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. Board rules and governance policies should be articulated in writing and voted upon. Board members in constant conflict can kill your company more quickly than any market forces.

Startup 145

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 145

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

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. Second: Market risk. Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service? And fifth: Competitive risk.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Yet I find that few of today’s workers realize that succeeding as a freelancer requires a whole new focus on “marketing” yourself. As you know, things can change quickly, as businesses try to survive and adapt to an evolving market, so it’s better to be prepared than caught off guard. Write down some target objectives and milestones.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

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

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. I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you. After all?—?we

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. For starters some funds are small and thus while they put $750k into your company to own 10% of your company they might not be able to write another $2 million if you then raise a $20 million round (10%).

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Right idea at the right time.

Startup 94

Startup Resource Training Ideas 94

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

We spoke with one of those companies-- El Segundo-based ConsumerTrack (www.consumertrack.com)--which is a $30M, bootstrapped an online marketing company which is driving millions of customers to big name, financial customers. Brett Rossman: ConsumerTrack is a performance-based, online marketing company. What is ConsumerTrack all about?

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

seed and they are writing $1.25m of it you can expect them to require a board seat) The competitive landscape (If you have several sources of capital you can likely politely decline the board request or can grant them a seat but ask for it to be “common appointed” and those revokable if you need in the future).

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

I think this is a combination of being realists as venture capitalists that outsized returns in our funds must come from taking on bigger, more impactful projects that can move markets. Was there consumer demand? No brainer. Could we produce this at cost? Did anybody hold patents that would prevent us from using this technology?

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. 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 ;-). SEO marketing vs. social marketing.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Lately I’ve been having to say things I thought I’d never have to remind people, like, “getting to positive gross margin in several territories is a very low bar to claim success” or “profitable excluding marketing costs” is not actually a real thing. Market Size. MakeSpace provides physical storage.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” 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

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2015

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Right idea at the right time.

Startup 109

Startup Resource Training Ideas 109

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. People who believe the former believe that you should see the market demand before too many people know you’re “in market.”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

For those who still don’t know the origins, the Harlem Shake started as a small skit from a YouTuber named Filthy Frank (10 million views as of this writing) on January 30, 2013. As of this writing nearly 50,000 versions have been created and uploaded and watched by some 200,000,000 people. I repeat – free marketing.

Startup 380

Startup Media Content Platform 380

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Right idea at the right time.

Startup 57

Startup Resource Training Ideas 57

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 25, 2016

If such write-downs only impacted the faux unicorns and their avaricious investors, there would be little need for alarm. Unfortunately, the coming market correction will reverberate to all stages of venture investing. Ultimately, a startup’s value is based on what the market will pay. If you fail, their downside is minimal.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2015

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. Board rules and governance policies should be articulated in writing and voted upon. Board members in constant conflict can kill your company more quickly than any market forces.

Startup 103

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 103

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Right idea at the right time.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Training 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Right idea at the right time.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Training 106

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 1, 2013

CreatorUp is the online web series school teaching the next generation of web series creators how to make and market their own new video projects on the web. Learning experience includes: on-demand online video tutorial courses, live video-conference workshops, as well as individual online consultations, live workshops, and group programs.

Web 93

Web USC Course Guide 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2016

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. Board rules and governance policies should be articulated in writing and voted upon. Board members in constant conflict can kill your company more quickly than any market forces.

Entrepreneur 58

Entrepreneur Startup Mentor Writing 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2011

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Right idea at the right time.

Startup 94

Startup Resource Training Ideas 94

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

It encompasses everything from crumbling roads and bridges to a lack of clean drinking water, failing sewage systems, inadequate recycling facilities, and increasing demands on power generation, transmission and distribution assets that the nation’s electricity grid is unable to meet.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. I’m not sure I really even need to write this at length because Nivi absolutely nailed the topic in his article “ The Option Pool Shuffle.&#.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2010

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Right idea at the right time.

Startup 53

Startup Resource Training Ideas 53

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

It was a pleasure to write them myself. they can build teams that really focus on building & marketing great products. My point of view is that most Internet markets create “winner take most&# outcomes where the largest player is super successful and disproportionally less for everybody else. Overture (Goto.com).

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

A business plan is the outward facing definition of the business you hope to drive with your hardware solution, with a hardware overview in the intro to highlight customer value and competitiveness. Quantify the market opportunity in business terms. Include marketing, sales, and customer rollout plans. and trademarks.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Here, we’ll detail the different options on the market and help you decide which hub will work best for your home. What’s the next step? To truly make your home “smart,” you need a home automation hub (also known as a smart home hub). What is a Smart Home Hub? A hub is a tool for turning an automated home into a smart home.

Software 40

Software Google Product Writing 40

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization. Brad was openly writing about this and it felt like he was giving the VC playbook away for free! Can Investors Spook the Market into Falling? In short – no.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

Rationale: My idea is so mind-blowingly fantastic that I must immediately spend a small fortune to protect it before I perform any market validation. Fallacy: AdVentures tend to evolve once you begin speaking with pesky customers and demanding partners. 4) Perform China Syndrome Market Analysis. 3) Attempt To License An Idea.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

awards dinner on Thursday night I started reflected on what it would take to “change the trajectory&# for Seattle or for any regional market, really. He listed all of the product releases that were up coming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving. Are you going to do all of this?

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

Fallacy: Startup ventures tend to evolve, especially after you begin speaking with pesky customers and demanding partners. Perform China Syndrome Market Analysis. In order to reasonably assess the size of your addressable market, you must perform a bottoms-up analysis which is based on a number of elemental assumptions.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We both felt that the critical reasoning skills and writing skills were critical to our career development. BookRenter – plus a discussion about Chegg … what is going on in the university book market? We talked about the analogies between what NetFlix achieved in movies and whether this is relevant to the book market.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Frank Addante

JANUARY 23, 2007

Web Development & Marketing Technology) Exit: evolved into L90 (next company) Lesson: What you dont know cant stop you. By Frank Addante Development resources are in high demand. There are a lot of people out there who can "write code", but very few good engineers. What is the Rubicon Project? Startup 3.0: Be scrappy.

Outsource Development 40

Outsource Development Develop Development Product 40

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

Like most mature markets, the legal profession is highly segmented with respect to the services provided and markets served. Just as you would not ask your family physician to perform a coronary bypass, do not ask your corporate lawyer to help you write your patent application. Sometimes You Do Get What You Pay For.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124