity in the last few months is in the enterprise software space--specifically, in software-as-a-service applications targeted at corporate customers. It's always in your face, and always on screen. One of our customers bought this, and it's the biggest weapon the manager has.

Oracle 145

Oracle Sales Startup Screening 145

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 7, 2014

On the bottom right hand corner of the screen, an ominous button reads ADD MORE STRESS? . For top tier programs, there is a compelling combination of promise and mystique that creates a unique drive for entrepreneurs, who once accepted, become ready to put life circumstances on hold during program durations to grow their startups.

Startup 74

Startup Case Study Study Screening 74

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

At VT KnowledgeWorks we screen prospective clients for their Market opportunity, for the Magic that they offer to their prospective customers, and for the Moxie displayed by the start-up team. They are funded and staffed by groups of accomplished entrepreneurs. The entry screenings are tough.

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

The promised to follow up with: calls, using your product, talking to customers or “noodle on things.&# Will they? I like to tell entrepreneurs to treat it like a sales campaign. You would never go see an important executive at a customer and then sit around and wait for them to realize how great you are.

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

In reading the comments on Bijan’s blog and having discussed this so many times, I know some entrepreneurs only want to talk with VCs that think that Powerpoint causes leprosy. And when you finish the demo you can bring in the other important components such as competition, team, customer acquisition strategy, etc.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

We were talking about a company, Factual (disclosure my firm is an investor), which was founded by one of LA’s most talented Internet entrepreneurs, Gil Elbaz , who as co-founder of Applied Semantics (purchased by pre-IPO Google for $102 million and now Google AdSense) is responsible for a large portion of the Internet’s monetization.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

That, plus I love the space of high-customer-service, focused eCommerce for moms worried about what their kids eat & wear.&#. I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 10, 2012

You simply sign in with your Instagram account, choose your favorite photo, and get your custom made t-shirt shipped directly to you. They believe that having your personal photo on your custom made t-shirt connects you to people instantly on a much deeper level. There was no competitive advantage once the big guys got involved.

Startup 98

Startup Customer Custom Pricing 98

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. You’ll never make a great entrepreneur. So your journey to fund raising begins by strengthening your relationships with other entrepreneurs.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. They’re competitive. Ask your customer why you lost. They decided to re-open the competition for 3-4 more weeks.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. They’re competitive. Ask your customer why you lost. They decided to re-open the competition for 3-4 more weeks.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. They’re competitive. They decided to re-open the competition for 3-4 more weeks. Ask your customer why you lost. Losing sucks.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2009

You'll be able walk around with and chat with people, and earn points in the in-world currency within the game, but you can't spend that currency on purchasing items for your avatar, customizing your avatar, or your home, until you become a premium member. There's more competition, but there's a lot more available to you as a developer.

Media 150

Media Tech Coast Angels Social Network Content 150