Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2022

As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. My conclusion either way is that they have no market, or haven’t looked. Then you walk the delicate balance between burn rates, revenue flows versus expenses, investment in marketing, and employees.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 153

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Revolution, the parent company of Revolution Ventures , the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and Revolution Growth , has evangelized its approach to backing companies in emerging markets, helping promote entrepreneurialism in geographies often overlooked by Silicon Valley’s Patagonia vest-wearing venture capitalists.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding Activity 211

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. Projecting financials is a natural extension of the homework every entrepreneur needs to do on customer opportunity size, product costs, pricing, competition and customer value. Calculate investment amounts and timing.

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 9, 2022

This round is being led by Point72 Private Investments, with previous backers Toba Capital, Index Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, BoxGroup, and VMG Partners also participating. The gap in the market that Boulevard is building to fill is that one-person bands, independent salons, and bigger chains all grapple with the same problem.

Help 195

Help Startup UCLA Tool 195

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

They rarely highlight their marketing and relationship skills , even though, in my experience, these are more often the key to success in business than product skills. In addition to listening, they spent much of their time communicating their vision and marketing themselves to everyone they encountered.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

He did note that in the four markets where the company has gone live since launching its business in January 2019 — San Diego, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire , and Sacramento — has yielded an annualized revenue run rate of over $400 million in gross merchandise value (the total value of home sales transacted on its platform).

Sales 282

Sales Demand San Diego Funding 282

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon comfort with each. One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Here are the major elements of the best product plans: Market requirements section. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Marty Zwilling

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. Source: runwayml.com In June, Runway raised $141 million in funding, nudging its market valuation to an envy-inducing $1.5

Startup 212

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 212

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2015

There''s been a major, market battle in Los Angeles over the last few years, between on-demand ride services such as Lyft and Uber , not to mention local taxi and transportation companies. percent stake in Lyft, investing $300M in the company as part of a larger, $530M Series E funding for Lyft. The funding follows a bigger, $1.2

Demand 100

Demand Commerce Competition Mobile 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

Most technical entrepreneurs cringe when they finally realize that marketing is still king, despite the power of technology, and they are up against competitors who have a hundred times their spending power. The cost of entry to market on these is low, and marketing leverage has very little to do with the size of your budget.

Marketing 101

Marketing Startup Case Study Resource 101

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Value Prop Twitter Style : “Ringrevenue’s call performance marketing platform enables ad networks, agencies, advertisers & publishers to generate more inbound sales calls.”. In today’s market, so much focus is placed on transacting business online. Who do you view as your biggest competition? You’re right.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. Project based on your market size how many widgets you will sell in every channel. Calculate investment amounts and timing. Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon their comfort with each. One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer.

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2020

Her argument is that if Uber buys Grubhub (which itself once merged with Seamless) it would mean that Uber Eats / Grubhub would control half the market and that with DoorDash the two together would control 90% of the market. they just put up with the food delivery company fees. You lose the ability to up-sell and cross-sell products.

SaaS 242

SaaS Customer Custom Technical Review 242

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2015

Image via Flickr by socialautomotive Most technical entrepreneurs cringe when they finally realize that marketing is still king, despite the power of technology, and they are up against competitors who have a hundred times their spending power. The first step is to create the perfect online marketing message.

Marketing 56

Marketing Case Study Resource Social Media 56

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

After many years in business, working in large companies as well as startups, I’m no longer surprised at why mature and successful companies struggle with introducing innovative new ventures as the market and environment changes. The time to start is now, with all the volatility and change in the market, and customers looking for answers.

Incubator 143

Incubator Seed Funding Metrics Customer 143

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Here are the major elements of the best product plans: Market requirements section. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2010

In short, acknowledge they exist, be transparent about strengths & weaknesses and use your differences to talk about how you want to position yourself in the market. A healthy respect for your competition will serve you well. Or that we’ve invested in a company where there is no market demand.

Cloud Computing 320

Cloud Computing Competition Press Startup 320

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. My conclusion either way is that they have no market, or haven’t looked. Then you walk the delicate balance between burn rates, revenue flows versus expenses, investment in marketing, and employees.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 107

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2022

The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. If you want to drive up the demand for your core product, one smart tactic is to drive down the price of all complementary products. Above all, don’t forget to develop a comprehensive marketing and promotion strategy.

Develop 138

Develop Development Platform Mobile 138

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

The reasons are a lot more complex than the meltdown of key investment banks in the US a few years ago, so don’t expect any real change in the numbers soon, especially with recent stock market downturns. Thus, there is tremendous pressure to increase current earnings, and little appetite for strategic investments.

Startup 98

Startup Report IBM IBM 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2022

Of course, growth is implied in that equation, and is also required for maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage. When their deep pockets went empty, Facebook stepped in, but demanded revenue from ads. Identify the total investment required for profitability. MySpace wasn’t ready for this, and it soon faded.

Platform 118

Platform Snapchat Startup Course 118

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2018

If there is no competition, there is likely not a market. Every potentially successful product has competition, or an alternative, or customers with no interest in change. If you really believe your idea has no competition, perhaps you haven’t looked, or there is no real business.

Startup 99

Startup Competition Examples Ideas 99

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2011

Its primary goal is to focus on identifying what is truly driving demand, analytically, so that our customers can optimize their activities. We have a very sophisticated, analytics and software platform that over half the Fortune 50 are now using, to help guide how they invest in marketing and sales activities and investments.

Social Media 235

Social Media Demand Activity Marketing 235

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. I can’t control the market. Private markets for stocks are the opposite.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

Professional investors will probe these five risk areas and make the decision to invest based upon comfort with each. One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

“The climate-oriented investment in Biden’s new plan would be roughly ten times what came through ARRA,” wrote Shayle Kann, a partner with the investment firm, Energy Impact Partners. ” Climate resiliency . Given the steady drumbeat of climate disasters that hit the U.S.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. If you’re talking with a typical Seed/A/B round firm they often have ownership targets in the company in which they invest. The “how much have you raised?” Call this “price signaling.”

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Apparently with a physical storefront where it can convince customers of the wonders of on-demand mobility. “Lime would have an opportunity to control the narrative, engage with the local community, and invest in Santa Monica. They can make it clear that they care about the constituency there.

Santa Monica 221

Santa Monica Startup Technical Review Education 221

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2021

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. Their value will be well worth the investment. Board members in constant conflict can kill your company more quickly than any market forces. Less than three is not a board.

Startup 145

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 145

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2019

The last fundraising we did was use to prove out our technology, and weve now had head-to-head competition with our competitors and others in the space to prove out our technology, our unique capabilities, and our unique approach to solving this problem. Were completely sold out, and theres more demand than we can keep up with.

Startup 187

Startup Technical Review Technology Competition 187

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

Eugene Cho: I saw this market opportunity when I realized that the larger microscope companies, like Nikon, Olympus, and so on were really only focusing their efforts on high end systems, which cost $200,000 plus. I saw the market opportunity, and after being in the industry for fourteen years, thought: what can we do next?

Tech Coast Angels 124

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 124

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

What sized team can I afford in order to sell, market & provide service to these customers? In the case of MakeSpace we had huge initial successes in New York City as Rahul led the scaling of our drivers, our trucks and our warehouses and we figured out the right price points to beat the local competition.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off. If you have a market lead then raising capital and making investments now will help you as others enter the market.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. If you don’t believe in your bones that you’re amazing then it’s no wonder you don’t want to sell them on making the investment.” an investment in your company.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332