Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened? There was no money train.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Here are five key ones to celebrate: Enjoy the feedback from every satisfied customer. Talking to real customers is the best way to keep your inspiration alive, as well as the best way keep on track with changing trends and future innovation ideas. Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Customer Custom 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Then always measure customer results, not work.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2022

You have to be extra tough mentally to start a new business venture. He spent many years with the SEALs, but has since started and built six multimillion-dollar business ventures. To be an entrepreneur or a Navy SEAL, you must first have vision, focus, and the courage to step up to lead. Set your targets high.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Training 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

I recently sat down with Matt Coffin , the founder of LowerMyBills, which sold for $400 million but was very nearly a bankruptcy only a few years early, and talked “startups.&#. Matt is one of the most transparent, focused & honest startup guys you’ll meet. Or read the quick, informative summary below the image!

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2021

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. Every startup needs to think hard daily about what problem or challenge is holding back progress, what really matters today, and what entirely new possibilities exist.

Startup 164

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. While this approach appears to cost more on the surface, it often actually costs you less, when you consider the hidden costs of rework, poor customer satisfaction, employee management, and training required.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Every new business I know dreams of building momentum in their business, where growth continues to increase, customers become your best advocates, and employee motivation is high. Unfortunately, with limited resources, this isn’t possible, and it frustrates customers and the team. Focus first on finding more of the right customers.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2020

In my years of mentoring and working with startups, I’ve seen and read about some amazing disruptions, as well as recoveries, and I’m sure each of you could add your own. You can and should create realistic time ranges around deadlines, and work up “what if” scenarios around your milestones.

Startup 133

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Mentor 133

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

As a startup advisor and investor, living in an area with several local universities, I’m continually surprised by how little many entrepreneurs know about the resources available from these institutions. Other project and research reports in their library are a rich source of new ideas, if you are still looking for a place to start.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2022

As with most investors and advisors, I always look first at some key personal characteristics and leadership strategies that I find often make you a more likely survivor and winner in the highly competitive world of businesses, both new and mature. In my view, too many businesses fail, simply because founders give up too early.

Startup 143

Startup Competition Coach Satisfaction 143

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2021

With real-time online reviews and feedback via the Internet, and instant relationships via social media, a voice from the top that is inconsistent with what is heard from the firing line defines a dysfunctional and noncompetitive company for today’s customer. Thus team makeup is the critical success factor. Marty Zwilling.

Class 155

Class Develop Development Startup 155

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2015

So it behooves every aspiring entrepreneur to understand their own DNA before picking a project to bet their life on, and to facilitate effective communication with all constituents, including partners, investors, team members and customers. The Builder excels at constructing a business from the ground up.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. Every startup needs to think hard daily about what problem or challenge is holding back progress, what really matters today, and what entirely new possibilities exist.

Resource 112

Resource Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2023

The best startups give everyone business cards and encourage team members to talk about the business with anyone who should be interested. They need incentives to investigate market trends and competitive actions, as well as continuous communication of the bigger picture of the business and current objectives. Empower engagement.

Startup 95

Startup Coach Mentor Social Media 95

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. While these investors, and early customers, will always argue that they found you, I’m convinced that there is no substitute for aggressive networking on your part.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Thus I often recommend that before you kick off your own business, you join another startup or existing business to see how things really work.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2023

I’m sure you can imagine how much that impacts any business or startup’s ability to react to changing customer needs and growth opportunities, no matter how insightful their leaders. If you and your team are confident in each other, and proud of your business solution, you will not be afraid to innovate as customer requirements change.

Coach 117

Coach Mentor Study Activity 117

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

Starting and running a business requires many different skills and interests, and not many of us have all of them. Thus, in my mentoring of potential technical entrepreneurs who have a real passion for their technology, I often recommend that they find a co-founder who can manage the marketing and execution elements of the new venture.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Customer Custom 133

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. Kara said “no” because she wanted to start her own company, which she did and I backed. and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2021

By definition, all of you entrepreneurs are leaders, by taking the initiative to start a new company. Yet I have learned over the years as a startup advisor that all business leaders are not the same. You generally don’t fix things by throwing them away and starting over. Create innovative change from existing resources.

Coach 162

Coach Startup Resource Competition 162

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I often feel the frustration of someone trying to build a startup in the wrong place and time, and wrongly attributing their struggle to personal limitations. I saw these addressed well in a new book, “ The Startup Community Way ,” by Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway.

Resource 131

Resource Startup Capital Mentor 131

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. A great innovation starts with at least three ideas.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2020

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. With the success of Facebook and Twitter, I still see new social media startups almost every day, with most destined to fail. Actually, great new customer solutions lead to great platforms, not the other way around.

Startup 124

Startup Netflix Social Media Customer 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2022

In my years of mentoring and working with startups, I’ve seen and read about some amazing disruptions, as well as recoveries, and I’m sure each of you could add your own. You can and should create realistic time ranges around deadlines, and work up “what if” scenarios around your milestones.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Mentor 98

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2018

The only “sustainable competitive advantage” in business is self-awareness. I was struck by this assertion in a new book, “ The Messy Middle ,” by Scott Belsky, who has spent more than a decade leading in the worlds of technology, design, and startups. It’s a recipe for disaster. Understand your feelings to recognize what bothers you.

Competition 81

Competition Startup Examples Coach 81

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2022

I call this linear thinking , and it’s a sure way to be ultimately overrun by your competition. Meanwhile, Apple and Google came up with real innovation through touchscreen logic and a whole new user interface controlled by finger swipes, and even voice and image recognition. Always practice thinking outside the box.

Competition 139

Competition Examples Customer Custom 139

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first.

Examples 145

Examples Mentor Activity Product 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

As a startup advisor and investor, living in an area with several local universities, I’m continually surprised by how little many entrepreneurs know about the resources available from these institutions. Other project and research reports in their library are a rich source of new ideas, if you are still looking for a place to start.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2016

If you can’t provide a memorable customer experience, your startup won’t survive very long these days. You now need more than loyalty from your customers -- they need to be your best advocates. Here are some key ideas to get you started: It all starts with the right people on your team.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Startup Coach 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. With the success of Facebook and Twitter, I still see new social media startups almost every day, with most destined to fail. Actually, great new customer solutions lead to great platforms, not the other way around.

Entrepreneur 125

Entrepreneur Netflix Social Media Startup 125

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

A continuing question I hear from young entrepreneurs is whether a university degree is important to startup success, or just a distraction in achieving their purpose in the world. He learned quickly that several pivots were required for business, legal, and customer acceptance reasons. Learning by doing is the only way to go.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2020

The best startups give everyone business cards and encourage team members to talk about the business with anyone who should be interested. They need incentives to investigate market trends and competitive actions, as well as continuous communication of the bigger picture of the business and current objectives. Empower engagement.

Marketing 130

Marketing Develop Development Startup 130